The Citizen, 2015-09-17, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015.
By Rev. Mark Royall
Huron Chapel Evangelical
Missionary Church
In Canada, we are grateful for the
opportunity to live in a free country.
Freedom here is a gift available for
all to enjoy. However, this freedom
is conditional. It is conditional upon
a person obeying and abiding by the
laws of our land. If someone
chooses to disobey and break the
laws of the land, they can lose their
freedom and be sent to prison. We
get that and we accept this as the
condition of our freedom.
As God’s children, we are grateful
for the opportunity to be able to live
with God in Heaven forever one day.
Heaven is a gift for all to enjoy.
However, Heaven is conditional.
The most well known verse the in
the Bible is just one of many places
that tells us so, “For God so loved
the world that He gave His only
begotten Son….” (now here comes
the condition) “…that whoever
believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life” (John
3:16). According to God’s Word,
believing in Jesus is the condition to
receive eternal life. Now this
“believing” doesn’t mean that we
just believe Jesus exists. It means
that we believe ‘in Him’ and what
He did for us on the Cross for our
sin. We believe and we accept and
we follow Jesus.
Canada is our home. Because we
believe in freedom, because we love
others and desire for all to enjoy
what we do here, we welcome
people from other countries who
don’t have freedom to come and live
with us. However, there is a
condition, they must abide by the
laws and principles that make our
nation a great place to live.
We have seen in recent days the
horrid pictures of refugees trying to
escape their homes in Syria because
one group of people hates another
group of people. Hate is causing
people to live in fear. Hate is killing
people. So thousands are fleeing for
their lives.
A couple of weeks ago we saw the
picture of a little boy who was
fleeing Syria to come to Canada
with his family, lying dead face
down on a beach. He drowned trying
to escape on a raft that capsized in
rough waters. We are horrified and
our hearts sink in despair for these
people. We wonder how terrorists
could ever hate someone that much
to cause that much grief and
senseless death.
Now… if the terrorists responsible
for this hate came to Canada, our
home, and wanted to do the same
thing here, we would do all we could
do to not allow their hate and terror
to enter our country. In fact if we
could…we would gather them all up
and send them to prison for the rest
of their lives where they could never
hurt innocent people again.
But how could we do that? How
could we, a people who say we want
freedom for all, who say we love all
people, allow some to go to prison?
This doesn’t sound very loving.
However, we are not only a people
of love…we are people who need
justice. We couldn’t live with
ourselves if we allowed this kind of
evil that causes children to die and
families to flee their homes in fear to
carry on without us doing anything
about it. We would not allow that
kind of hatred to enter our homes
here in Canada if we could. We love,
but love goes hand in hand with
justice. We are made in God’s image
and like God we are a people who
love but we are also a people who
need to see justice. Love demands
justice. Love without justice is
indifference.
God loves us all. Nothing is more
true. But God is also just. God
cannot allow sin to carry on
unpunished any more than we can.
He is not indifferent to sin. He
knows the seriousness of sin and
what sin is doing in our world today
and He will not allow it into heaven,
His home.
If we are guilty of anything, it is
that we don’t understand just how
serious sin is. Sin is not just a ‘boo
boo’. Sin is not just a mistake. Sin
breaks up families. Sin kills. Sin
robs people of peace. Sin robs
people of joy and their sense of
value in this world. Sin causes
people to become refugees.
God has a house called heaven and
He wants all to come to live with
Him there. However there is a
condition that needs to be met.
Before you can come to live with
Him forever, you have to deal with
your sin problem. He cannot allow
sin into His perfect Home anymore
than we would tolerate hate coming
into ours. So this is what God did
for us.
“For God made Christ, who never
sinned, to be the offering for our sin,
so that we could be made right with
God through Christ.” 2 Corinthians
5:21 And this is why Jesus can say,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one can come to the Father
except through Me.”
It sounds nice when we hear
people offer their opinion and say
they think everyone is going to
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph’s
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
Nursery care available
519-887-9017
Worship & Sunday School - 10 am
Coffee & Snacks - 11 am
We invite you to join our church family in:
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
BRUSSELS MENNONITE
FELLOWSHIP
Invites………YOU
Sunday, September 20th
Guest - JUDY GRIEVE
MONOLOGUE MINISTRIES
““Bringing Rahab to Life”
Service @ 10:00 am Friendship Lunch to Follow
$
“Come Just As You Are To Worship!”
#"!$ $$$$$!$!$$"
$
$$
$
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS
MINISTER
Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div.
All Welcome
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224
Sunday, September 20
Sunday School Kick Off ~ All Welcome
Worship Service & Sunday School at 10 a.m.
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.
Children
Welcome
SUNDAY SCHOOL
HURON CHAPEL
SUNDAY SCHOOL 9:30 am
MORNING SERVICE 10:30 am
huronchapel.com
SUNDA
HURON CHAPEL
9:30 SCHOOLLYSUNDA
HURON CHAPEL
9:30 am
HURON CHAPEL
MORNING SER
SUNDA
huronchapel.com
VICE 10:30 amMORNING SER
9:30 SCHOOLL YSUNDA
VICE 10:30 am
9:30 am
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, Sept. 20
Brussels Business & Cultural Centre
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and
preschoolers during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service.
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
getlivingwater.org
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God)
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Sept. 20: Jn. 14:19ff, 15:1ff
“Are You IN or OUT?
Avoiding the Disconnect”
Evangelical Missionary Church
Sept. 30 10 a.m. COFFEE BREAK
Women’s Bible Study (at LWCF)
BRUSSELS
WORSHIP SERVICE
AND SUNDAY SCHOOL 11:00 am
All Welcome
United Church
Minister: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M.Div.
Bulletin notices: 519-523-4224
blythunited@tcc.on.ca
Church bookings: 519-887-6377
Other concerns: 226-963-1175
From the Minister’s Study
Love, justice and the conditions of Heaven
Continued on page 18