The Citizen, 2012-04-26, Page 15THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012. PAGE 15.
The April meeting of the Melville
Guild and Women’s Missionary
Society was held in the church
parlour on Tuesday evening, April
17 with eight members present.
Alice Marks opened the meeting
with the call to worship, followed by
prayer. The hymn, “We Plow the
Fields and Scatter” was sung, and
the Women’s Missionary Society
Purpose was repeated in unison.
The scripture, Mark 4: 26-34 was
read in unison. Alice Marks read the
topic, “The Growing Seed” and the
hymn, “For the Fruits of His
Creation” was sung. Mrs. Marks
led in prayer and the Mizpah
Benediction was repeated by
all to close this part of the
meeting.
Alice Marks presided over the
business. The secretary, Dona
Knight read the minutes of the
March meeting. The minutes were
approved as read and Jeanne Kirkby
gave the guild treasurer’s report and
Leona Armstrong gave the WMS
treasurer’s report. The Springtime
supper to be held on April 29 was
discussed. It was decided to set up
on Saturday morning, April 28 at
9:30 a.m.
The roll call was answered with
everyone telling what they would
bring to the Springtime Supper. The
Maitland Presbyterial WMS Spring
Rally will be held on Monday, May
14 in Kincardine. It was decided not
to have a May meeting.
The June meeting will be in
charge of Jean Bewley and Elaine
Armstrong. Mary Douma moved to
adjourn the meeting.
A lovely lunch was served by
Alice Marks.
By Rev. Gary Clark
Blyth United Church
I was happy to attend a recent
presentation of the Blyth BIA
(Business Improvement
Association). Yes it is because I am a
big fan of Blyth, which is why
Kathy and I bought our home here.
But the other reason is because I
appreciate those who dream.
Dreaming is easy you might say.
Everybody can dream! Dreaming is
free which is where the old saying
“If wishes were horses then beggars
would ride!” comes from. So what
good is dreaming if it is not based in
the hard reality of economics? In my
opinion without dreams we are sunk.
More than that without dreams I
question whether we can call
ourselves a people of faith.
Let me explain that a bit more. To
dream is be inspired or in-spirited. If
we dream of ways to improve, to
better or to be of help to the
community, then the dream is
inspired by God. If the dream is only
about ourselves then I am afraid God
is not inspiring it.
I heard and saw dreams for Blyth
and I felt God’s presence in that the
motivation was to build up the
community. What’s more is that it
does not attack any of the other fine
communities around Blyth. In a
recent edition of The Citizen the
front page featured a story about
students from the University of
Waterloo coming to Brussels to help
plan “a pair of large community
betterment projects.” Once again
anything that builds up a community
and is not at the expense of others is
a Godly thing. So if that is the case
then why aren’t more people
dreaming?
Simply put, to dream is to risk
failure. To dream is to expose our
deepest heart’s desire. And if that
isn’t enough to frighten you then to
dream is to accept that all dreams
come at a cost. The greater the
dream, then the greater the cost that
must be paid to make that dream a
reality. If your dream is to learn to
play an instrument then you must
sacrifice a fair amount of practice
time. If your dream is to help the
poor then you must sacrifice money
and time. If your dream is to
help/save society then it will
probably cost you your life.
This is one of those things that
Christians ought to know but we
forget because life is pretty easy on
this side of the Atlantic and Pacific.
We have a standard of living
unparalleled in human history.
That’s right not just in North
America but in the whole of human
history. To dream is to risk losing
our chunk of that pie. This is more
than what most of us want to do.
And for me that is where faith comes
into the equation. If the dream is of
God then it is worth our lives and
more. Actually Jesus said,
“Whoever would save their lives will
lose it, and whoever loses their lives
for my sake and the gospel’s will
save it.”
To save your life by playing it safe
and never dreaming, never reaching
out to hope is to lose the best part of
life. Or at least the parts that make
life worthwhile. But to dream and
work at making that dream a reality
is to know the exuberance of hope
and the joy of watching acorns
become oaks. So even if you die,
your life however short, has been
worth it.
For Jesus, 33 years was enough to
change the course of human history.
For us we may never know the full
extent of how our dreams change
our community and those who live
in it. But I do know this, never
dreaming or never working toward
those dreams means that we lose not
just our lives but our community as
well.
So thanks Blyth BIA for dreaming
and inspiring us to work together for
a better community.
Melville Church Guild meets
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
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.
Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m.
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
APRIL 29 ~ Have You Heard The Word On The Street?
MAY 6 ~ Conference Sunday
Guest Speaker: David Onn
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, April 29
Brussels Public School
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Sunday School for children
4 to 11 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 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Sandra Cable, Worship Leader
Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca
Sunday, April 29
Ethel United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 9:30 a.m.
Brussels United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 11:00 a.m.
Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
SUNDAY, APRIL 29
Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available
519-887-9017
10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship
- Sunday School
getlivingwater.org
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
April 29: Is. 46:3ff
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at Blyth Public School,
corner of King & Mill
Tuesdays 7:30 pm - Wingham Bible Study
Tuesdays 7:30 pm - Forgotten God Small Group at Kerrs’
1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm - Women At The Well
Thursdays 7:00 pm - Truth Project Small Group at Dows’
Evangelical Missionary Church
Truth Project #6:
History -
“Whose Story?”
You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship
Hwy. 4, Blyth 519-523-4743
www.blythcrc.ca
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
119 John’s Ave., Auburn
519-526-1131
www.huronchapel.org
Rev. Mark Royall, Sr. Pastor
9:25 a.m.
Sunday School for all ages
10:30 a.m
Morning Worship Service
Friday, May 4th
4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Saturday, May 5th
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
HOME, GARDEN &
CRAFT SHOW
at Huron Chapel, Auburn
Lower Level
From the Minister’s StudyRural communities must dare to dream
ON $6.00 THURSDAYS
Drop into either of our offices any
Thursday with your word classified
(maximum 20 words) and pay only
$6.00 + HST (paid in advance).
That’s $1.00 off regular rates.
The Citizen