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The Citizen, 2019-06-27, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2019. By Pastor Gary van Leeuwen Blyth Christian Reformed Church Last weekend I had the opportunity to officiate at a wedding. Normally, when I officiate a wedding, I ask the couple to choose a wedding text about which they’d like me to say a few words. I deliver a short message about that text during the wedding ceremony. The couple from last weekend chose a few verses from Colossians 3:12-14 which begins in this way, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” The text goes on to say that we are to forgive each other as the Lord forgave us. Then, as the final piece of clothing, we are to put on love. I picked up on the exhortation to clothe ourselves. Often we talk about how the clothes make the person. What we wear makes us who we are, or so we are told. This is not true of a bride. The bride could wear jeans and a t-shirt, but she would still be the bride. Normally, in our culture, brides do dress for the part, wearing a style of dress most of us would recognize as a wedding dress, but that dress does not make them the bride. The bride is the bride because she is marrying the love of her life. The bride wears a dress that is appropriate to the occasion and her position, but the dress does not make the woman. This is the point that the apostle Paul seeks to make in Colossians 3. First, he talks about how we are God’s people, holy and dearly loved. Paul is talking about and to people who have put their faith in Jesus Christ as the one who has died for their sins. By trusting Jesus, our sins are completely forgiven, all of them, and we become holy people. God is holy, and holiness is defined, in part, by the complete absence of sin. It’s not that someone who believes in Jesus becomes sinless (we all know lots of Christians who are pretty big sinners), but rather because our sins are forgiven, that sin no longer clings to us. We become holy. And, because God does this for us, giving us the ability and opportunity to believe, we can also say that we are dearly loved by Him. As a result of that, if we believe in Jesus, we ought to clothe ourselves appropriately. In earlier verses he has told us to take off things like anger, bitterness, rage and self- centredness, but now he tells us that if we are going to call ourselves Christians, we are to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. These actions do not make us holy nor do they qualify us for eternal life or heaven, but they are the clothing appropriate to those who have been qualified for eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. The clothing does not make us God’s dearly loved people, for only God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ can do that. That being said, when we have received forgiveness, we ought to put on clothes that are appropriate to the occasion. We expect a bride to wear a wedding dress because, in our culture, that is the way things are normally done. In the same way, we expect someone who calls themselves a Christian to clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. The clothes don’t make us who we are, but they do show the world who we are. Anyone passing by our church on Saturday afternoon would have immediately been able to identify the bride. In the same way, those who call themselves Christians should be immediately identifiable by the way we behave. We ought to reflect on this. Again, we all know far too many people who call themselves Christians, who say that they trust Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, who go to church almost every Sunday but who are anything but compassionate, gentle and patient. They are just the opposite. We 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. huronchapel.com huronchapelkids.com huronchapelyouth.com 519-526-1131 ~ 119 John’s Ave., Auburn Sat. June 29 - Women’s Ministry Campfire at Ang Campbell’s July 8-12, 9:30-noon “ROAR” Vacation Bible School - register at huronchapelkids.com Evangelical Missionary Church 10:30 a.m. Worship Pastor Phil Delsaut - “Jesus: He Shall Have Dominion from Sea to Sea” (Ps.72) Sunday June 30 Lions’ Park (Blyth) 10 a.m. Community Outdoor Service - Pastor Ernest Dow preaching Blyth Community Outdoor Service Sunday, June 30, 10:00 a.m. at Blyth Lions Park (rain location Blyth Christian Reformed Church) Message by Pastor Ernest Dow Offering to Salvation Army Foodbank and North Huron Community Food Share Please dress for outdoors, bring a lawn chair and disposable plate of goodies for snack. Sponsored by Blyth area churches. OFFICE: 519-523-4224 Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday ~ 9:30 am - 2:00 pm blythunited@tcc.on.ca Blyth Community Service Accessible Sunday, June 30 Worship Service at 11:00 am Blyth United Church Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churches Youre Invited to come worship with us Sunday, June 30 at 10:30 a.m. 650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School) 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. Summer evening service 6:00 p.m. at various homes. For additional details please contact Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 Coming Soon! VBS July 1-5 for ages 5-12 ~ 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743 Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen SUNDAY, JUNE 30 Community Outdoor Service 10:00 am (see info below) Evening Service 7:30 pm You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH All are invited to join us for the Community Outdoor Service at the Blyth Lions Park at 10 am on Sunday, June 30th. Please bring lawn chairs. MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS SUNDAY, JUNE 30 Nursery care available 519-887-6687 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. Worship & Sunday School - 9:30 am Coffee & Snacks following the service We invite you to join our church family in: BRUSSELS United Church Sunday, June 30 Beginning our summer break An opportunity to worship with other congregations Services resume August 4 at 11:00 am The Regional Ministry of Hope BLYTH BRUSSELS Trinity St. John’s 9:15 am 11:15 am COME WORSHIP WITH US! Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector 519-357-7781 email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca The­Regional­Ministry­of­ Hope St. Paul’s Trinity WINGHAM 11:15 am These Anglican Churches Welcome You From the Minister’s Study If you’re a Christian, make sure to ‘dress the part’ Continued on page 18