The Citizen, 1996-06-05, Page 16Sweet job
Jeanne Ireland and Viola Adams had the pleasurable, yet
always tempting task of preparing the dessert table at the
annual Melville Presbyterian Church's Maytime Supper
last Wednesday.
You're invited to join us for worship this Sunday
Morning Worship Service - 10 a.m
Graduation of senior Sunday School Class
Evening Worship Service - 7:30 p.m.
Rev. Adrian A. Van Geest
will lead both services
s ...Live joyfury all the
Hays of thy life."
- Errksiastes 9:9
BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH
Hwy. 4, Blyth 523-9233
Wheelchair accessible
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Cathrine Campbell
11:00 a.m. - Morning Service
- Sunday School
9:30 a.m. - Belgrave Service
We welcome you to come and worship with us.
887-9831 Wheelchair Accessible
HURON CHAPEL MISSIONARY
CHURCH
PASTOR JAMES H. CARNE AUBURN 526-7515
Sunday
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
10 a.m. - Family Bible Hour
11 a.m. - Morning Service
8 p.m. - Evening Service
7:30 p.m. - Addictions Support Group
7:30 p.m. - Prayer & Bible Study
7:30 p.m. - Youth
_ BRUSSELS UNITED CHURCH
Rev. Cameron McMillan
Church Office 887-6259 Manse 887-9313
11:00 a.m. Morning Worship Service will be
taken by members of the Church School
Ethel Morning Worship
Church School
All things bright and beautiful
The Lord God made them all
"Welcome"
7ou are Wercome at
the
BLYTH COMMUNITY CHURCH OF GOD
9:45 a.m. - Sunday School for Children and Adults
11:00 a.m. - Morning Worship
Bible Studies - Wednesday 10 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Phone 523-4590 McConnell St., Blyth
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
You are wet-come this Sunday
JUNE 9 - PENTECOST 2
MORNING PRAYER
Rev. Nancy Beale
Trinity, Blyth St. John's, Brussels
9:30 a.m. 11:15 a.m.
PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 1996
From the Minister's Study
Things will go wrong without a king
By Rev. Adrian A. Van Geest
Blyth Christian Reformed
Church
It happens all too often. We knew
it was happening regularly in the
slums of New York City, and we
have heard that Detroit was the
alleged capital of such horrors.
But murders in our own back
yard? Murders by teenagers? It's
not altogether a new phenomenon,
but who would have believed the
frequency of such occurrences only
a generation ago, when there was
more respect for God in the land?
The neighbourhood where men
and women used to walk freely at
night in my college days isn't even
safe for a lone man in broad
daylight today. The street on which
I lived without any worry of break-
ins in my student days now sees
these violations happening over and
Norman Barlow preached at
Brussels Mennonite Fellowship on
Sunday, June 2. The scripture
reading was 1 Peter 2: 13-25. The
title of the sermon was "Life Isn't
Fair".
Mr. Barlow pointed out how
unfairly Christ was treated. He,
who committed no sin was
crucified, yet he did not fight back.
It is a temptation to fight back
when we have been subjected to
injustices, he said. We shouldn't
ask, "Is this fair?" but when we are
tempted to retaliate we should
consider, "Is this (my re-action)
right?"
God, he says, knows what
injustices we have been through,
but "Vengeance is mine, saith the
Lord."
"We need to let God look after
those who did the injustices to us.
Christ didn't utter any threats on the
cross. Not only should we entrust
ourselves to God, but we should
entrust others to God also for only
over again.
Car thefts have become run-of-
the-mill crimes. The cost of
shoplifting runs in the billions.
Gambling, with its reputation for
attracting organized crime, no
longer has a bad name. Workers on
strike can be seen taking the law in
their own hands. And many
employers no longer care a whole
lot for the well-being of their
employees.
What all this amounts to is a
growing lawlessness. More and
more people do what is right in
their own eyes. This situation
reminded me of what we read in
the Bible at the very end of the
book of Judges: "In those days
there was no king in Israel; every
man did what was right in his own
eyes."
Some horrific stories are told in
the chapters which precede that
God judges righteously. We cannot
trust men for justice. Only when we
learn to let go are we set free."
Erla Koch was the worship
leader. Mervin Lichty was -song
leader and Anne Hemmingway was
)ianist. Anne and Darlene
Hemmingway sang a duet, Day by
Day and Tim Procter played for the
Tim Harden of Kitchener was
guest soloist at Auburn Missionary
Church which was filled to
capacity on Sunday, June 2. The
congregation heard him sing One
By One and Watch the Lamb.
Rev. John Bennett was guest
speaker. His message, "Such a time
as this", had scripture from Esther
4: 14-17. "We are living in eventful
days," he said, "and every day we
hear of happenings." In fact, he
added, parts of Canada have the
highest suicide. In Canada the
concluding verse. The people of
Israel were going off the deep end,
but there was no one to see to it
that justice was being done in some
consistent manner. There was no
king then, no central authority that
could command the respect of the
people. The judges that governed
from time to time were regional
figures. They were raised up by
God every so often to deliver his
people from their enemies.
But those were not hereditary
positions. They did not provide the
people with a legal system, nor
with government officials that gave
stability to the land.
Of course, Israel had a king
during all those years. Their king
was their God. They had a legal
system, which was the law of
Moses, which God had given him.
And they had their leaders in the
persons of the elders, the priests
and the Levites. But when they
turned their backs on their God,
they also rejected the authority of
the leaders who represented their
God among them. They set aside
the law that their God had given
them in favour of doing what was
right in their own sinful eyes.
And look what happened to them
as a result of that. Society became
chaotic. Community life lost its
stability. Morality hit an all-time
low. And peace was rarely theirs to
enjoy.
When there is no "king" in the
land, people will always end up
doing "what is right in their own
eyes." And we are seeing that more
and more today also in our land. 0,
we have a "king" alright, we have
our government. But it has lost the
respect of many people.
And part of that responsibility
has to be shouldered by the
governing authorities themselves.
They have too oftcn put expedience
before principle. They no longer
see themselves accountable to the
King of Heaven and Earth, the
Almighty. So they govern as seems
right or expedient in their own
eyes.
But when the "king" of the land
no longer listens to the King of the
universe, things are bound to go
wrong in the land.
If things are ever going to change
for the better, then leaders and
people must go back to honouring
their eternal King again. They must
start putting the will of God before
the will of human beings.
Laws with respect to abortion,
offertory.
On Sunday evening the
congregation gathered at the church
for a hymn sing and a surprise
farewell party for Tim Goodland
who will be moving to Goderich
this week. Tim was presented with
some gift., for his new apartment.
church is facing one of the greatest
challenges. Esther and her people
faced a challenge. The enemy was
seeking to destroy and the enemy is
seeking to destroy today.
"We need to face up to reality.
The reality is to know Christ as
Satan is grasping for everyone,"
Rev. Bennett said.
Esther and her people were
united in prayer. "We need to put
aside our pettiness and unite in
prayer. So often prayer is left to a
Continued or. page 19
euthanasia, sexual morality, social
justice, and minority rights must
reflect what the Bible teaches in
plain language about these matters.
The human race must not declare
itself autonomous from God. It can
only do so at its own peril.
The summary of God's law still
holds the key to societal renewal.
That summary calls for loving God
above all and loving our neighbour
as ourselves. That might sound
very utopian, but it is the only way
to a better society. When that law
is taken seriously, there will be a
King in the land who will direct the
nation. And he will bring the-nation
justice and peace.
Life's unfairness, sermon topic
K-W man sings at service