The Citizen, 2003-11-19, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2003.
From the Minister’s Study
Children told about a rock with a story to tell
By Rev. Ethel Miner Clare
Belgrave United Church
A rock sits on my bookcase. When
I showed it to the children in
Belgrave. I told them that my rock
had a story to tell them. As you can
imagine, they looked at me in
disbelief. They knew, most definitely,
that rocks do not talk!
Then I showed them the fossils and
explained that the story this particular
rock told was that of a lake which had
long ago covered the land where my
sister’s farm is located. The presence
of the fossils tell that tale.
This rock has been on Pat’s farm
through the many changes in farming
practices - especially the change from
small, 100 acre holdings, which were
engaged in mixed farming, to several
hundred acre farms specializing in
cash crops; changes in rural
community - fewer farm families, the
influx of urban people who live in
rural areas but drive to the cities for
work, recreation, and worship; and
the change in rural churches - many
have closed, that have taken place
over the years.
A hole has been drilled into this
rock. It holds a candle. When I light
the candle, I am reminded that the
light of Christ is present with us on
our life’s journey, no matter where
that journey takes us.
Speaking of rocks, there is a story
in Joshua 4 about rocks. I can picture
it happening this way:
Imagine, long ago, a child, perhaps
an inquisitive eight year old,
wandering the bank of the Jordan
River, near Jericho. He stops to
explore a pile of rocks. These were
big, larger than he could lift. The
edges were smooth, as though shaped
by the waters of the river that was
nearby. There were 12. Why were
they here?
That evening he questioned his
mother about the pile of rocks he had
discovered. She began to tell a story, a
story recalling the past. It began at the
time in history when their ancestors
were slaves in Egypt. God enabled
Moses to lead their people across the
Red Sea to freedom and a new
beginning The boy heard how Israel
became intimate with God in the
wilderness, relying on God to provide
food and waler.
The covenant, between God and the
people that was established there,
gave Israel its personality as a people
of God. Then his mother told how
Moses had dieo before the Israelites
reached the promised land. God chose
Joshua to be their leader.
As his mother spoke, the lad could
imagine the children of Israel
standing at the edge of the Jordan
River. They must have had mixed
emotions. Here they were looking
across the river at the land God had
promised them since the time of
Abraham. They were so close and yet
so tar - raging waters separated them
from their destination, for it was
spring when they arrived at the river’s
liming Wto-3
C&wtian Tellem/fufi £
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3 3 £ Pastor: Ernest Dow - 523-4848 |
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edge, the end of the rainy season.
Wandering through that wilderness
had not been easy but it had become a
way of life. Could they safely cross
that river? What would they
encounter once they did? Would God
be there with them? The boy sensed
both anticipation and excitement as
well as a foreboding among his
ancestors at this point in the story.
His mother said, “God instructed
Joshua to have the priests enter the
swollen waters -of the Jordan River
with the ark of the Covenant. You
remember, my son, that the ark
represented the presence of God. The
priests were to stand there while the
people and their animals safely
crossed the river. God would be with
them as they passed through those
waters. When the priests entered the
Jordan River, miraculously the waters
parted, as they had at the Red Sea, and
the people walked crossed the river
on dry land to the new land.”
“Then Joshua told a man from each
of the 12 tribes to take a large stone
from the riverbed and to carry it on
his back to the river bank. There the
stones were piled together. Why? So
that when children, like you my son,
ask ‘What do these stones mean?’
they shall be told what God has
done.”
“Those stones you saw today,” his
mother concluded, “were put there as
a reminder for people who see them
of all that God has done for us.”
So it was through this story the
young boy learned about the
traditions, history, and beliefs of his
people. Stories reminded his people
from where they came; stories lit the
way into the future with hope.
What stones and related stories do
we have in our lives to remind us of
what God has done for us? Do our
children and our grandchildren know
th ose stories? How do we tell those
stories?
tSt. Michael's
Roman Catholic Church
254 Drummond St. E., Blyth
Saturday Night Mass
at 7:00 pm
Father John Johnson, Pastor
357-2435
HURON CHAPEL EVANGELICAL
MISSIONARY CHURCH
Auburn-526-1131
PASTOR DAVE WOOD - 523-4941
Sunday
Wednesday
9:30 a.m. - Family Bible Hour
10:30 a.m. - Morning Worship Service
7:30 p.m. - Evening Worship Service
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.- Youth
7:15 p.m. - Adult Bible Study
foul fa*
Sunday, November 23
Morning Worship Service - 10 a.m.
Evening Worship Service - 7:30 p.m.
BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH
Pastor John Kuperus
A Hwy. 4, Blyth 523-9233
/ | \ Wheelchair accessible
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Joan Golden - Diaconal Student Minister
Church Office 887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wcl.on.ca
November 23
Ethel United Church
9:30 a.m.
Worship Service and Sunday School
Brussels United Church
11:00 a.m.
Worship Service and Sunday School
Remembering, Celebrating and Living our Faith
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
11:00 a.m. - Morning Service
- Sunday School
9:30 a.m. - Belgrave Service
Wheelchair accessible
Nursery care available
Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 887-9831
Blyth United Church
Corner of Dinsley & Mill Street
Sunday, November 23
Worship Service & Sunday School ~ 11:00 am
Potpourri of Spiritual Miscellany (Part 2)
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
NOVEMBER 23
REIGN OF CHRIST SUNDAY
MORNING PRAYER
Trinity, Blyth
9:30 a.m.
St. John's, Brussels
11:15 a.m.
The Rev. Tom Wilson, B.A., MDiv. 887-9273
Churcjj
,rThe Church is not a
Building,
| It is People Touching
> People"
Sunday 9:15 a.m. - Prayer Meeting
9:45 a.m. - Sunday School
11:00 a.m. - Worship Service
Several mid-week events
Phone 523-4875 308 Blyth Rd. E. - Pastor Les Cook 523-4590
s-o-methitig. new- thi&
Christ-centred, Bible-believing,
Fellowship-friendly, Growth-geared
| 10:30 a.m. - Contemporary Worship |
I at Blyth Public School,
corner of King & Mill
Minister: Rev. Dr. Eugen Bannerman
Office: 523-4224
Blyth United Church is a welcoming community of faith.
We celebrate God's presence through worship and study, and through
responding to the needs and gifts of each other.
Blyth Community
Church of God
invites your family to join us each
Sunday in December, for an hour of
puppets, drama, stories and music
to prepare us for a fun-filled
Christmas experience
9:45 to 10:45 am
December 7,14 & 21
Everyone is
welcome at the
Blyth
Community
Church of God
Cornerstone
Bible ' 5'-;$5
Fellowship Jfpil
utnei
Sunday.9:45-10:30 - Communion
11:00-12:00 - Family Bible Hour and Sunday School
7:00 pm - Evening Worship Service
Tuesday:7:30 pm - Prayer & Bible Study
Wednesday:7:00 - 9:00 pm - Youth (ages 12 & up)
Thursday.6:30 - 8:00 pm - Adventure Club (Oct. 16 - Nov. 20)
All children ages 4-12 welcome
John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the WAV, the TRUTH and the LIFE, no
one comes to the Father, but through Me."
Call Pastor Andrew at 887-6123
ESP Mi
Blyth Community Church of God
Coffee House
Every Sunday
night at
7:30 pm
Meet in the basement
308 Blyth Rd. E.
For information call 523-4590