Christ Cruise

Today instead of blogging, I changed our Ministry and Service page to reflect our new plans for Sunday school this year. We're planning to use some new curriculum, but more important than that I think is the new way that we will be using it.

Christ Cruise is the brainchild of Glenda Jeske, one of our Education Committee members who justly deserves the title of "Christ Cruise Director."  Besides the new curriculum (which is both fun for kids and fast and easy to use for leaders!), there will be fun songs (some old, some new, some original); a regular "creature feature" (thanks to some of our youth and young adults); new paint in the upstairs hallway (thanks to the Property Committee) and in our Christ Cruise room (thanks to custodian Ernie Thiessen for donating the paint and his labour!); great mural boards (thanks Glenda and Tina); and much much more!

For more info, please see our Ministry and Service page--to get on board, talk to our Christ Cruise Director or yours truly, and please feel free to leave a comment.  We'd love to hear from you!

Aug 20, 2010 at 8:56 AM

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Alive in Christ

I'm not particularly familiar with the work of Neil Anderson (although his books have been recommended to me by several different people), but I was interested in his list of who we are in Christ and adapted it for the congregational reading to end my sermon last Sunday.

Here's the link if you'd like to read the complete list of being in Christ: accepted, secure, significant.  http://www.ficm.org/whoiam.htm

Jul 30, 2010 at 8:07 AM

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On Parsley and Passion

Last Sunday I shared the story of my poor parsley, carefully started from seed, nurtured for several weeks until the seedlings were several centimetres tall, but then neglected without water while I was away at the Assembly and visiting family in Alberta.

When I returned, my tender seedlings were very pale and shriveled looking, lying tangled together in the pot instead of green and healthy and reaching for the light as they had been before. They weren't securely established. In a similar way, my sermon text for last week (Colossians 1:15-29) reminds us that unless we're securely established and nurtured in the faith, we will not be a living and vibrant church, a living and vibrant people.

What I didn't say last week, was that my parsley story wasn't finished.  I watered the poor pale shriveled things--although I'm not sure why, since they really looked hopeless--and I moved the pot from our kitchen windowsill to our outside deck.  Soon there was a green shoot, and now there's parsley in the pot!  Not enough yet to start using it, but quite definitely parsley.

Maybe my original parsley wasn't quite as hopeless as I had thought. Or maybe there was a seed or two that hadn't germinated the first time and was now making an appearance.  But I think of it as an example of the passion that's described in Col 1:29: "To this end I labor, struggling with all [God's] energy, which so powerfully works in me."  This was Paul's passion for evangelism and church planting. My parsley had a passion to grow. What's our passion as a church?  What's your passion?  Living with passion is part of what it means to be a living and vibrant church, and living and vibrant people.
 

Jul 23, 2010 at 7:46 AM

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Dress for success

One item given to all participants in this year's Mennonite Church Canada Assembly is a bright green band with the words of our theme: Reclaiming JESUS gladly wear the name.

I've been wearing mine on my wrist, and have seen others do the same, while there is at least one person wearing it on her ankle.  "Don't you want to wear the name of Jesus?" one wrist-banded participant said to another whose band was still likely in the bottom of their Assembly totebag.

For some, wearing or seeing that green band might be a good visual reminder of our faith in Jesus, of our relationship with him, and what it means to put on Christ as Scripture reminds us. But of course wearing Christ is more than physically wearing the name of Jesus like some kind of designer label--it means having "the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" (Col. 3:15) and being clothed "with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience" (Col. 3:12). That's how to dress for success, since these things are always in style in the kingdom of God and go with whatever else we might be wearing. 

Jul 3, 2010 at 7:05 AM

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Reclaiming Jesus: gladly wear the name

So here I am in Calgary at the Mennonite Church Canada Assembly. The days are very full, beginning with worship at 8:30am, going all day, with "late night" activities beginning at 9pm for those who'd like to keep on going. . . .

Highlights so far include connecting with many people (like Hugo and Doreen Neufeld who spoke at Emmanuel earlier this year, live in Calgary, and are among the many volunteers at this Assembly), learning Colossians 3:15 with actions (that I'd like to share with the children and the rest of the congregation when I get back), spending time in discussion with those around my delegate table, being part of a panel discussion on Jesus Matters, lots of worship and singing (one of the leaders is Alissa Bender who interned with us at Emmanuel a few years ago and is currently an associate pastor in Calgary), meeting Sara Wenger Shenk who is the new seminary president as of July 1.

Today Nhien Pham and I have our workshop on our Vietnamese ministry partnership which is called Hand in Hand. I still have a bit more preparation to do for that and would like to make it to morning worship too--good thing I'm a morning person!

Jul 1, 2010 at 5:24 AM

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ThanksLiving

"So what I got from your sermon is you're asking for money," someone said to me recently. Well, yes and no - my annual stewardship sermon this year was about money, but also our time and our abilities, and most of all about being thankful as the starting point for giving and good stewardship.

At one point, I quoted from Rick Warren who suggested that not only should we give money, but also the first part of our week to worship and the first part of our social time to fellowship with other Christians.  At the time, I said we might not agree with every detail of the quote--after all, there are many Christians who worship at some time other than the first part of the week--but I hoped it would challenge us to think.  In response, I received an email asking "wasn't it a big priority for Jesus to spend time with people on the edges, people not in the inner fellowship circles, people like Zaccheus and the Samaritan woman at the well?"  That's important for us to remember too.

For those who expressed interest in the George Herbert quote, here's the first and last part of the poem that I read as part of my sermon:

Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more - a grateful heart.
Not thankful when it pleases me,
As if thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart,
whose pulse may be thy praise.
 

The entire poem is available at http://www.ccel.org/h/herbert/temple/Gratefulnesse.html
 

Jun 19, 2010 at 7:34 AM

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Two recipes--one for supper, one for marriage

I was very glad to take part in Emmanuel's bridal tea a couple of weeks ago--thank you to Lara, to the rest of the planning committee, and all who attended for the good food and conversation!

I started my brief devotional with a story about making dinner for the first time in 9 days since we had been away on vacation, and after the first few bites, my husband said, "This is so good--it's better than anything we ate at a restaurant!"  Here's the recipe that I made:

Apricot-Glazed Chicken

Remove skin from 6 chicken thighs, and place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix together: 1/3 cup apricot preserves,
2 tsp Dijon mustard, 5 drops hot-pepper sauce. Spoon the mixture over chicken. Bake in a pre-heated 425 deg F oven for 20 minutes, baste, and bake for another 20 minutes, or until done. Good served with rice and steamed broccoli.
 

Another recipe I shared at the bridal tea was this recipe for a happy marriage that I had come across on the 'net: 

Recipe for a Happy Marriage
Take one happy man and one happy woman - and separate them from their parents.
Add the following ingredients in generous proportions:
Love
Respect
Commitment
Acceptance
Communication
Patience
Kindness
Gentleness
Self-control
Hope
Truth
Mix together, then thoroughly sift in daily life.
Strain out jealousy, arrogance, selfishness, provocation and accounting of wrongs.
Bake in the trials and tribulations of life for 50 years.
Celebrate when golden. 

Jun 17, 2010 at 9:18 PM

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And God Said No. . . .

In my sermon on Learning to Pray last week, I read a short poem that I'm adding to the blog today since a few people have asked for copies.

It's actually an untitled poem that appeared unattributed on a pull-out poster in With magazine a number of years ago.  It's been sitting in my files unused for quite a while, until it seemed to fit so well in last Sunday's sermon.  I don't totally agree with every detail (esp the part about growing, since I don't think anything--whether carrot or human being--actually grows on its own apart from God's sustaining power and life-giving energy), but it's thought-provoking and a lot of it rings true, so here it is:

I prayed to God to take away my pride.
And God said, “No.
It isn’t for me to take away—it’s for you to give up.”
I prayed to God to grant me patience.
And God said, “No.
Patience is a by-product of tribulations—it isn’t granted, it’s earned.”
I prayed to God to give me happiness.
And God said, “No.
I give you blessings—happiness is up to you.”
I prayed to God to make my spirit grow.
And God said, “No.
You must grow on your own, but I will prune you and make you fruitful.”
I prayed to God for all things, that I might enjoy life. And God said, “No. I will give you life so you may enjoy all things.”
I prayed to God to help me love others as much as God loves me.
And God said, “Ahhhh! Finally, you have the idea!” 

May 21, 2010 at 10:02 AM

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Bulletin Bloopers

Every so often someone sends me some funny bulletin bloopers that have actually appeared in church bulletins over the years. e.g., The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

Or, Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get. Or, Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

This week when I returned to the church office, I realized that there had been a bulletin blooper of our own.  The bulletin looked fine, but if you actually read it, you may have noticed that all of the prayer requests were the same as the previous week!  And there were a number of announcements about our Volleyball group, Childsafe, etc. that simply didn't make it in.

I hasten to add that none of this was the fault of our very competent church secretary who was unfortunately off sick on Thursday and Friday--and since I was already on my way to Victoria on the Friday as well, I wasn't able to look over the bulletin as usual before it was printed, so our temporary office help went ahead on her own as best she could and somehow skipped over all of my new announcements.

Fortunately though, Roberta is back in the office now and so am I, so stay tuned, and you'll see those announcements this coming Sunday!

May 11, 2010 at 4:09 PM

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A Day of Inspiration

I found last Saturday's Inspirational Day exactly that--an inspiration! As I mentioned to someone as I signed in that afternoon, as much as I love worship planning and speaking and leading, it also feels like a luxury for me to take part in something that I wasn't leading or planning for a change. Thank you to all those responsible for the excellent day!

Some of the things that inspired me:

- the obvious effort on the part of the planning committee to include women of all ages and ethnic backgrounds

- the memorial time for women who had passed on since the last Women's Inspirational Day that was such a fitting way of honouring their memory and legacy - although I knew very few of the women personally, it was still a very moving and meaningful time

- the personal stories shared by three of our women who reflected on their own experience in light of the experience of women in the Bible - although I knew each of their stories, I heard them in a fresh way as they related them to Scripture, and was struck again by God's leading in their lives that left many of us in tears

- wonderful worship leading, preaching, music, food, fellowship - what a wonderfully gifted group of women there are in Mennonite Church BC!

The next MCBC Women's Ministry event is the fall retreat October 15-17 at Camp Squeah - Feather Janz will be the guest speaker, and incidentally, she was a student of mine when I taught at Columbia Bible College years ago!  The next MCBC Women's Inspirational Day is Saturday, April 30, 2011.  If last Saturday was any indication, we can all start planning now to be inspired :-)

May 4, 2010 at 4:31 PM

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