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Turner Valley, AB
T0L 2A0
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Are You Ready for Christmas?
As the days draw closer to Christmas day, people often say to each other: "Are you ready for Christmas?"
I find myself stumbling for an answer. What do people mean when they ask, "are you ready for Christmas yet?
Am I being asked if the presents are all purchased and in some cases, all sewed up? Almost but not yet...
Further readingNo Rock Like God
Jesus and his disciples came out of the Temple in Jerusalem. The disciples looked around themselves in awe. Perhaps it was the first time they had seen the new temple which was just finished a few years earlier. Rock built upon rock. Stone built upon stone. The new temple had been built by King Herod who had been determined to build a new place of worship greater than the legendary one of King Solomon...
Belonging
This past week I learned that my friend and mentor, Sister Rita Duncan, died in July. Some of you may remember her name - I've said it often through the years. But we also had her out five years ago to do a weekend retreat.
Rita taught me pastoral care in a seniors' care facility. One time, after our visiting, we students came back to talk with her. A visit with a senior man had sparked a students' memory of his grandfather who died many years earlier. As he spoke of the memory, he became teary. There was silence. Rita didn't rush in with Kleenex or brush off his experience...
With the Courage of Esther
Earlier in the summer, I'd invited to our towns Rev. Carl Shin, the Korean Canadian United Church minister from Nanton. Together, he and I visited the businesses owned by Korean Canadians, letting them know that our Church is available to them and also about the ESL classes that Literacy for Life hopes to hold in our building. Along the way, one couple told us that they attend the Korean Mennonite Congregation in Dewinton. They told us that their pastor, Rev. Lee, lives in Turner Valley and that his wife was opening the "Round Table" restaurant in town...
Thou Shalt Persevere
Over the last few weeks, I've likely tried the patience of some drivers around our two towns. I've been learning to drive a standard car, our new-to-us, car. So I've stopped and stalled at the four-way stops in our two towns. Cars and trucks have had to wait patiently as I try to get the vehicle started and through the intersection. And then there was the young guy in the big double dump truck who merrily waved to me as he took my turn at the intersection...
The Gift of Tears
I remember that June day typing these words into the computer:
"Brad, do you take Nancy to be your wife?"
"Nancy, do you take Brad to be your husband?"
I remembered that tears came to my eyes as I realized the big change that would soon be happening for my brother. Soon my brother would be someone's husband in addition to being my brother and my parents' son. I realized that his life was changing and ours as a family was, too, as we welcomed Nancy into our family...
What Does Jesus Look Like?
Years ago, one of the presbyteries of our larger church was helping a congregation sell its building. There were only a handful of worshipers who decided they would now worship in a funeral home. They also insisted they wanted to take some of the church furniture with them. So they did, at least that's what the Presbytery thought...
High-Grace Factor
Tex Sample is a grey-haired, almost retired, professor of Theology. And one of his least favourite hymns is that old one people frequently like to sing at funerals. "In the Garden."
You likely know how it goes...
Living The Hope
Guest speaker: Brenda Watt
The dictionary defines hope with the words: expectation and desire combined; that a certain thing will occur; promise; to feel confident; trust. The dictionary defines "hopeless" with words like: inadequate, incompetent; futile; without hope of success. And our theme this morning is Living the Hope...
Let The Glitter Sparkle
It's the last day of the Christmas Season and I was packing away the remainder of the angel costumes. I was reminded of these words that Anne Perry pulled out of her files when we were planning last month's Candlelight service. The poetry was in her Mom's handwriting with no author's name mentioned...
The Only Limit to a Miracle is Our Response
"Try to do as little as possible."
This was Dodsworth's motto.
from "The Pink Refrigerator" by Tim EganWe had chosen to do this story on this Sunday, November 9th - way back in September, not knowing the tremendous events that would take place in the United States south of us this past week...
Bread of Life - Thanksgiving Sunday
As part of our Thanksgiving service, we made bread together in worship that culminated with Communion. Blessings and words of reflection were offered by Carla Farr-Jones and Linda King as Ann Brown made the bread. Members of the congregation brought forward the ingredients of flour, baking powder, salt, shortening, milk and honey...
Flourishing in God's Soil
Shiprah and Puah are people of courage, weren't they? And you all know about courage because in our day-to-day lives, sometimes it takes a lot of courage - God-given courage that comes out of a strong relationship with God.
So I thought today, that in the busy schedules you have, you might appreciate some time just to rest and be with God. Today, instead of a sermon, I'm going to lead you through a guided meditation. Some of you have done this before, some of you, this is new - don't panic - it's real easy.
Give to us Laughter
I've been thinking a lot this past week about Sarah's laughter and then the angel's response to her disbelief: "Is anything to hard for God?" Or perhaps we could say, "Is anything too big for God?"
Firstly, it's that laughter part. Because I've noticed over the last months that I've not laughed much. Didn't know why that was - because it's a healthy part of life, for us to laugh, isn't it. And then one wise person said to me - "Well laughing is a risky thing, isn't it. It means letting go."
Shelley's Summer Message
Read Shelley's letter regarding Spiritual Gifts...
Ascend a Staircase with Angels
Genesis 28: 10-19a
Listening to our dreams and paying attention to our dreams is an important spiritual practice. It's one that over the last few hundred years, with the advent of modernity, we set aside. I certainly didn't pay attention to my dreams - except to be fearful of the nightmares - until I began my theological education. It wasn't necessarily in classes, but around the fringes where professors of spirituality and counseling would encourage us to pay attention to our dreams...
At God's Table
Graciousness of my step children at the table. It's a real pleasure serving meals to Eric and Naomi. They get excited about what I'm preparing for a meal, they eat heartily and, they comment that they like the food. (This all astounds me because I was a horrible eater as a kid. Don't know how my mother put up with me.)...
Open, Yet Discerning: Bible Study
Acts 10, 11 & 15
Prayer with Christians facing the Multiplicity of Spirituality
We are confused -
By New Age spirituality and crystals,
By goddess-talk and Christa,
By borrowings of Native American traditions
And Zen Buddhism,
By charismatics, faith healers,
And snake-handlers,
By Tai-chi and yoga,
By 12-step spirituality and spiritual direction, by contemplatives and revivalists, by Christian Scientists and Mormons, by Jehovah's Witness and the Jesus Seminar.
We can have respectable dialogues with at least six clearly defined world religions, but not with these upstart heresies.
--- excerpt from Maren Tirabassi and Joan Jordan Grant's,
"An Improbable Gift of Blessing" (United Church Press, 1998) p. 122.
To Whom Much is Given
The work of our United Church's Mission and Service fund goes round the world including the small, Central American country of El Salvador. I want to tell you a story that comes from one of our mission partners in that country.
We assist the aid and development work of Emmanuel Baptist Church. They still do incredible work although this story is some 20 years old.
One of the Church's physicians was out in a remote area offering a free clinic. A patient who lined up to see her was a young woman in her early 20s. She'd already had six children and she looked haggard and undernourished and much older than her years.
The doctor asked her: "how many more children are you going to have?" The woman responded: "As many as God wishes." ...
God is Good - The Gift of Sex
A North American physician had given two months to work in a remote part of Africa. On the air flight back home, current movies were being shown and the doctor found their content jarring. Each movie seemed to centre around sex and sexual intercourse as if this was the most important topic in the world. And yet the physician had spent two months dealing with issues of disease, poverty, and death. When the plane stopped to refuel in Brussels, the man saw magazine after magazine for sale that depicted women's breasts in various stages of exposure. This also seemed odd, because he'd been in a culture where women regularly bared their breasts - not in any sexual way - but simply to feed their children.
"Welcome back to Western civilization, he thought to himself." ...
Made in God's Image
My name is Sarah. Not the Sarah that you know of Abraham and Sarah fame. Like you, I am one of their descendents. But I lived about 500-600 years before the birth of Jesus. Like you, I believe in a wonderful, compassionate, strong God.
It's the year 570 Before Common Era (before Christ was born) and for the past 14 years, my family and a good portion of the leaders of the people of Israel are in Exile in Babylon. We used to live in a small town just outside of Jerusalem. We're middle class - just enough of a herd of livestock to get by and decently educated. My husband was one of the leading local government officials....
De-fence-less
Rev. Dr. Rod Sykes - guest sermon
Marilynn and I have driven Highway 22 from Calgary to the Crows Nest Pass many times now in the seven years we've lived out here. As the landscape changes going southward from the parkland west of Calgary to the sweeping, tree-less grasslands south of Longview, I've noticed something interesting. There are fewer and fewer fences.
Being Real: From the Heart
I heard of this study, years ago, where a researcher found he could predict what marriages would survive and what marriages would likely fail.
9 Steps to Living Abundantly
OMG - It's Stewardship month. I don't know about you - but I get a fair amount of angst when it comes to knowing it's Stewardship time and as minister I'm going to need to talk about how our discipleship includes how we use our money.
I never fully understood that until last weekend when I was attending the Alberta Conference education sessions on Stewardship. Several presenters presented a fact: Most of us - don't like to talk about money, sex or politics and we've been taught and raised not to talk about those things.
Living From Our 'Deeper Yes'
Over the holidays, a handful of us saw the movie, Amazing Grace. The movie's title, comes from the song, we know all so well, written by John Newton, a former slave ship captain, after his conversion to Christianity.
While John Newton is depicted in the movie, it's really the story of a man named William Wilberforce. He was an 18th century British Member of Parliament who fought to end the slave trade most of his life.
Grumping Our Way to Christmas
When I was growing up, a special treat was to watch the movie, A Christmas Carol . I think my Dad particularly liked one phrase of Ebeneezer Scrooge. "Ba hum bug." It's around this time in the Advent Season, in fact perhaps earlier, he would start saying this phrase.Forget that he was a minister - putting out services extolling the love of God, the joy of following Christ, the peace that we know in the life lived in the Holy Spirit. "Ba hum bug," he would grump.
Fear Not
It was five-year-old Cameron's first day of kindergarten. He was so excited as he waited for the bus with a group of children. His mother was a few steps behind him. But then another boy spit on him.What a rotten thing to have happen on a day you've looked forward to. It could have ruined the whole day. Now Cameron had some choices: He could spit back, punch the boy or call him a bully. He could have cowered in fear, running back to where his mother was. Before his mother could intervene, Cameron looked the other boy straight in the eye and said 'if you do that, I can't be your friend.'
Everyone's Doing It
Years ago, when I was in my 20's, I was invited to a party at friends. It was Friday night. I looked forward to a fun time, talking and dancing with friends. But mid-way through the evening I went to get something out of my coat and went into the back room where all our coats were stashed. I found my friend's fiance and another man, snorting cocaine.The scene was a shock to me. I'd never seen anyone do that before. But a bit later, I saw one of the men sitting watching other people dance in the living room. So I asked him: Why are you using that stuff? With his red, sniffling nose, he shrugged. "Everyone's doing it."