Monday - Compassion

Prayer:  Divine Healer,  move through every part of my body and mind giving Your healing and Your strength and Your wisdom and Your love to ever fiber of my being.  For my daily life and life eternal,  I give You thanks and praise.  Amen.

Luke 13: 10 – 17

What would you do if you were sitting in Church one Sunday and the Guest Preacher suddenly stopped preaching,  stepped down from the pulpit into the congregation and healed a person.   Would you be a bit taken back?  What would the Elders do?  Would they too be surprised at what had just happened?  Would they try to stop the Guest Preacher?

Here in these verses, Jesus was teaching in a synagogue when he noticed a woman who needed healing.    Jesus calls her forward and heals her.     She is immediately healed.   But the synagogue ruler is angry.  Jesus knows the 613 laws.   The primary law is that the Sabbath is to remain the Sabbath – no extra work and definitely no healings were to take place on the Sabbath.  Or so thought the synagogue ruler.   

Jesus says to the synagogue ruler that he cares for his animals on the Sabbath by giving them water.  How much more should a person be cared for if they need healing.

The woman was set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her.  Jesus took compassion on the woman and healed her.

How do we take compassion on people today?  What do our Church’s  do to help heal those who need healing?   Would your community call your Church a compassionate Church?   

It is through our compassion and the compassion of the Church that begin healing within a community and the world.    This Sunday as you go to Church,  look around you to what is in the neighbourhood of the Church.   Is it all housing?   Are there stores?   Are there any hospitals or Senior’s  homes?    Are there any community centres?   Once you have discovered what is in your Church neighbourhood,  look at your Church’s bulletin.  What in the bulletin helps those outside the door of the Church?   If there isn’t anything,  then perhaps it is time to ask the Elders and Minister how the Church can involve itself in the neighbourhood so that the Church can bring compassion and healing to the community.

Prayer:  Great God,  as Christians we do not stand alone.  You are with us as well as our Church family.   Together we are commissioned to bring Your compassion into the Church neighbourhood.   Enable us today through prayer,  thought,  or events  to bring Your compassion to the church neighbourhood.   This we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Sunday - Easter Season

Prayer:   O Lord our Lord,  You are our Creator and Redeemer.  You sustain us all our life long.  We enjoy You forever in each day that we live and move and have our rest in You.   Be with those who preach this day.  Guide their words so that Your glory may come forth.    Be with those who teach this day.   Guide their actions so that Your glory may shine forth as an example to the students.    Be with those who travel this day.   Open our  minds and souls so that we know You are wisely and tenderly leading us.   Refresh our hearts so that we may take forth Your Word into all the world and share this love with everyone we meet.   This we ask in Your Son’s name.  Amen.

 

Dreaming of Quilting

God bless relatives.    I haven't been able to quilt for a long while due to life happening.  Earlier last week my cousins asked me to create a French Braid pattern table runner for a friend's  50th Anniversary in October.  No problem.   Many months to get the table runner completed.  No problem.    As of last night,  the cousins realized that the friend's  50th anniversary was the end of July.  Problem!    The time of leisure for creating this table runner is slim to none.    First question is what size will the table runner be?   The cousins answered "Big".    What kind of big?  The two foot big or the six feet big?   The cousins didn't know.   Then came the second question... what colour should the table runner be?  The cousins answered, "Blues and turquoises".    Hummm.  Usually those two colours don't go well together.   So!  The cousins have been tasked with going to a painting store and finding twelve paint chips in blue and turquoise that are awesome.    Hopefully the cousins will be successful in their paint chip search.... then I can order the fabrics online in those colours.    Although I think we'll have to throw in some yellows just to provide a contrast......  
God bless relatives.  :) 

On the home front....  the latest Museum Loan is a collection of sweetheart pins.   These are pins given to Mom's,  sisters,  sweeties  by Soldiers during WW1 and WW2 and beyond.  In order for our Museum to display the collection of sweetheart pins,  the pins need to be appraised then photographed  then a report written up on the condition of each pin.  Many of the sweetheart pins in this loan are unique and there don't seem to be any others like them anywhere else.  So suddenly appraising becomes difficult.... is the pin worth $25.00 or $2500??   Then comes the 40 plus hours of creating a Feasibility study for Insurance purposes.  Once everything is approved and we have the insurance coverage in place,  we can display these sweetheart pins.  Only problem is our Museum is teeny tiny and there is almost NO wall space left to display these pins.   How drole.    God bless Curator's  who think Loans are a good idea :)    

Our Museum also has a couple of tours coming up and one big Celebration.  The WW2 Battle of Lower Normandy is coming up June 6th.  Our sea Cadets will be helping the Museum with their D-Day tea..... in commemoration of the soldiers and nurses who were part of the Battle of D-Day on Juno Beach.     Before the Sea Cadets help serve this event,  we like to instruct them on the history of D-Day.  This year we are creating a live interactive battle.   "High Tech" --   three shower curtains with the map of Juno Beach and each Cadet is given an Order card.  On the Order card are three orders of who and what they will do on D-Day.    

Our family is also hosting  the Presbyterian EH Johnston Award winner the last week of May.   Rev Dr Abraham Berinyuu is from Ghana.  Time to clean up the guest bedroom,  install a bannister to the front door,  and install two tub bars. 

Now to go pester the cousins and see how they made out getting paint chips in blues and turquoises!

Saturday - Shorter Catechism

Prayer:   Divine Healer,  move through every part of my body and mind,  dissolving all  frustrations,  irritations, and aggravations.   Divine Healer,  sweep away all of my impatience and struggles and sufferings that keep within my body.   Divine Healer,  help me to turn my frustrations and struggles into inspiration and enthusiastic action.  For this and all things  we pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen. 

The month of May and into June we will be taking each Saturday to learn a section of the Shorter Catechism.    In order to mature as Christians,  we must be able to tell others (and ourself!) what we believe.    The Shorter Catechism was created by the Church fathers for such a reason. 

The Shorter Catechism is an old old instruction book from Britain on what it means to be a Christian.   The full title is the Westminster Shorter Catechism.  And yes,  there is also the Westminster Larger Catechism.    The Westminster Shorter Catechism was created so that new believers could understand what it means to be a Christian.   After many years of writing and re-writing,  the Westminster Shorter Catechism,  the Westminster Larger Catechism, and The Confession of Faith was completed in 1647 and  taken to the Parliament (Long Parliament in England) and passed on 14 April 1648.  

In the Westminster Shorter Catechism,  there are 107 questions that help us define our faith and our belief and our doctrine.  Each of the 107 questions also comes with Scripture texts.   The first twelve questions reflect on God as creator.  Then the explanation of original sin is found in questions 13 to 20.   Questions 21 to 38 pertain to Christ as our Redeemer.  Questions 39 to 84 explain the Ten Commandments.  Questions 85 – 97 instruct on Baptism and Holy Communion.   Questions 98 – 107 instruct us on the Lord’s Prayer.     Our Christian faith in 107 questions!  How neat is that!

   

Back in the day,  Sunday afternoons were set aside for learning and memorizing the Shorter Catechism.     Memorizing a faith document is essential but it can’t just stop with memorization.   We need to put into action what we have learned and memorized.

Most Presbyterians 55 years and older chuckle away when someone asks what is the First Question of the Shorter Catechism as most of us learned the Shorter Catechism in our Confirmation Classes.   

Together over the next few months we will be devoting Saturdays  to learning (and memorizing) the Shorter Catechism.  And the Shorter Catechism will be taken from the original 1648 text.  So,  if you see the word “man” and this bothers you,  remember that back in the day the word “man” does not mean just male…. it means human…. male and female.  

Question 1  What is the chief end of man?   

Answer:  Man’s  chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever.

1 Corinthians 10: 31

Romans 11: 36

Psalm 73:  24 - 28

As Christians we are to glorify God through Worship,  prayer,  study of scripture,  meditation, and action. We give thanks and praise to God our Creator,  Redeemer, Sustainer.    But the best part is this is not a one time thing.  We are to enjoy God for ever.  

Prayer:   Holy God!  You are our live.   Holy God!  You are our love.  Holy God!  We glorify You.  Holy God!  We thank You that You are our God and we are Your people. 

We worship You this day and always.  Amen.

Friday - one more year

Prayer:  Creator God,  You nourish us through Your Word and through the goodness of this land.   Help us to nourish those who need extra care.    You never give up on us even when we turn away from You.   Help us this day to take Your love and reach out to others who need Your Word and Your goodness.   This we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Luke 13: 6 – 9

Jesus then tells a parable about why everyone must repent and turn to God. 

A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard.  For three years he would look forward to eating figs.  But for three years the tree never produced any figs.    The man asked his gardener to cut down the tree as the tree was obviously useless.   The gardener  asked that the fig tree be given one more year.  The gardener would fertilize the tree and dig around the tree.  If the tree didn’t produce next year,  then the man could cut down the tree.

One more year.  Wait one more year.  Fig trees were one of the most common trees in Palestine.  They bear fruit ten months of the year.    Fig trees grow in rocky soil to the height of 40 feet.  No small feat for one large tree on rocky soil.

Earlier,  Jesus had been telling the people to repent and turn back to God.  Some commentaries suggest that Jesus is using the analogy of the fig tree as the nation of Israel.  The nation is populous but it too was no longer bearing fruit…. while the people of Israel were many,  they were no long  remembering God.    

Waiting one more year.  When our Churches have a program that is not working,  do we give up in despair and say, “That’s it.   That program is done and gone”.  Or should we be like the gardener… should we tend the program and give it our prayers and best efforts for one more year and see what happens?  

Jesus gave us a wonderful example of all programs and events at Churches.  After three years,  the program or event needs to be evaluated.  If it is not doing well,  then we need to give the program or event our focus for one more year.   And we also need to figure out what is a good measure to evaluate the “health” and “fruitfulness” of the program.    For us today,  it isn’t necessarily the growth of numbers of people in attendance that is important but the growth of Christian maturity in each participant.

In new Church development,  the experts say that it takes a minimum of five years in order for the Church to grow spiritually and in numbers.    It takes four or five years in order for the people to grow together as a community.   New Church Development does not happen over night.   Like the fig tree,  New Churches take time to grow into trees that provide fruit.   But  we can’t stand back and just watch the New Church grow,  we have to push up our sleeves and help the New Church grow in nurture and spirituality.  It is not easy work.  But God never said being a Christian was easy.

Work of the Synod:   Today remember in prayer those who are meeting by Conference Call (due to snow and freezing rain)  for the Presbytery of Superior meeting.

 

Prayer:   God of unlimited love,  we thank You that we are drawn to Your Church.  Help us to not become discouraged when our numbers drop and our programs disappear.  Remind us that in all things,  You love each of us no matter what happens with our Churches.   Provide us this day with an opportunity to help Your Church bring Your love to this world.  This we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen. 

Thursday - triangulation

Prayer:  Almighty God,  may we return to You this and each day.  May we  always remember how much You love us.  From the first thing in the morning when we open our eyes may we see Your glory until the last thing at night when we are ready for sleep may we dwell in Your presence for ever.   Amen.

Luke  13:  1 – 5

Some people came to Jesus and told him about some Galileans who were offering sacrifices and Pilate ordered these Galileans to be slain.   Some people,  some Galileans. Have you ever been in a situation where a friend tells you about something that happened between themselves and another person that you can do nothing about? The friend is extremely irate about the situation but you can not do anything at all?   

In psychology this is called triangulation.   Instead of your friend going directly to  the other person and making peace or resolving the situation,  your friend decides to involve more and more people in the drama of the situation by telling them what happened (from their perspective).   And then the situation grows into horrid proportions until more and more people get hurt and the situation is never resolved.

Here some people have come to Jesus.   Perhaps they were wanting Jesus to be a military hero and confront Pilate.  Perhaps they were wanting Jesus to make disparaging remarks against Pilate.   

Yet what does Jesus say?  He reminds the people of another tragedy as well.  The tragedy was of those Galileans who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them.  Jesus asks which group of people were guilty?   (In Jewish understanding,  tragedy and accidents were thought to have been caused by God’s anger on the people for a sin that the people did).   So which group of people were guilty of sin?  Neither group.

Jesus says that the “some people”   themselves must repent.  Unless they repent,  they too will perish.   Jesus is reminding the “some people” that he has come not to be a military hero nor to say disparaging remarks about Pilate but to turn the “some people” back to God.

Prayer:  Holy God,  we know that everything comes from You.  Everything happens through You.  Everything ends up with You.  You are always glory and always praise.  May we dwell in Your presence with glory and praise in our hearts.  Amen.

Wednesday - Spiritual Pop Quiz

Just for You:

1.  Workshop on Spiritual Practices – Right Relationships on  Saturday 

May 11  9:30am to 3:30pm  at First Presbyterian Church Portage la Prairie.   Please RSVP to Glenn Ball (204-570-1390  or  rgball@mymts.net)   by Sunday  May 5 2013.

2. Come and meet with the Rev Dr Abraham Berinyuu,  recipient of the EH Johnston Award.  Come and hear about his ministry in Ghana.   

First Presbyterian Church Brandon  May 21 at  7pm

Knox – Zion Presbyterian Church  Carberry  May 23  at   7pm

Calvin Presbyterian Church Winnipeg  May 26 at 11am

Wednesday  May 1

Prayer:   Great God  we come before You today with minds ready to receive Your Word.  We come before You today thirsting for Your Living Word.  Great God,  instill in us the wonder of the Gospel reading.    Open our minds and hearts and souls to Your great love and wisdom.  This we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Luke 12: 54 – 59

Jesus said to the crowd, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say ‘It’s  going to rain’ and it does”.    (St Luke 12: 54  NIV  Zondervan 1983).    Weather.  We know all about weather.   We too can gauge weather by watching the clouds drift across the Prairies.  Interpretation.    We have floods that the Conservation Experts and Emergency – Disaster Experts have been predicting.    Will the snow melt quickly and cause major flooding down river?   Will the snow melt slowly and there will be no flooding at all?    We don’t really know.  But we prepare for flooding and hopefully not have to use this preparation.

Jesus got angry at the crowd for not being prepared.  Jesus got angry at the crowd for not interpreting the times.  Jesus didn’t get angry at the crowd for predicting weather but for not being prepared for the coming of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus called them hypocrites.  While the people observed the religious laws they did not live their lives as people chosen by God.    Unlike the storm clouds or sandstorm clouds that would roll in and people would prepare for storms and flooding,  the people were not preparing their hearts and minds and souls for God.      Their spiritual lives were the pits.

Are we,  like the crowds of Jesus’ day,   unprepared for the coming of the Kingdom of God?  Are our spiritual lives the pits?   Are you fooling yourself into thinking you are in a good relationship with God?    Aha!  Time for a Spiritual Pop Quiz.    While Pop Quizzes are usually a tool used in magazines to sell magazines,  Pop Quizzes actually make us think about what we believe. 

Spiritual Pop Quiz:    Choose only one answer to each question.

1.  How many times a day do you say prayers?

a.  never

b.  once a day

c.   only at meal times

d.  more than four times a day

e.  depends upon the day and the situations

2.  What type of prayers do you pray?

a.  prayers during times of desperation only

b.  prayers only asking for things

c.  only  prayers asking for healing of others

d.  prayers that include thanks to God,  gratitude to God, times of silence,

     bringing concerns of others to God,  asking God for forgiveness.

e.   prayers that only focus upon myself

3.  How many times a week do you meditate?

a.  never

b.  one a day

c.  only while waiting for traffic lights to change or other mundane tasks

d.  more than three times a day for at least 15 minutes each time

e.  depends if I have any free time during the day

4.   How many times a week do you attend worship?

a.   never

b.  only during Christmas and Easter

c.  once each Sunday either in Church or on TV/online Church

d.  Sundays and  listen to other TV – online worship programmes during the week

e.   Christmas,  Easter,  and Communion Sundays

5.  How many times a week do you read the Bible?

a.   once a week

b.   twice a week

c.    three times a week

d.   seven times a week or more

e.   only when I remember or aren’t heavily involved in family or community

     or Church events.   

Tally up your score:

For each A answer give yourself  a 1

For each B answer give yourself a  2

For each  C answer give yourself a  3

For each D answer give yourself a 4

For each E answer give yourself a  2

My score is: _____________

If your score is  5 to  9,  you need to seriously look at what you believe and what it means to be a  Christian.

If your score  is  10 to 12,  you need to strive to pray,  meditate, read the Scriptures, and worship. Ask your Minister or Elder to recommend some books on what it means to be a Christian. Attend a Bible Study.

If your score is  13 to  17, you should strive to pray, meditate, read the Scriptures each day, and  worship. Ask your Minister or Elder  to help you discern what it means to be a Christian. Attend a Bible Study.

If your score is  18 to 19,   you should strive to pray,  meditate, read the Scriptures each day and  remember to worship God through your gratitude.  Attend a Bible Study.

If your score is  20,  you are well on the way to understanding what it means to be and live as a Christian.  Help lead a Bible Study.

Prayer:  Holy God,  You know us from before we were born and are with us all of our life.  Help us this and each day O Lord,  to grow and mature in our faith.  In all times and in all places may we continually turn to Your great love.  This we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.