As this is the 1st Sunday of a new liturgical season we will be celebrating Communion.
The Scripture Readings this week are:
- From the Jewish Scriptures: Jeremiah 18:1-6
- Psalm 25 (VU p.752)
- From the Gospel: Luke 21:25-36
The Hymns this week are:
- O What a Wonderful Gift (insert)
- #2 Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
- #708 My Lord What a Morning
- #481 Sent Forth By God's Blessing
As a sung response to the lighting of the Advent Candles this year we will be singing MV#115 Behold, Behold I Make All Things New.
The theme for this week is
Birth Means Tearing Down the Old
Early Thoughts: Birth is a time of great hope but also great change. While much may be gained, there may also be things lost.
Whenever a child is born the lives of the people around the child are changed, permanently. And some people have trouble adapting to/accepting that reality.
The same thing is true about changes in our society or in our economy or in our communities. CHange and the start of something new means that something has to be let go (at least) or even torn apart. THe fear of that loss sometimes keeps us stuck in a place that is no longer life giving. OR the wish to go back to what once was keeps us from seeing the possibilities of the "new normal".
This week we will visit the potter's house and talk about rebuilding. We will also reflect on adapting to the reality of a "new normal". At the same time we will name some of the pain that comes with making those shifts.
After all, Christmas is all about the new thing that is happening. It is about the birth of hope and possibility. How can we free ourselves to embrace it wholeheartedly?
--Gord
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The Scripture Readings this week are:
- From the Writings of the Early Church: Revelation 1:4b-8
- Psalm 34 (VU p.761)
- From the Gospel: John 18:33-37
The Hymns this week are:
- #710 Shall We Gather at the River
- #713 I See a New Heaven
- #688 O Day of God Draw Nigh
- #424 May the God of Hope Go With Us
The Sermon Title is:
What Makes a Kingdom?
Early Thoughts: As people of faith we pray each week "Thy Kingdom come". What do we mean by that? What are the markers of a kingdom/realm/reign?
One of the accusations leveled at the Early Christians was that they were subversives. They were seen as disloyal and not ggod citizens. And the accusers were, to a large point, right!
From the beginning Christians have used language like Lord and Master and Kingdom to talk about God and Christ and the realm that is to come. And in the beginning these were clear ways of saying "God (or Christ) is Lord and therefore Ceasar is NOT". How much more subversive can you get?
Today we are called to the same loyalty. Is our loyalty to Canada or the US or some other nation or is our loyalty to the Reign/Realm/Kingdom or God? Who is Lord?
This last Sunday of the Church Year is called Reign of Christ or Christ the King Sunday. As such it is a day to ask that very question of loyalty. It is a day to ask wht it might mean to us today to say that Christ (or God) is Lord and OBama/Harper/other national leader is not.
We may not be called subversives anymore. But as people of faith we still profess a belief that there is a different realm to worry about. ANd just maybe we should be a little bit more subversive from time to time...
--Gord
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For Valentines Day instead of flowers or chocolate send your loved one a giant sugar cookie with a message on it!
This is a sample cookie.
For details call Gord
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Today was the annual UCW Bazaar. Pictures from the day are below the fold:
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The Scripture Readings this week are:
- From the Hebrew Scriptures: 1 Samuel 1:4-20
- From the Hebrew Scriptures: 1 Samuel 2:1-10
- From the Gospel: Mark 13:1-8
The Hymns this week are:
- #374 Come and Find the Quiet Centre
- #708 My Lord, What a Morning
- #601 The Church of Christ in Every Age
- #642 Be Thou My Vision
The Sermon title is
Birth: Expectation and Pain
Early Thoughts: What is our pain? What is our hope? What is our expectation? What is being born?
There is a tendency to think of childbirth as a joyous event. But is it always? In this passage from 1 Samuel we see some of the pain of child birth to those who appear unable to have children.
One of the metaphors that is often used for a changed world is that of birth (or possibly re-birth). And for many of us the pain that lies in that metaphor is that of barrenness as the new world seems to not be coming soon.
Sometimes the pain of birth is in the miscarriage or stillbirth of the child. WE who wait for the birth of a new world share that pain, or at least the fear of it.
ANd of course some of the pain of birth is in the pain of the process. Not just labour but some (many?) mothers experience pain, or at least discomfort, at various points throughout the pregnancy. And of course that ties in to our metaphor as well. It is painful to have things change.
But of course birth and childbearing are not all about pain. There is hope and promise there too. There is a hope for what may be possible. There is a promise that great things can happen. It is the hope and the promise that can make the pain and discomfort all worth it in the long term.
As people of hope we do await a new birth. As people of hope we are trying to help that birth happen. Yes there is pain involved. Yes it is a struggle. But if we want a new world, or at least a new vision of how to be the church in the world, we have to find the way that the hope or expectation will overbalance the hope and the fear.
This year we will return to birth in more detail during Advent. This Sunday we start with the pain and expectation and how it may tie into our vision of what it meanss to be the church today and tomorrow.
--Gord
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What is happening in the life of Riverview? This post will tell you (and will be updated regularly)
- November 19 -- Church Board Meets at 6:30
- November 29 -- 1st Sunday of Advent, Communion service
- November 29 -- Soup & Sandwich Lunch and Tree-trimming party following worship
- December 7 -- UCW Christmas Supper & Meeting
- December 12 -- Community Christmas Party held at Riverview
- December 13 -- White Gift Service/Christmas Pageant
- December 13 -- Blue Christmas Service at 7:00
- December 24 -- ECW worship at 10:45
- December 24 -- Christmas Eve Service at 7:00
2010
- January 3 -- Epiphany Sunday, Communion Service
- January 4 -- UCW Meeting
- January 10 -- Annual Reports Due
- January 28 -- ECW Worship at 10:45
- January 31 -- Congregational Annual Meeting
- February 1 -- UCW Meeting
- February 14 -- Valentine's Day Fundraiser
- February 21 -- First Sunday of Lent, Communion Service
- February 25-28 -- Winter Meeting of Cambrian Presbytery
- March 1 -- UCW Meeting
- March 4 -- ECW Worship at 10:45
- April 2 -- Good Friday
- April 4 -- Easter Sunday, Communion Service
- May 23 -- Pentecost Sunday, Communion Service
- May 27-30 -- Annual Meeting of Conference of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario
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The Scripture Readings this week are:
- From the Hebrew Scriptures: Ruth 1:1-18
- Psalm 146 (VU p.868)
- From the Gospel: Mark 12:28-34
The Hymns this week are:
- #316 Praise Our Maker
- #707 For the Faithful Who Have Answered
- #602 Blest Be the Tie That Binds
- #675 Will Your Anchor Hold
The Sermon title is
Family: Ancestors and Descendants
Early Thoughts: What responsibility we have to our ancestors? To our descendants? What do we inherit and what do we pass on?
Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die— there will I be buried.
What a wonderful statement of fidelity, of loyalty, of committment. Ruth has no reason to stay with Naomi, there appears to be no future there. But she lays her cards on the table and goes to a new place.
It is often suspected that the Book of Ruth is included in the Canon of Scripture in part because her story is part of David's story. It is the story of the family. And really, the story of the family is what we are all about. Each of us is a small part of a larger story. Where do we fit? What do we do with the legacy we have received? WHat do we choose to pass on?
November 1st is All Saints/All Souls Day. It is a day to celebrate the community (or communion) of all who have gone before us. It is a day to give thanks for the legacy that has been passed on to us. We are a people with a history, a history we don't want to forget or to reject.
OCtober 31st marks the anniversary of the day Martin Luther pasted his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenburg, the event that is said to have launched the Reformation. WE are part of a church that is reformed and always reforming. In that light, how do we change or alter the tradition that has been passed on to us?
As we see ourselves going forward what is our vision? Are we ready to make the same pledge that Ruth makes? OR are we afraid to step into a new land? How do we balance teh past and the future? How do we honour the ancestors of our faith family and what do we pass on to our descendants?
--Gord
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The Scripture Readings this week are:
- From the Hebrew Scriptures: Job 42:1-6, 10-17
- Psalm 34 (VU p.761)
- From the Gospel: Mark 10:46-52
The Hymns this week are:
- #371 Open My Eyes That I May See
- #299 Teach Me, God, to Wonder
- #242 Let All Things Now Living
- #427 To Show by Touch and Word
The Sermon title is
Giveth, Taketh, Giveth Again
Early Thoughts: What do we make of the story of Job? What does it have to tell us about possessions?
Job is, to say the least, a troubling book. It is a difficult story to follow--at least in part because it seems to be two stories glued together. There is a little folk tale that bookends the larger story made up of a series of speeches about why Job is in the state he finds himself. The larger story has a lot to do with issues of punishment and why bad things happen to people. The bookends appear to try and give context and explanation to the middle (and possibly let God off the hook for the bad things that happen to Job).
This week we are going to focus on the bookends. TO put it simply, Job has a lot. God allows ha-Satan (the Accuser/Adversary) take it away to test Job's faith. Job gets it all back and more. In the theology that is presented: God has given, God allows to be taken, God gives again.
THere are two things I find instructive about this in terms of our possessions. The first is to see all we have as a gift from GOd. The second is to wonder if we can remain faithful when it all gets taken away. There is a danger as well--the story can be taken in terms of the so-called "prosperity gospel"--the belief that if we are really "good" then God will bless us with lots of stuff.
So how does that all shake out as am message of hope and good news? Come on Sunday and find out.
--Gord
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The Scripture Readings this week are:
- From the Hebrew Scriptures: Job 38:1-17, 34-41
- Psalm 104 (VU p.826)
- From the Gospel: Mark 10:35-45
The Hymns this week are:
- #603 In Loving Partnership We Come
- #593 Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love
- #372 Though I May Speak
- #567 Will You Come and Follow Me
The Sermon title is
Me First!!!!
Early Thoughts: Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the excitement. Sometimes we think we have a privileged spot. Sometimes we get told otherwise.
James and John forgot which rules were in play. Either that or they were power hungry.
THey were working as if the rules of the world around them were in effect in the Kingdom of GOd. ANd under those rules you got preferential treatment if, like them, you had been with the powerful from the beginning. They were playing the status game that has been played, and still is played, in power structures around the world.
But of course Jesus is playing by a different set of rules. Jesus is playig by rules where saying "Me first!" put you at the end of the line. Jesus is playing by rules which call us to put the other person first, where status just doesn't count the same way.
Deciding which rules we are playing by is, in the end, a stewardship decision. When we decide to play by the rules of the world our stewardship decisions get based on asking "what's in it for me?". But when we play by the rules of the kingdom our stewardship decisions are based on the question "what's in it for them?".
How then shall we live? WHose rules about status and rank and privilege are in effect?
--Gord
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