A Birthday Surprise

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here

Ed. Note: This week our blog post was written by our clerk of session. Although it made me blush, she insisted I not tone it down. Thank you, Janet, for giving me a week off and for your kind words.

This week as we begin a new year, I am going to try writing a blog to give our blog mistress a week off as it is her birthday. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALICE!

 

I'm not good at this kind of thing but I feel Alice is worthy of my efforts. 

She has faithfully written a weekly blog for SPPC for many years with an occasional help from others in the congregation. 

 I start my week off every Monday morning by reading the blog for the week and I try to respond each time when I've read it. 

 I hear that many of you too read the blog but never respond to it although there is the opportunity to do so each week, please consider doing so the next time you read it. 

 Did you know that there are verses in the Bible that speak of communication?

Here are a number of references that I found on Google

• Power of words: Words have immense power; they can bring life, healing, or death (Proverbs, 18:21, 12:18).

• Listen more, speak less: Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger (James 1:19).

• Gentleness and grace: A gentle answer turns away wrath, while harsh words stir anger (Proverbs 15:1).

• Truthful speech: Speak truthfully, but always with love (Ephesians 4:15).

• Edifying speech: Only say what builds others up (Ephesians 4:29).

• Purity of speech: Avoid obscenity, foolish talk, and coarse joking (Ephesians 5:4).

• Self-control: Don't let every thought become a spoken word (Proverbs 10:19).

Alice does an amazing job of communication week by week to communicate all that happens here at SPPC to enrich the ministry and outreach into the community. 

We are very blessed by her work and dedication at SPPC. For many years now, Alice has sung in the choir, and helped Larry organize music. She serves on the Worship Committee, she is a link in the Prayer chain and great at decorating for Christmas every year and various other occasions. Just last year, she also took on another new position, as one of the organizers of the annual Shortbread bake off!! 

THANK YOU Alice for all you do. Here is to another year of sharing your many talents and your gift of communication.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALICE!

If you need help to find the blog or how to respond to the blog, please communicate with me and I will be happy to walk you through it! 

Ed. Note: Although this post was about one person's work at SPPC, it was written by another person who does a ton of work for our church, while mindful of Ephesians 4:29. At the CML luncheon on Sunday, there was a survey of the assets within our congregation. Watch this space for more on that, and for the many, many folk who contribute immeasurably to our fellowship.

Twixtmas

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

I complained to my friend that I never knew what day of the week it was in the period between Christmas and New Year's, or, to be truthful, between the Sunday before Christmas and the Sunday after New Year's. She told me that period is called "Twixtmas." Seems perfect to me since we are betwixt two major events and between order and chaos.

So, during twixtmas I overheard a few gems that made me smile, ponder and smile again. 

• "I'm not weird. I'm perfectly normal. " This was a snippet of conversation between two teenage girls. I wondered what had provoked the comment, but I was relieved to hear the reply. We are reminded so often of the angst of youth and the subsequent poor choices. I applaud the girl who is "perfectly normal."                   
• " . . . a nation committed to building peace. . . " Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada in her new year's message. Elbows up has been a rallying cry for 2025, but building peace is a worthy goal for our country in 2026.                                                                                                                                                                                                
• "with peace comes kindness, or with kindness comes peace . . . music can unite all of us, because we live on the same planet." Yannick Nézet-Séguin when he conducted the New Year's Day concert, in Vienna.

Now that Epiphany Sunday has come and gone, the decorations will come down, lists will be filed and we'll all start to know it's seven days between Sundays. But I pray we can hang onto the joy of greeting a newborn King, hold hope for a kinder year ahead, and know the peace that comes from God. "God bless us, everyone."