Advent Four - Love

 The link to this week's live-streamed service is here.  The link for the Christmas eve service is here.

Are you ready? Is the last bow tied, the last cookie baked, the last ornament hung?  Good! 

Now take time to kneel by the manger, to look with wonder on the Christ child, to reflect with awe and thanksgiving on the gift God sent. Turn off "Deck the Hall" and listen to "Away in a Manger." 

Turn off the news and read Luke 2-- in the King James Version if you love poetic language, in a modern translation if that fills your soul. Read it aloud with people you love.

Come to the Christmas Eve candlelight service at SPPC. It is a beautiful time, with music and candles, prayer and reflection, and great joy.

Come to our Christmas morning service too. Come in your jeans or jammies. No formality on that morning, but lots of hugs and smiles and more joyful singing. "Come and behold Him, born the king of angels."

Make these last few days of Advent a truly waiting time, filled with anticipation, reverence and holy stillness.

Advent Three - Joy

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

dedication of white gifts and flowers

Joy is the theme of Advent Three, and there was lots of joy around our church this week.

On Thursday, my elder and one other threw a party for their parishioners.

We had great fun, unscrambling the names of Santa's reindeer and remembering our right arm from our left, and singing a few carols.

On Sunday morning, the mission commitee held a bake sale in support of the Dominican Republic.

I dropped into the church on Saturday while preparations were under way. In the midst of work, there was joy. Something about giving lifts the heart of the giver. We hope that those who receive from SPPC will be made joyful. 

The display of goodies and the rush of eager buyers made the narthex a place of joy following the service.

Advent Three is also white gift Sunday. We no longer bring tins of soup or cans of beans wrapped in white tissue paper. Instead, we bring "toonies" and the pastoral care committee buys gifts appropriate for our shut-ins, many of whom require special diets. The gifts are put into pretty bags and personally delivered. For a little extra joy, the committee also delivers pointsettias to brighten a small space.

Rev. Irwin was at Trinity church on Sunday morning, preaching and administering communion. In his place, Rev. Arnold Alksne, all the way from Pender Island took the service. Rev. Arnie has filled the pulpit at SPPC so many times he is like an old friend. Considering the winds and ferry cancellations on Saturday, there was much joy, especially in the worship committee, when he showed up on Sunday morning.  

As Christmas day draws closer, may you know quiet joy, exuberant joy, and the holy joy of Christ in your heart.

Peace of Christ

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

The theme for the second Sunday of Advent is peace.

The daily news reminds us that peace is far from our grasp. Wars rage in Euope, Africa, and the Middle East. Racism, hatred, and anger shout from the pages of our social media. How do we observe "peace" in such an unpeaceful time?

 Jesus was born into a troubled world. His ministry was marked with dispute and rejection. He died a shameful death. And yet, He said, "my peace I leave with you."  As we celebrated the Lord's Supper on Sunday, we reached for that deep, inner stillness (peace) that assures us God is with us. The baby, born in a manger, is the Prince of Peace. God's will is done.

food bank offerings at the communion table

Along with our communion service we welcomed Pat and Pierce into membership at SPPC. They have worshipped at SPPC for some time, but it is always a special time when congregants publicly declare their belief and become official members.

This Sunday we wrapped up our special drive for the Sidney/Lions food bank. The normal collection boxes were filled to overflowing. A welcome gift to the workers at the food bank, as well as to those who use it. 

Just because it's fun to have

prizes, each donation to the food basket gave the donor a chance at a Christmas poinsettia. The draw was made after service, with our newest member, Pat, doing the honours. 

And the winner was . . . . Ann.

Congratulations, Ann, and thank you for your contribution to the food bank.

As we go about our daily lives this week, may we "sleep in heavenly peace."

Welcome to Advent

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

A few weeks ago we held a deep cleaning bee at the church. We scrubbed and scoured and pulled out furniture, looking into every corner for overlooked cobwebs and stray crayons. By the time we were finished, the church sparkled and smelled like fresh air.

Airing out the quiet room.

  

Industrious vacuumer who didn't want

her picture taken.

 Always time for a laugh.

 Shining the pews.

Apart from being good stewardship, all that elbow grease made the place ready for Christmas decorations. So, this week, we held a decorating bee. 

These photos show finished product. Sorry I didn't get pictures of all the helping hands.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

And now that we are into December, there Christmas events are popping up everywhere. One that is of particular interest to our congregation is the Die Mahler Ensemble playing on Saturday, Dec. 7 at St. Paul's United Church in Sidney. Our organist, Larry, is part of that ensemble and our choir, with friends, will sing a short work based on Christmas carols. 

Share and Share Alike

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

We're starting the Christmas season a little early at SPPC. Our extra drive for the Sidney Lions Food Bank is on now and will end by Dec. 8. The start date and end date are early so that the folks at the food bank will have time to purchase goods, fill hampers and distribute them, all before Christmas Day. 

Every year, the need seems to grow, but this year in particular food banks are dealing with a crush of people needing help and a reduction in the number of donations coming in. It seems everyone is struggling with the high cost of groceries.

No doubt you've seen the stories in the national news detailing the pressure on food banks. Locally, the Sidney food bank is seeing about 500 families per month. That is up by 100 families from the same time last year. Of course, the number of individuals is greater than the number of families. The local food bank is supplementing groceries for about 2000 people from babies to school kids to seniors. In many cases we are talking about two parent families with both adults working and still the paycheques won't stretch far enough to cover groceries, let alone anything like music lessons or after school sports.

The Sidney food bank relies entirely on community donations. It does not receive any government funding. They are grateful to the larger grocery stores for supporting the work with donation boxes located at the checkouts and food recovery programs for less than perfect produce, and meat and dairy products approaching their expiry dates.

There is a list of "most needed" items available in the narthex at the church. It includes things like 

• Boost/Ensure, 
• canned meat, fruit and vegetables
• Cookies/crackers/school snacks
• Pasta/ Kraft Dinner
• Juice
• Cereal
• Peanut Butter
• Rice

There is also a need for personal items like

• Facial tissues
• Toilet paper
• Soap - laundry/dish/bath
• Personal hygiene - toothpaste/shampoo/etc.

With construction on Lochside creating havoc with the traffic flow in and out of Sidney, it's much easier to drop your donations off at the church and let one of our volunteers manage the delivery.

If it feels like we just did a food bank drive, you're right. We did one in June for the Sidney Lions Food Bank, and we helped out with a drive for socks and warm clothing for the Mustard Seed in the fall. Maybe we've done our bit. On the other hand, people need to eat every day, so donating a few times a year is the least we can do. 

But, just to make it fun, we are, once again, holding a draw for a poinsettia. Everytime you add something to the collection bin, you're invited to enter your name in the draw. Then, just in time for Christmas, a lucky winner will take home a pretty plant. Better than that, we're all winners when we offer a helping hand to our neighbours.

A world in need now summons us

To labour, love and give:

To make our life an offering,

To God, that man may live;

The church of Christ is calling us

To make the dream come true

A world redeemed by Christ-like love;

All life in Christ made new.

                               --#360 in Book of Praise

Resisting Happiness

 The link to this week's live-streamed service is here  https://www.youtube.com/live/WDEzD8OmD3I?si=yhJGkaSr3Kc94Dqh

Resisting Happiness

Matthew Kelly

 

I was in a thrift store looking at the books and this title jumped out at me.   So I read the first page and the author gave the following example.  The alarm clock goes off, time to get up.  You make your first decision of the day, will you get up or hit the snooze button.  If you hit the snooze and rollover you have lost the first battle of the day.  Resistance has broken your will before your feet touch the ground.  I was so intrigued by this notion that I bought the book!

Resisting Happiness is a self-help book by Matthew Kelly.  He explores the reasons behind our resistance to happiness and provides practical strategies to overcome it.  The emphasis is on the importance of taking small steps toward personal growth, rather than waiting for a big change to happen.  Kelly has dedicated his life to helping people become the-best-version-of-themselves. He is the founder of The Dynamic Catholic Institute that is redefining the way Catholics are inspired and educated.

What is resistance?  It is that sluggish feeling of not wanting to do something that you know is good for you.  It is the inclination to do something that you know is not good for you.  It is the desire and tendency to delay something you should be doing right now.

Each chapter of the book explores a road block to happiness and the ways we resist what we know is good for us.  At the end of the chapter, Kelly states the key point and gives the reader an action step.  Here are a few examples of his key points--Every activity can be transformed into prayer; Some things you do help you become the person God created your to be, and some things don’t; Life is always teaching us lessons; We are just passing through this place we call earth. We are pilgrims not tourists.  There are 37 chapters in the book and each one challenges the reader to be the best they can be.  Kelly uses his Catholic faith to illustrate his premise but I found that this did not detract from his message.

Since reading this book I have shared what I have learned with my friends, both believers and non-believers. I have found it easy to share the lessons and to use my faith as examples.     In summary, this book shows you how to get more joy in your life by exploring the road blocks you unknowingly put in the way, explaining why it is a choice, and giving you ways to  become closer to God to find your way.                                                               

 

Book review by

Linda Cliff

Live in Remembrance

 Link for this week's live-streamed service is here

Cadet Abigail and Jerusha place wreath on Sunday morning

On this Remembrance Day it behooves us to pause and honour those who have died in Canada's wars, and to consider how we honour their legacy. Although, they fought on foreign soil, they fought to uphold Canadian ideals of justice, fair play, human dignity and all the many privileges we enjoy in this land. We have become so accustomed to those "privileges" we often consider them "rights," but they came with a cost.

In 1964, Dick Van Dyke, of Mary Poppins fame, stood beside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and delivered a speech written by Rod Serling. In 2024 he repeated that speech in Los Angeles. In part, it reads:

Hatred is not the norm. Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicion, dislike, jealousy ...none of those are the transcendent facets of the human personality. . . . As long as there is one voice left to say 'welcome' to a stranger, one hand outstretched to say 'enter and share,' and one mind remaining to think a thought of warmth and friendship, then there is still hope for humanity... .  There will be moments of violence and expressions of hatred and an ugly echo of intolerance. But these are the clinging vestiges of a decayed past, not the harbingers of a better, cleaner future. 

In closing he quoted from Horace Mann: "be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." The actor added in his own words, "let us be ashamed to live without that victory."

Sitting in a local coffee shop last week, I was grieved by how many people, old and young, did not wear a poppy. As veterans of the World Wars pass away, their stories are left to family and historians to record. But we, who live in this most blessed and peaceful land, owe a debt of gratitude to those brave souls who left home and comfort to battle against hatred and evil. If we do not remember our history, we leave open an invitation for evil to rise again, and threaten all who live in freedom.

 I hope, that even without a poppy, that outward sign of remembrance and respect, Canadians of all stripes will strive to honour our fallen by living a life that wins "a victory for humanity."