Preparations

With Palm Sunday past, we begin the solemn walk to Golgotha, and Christ's crucifixion.

Three days later, days we celebrate the great festival of Easter, the most important date in the Christian calendar. The day the world changed forever with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  But as we approach that most holy of days, we prepare in body and soul.

We prepare by supporting our mission team to the Dominican Republic, praying that their work furthers God's plan for that part of the world. 

We prepare with the meal in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday at 5:30 pm.  This is a quiet time of reading and breaking bread together as we recall Christ's last meal with His disciples.

On Good Friday we worship in the sanctuary with a choral presentation of Stainer's Crucifixion. We invite everyone to join us for this musical retelling of the first Good Friday.

On Easter Sunday, we begin the day early with a sunrise service at Cy Hampson Park.  8:00 am isn't exactly sunrise, but it's early enough for most of us.  We're always joined by a few birds as we sing of the Saviour's resurrection.

Even if you're not up for an 8:00 am, outdoor service, you're invited to come to breakfast at the church at 9:00 am.

Finally, at 10:00 am we celebrate with a joyful worship service in the sanctuary.  Special guests make the hallelujahs ring.

Come walk with us as we journey toward Easter.

News from the DR

We've had a wonderful set of photos from our team in the Dominican Republic.  I'm sharing them here.  Don't forget to keep them in your prayers.  The poster in the narthex is there if you need to take a reminder.
By the way, those 1200 pounds of supplies went through customs without a single bag being opened.  Great start to the trip.

The team will return in time for Easter.  What stories they'll have tell.

Therefore Go

On Sunday the congregation commissioned a team of three to go on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic.  This is the second such adventure for our church, the first being three years ago.  

The team expressed gratitude for the financial support they've received.  Fundraising for the past several months has included a silent auction, bottle drive and soup sales.  The soup sales were so popular they may continue as a service to the congregation.

The minimum amount for sending our representatives was quickly achieved and the excess funds used for gear.  In addition to their own luggage, each team member is taking an extra suitcase for a total of 1200 lbs in medical and school supplies for the House Upon the Rock mission.

Now that the physical and financial requirements are taken care of, we still have another task.  The team asks for our support in prayer as they carry out their mission.  The first hurdle will be getting all those goods through customs, so Diane made a request for a special prayer on Monday morning to help them deal with customs officers.

There is a poster in the narthex with prayer reminders.  We are asked to take one of the tags each week and hang it someplace prominent to remind us to pray each day for the team and their work.  

As Rev. Irwin reminded us, commission means co - mission.  Diane, Joan and Rebekah are in the Dominican Republic as a physical representation of SPPC.  The congregation at home is still part of the mission.  Please hold these members in your hearts and in your prayers, until we welcome them home just in time for Easter.  Matt 28: 18-20

Waiting at the airport, all set to go, Sunday night at 8:30 pm.

Book Review

Praying the Lord’s Prayer

Elmer Towns.

In this book the author takes a well known prayer and dissects into its parts.  After reading this book the author states “when you have finished praying the Lord’s Prayer, you have said everything to God you need to say, you know everything you need to know and you have become everything God requires you to become.”

Towns takes the reader through the Lords Prayer line by line.  He divides the prayer into seven petitions and then spends a chapter dissecting each petition by giving examples from both his own experience and the Scriptures. He also gives the reader information about keeping a prayer journal and then ends the chapter with a three step bible study. 

Towns likes lists.  For example when he is describing how to honour God’s name, the list includes the following: God has a name, God’s name is holy, God wants us to praise Him, the Lord’s Prayer can praise God and God will not force anyone to praise his name.  He then goes on to discuss each of these points helping the reader to understand their significance.  He does this with each of the petitions.

At times I found the lists tedious and it felt like he was reaching to find ways of illustrating the petitions.  I found that if I read a chapter each day and then reflected on the overall message of the chapter  I was able to forgive all the lists!

I am very glad I read this book.  It has changed the way I pray.  Each day I mindfully repeat the Lords Prayer (more than once) and meditate on the each petition as I work through the prayer.  I find each time there is a different part of the prayer that I focus on and I also find that this has made prayer more of a focus in my life.  This book is available in the library as other books that focus on the Lord’s Prayer and other parts of scripture.  I am attaching a website that will take you to a pdf of Towns book which you can read at anytime.   

Thanks to Linda Cliff for this week's blog.