An Evening Hymn

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

There has been sadness at SPPC this week following the passing of two valued friends. As usual, death brings grief to the survivors, even as we rejoice that our loved ones are "going home" with Christ. The company of friends helps to ease the sorrow. We hosted a small tea on Thursday morning, to comfort our church secretary who has lost her beloved husband.

She and I talked about hymns when she was arranging the service for him. Music speaks to the heart in such a powerful way. Within our hymn book are poems set to music to bring peace to the soul, to uplift the heart, or to challenge the believer to greater service. 

One of my favourites for a funeral service is an evening hymn, "The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended." The tune, St. Clement, is gentle and melodic. The words remind us that sunset in one realm is sunrise in another. 

The hymn held meaning for our former minister, Dr. Cecil Kirk, as well. He wrote this:

This particular hymn was sung at the Diamond Jubilee service for Queen Victoria in 1897.. . . It is a wonderful feeling to realize that we are part of a great fellowship of believers that circles the whole globe; while we come to the end of a day, another part of the Church is waking to praise our common God and so the "Church unsleeping" keeps watch over the souls of men and women everywhere and "rests not now by day or night." Here is a picture of the Church universal, a recognition that there are Christian believers to be found in every land.                                         . . . The Church is a worshipping community. This is fundamental to the Christian life for it glorifies God and it lifts our hearts and minds above our own concerns and helps us to focus on the things that are eternal. In this way we prepare ourselves for the world to come where all is praise.        The final stanza paints a picture of the rise and fall of earthly empires. They pass away, but God's throne "shall never, never pass away." . . . Jesus taught that His kingdom is spiritual, not physical. It does not recognize any racial or national boundaries, for the Church is open to all people of whatever nation. But it does recognize the sovereignty of Almighty God and it looks forward to the day when "all Thy creatures own Thy sway." Until then we work for the spread of that Kingdom and we pray that is will grow and increase as people everywhere pledge their allegiance to its King."

 

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The Saturday concert series continues at SPPC on Aug. 5 with the Die Mahler string quartet playing Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. These concerts are gaining popularity on the peninsula with attendance increasing at each performance. Bravo to our music director, Larry Skaggs, and all his musical friends for offering live performances on a summer Saturday night. 

Parking is free. Admission is by donation with a portion of the proceeds going to the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation. Concerts start at 7:00 pm.

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Congratulations to Rev. Irwin and Diane as they celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary anniversary on Tuesday. 

 

Fun in the Sun

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

Thanks to Janet for this week's blog.

School's out and summer is here but we (SPPC) don’t close down and go on holiday. 
We even met a new friend all the way from Luxembourg! Win, Eileen’s sister who is visiting for a little time joined us along with Eileen’s daughter, Pamela.

So, what better way than to spend the day than playing a round of mini golf and having lunch with friends? That's what happened on Thursday, 13^th July 2023.

 On a beautiful sunny day, eleven of the us got together at Island View Mini Golf.

We split into 2 groups to play but we just played for fun, no score cards.

However, Barbara, Abigail and Janet all got a ‘hole in one’ in team 2!

It took 2 hours to play 18 holes with lots of laughs along the way.

This was followed by lunch at White Spot where we were joined with Pam, Elizabeth and Norma.

What a happy time we all had, the sun was shining, blue sky above and just a joy to be out in God’s creation and to spend time together with friends.

Next year, why not join us, you’ll be glad you did!

Want to know more about us at SPPC? Then join us on Sunday mornings @10:00 am for worship and then for a time of fellowship following the service, we’d love to meet you!

 

To God who makes all lovely things, how happy must our praises be, Each day a new surprise He brings, to make us glad His world to see.

He made the people that I meet, the many people great and small,
In home and school, and down the street, and He made me to love                                                 them all.

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Speaking of fun in the sun, the Thursday morning Friendship Coffee in the rose garden in Sidney, was another opportunity for spending time with friends. The weather and the roses made this a special time.

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Finally, if you like your fellowship time with a side of music, come to the church on Saturday evening, 7:00 pm for an orchestral concert.

July 29 String Quartets Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven

The quartet concerts draw on Haydn's set of six quartets, Opus 50, which he wrote in response to six quartets Mozart sent to him. Beethoven's Opus 18 quartets were his effort to establish himself against Mozart and Haydn as the heir to their chamber music dominance.

Admission is by donation with a portion of the proceeds going to the Sidney/Lions Food bank.

Lots of free parking.

Guest blogger

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

Sunday morning was a very celebration for our own Helen. She turned 101. She looked beautiful and she shared her cake. May this be the start of a wonderful year for you, Helen.

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Our Blog mistress is on a well-deserved vacation so I have volunteered to write this week’s blog.  

Currently, I use my digital device, which is my IPad, during my devotional time.  So I thought I would share with you the Apps that I am finding most helpful.

 YouVersion is the Bible app that I use.  It is a digital ministry of Life.Church, whose mission is to create Biblically centred, culturally relevant experiences to help people grow closer to God. This platform offers a verse of the day and prompts you to make prayer a daily habit. I find this helpful as I am more able to quiet myself and focus on my time with the Word.  

There are also many plans offered, for example popular topics include:  Christian living, wisdom, faith, trust, worship and my favourite, bible reading plans. I can recommend The Bible Recap with Tara-Leigh Cobble.  This was a one year chronological reading plan that when combined with the daily podcast helped me to understand more fully what I was reading.  This daily discipline has helped me to develop a practice of spending time in the Word each day and increased my desire to learn more.

 

The Chosen is an American Christian historical drama series.  It is available through the Angel app, U tube and Netflix in the US.  The series is set in Judea and Galilee in the 1st century and centres on Jesus and the different people who met Him.  The series focuses on the people who encountered Jesus viewing Him through their eyes. 

 There are three seasons for this series and at present I am working my way through the first season.  I think the danger in shows that try to retell historical events is that they are stories based on fact but are unable to describe what actually happened.  However, the depiction of the times seems very real.  The viewer gets to see what it was like for the Jewish people to be under the rule of the Romans.  

You see Jesus in His daily life which helped me to see that He was on earth as man as well as the Son of God.  

If you would like to see and imagine what life was like for the people who lived in the First Century--the oil lamps, the jails, fishing on the Sea of Galilee-- give this show a try.

 

In closing I would like to encourage those of you who read this blog to consider writing an article.  Each time I do this I learn something.  I take a more careful look at what I am reading.  I research about authors, books…..whatever comes to mind.  So hopefully there is some benefit to reading the Blog but I guarantee there may be even more when you write for it. 

         Post contributed by Linda Cliff

Ed. Note:  Thanks, Linda, for filling in and for encouraging others to contribute too. 😀

 

 

 

 

Book Review - The Shed that Fed a Million Children

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

The Shed that Fed a Million Children

By Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow

 

This book tells the extraordinary story of how a salmon farmer in rural Scotland comes to start a charity that has fed over a million children.   

The story starts when a family sitting around the dinner table learns of an appearance of the Virgin Mary to some teenagers in a placed called Medjugorje in Yugoslavia.  This event changed Magnus’s life and the lives of others. 

Magnus’s family is devoutly Catholic so he and his brother made a pilgrimage to Yugoslavia to visit the place of the Mary sighting.  While there he experienced a feeling of deep joy unlike anything he had felt before.  He became convinced that God existed and re dedicated his life.   This was the spark!

When Magnus and his brother heard of the needs in war torn Bosnia close the village of the Mary sighting,  they decided to take a truck of supplies to help the area.  This one time road trip grew to become Magnus’s life work.  When he returned to Scotland people continued to reach out to him for help, leading him to leave his job, sell his house and direct all his efforts to feeding the world’s poorest children.

The book goes on to tell of all the places where Magnus was able to help the down trodden.   As the needs were presented, the miracle of the needed funds or equipment became available.   This commitment developed into Mary’s Meals which aims to provide chronically hungry children with one meal every school day, encouraging education that can lift them out of poverty later.  This has become a global charity, which encourages grassroots fund raising.  The web site states $31.70 can feed a child for a whole school year.

At times I found the book a challenging read as the timeline of the events was hard for me to follow.  However, the work that Magnus and his associates accomplished is miraculous.   

The book is worth reading to see the power of God in changing lives.  Magnus was changed by the Mary sighting in Yugoslavia.  He was a teenager when this happened and ever since he has spent his life relying on his faith in God to help others. 

 

Reviewed by Linda Cliff

If you would like to see a video called Child 31 follow this link

To learn more about Marys Meals in Canada go here.

Canada Day Sunday 2023

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

On this first Sunday of July, red and white was the colour scheme for the flowers and the cupcakes. The morning had an air of celebration as we welcomed Rev. Irwin back into the pulpit and Canada Day visitors to the congregation. As Rev. Irwin's health improves, we will hold Bible Study this Wednesday at 10:00 am and 7:00 pm.

It has been a big weekend in our minister's family as youngest son, Peter, graduated from Stelly's Secondary on Friday. As one of the emcee's for the convocation ceremony, Peter was the first of his class to receive his graduation certificate. Congratulations Peter, and best of luck with the next step in your journey.

Earlier this month, our faithful crew of Joan, Darlene and Jerusha catered another Sunshine Lunch, this one with an Alaskan cruise theme.

Thanks to Jerusha for these pictures. 

Beautiful weather on Thursday put the icing on the cake, so to speak for Friendship coffee, held in the Rose garden in Sidney.

The choir is on summer break now, but we had plenty of music on Sunday morning. 

Mary and Reiner and Larry offered special music for the prelude. Janet M. presented a solo. 

Thank you to everyone who contributed time, talent and treasure to make our service   worthy of the One whom we worship.