Steering Wheel

Here is the link for this week's on-line worship service: https://youtu.be/yXGhvdBXCCc
Note: For our in-house worship, as an added precaution, we are leaving the doors open to provide more air circulation. You might like to bring a sweater.

One more casualty to COVID-19 was our annual church picnic. At left is a photo from 2016, when no one imagined what would overtake the world in 2020.

As humans we tend to be proud of our ability to plan and imagine and prepare so that misfortune does not befall us.  Huh! Ever hear the old joke about how to make God laugh? Answer: Tell Him your plans.

I found these notes for a children's story as told by Dr. Kirk years ago. They serve as an excellent reminder of Who is in the driver's seat of our lives.

Steering Wheel or Spare Wheel

How many wheels has a car got? 4,5,6?

You are right if you said six.

Four to carry the car-- and you need to keep them in good order inspected regularly, proper pressure, good alignment, plenty of tread.

One spare tire in case of getting a puncture and it needs to have good pressure too.

One steering wheel --which is the most important one, if not properly handled it can cause an accident.

            Very like life.

Our main wheels are work, business, school, home. Life goes on wheels like this and it needs faithfulness to keep them running.

Our spare wheel is amusements, games, holidays--[church picnics.] We need these too otherwise we can get overworked and, like tires, tempers can wear thin. [Check out statistics on mental health issues, domestic violence, family breakdown while we are mostly denied access to our "spare wheels."]

The steering wheel guides the whole business of life. If it is in the wrong hands the car can be badly driven and can take the wrong road. There is only one safe driver with strong hands and a wise head who knows the road of life and that is God.

Some people think of God only as a spare tire - useful in emergencies - baptisms, marriages, deaths, sickness, trouble. They call on Him then but ignore Him at other times.

Life is like a journey. We don’t know what lies ahead so we all need God’s hand on the steering wheel. 

It is that final sentence that prompted me to include this story in today's blog. For all our sophistication, for all our technology, for all our education, we do not know what lies ahead. I hope our future contains church picnics and concerts and friendship coffee and a choir on Sunday morning. But that is only my hope. I do not "know" what the ending of this day will bring, never mind the coming years. 

But one thing we do know, ...the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you,

5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.1 Peter 1-5

Busy, busy

star weed-puller

June has been a busy month at SPPC.  Must be something about the end of the school year -- even though church does not take a summer vacation.

clean-up team

At the beginning of the month, there were a couple of work bees outside.  Volunteers pulled weeds, hacked down blackberry vines and trimmed back overgrown shrubs.  Many thanks to all.  Our property is looking very neat and tidy.

On Tuesday of this week, another group of volunteers (actually, there was overlap with the weeding volunteers) spend a morning deep cleaning the kitchen, reorganizing and cupboards and labelling the doors and drawers.  The work was just in time for the strawberry tea on Saturday. 

Well, set up actually began on Friday.   

The event was well attended and the food was beautifully presented.  Thank you especially to Diane and Darlene for that.

lady-in-waiting

ready for topping

assembly line sandwich-making

Craig Henderson Trio

Finally, on Sunday, we relaxed with the church picnic at Island View Beach.  Leftovers from the tea were a welcome bonus to the picnic lunch.  

girl with a pretty hat

welcome shade on a hot day

serious game of bocce

Next week we have the last Bible study of the season.  The choir goes out to dinner.  We lead worship at Saanich Peninsula Hospital on Sunday afternoon.  Like I said -- busy!

Picnic 2017

The church picnic this year did not have the sunny skies of previous picnics. 

Instead, according to Janet, "it was cold ( we reached 14 deg.) with a wet scotch mist. Some wrapped in blankets to keep warm while others played games. A time of good food, fun and warm  fellowship was had by all who attended."

I missed the picnic, as I was travelling in Newfoundland, but as I recall, June 18 was cold and wet there too.  We drove through fog, saw a moose, and watched the icebergs. 

Happy Summer!

The Picnic

The church picnic marks the end of the Sunday School for the summer.  And the end of the school year, means we have a graduation ceremony. Having reached the age of ten and been a faithful attender at Sunday School, Peter was the proud recipient of a Bible on Sunday morning.

Peter's presentation Bible

 Then it was off to the picnic.

And what's a picnic without races?

Losers and winners got wet.

Three legged race

Water balloon toss.

An impromptu race.

   Before we celebrate the end of school, it is usual to write an exam on the year's work.  Since this blog would never set an exam for anyone, I'm grateful to Rebekah and Benjamin for sharing their impressions of this year's work in the intermediate class.

This year we have worked on three different books.  We started the year by finishing a workbook on Jonah.  Once we had finished that, we moved onto a book called God, Up Close and Personal.  It is a book on writing journal entries and studying passages.  In this book we studied Philippians.  For the last part of the year, we have been doing a workbook on Esther and standing up against peer pressure.  I feel like I have learned a lot and will continue to use my knowledge of the Bible and what I learned throughout the summer.
                                                                      by Rebekah 

  At the beginning of the year we finished our work book on the book of Jonah.  After we had finished, we had a workbook called God, Up Close and

Personal In which we read Philippians and Ephesians and learned about the whole armour of God.  Later on in the year we started a workbook in which we are reading the book of Esther and learning what to do with peer pressures.                             by Benjamin

 There was a penalty for taking out Abigail.  Every race needs an unexpected obstacle.

 We had a great day.  My thanks to Rebekah and Benjamin and I hope all the Sunday School teachers and all the Sunday School students have a wonderful summer.