Are You a Hero?

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

Cast and crew Heroes of the Faith, 2004

While rummaging through the archives at SPPC we came upon a VHS recording from 2004, titled, "Heroes of the Faith." Wow! Twenty years ago the Living Flame Choir (Junior) staged a production of the musical "Heroes of the Faith." I have no idea who recorded it as there was no attribution on the tape or the box but we had a great time watching it and reliving those days.

The kids in the show are all grown up now, some with children of their own. They've scattered across the country and even to Africa, but there they are in 2004 singing their hearts out. 

The story of the play is a group of school kids going to a museum and finding displays of Biblical heroes including Moses, Deborah,(and Barak) Elijah, and David, (and Goliath.)

The theme song declares, "I want to be a true hero, a champion of the faith." The play ends with the question, "what type of hero are you?" Are you a leader like Moses, obedient like Deborah, faithful when you are old like Elijah or having the courage to do what is right when you are young like David?

We can all ponder that question. Who do you see as a hero of the faith? Is it the Old Testament characters like Daniel, and his friends Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego who refused to worship a pagan god? Daniel 3: 16-28. Is it the crafty Rehab who saved her family from destruction when she hid the Isrealite spies? Joshua 2. Long-suffering Job who held fast to his faith despite hardship and trial? Or maybe you admire Mary, a teenager who accepted God's plan for her life, even when it went against everything she'd expected?

In the New Testament we have Peter and the other disciples who gave up home and family and livelihood to follow Jesus. What about Paul who had the courage to admit he was wrong to persecute Christians and became a most ardent and tireless apostle? Barnabas, the encourager? Don't we all need an encourager as we navigate our way through life?

Throughout the ages there have been heroes of the faith. In our times we might point to Mother Theresa, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Billy Graham or Martin Luther King Jr. 

Or perhaps your hero is the quiet woman down the street who drives her neighbours to medical appointments. Maybe it is your grandfather who taught Christian love by example every day of your life. What about the Sunday School teacher who told you the stories of those Old Testament heroes?

Use the comments section below to vote for your favourite hero of the faith.

If you want to be a "true hero, a champion of the faith," the Bible offers this advice. "Love the Lord with all your heart . . . and your neighbour as yourself.  Matthew 22: 37-40   

Or this one "What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." Micah 6:8

Thank you to the unknown videographer who donated that VHS tape to the filing cabinet at SPPC, and kudos to my husband who never throws away an electronic component. Thanks to him we were able to watch the tape.

Heroes of the Faith  -- Not the SPPC production, but good anyway. 

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.

Advent at SPPC

So much is happening around the church during Advent, this week's blog is an update on events past and others still to come. Get out your calendar.

To begin, Peter had an idea and Tore has a basement workshop. Together they created these

lovely outdoor decorations using the themes of Advent, hope, peace, joy and love. Hope, peace and joy are in place off the roof of the church. Love will appear next week, as we approach the fourth Sunday of Advent. Thanks you two. It looks great and provides a much needed bright spot on the outside of the building.

Last Sunday, the third of Advent two new elders were ordained during morning service. Elders in the presbyterian church bear significant responsibility for the well-being, both temporal and spiritual, of the congregation. Our thanks to Darlene and Tore for filling these positions.

The "out to lunch bunch" has been enjoying good company and good food since September, but this month we had a special event. Thirty six members of the congregation enjoyed a special Christmas buffet at Haro's restaurant in Sidney. We had our own room so all our visiting didn't interfere with other patrons. Fortunately no one kept track of the number of repeat visits to the buffet table.

Sunday was white gift day when we collected some extras for the shut-in members of our congregation and for those in need in our community. The Sidney Food Bank is always grateful for our donations.

There was a bake sale following worship. Thanks to Diane and Darlene and Joan and Linda and Aarol and all who contributed goodies. Thanks also to all who opened their wallets and took home the treats. The money raised goes toward our mission projects.

Sunday afternoon we put on our usual Community Carol Sing. We see many of the same faces year after year. Good to know the church is part of the community Christmas tradition. 
We followed the carol sing with a pot luck supper, shared with the Jesus is Lord congregation. Lovely to meet the evening worshipers in our church building.

Next Sunday we light the fourth Advent candle during morning worship, 10:00 am. In the afternoon we'll host a carol service at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital.

Christmas Eve is our lessons and carols service, complete with candles and Silent Night. Service begins at 7:00 pm.
Christmas Day at 10:30 am we celebrate Jesus' birthday with a short, family service.

With all this activity, it's easy to forget that Advent is a time of waiting. Linda has sent along this little reminder.

Thoughts on an Advent Devotional

Christmas is a busy season and one of the ways I cope with the busyness is to make lists.  One of  the important tasks on my list is to complete an advent devotional.  Today is day sixteen and I thought I'd share some of my thoughts so far.

• In order to clear the clutter for Christ we have to take a moment to listen intentionally and expectantly.
• Christ is the most important present to unwrap.
• Rethink, rearrange and refocus so Christ has room in our lives.
• For some there is little joy in the season, remember Christ came for the broken.
• When does Christmas officially begin?  Christmas “officially” began with the fall of man when God put His rescue plan into motion. I never considered this before.
• Advent means coming--lets be ready for this special guest.
• Christmas brings us unfathomable Grace and unstoppable Love
• Don’t doubt God's power, Mary didn’t.
• Joseph showed no fear when he was obedient after God spoke to him.

Llinda Cliff

  These are some of my reflections from reading the devotional “Making Space” written by Susan Narjala a freelance writer who lives and writes in India.  The devotional is available on line, why not it read for yourself?
I wish you all a merry Christmas.

Spiders and Giving Thanks

      by Diane Cunningham



 This morning Peter was completely captivated by the cobwebs on our patio. “Tell me they’re not real. There can’t be that many.” He said. 
    A heavy fog had rolled in and the moisture in the air had settled on the multitude of cobwebs that had formed on our patio that hadn’t been used much since the cooler wet weather had arrived. It was a moment of wonder and discovery as we each spotted a

cobweb and then another and another. On the furniture, the fuchsia, the gate, the tree they hung suspended and finally visible with the fine droplets of water attached to them. 
   Then as he headed out the front door to go off to school he spotted them on our big bush out front. “Look

Mommy, there are more!” 
     After the van, full of my loved ones pulled away, I stopped and counted the multitude of 6 inch cobwebs on that bush. One side alone had 24! Each angle that you looked at it from revealed more delicate weaving, carefully crafted by a little creature. It was a delightful moment.

     I love this time of year when the invisible becomes visible and God's presence becomes evident.  We see it in the filigree of the cobweb and in the abundance of the harvest.  

    We have a book about spiders.  It points out that we are never more than three feet away from a spider at any moment. That is sometimes hard to believe and often not something we want to think about.

But I remember one November day, driving along East Saanich Road and seeing, suspended between the power lines hundreds of spider webs. I was so amazed that I pulled over and stopped to count a section of them. In a mere 100 feet, I saw over a hundred just on the power lines and poles! Overwhelmed by the sheer number of them I was moved to think about how they got there. Did the spiders just make them for that morning? Where are they the rest of the time? At that moment the spider’s web became for me a symbol of God’s presence in our lives. Blissfully unaware of the little creatures, we carry on as though they weren't there.

Then, one morning, when the conditions are just right and we pause for a moment, we see the evidence of their presence.
      So God is there with us, never more than a prayer away, His fingerprints touching so many points in our lives. He is always there, even when we are oblivious to His presence, even when we are trying to ignore Him, even when we are too busy to take that moment to see Him.


Paul says in Acts 17
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heavenand earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himselfgives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their
lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.”

Jesus told his disciples just before he ascended into heaven “...and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matt 28:20

And I praise God with the psalmist who long ago celebrated God’s
creation.

Psalm 8
1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

   So, this Thanksgiving Sunday, along with the blessings of harvest, I thank God for those fine little strands suspended in mid-air that remind me that I am never alone and I praise Him for revealing Himself in His creation.