Rooted in Faith

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

Browsing through the latest edition of Presbyterian Connection I noticed a familiarity about the shared photos of church life. There was the Sunday School Pageant, the candlelight service, the white gift packaging, the neighbourhood lunch, birthday cakes . . . It struck me that the church names under the photos could be rearranged, and the story would still make sense. All that baking, knitting, quilting, feeding, nurturing--it's what we as churches do.

Then an article on Elmvale Presbyterian Church caught my eye. The congregation is 165 years old. It existed before the Presbyterian Church in Canada was formed. History fascinates me, so I read the article in full. The writer pointed out that the long history of this congregation, was a history of faith. No doubt they have been involved in "works" but what has sustained them and kept them vibrant for generations is their faith. They be before they do.

Last week we held a memorial service for one of SPPC's long-time members, Anne MacKinnon. The words spoken reminded us of her long service and the "works" she performed, as greeter, elder, Sunday School teacher and superintendent, and as a welcoming presence in our fellowship. Her legacy shows in our library, in the piano in the hall and in the lives of those she touched.

The service contained several hymns, hymns that Anne selected. Here she revealed what lay closest to her heart.  If we consider the words of her choosing, we see again, that "works" flowed from faith. 

"He shall not suffer that thy foot be moved/Safe shalt thou be."
"O Thou who changest not, abide with me."
"Death's mightiest powers have done their worst;/But Jesus hath His foes dispersed;"
"Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale, /Yet will I fear none ill;/For Thou art with me:"
"Thou our Father, Christ our Brother,/All who live in love are Thine."

Our Sister, Anne, had busy hands and an active mind, but when we examine her choice of hymns, we see she had a heart for faith that triumphed when her hands lay still and her mind slowed.

As our congregation seeks to serve and encourage at home and abroad, we must remember that our works must flow from our faith, or we become just another helping agency. Works are important, no doubt about that, but they are for a season. Faith is eternal. Like Anne and like Elmvale Presbyterian, let us hold that faith as a high beacon to light the ways of our doing.

 

A Passion for Worship

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

Christians are admonished to "rejoice in all things." Most of us found it hard to rejoice in COVID-19. However, one of the consequences of the pandemic is that more and more churches have put their worship services on-line. For the curious among us, that has been a blessing.

Now that I can check out the worship at a neighbouring church, I often find myself scrolling youtube, just to enjoy -- or not-- another service. We have had some new members at SPPC because they found us on-line first. So, in that way, the pandemic was a blessing, although we didn't know it at the time.

When the Presbyterian Connection arrived in my mailbox a few weeks ago, I put it aside to read when I wasn't so busy. When I opened it up, my eye was caught by two articles about worship. The first was on the preaching of the Word, the second on the habit of worship.

In our book study on Wednesday morning, we pondered the concept of "a passion to worship."

I feel I've been nudged toward a blog post on worship!

According to one authority, Robert Webber, "Worship is the response of the people to God's saving initiative. The inner person receives God's acts of salvation communicated in public worship with humility and reverence, service and devotion."

Using that definition we should note that worship is a response . . .to God." 

When I'm scrolling church services on the internet I'm responding to the event more than to God. My response is that of an observer, distanced from other participants. I'm more judge than worshipper. Similarly, reading a printed sermon, becomes an intellectual exercise. I'm more focussed on typos and syntax than on the message.

On the other hand, being present in a concert hall soaking up the sound of a great oratorio, or standing in a forest of tall trees and hearing the wind brush their branches, or experiencing the might of a storm, with its flashes of lightening and rolling thunder, do provoke a worship response. I am humbled, and cannot help but respond. I bow down in awe to the Creator and give thanks.

We can't bring the grandeur of nature or the talent of a hundred voice choir into SPPC but our worship can and should bring us closer to God. 

For me, being present when the Word is preached, when the Gospel, with all it's grace and judgement is expounded, when the words "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life," -- when those words are spoken directly to me, I do respond to God. 

A recent choir anthem, "Wondrous Love," touched many in the congregation with its portrayal of the unfathomable love of Jesus, "who chose the cross out of love." A response to God, not the choir.

The larger catechism of the Presbyterian Church says, "It is required of those that hear the Word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer; examine what they hear by the scriptures; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the Word of God; meditate, and confer of it; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives."

Reading the catechism is not common practice in our day, but we can take note that the response to God depends as much upon the hearers of the Word as upon the preacher.

Perhaps another choir anthem, "Here I Am to Worship," provides an more accessible instruction than the catechism. The next time you come to church, remember . . .

Here I am to worship

Here I am to bow down.

 Here I am to say that You're my God

You're altogether lovely, 

Altogether worthy, 

Altogether wonderful to me.