New Term

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

We marked the end of summer with a hymn-packed worship service and a hot dog lunch. Now we mark the beginning of the fall term with a celebration of the Lord's Supper. Two Sundays only a week apart, but two very different seasons.

Labour Day marks the beginning of the new school year, and in many households, the beginning of a new season of learning and activities. SPPC is no different. Now that the Saanich Fair is over, it's time to settle into a routine. Choir practice starts again this week. Session meets on Wednesday. The Study group  begins next week. Sunday School activities recommence. The autumn Sunshine Lunch is upcoming. 

Some may feel regret that summer is over, and yearn for the long, unstructured days of heat and sunshine. Others will welcome the return to routine and order as the days get shorter and the temperatures drop. 

How fitting that we bridge the two seasons at the Communion Table, a place for remembrance, fellowship, thanksgiving and proclaiming Christ. A favourite communion hymn begins with the words "Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face" and concludes with "feast after feast thus comes and passes by,/Yet passing points to that glad feast above."

Season after season, we can gather at the Lord's table, sure of our welcome, secure in Christ's forgiving love, knowing our souls are fed. Sunday concluded Rev. Irwin's sermon series on Psalms of Ascent. The pilgrim has arrived. The feast that Christ prepared awaits.

Take, eat, in remembrance of Me.

Touchstones

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

Last week, my neighbour asked if I knew when her roof had been installed. Both of our houses are 45 years old, but I've lived in mine the whole time and hers has changed hands four times. So, she turned to me for neighbourhood knowledge. 

I try not to be a nosy neighbour, but I do recall seeing workmen on her roof at one time and figured out who was the owner at that time. That owner was part of my book club, so I was able to look up the years she was with us, and thus, give my current neighbour an approximation on the age of her roof. Whew!

The incident got me thinking about touchstones in our lives. My grandmother always dated current affairs by which one of the family was a baby at the time. 

We've just celebrated 35 years in our church building, and we recall our history by asking which minister brought in the change, or who was the organist at the time, or who was on session. In other words, we use touchstones to mark events.

Our church calendar uses touchstones like Advent, Easter, and Thanksgiving to mark the seasons of the Christian year. 

In his sermon on June 15, Rev. Irwin reminded us that God's Word, is like an anchor in our lives. Certain passages of Scripture are touchstones, too. The 23rd Psalm, John 3:16, the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes . . . to name only a few. 

In our Wednesday study, we've watched the movie Bonhoeffer, about Dietrich Bonhoeffer,  a Christian clergyman martyred by the Nazis. When he was in captivity and knew that his execution was scheduled for the next morning, according to the movie, Bonhoeffer reached for the touchstones of his faith. He celebrated the Lord's Supper with his fellow prisoners--and a Nazi guard--on the last night of his life. As he walked to the gallows, he recited The Beatitudes.

We won't likely face death because of our Christian beliefs, but every day the secular world we live in will present us with challenges. Touchstones whether in words, or heroes, or personal experience help keep us true to our faith. 

You wouldn't know it by Sunday's weather, but we are heading into summer -- those lazy, hazy days. In the early morning, or at the sunset, why not take time to polish up those touchstones in your own life.

Will Your Anchor Hold?