In the Year of . . .

The link for this week's streamed service is here

According to the lectionary, we are now in the third week after Epiphany. Or, if you count time by recent history, we are now in the 98th week of the COVID-19 Pandemic. But, most importantly, we are in the two thousand and twenty-second year of our Lord. I find it reassuring to use the "year of our Lord" designation when current events seem overwhelming. Whatever is happening moment by moment, our times are still with the Lord.

So in this week in the year of our Lord, 2022, here's what's happening at SPPC.

• On Saturday, Jan. 22 there was a memorial service for Norma Joan Aitkin. The link for her service is here. Norma was a long-time member of our congregation. I knew her best through the Wednesday morning Bible Study where she was a regular participant and a cheerful presence. 

• 
  Joan reminds us that, as of Feb. 1, milk cartons are included in B.C.'s recycling program. She asks that you give the cartons a good rinse before dropping them into the church recycle bin. Each one is worth a dime toward our Dominican Republic mission fund.

• On Wednesday at 10:00 am or 7:00 pm we will resume Bible Study. It has been 98 weeks since our last session! The study will be different from others we have done. This time we will be doing a book study of The Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster. The book is available at the Christian Book and Music Store in Victoria. Electronic copies can by ordered at
  amazon, https://www.amazon.ca/Celebration-Discipline-Special-Anniversary-Richard-ebook/dp/B07CRKXMB7/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=                                                      or at Chapters/Indigo books https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/celebration-of-discipline-special-anniversary/9780062843555-item.html?ikwid=Richard+Foster&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=18#algoliaQueryId=1c84225346cef5f639e6c86185f075af

I've missed our church newsletter and Blanche's sense of humour. If you feel the same way, here are a few church bulletin bloopers to give you a smile.

• The sermon this morning: Jesus walks on Water.                             The sermon tonight: Searching for Jesus.

• At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.

• Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.

• Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the Church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

• Low self esteem support group will meet Thursday at 7pm. Please use the back door.

As the pandemic stretches on, it is easy to be discouraged, to think only of this time. The Bible speaks to us, reminds us that we live "in the year of our Lord."

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope

Psalm 31:14-15 ESV / 

But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!

Genesis 1:1 ESV /

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Hebrews 13:8 ESV / 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

A Month of Sundays

The rules of the calendar meant that Christmas Day and New Year's Day fell on Monday this year, which meant Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve were on Sundays.  That unusual chronology proved awkward for me.  I felt like we had three Sundays in one week.  I had to keep looking at my appointment calendar to verify what day of the week we were really on and if I had commitments for that time.  Having a newly retired husband didn't help. Every day has seemed like Saturday since he went on permanent vacation.  I told my friend, that December had felt like a month of Sundays.

Then I looked up "month of Sundays."  As we all know, it denotes a very long time--about 30 weeks if you want to be literal about it.  One definition suggests that "a month of Sundays" means not only a long time, but a leisurely time, since Western culture still regards Sunday as a day off from our usual hustle and bustle.  Another entry suggests the expression, first recorded in 1832, was used to denote a long, dreary time, since no one was supposed to have fun on Sundays.  No games, no books but the Bible, no movies, no dances, in extreme cases, no visitors.
Given what happened in December at SPPC, we did not have a month of Sundays. We were neither idle nor dreary, what with a Christmas tea on Sunday, a carol-sing on Sunday, a recipe book to purchase, decorations to put up, a Sunshine lunch, fund-raisers, and three church services in a day and a half.  

All of this reminds me that calendars are a man-made invention.  Our western calendar has been through many versions from the mere counting of days, to the Julian calendar used by the Romans and the Gregorian calendar that we use today.
Then there are calendars from other cultures.  The Jewish calendar, the Chinese calendar (where the year is now 4715) and the Muslim calendar to name just a few.  The Mayan calendar is a 52 year cycle in which no two days have the same name. Makes my obsession with weekends a little ridiculous.

Of course, we have a guide for time.  It's found in Genesis 1:1-5 God created light and dark.  He called the light day and the dark night. 
Or Psalm 90:4 ESV For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.
Or Psalm 90:2 ESV Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Or Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV  For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. 
Or Hebrews 13:8 ESV 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Or 2 Peter 3:8-9 ESV 
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

With the coming of the new year we'll all be rushing out to buy a calendar or two.  Good to remember that man's many calendars may keep us on schedule for a year, but they do not set God's plans.  Those are eternal.

Time

We celebrated another birthday at SPPC last Sunday.  Max has turned 18.  We had cake and sang for him.  He was embarrassed.
We do the same when people turn 80 or more.  They are rarely embarrassed.  Funny thing, I've never seen anyone in the congregation celebrate a 39th birthday or a 44th or any of those other middle-aged numbers. 

Humanity seems obsessed with the measurement of time. We invented calendars to mark the days, weeks and years, hourglasses to measure the hours, sundials, water clocks, candle clocks and mechanical clocks to measure minutes and seconds. We wanted more precision so we invented quartz oscillators and atomic clocks and the high-tech timekeeping devices used at the Olympics that can measure 100ths of a second. (There was still a tie for the gold medal in women's 100 metre free-style swim.)

To counteract all this preoccupation with how small a moment we can measure, the Long Now Foundation, is building a 10000 year clock. It will tick once a year, bong once in a century and the cuckoo will come out every millennium.   According to this Foundation, modern technology has so encouraged us to expect instant information, instant response, that we've forgotten how to think deeply. News media don't think past the next deadline, politicians don't think past the next election, and students don't think past the next exam.  The 10000 year clock is intended to encourage people to think in long terms, longer even than our own lifetimes. 

The Bible has something to say about time, too.  Perhaps the most well-known verse is Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."  But there are others.  Consider "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Is. 40:3. Psalm 31:15 reminds us "my times are in Your hand . . ."

Whatever the season of your life, youth, old age, or those middle years,  may you live it to the fullest, with trust in God's good timing.

The importance of Today

 

This week I'm drawing on my favourite anonymous source for inspiration.  Since it's summer, and 'the livin' is easy' I though we could do with a reminder of the importance of each day.  Whether we're at work, on vacation, at school or at camp, each day is drawn from our bank of time.  How we spend it is up to us, but once it's gone, we won't get it back again.

    The message below was used as a children's story.

The importance of today

Another week has gone by - seven days since last week. Do you think you will ever have that week again? 
No, it is gone for ever.

Look at this match - I’ll strike it. Now I will blow it out.
 Suppose I say to the match“Get unburned!” Isn’t that silly? I can’t possibly replace the part that has burned out. I’ll never be able to strike this match again

Now I’m sorry I struck it. I wish I had waited until tomorrow.  Is that going to replace the match? No. 
Or maybe I could just think I didn’t use the match. Is refusing to think about it going to change the fact it is burned?

It’s done and there is nothing I can do about it.  I should have thought about this before striking the match.

Life is like the match. Once a day is over you cannot live it again. Do you see how important it is for us as Christians to live for Jesus Christ every day? Being sorry for mistakes may teach you a lesson but it will not let you live the time over again.

We must all form the habit of asking Jesus every morning to help us live that day for Him and make it count for Him. In that way you will be able to do things for Him and you will have no regrets about the way you have lived. Ask Him and He will guide you.                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Time's Winged Chariot

 by Alice Valdal

  Is it just me or do the weeks seem shorter?  It seems we've just tidied up the last of the Christmas decorations, and we're already preparing for Easter.  The posters are up for the pancake supper on Shrove Tuesday next week.  
      Reports for the Annual Congregational Meeting are in the office and will be circulated next week.  Committees are holding special meetings.  The Living Flame is setting its music program through to Mother's Day.

     In Bible Study we have moved from the detailed, somewhat leisurely accounts of Jesus' baptism, his miracles, his teachings and have rushed into Jerusalem and the Upper Room.  
      Yesterday I overheard a woman in the grocery store saying it was time to get into the garden.  Really?
       In my own extended family, we've had one baby born two weeks early and another born seven weeks early.  Everyone is in a rush!
      While life in the fast lane is exciting, it can be exhausting and skew our perspective.  The Bible has many cautionary notes about hurry and busyness.  Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God."  Psalm 127:2   " It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late ..."  Ecclesiastes 4:6  "Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit."
     Even Jesus knew the value of quiet and retreat.  In Mark 6 we read that he called his disciples to go out into the desert, a place apart, where they could rest and refresh themselves.   
      So, when time seems to speed up, perhaps the old hymn "Take Time to be Holy" offers good advice.
      Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;

Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

                          W.D. Longstaff
A familiar hymn is dear to the hearts of many, offers a comfort in its sameness, but sometimes we don't listen to what we know so well. To hear a different arrangement click here.