Easter 2022

 The link for this week's Good Friday service is here.

The link for Easter morning worship is here.

After two years without communal Easter celebrations, we were back in Cy Hampson Park for a "sunrise" service. 

The years have wrought some changes. We are all older, for one thing. For another, the tree where the bird sat is gone. I felt sad without our feathered songster for company, but then this little fellow showed up in another tree. God is generous.

The sun did "rise" but only for a brief moment through the cloud. 

At least it didn't rain.

We took our usual picture of the congregation. In fact, we took more than one. Your challenge is to find the differences between these two.

After the readings and singing and thanksgiving, we headed back to the church for breakfast and hot coffee. Thank you to those who stayed behind to prepare the warm welcome for the chilled worshippers. Happy Easter.

Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Hallelujah!

Hosanna

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

 Despite hail stones in the   parking lot on Saturday and   snow on the Malahat Sunday,   Easter is coming. We began   Holy Week with Palm Sunday.   On this "high" Sunday, the   choir  presented a rousing   anthem, we celebrated the

 Lord's Supper and received two sisters-in-Christ into membership of the congregation. 

Declaration of Faith

Extending the right hand of fellowship.

Relaxing over a cup of coffee with a couple of Elders after the service.

Linda has been at work in the flower beds again. She asks if anyone has extra heather or lavender plants they could donate. If that is you, please see Linda on Sunday or leave a message in the church office.

Next Sunday we celebrate Easter with an early service (8:00 am) in Cy Hampson Park. We meet rain or shine so dig out your brollies or your sunscreen and join us for a 'sunrise' service.  Breakfast will follow at the church and then our regular Easter Sunday service at 10:00 am. Please join us as we raise our Hallelujah's to the Risen Lord.

One True Thing

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

The idea for this blog came from a writers forum I follow. The author was discussing the difficulty of writing "truth" in an age of falsehood. At a time when cultural norms are being called into question and heroes are recast as villains, one is constantly having to weigh words and ideas, seeking to find truth in the plethora of competing voices beamed at us from every direction. The writer I'm referencing suggested, as an aid to sanity, that we write "one true thing," every day.

I found that an interesting concept so I've been writing down  one true thing every day. The first one was easy. 

• Jesus loves me.

• Then I got to Matt. 6: 21 "Where your treasure is there will your heart be also."

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

• The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Ps 23:1

The Bible is full of "true things." It is also peppered with commandments. Consider the first one. Deut. 5:7 "I am the Lord, thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. " 

This one came to mind during our Bible Study discussion on Wednesday. The topic was simplicity and we ended up talking about "idols." These come in many forms, like health, or sport, or chocolate, or even the search for simplicity. Anything that we put before God in our lives, is breaking the first commandment.

Some idols seem benign, like social media, but anyone walking into traffic while having his eyes glued to a small screen, has put media before the beauty of creation, not to mention his own safety.

Wordle is a hugely popular word puzzle played on-line by millions of people. The originator of the game, perhaps aware of addictive behaviour, limited the game to only one word per day. Even so, there have been dozens of imitators so the safeguard of one a day does not really exist. I came across a new one for me the other day called Canuckle. Here the words all have a Canadian bias, like Inuit or canoe, or birch.

I find the exercise  of describing "one true thing" each day reassuring and calming, but I must remember not to turn the practice into an idol. Remembering God first will help us all discern truth from the whispering of temptation.

Upcoming at SPPC

April 10, Palm Sunday, 10:00 am. Communion and          reception of new members

April 15, Good Friday 10:00 am. Service of readings and music.

April 17, Easter Sunday 8:00 am. "Sunrise" service at Cy                       Hampson  Park

              9:00 am Breakfast at SPPC

             10:00 am Easter worship 

Library Display

 The link for this week`s live streamed service is here

There is a library display in the hall to complement our study on The Celebration of Discipline. The topic of last week`s discussion was `study` so having more books to study seems appropriate. This Wednesday we`ll be thinking about `simplicity.` Anyone can join the discussion at any time, so if you skipped meditation and fasting, but would like to cogitate on simplicity, please come along either at 10:00 am on Wednesday or at 7:00 pm on Wednesday.

Speaking of simplicity, many of the congregation have been paring down their cupboards and closets in response to the request from the Compassionate Warehouse for items for Ukraine. Monetary donations -- always welcome -- can be dropped off at the church or given directly to CRW at   https://www.crwarehouse.ca/donate. 

As we are inundated with images of refugees, bombed out buildings and sobbing children, we want to `do`something. Donations of items is helpful to both those who give and those who receive.  

There were bags and bags and boxes and boxes of donated items` dropped off at the church over the last weeks, as well as a donation from the Jesus is Lord congregation who worship in our building.

In the end Brian and Vivien had their car packed to the roof with tokens of support for the beleaguered citizens of Ukraine. 

Those items will be added to the forty foot container being filled by the Compassionate Warehouse and sent overseas.

We have ended our collection for the Warehouse for now but we expect there will be another call for donations. So, if you missed this one, please keep your offerings for the next time. See here for the list of requested goods. 

    It was good to have the choir back in its place this Sunday. Rev. Irwin often says he feels lonely when the choir is on break over the summer. Imagine how he has felt for the past two years! We have a new member among the singers. Welcome Pam. More voices are always welcome. Practice is on Thursdays at 7:00 pm. With Good Friday and Easter coming up, it`s a good time to raise your voice in song and praise.

All the gardening work Linda did last fall is paying dividends this spring. Daffodils and heather are blooming in the front flower bed. Gardening and Christian living are almost synonymous. Both plant seeds in hope and faith; the fruits, some visible, some invisible,  are borne in another season. 

Another Step Toward Normal

 This week's live-streamed service is here

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, Friendship Coffee returned to SPPC. A goodly turnout of old friends and some newcomers enlivened the hall. There were lots of green hats and green ties along with Irish jokes and happy smiles. 

Earlier in the week the Bible Study group met and enjoyed a far-ranging discussion on fasting. Many perspectives from those who fast regularly and look forward to it to those who cannot fathom ever willingly going without food.

In another move toward normalizing our church services, the worship committee met and made plans for extra services over Easter and re-instating the choir. So, next week there will be a choir at the front to lead the hymns and provide an anthem. Anyone interested in joining can turn up on Thurs. evening at 7:00 pm, or speak to Larry on Sunday. 

Finally, on Sunday, we held our Annual Congregational Meeting. This was for 2020 and 2021. We got through the usual business of the meeting with no hiccups. Then we had to appoint new trustees for the church. Our previous trustees had been serving in that capacity for many, many years and felt they wanted to step aside. Five members allowed their names to stand and were appointed by the congregations. 

This was a formal process and will need to be legally confirmed to meet B.C.'s new requirements. Apparently the province is bringing in new rules to prevent money-laundering in real estate. 😮

As a reward for our work, we had lunch.

Full on Smiles

 Link to this week's live-streamed worship service is here

After so many weeks of trying to interpret an eyebrow waggle, it was a delight to see so many smiles at church Sunday morning. Let's hope the case numbers continue to subside and our hard-pressed health care system can cope, even as the mask requirements ease.

Notices:

Busy week at SPPC coming.

• On Wednesday Bible Study resumes at 10:00 am and 7:00 pm. Are you ready to talk 'fasting?' Are you ready to do it?
• Thursday, 10:00 am, Friendship Coffee. Come meet your old friends and make new ones. This is a great way to meet and mingle.
• Annual Congregational Meeting, Sunday, March 20 following the worship service. There will be a light lunch too. Actually, this is a double annual meeting as there was none in 2020.

Compassionate Resource Warehouse

For years SPPC has worked with the Compassionate Resource Warehouse, collecting and creating goods for distribution to those in need. For you knitters in the crowd, the Friendship Coffee time was often a time to knit cotton squares that could be disinfected by sunshine. Our congregation sent hundreds and hundreds of those items to hospitals in third world countries.

Then COVID came along and everything shut down.

Now, with the war in Ukraine, the CRW partnering with ICROSS Canada is packing a container for a field hospital on the border of Poland and Ukraine.  They are also setting up a house that medical or counselling teams can us as a home base.

Here's how SPPC is helping. We are receiving and delivering

donations of: 

• $$$ Monetary donations to assist with shipping costs and purchase of a 40' HC container. https://www.crwarehouse.ca/donate
• First aid supplies - bandages, tensors, gauze, gloves
• First aid; braces, supports, slings
• Baby items -- diaper cream, baby lotion, bowls, cups, spoons, diapers
• Toddler - diapers and pull-ups, bowls, plates, cups and cutlery
• Child and adult -- new shoes
• Receiving blankets, twin blankets
• Towels -- bath, hand and face cloths
• New tea towels and dish washing cloths
• Folding tables
• Team House dishes, utensils, cutlery, cups for 16, pots
• Thermos and hot carafes
• New drinking bottles and travel mugs
• Women menstrual pads
• Hygiene - toothpaste, toothbrushes, wrapped soap, lotion
• New combs and brushes
• Trauma counselling supplies - drawing paper, construction paper, beads, sidewalk chalk, crayons, pencils, sharpeners, hand puppets
• Small stuffed toys - beanie baby size
• Reading glasses all strengths
• While boards, bulletin boards, chalk boards
• Coloured 8x11 paper, 3 hole
• New cloth shopping bags for distribution
• Feeding Centres: large pots, cutlery, cups, large cooking utensils

No Clothing Donations at this time.

Please prepare a written list itemizing everything you are donating and attach it to the container, box or bag, and bring it to the church on:

Tues:   Mar 22 from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Thurs: Mar 24 from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

The images on the nightly news are so heartbreaking, praise God there is something we can do.

Prayer and Fasting

 Link for this week's live-streamed service is here

Lovely to see the sun this week reflected in the brilliant daffodils Dorothy brought to church on Sunday. 

Last weekend I was pruning fruit trees and got chased inside by the hail -- and a cat that was really annoyed at being out in that weather. This weekend I finished the job while enjoying the sun on my back.  Let's hope the return of better weather means a return to fewer public health restrictions. 

Also, lovely to see Gladys back at church and walking without a walker. Welcome home, Gladys. And welcome in to the newcomers who have appeared in our midst these last few weeks. There is a hymn by James Manley that starts "Come in, come in and sit down, --you are a part of the family."  Consider this your invitation to be a part of the family at Saanich Peninsula Presbyterian Church.

As we are now in the season of Lent our congregation has received a challenge to share. 

"Each day remove 1 item from your closet that you no longer need or wear and put it into a bag. At the end of the 40 days, donate the items to a place than can share them with someone who can really use them."

 Please don't consider this an exercise in de-cluttering, rather, give up each item with an offering of prayer that it may enrich the life of someone else.

Bible Study resumes on Wed. March 16. We will be talking about fasting. In our modern world most people undertake a fast for health reasons, but fasting in the Biblical sense is rare. Yet, this past week I caught the tale end of an announcement on the radio that used the words "fast and pray." On Ash Wednesday, various religious leaders including Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury called for all Christians to "fast and pray" for Ukraine. 

The phrase brought to mind Esther, who, at a time of great national danger, sent for "all the Jews in Susa to fast and pray." Esther 4:16 Tomorrow is International Women's Day, so it seems fitting to remember a strong woman from the Bible who found the courage to disobey the king, and with prayer and fasting, save her people.   

For all the women of Ukraine, may God hear our prayer.