To know Jesus Christ, and, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to make Him known
Rev'd Beth and the Parish of St. Simon's in Temagami celebrated their new Ministry together on April 12. St. Elizabeth's provided the worship space for the large gathering of about 100. A supper at the Legion Hall rounded out the time of fellowship.
?Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother?
John 19:25
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
On this Good Friday we gather in our churches across Kenya in the shadow of a great and terrible evil. People who deal in death have slaughtered 147 people in Garissa, most of them students, and brought wrenching anguish to their families and a deep sadness to our nation.
These young people died because they were Kenyans and they were Christians. This attack was a calculated manifestation of evil designed to destroy our nation and our faith, but on this Good Friday we are reminded that the very worst evil can do is not the last word.? ...continue reading "Good Friday statement from the Primate of Kenya"
As part of the meditation stations for Holy Week last year, several recordings were made from The Nail: Being part of the Passion by Bishop Stephen Cottrell. ?We have received permission from SPCK Publishing to post these on our website. ?We invite you to listen to these as part of your Holy Week this year and will be posting one each day.
Monday: ?The Roman Centurion?(7:19)
Tuesday: ?Peter (5:40)
Wednesday: ?Judas (7:49)
Thursday: ?Mary Magdalene (7:25)
Friday: ?Pilate's Wife (8:03)
Services for Holy Week at Christ Church are:
1. Maundy Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
2. Good Friday at 2:00 p.m.
3. Easter Vigil (Saturday) at 7:00 p.m.
4. Easter Sunday at 10:30 a.m. (NOTE: only one service this Sunday)
?Holy Week is a time of Holy Waiting. We know we have something precious and beautiful, but we cannot yet see the completed picture. And so we must wait.?
Holy Week at Home
Many of us long to make Holy Week (the days between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday) more meaningful for our families. We want more than waiting to put on our fancy new clothes, gorging on candy, and stressing about creating the perfect Pinterest-worthy tablescape. But where do we start? And how do we make time in what is already a busy week?
Here are a few ideas for?families of all sizes and ages to connect to the Triduum with a just a few minutes each evening. If you find that three nights of activities are too many, don?t worry! Pick the one activity that resonates the most with you and start there.
...continue reading "Holy Week at Home: Family Practices for the Triduum"
This Sunday, March 29 is Palm Sunday.
Please note we will have only one service at 10:30 a.m.
This Wednesday, February 18 is Ash Wednesday. Service at 7:00 p.m. consisting of Holy Eucharist and Ashes.
Ash Wednesday represents the beginning of Lent, a 40-day time period for us to re-evaluate our lives in anticipation of the Resurrection of Our Lord on Easter Sunday.
All welcome.
Did you miss our first service at the Greenwood Avenue location? Bishop Stephen Andrew's sermon as well as the concluding remarks of Mayor Al McDonald and Rev'd Marie Loewen can be found on our Listen page (see above).
Rev Marie found this in her holiday reading and found air interesting. She would love to hear your reactions. What do you think about this? Please comment in the box below.
The great heresy of the church today is that we think we?re in the entertainment business. A.W. Tozer believed this to be true back in the 1950s and 60s. Church members ?want to be entertained while they are edified.? He said that in 1962. Tozer grieved, even then, that it was ?scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction was God.?*
More recently, David Platt has asked: ?What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs? What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed? Would His Word still be enough for his people to come together?? (Radical)
Would it be enough?
Tozer got it right: ?Heresy of method may be as deadly as heresy of message.?
HALLOWEDNESS, NOT SHALLOWNESS
Like Tozer, we should be concerned that so many people in our churches want to be entertained while they worship. We should be concerned when we no longer recognize the difference between the two. And we should be concerned by the growing belief that adding more entertainment value to worship is necessary for the church to accomplish its mission.
I may stand alone, but it grieves me when I see worship services characterized more by props, performances, and pep rally atmospheres than by any sense of divine sacredness; and hallowedness giving way to shallowness.
This is not about worship styles. The issue is not traditional versus contemporary versus blended worship. It?s not about organ versus worship band. That discussion misses the point completely. This is about the heart and focus and intent of worship. The real issues, for me, are these:
1. Who or what is the spotlight really on?
If the figurative spotlight in our church services is on anyone other than God, it is not worship. If the spotlight shines brighter on human performance than on the gospel of Christ, it is not worship. If anyone other than Jesus is receiving our adulation and applause, it is not God we worship.
2. What message are we communicating?
The message of the church?the message the world needs to hear from us?is not, ?Come and have a good time,? ?Come and be entertained,? or ?Come and find your best life now.?
Tozer said: ?Christ calls men to carry a cross; we call them to have fun in His name.?
The message of the church is the message of the cross. Lest we forget, Jesus? cross was a source of entertainment only for those who mocked Him as He hung on it.
3. How are lives changed?
?But our methods are attracting and winning people!? some will say.
Tozer addressed that sentiment: ?Winning them to what? To true discipleship? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of character? To a despising of the world?s treasures? To hard self-discipline? To love for God? To total committal to Christ??
THE WORD DOES THE WORK
David Platt and the church he pastored, The Church at Brook Hills, decided to try to answer the question, ?Is His Word still enough for His people to come together?? They stripped away the entertainment value and invited people to come simply to study God?s Word. They called it Secret Church. They set a date?on a Friday night?when they would gather from 6:00 in the evening until midnight, and for six hours they would do nothing but study God?s Word and pray. People came. A thousand people came the first time and it grew from that. Soon, they had to start taking reservations because the church was packed full. Secret Church now draws tens of thousands of people via simulcast in over 50 countries around the world?with no entertainment, no bells and whistles or smoke machines.
Why do they come? Platt explained in an interview: ?People are hungry for the Word. There?s really nothing special or creative about it. It?s just the study of the Word ?. The Word itself does the work!?
People are hungry. They are hungry for a diet of substance, not candy. More of the Word. Deeper into the Word. Less of what Tozer called ?religious toys and trifles.?
*Tozer quotes are taken from Tozer on Worship and Entertainment by James L. Synder.
Source: http://mikelivingstone.com/2014/12/17/the-heresy-of-worshiptainment/