June 28, 2024
Dear Friends,
This Sunday (June 30th) is our Outdoor Service. So far the weather looks positive for Sunday morning so my hope is we will be able to go ahead with gathering together for worship on the lawn. We will provide tents for people to sit under. If there are those who wish to sit inside we will provide the You Tube link. Please bring a lawn chair. This will also be a “gospel service” as we will be singing some of the congregation’s favourite gospel songs and hymns. We are going to welcome Cindy Hallman as our keyboard player as Graciela is on holiday.
We are continuing our summer series on The Beatitudes of Jesus as found in Matthew 5:1-12. We have been asking the question “What does it mean to be blessed?” and we are discovering that Jesus’ beatitudes surprise our assumptions of who we might consider to be blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek. Jesus is calling us to rethink and renew our definition of who are the blessed ones and how the Holy Spirit transforms us into those who are kingdom people.
This week we are taking a look at the 4th Beatitude, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be satisfied”. We all know what it is to be hungry and thirsty. Our bodies need nourishment. Our bodies will alert us to the thing it needs to be satisfied with, whether food our drink. And that desire can change the way we act, for better or for worse. Jesus suggests that just like our bodies hunger for food, we are those who have a spiritual hunger for God’s righteousness (being rightly related to God). Jesus makes it clear that our hunger and thirst for God can only be satisfied by God. Those who try to skirt around their spiritual hunger and thirst or seek to fill that desire with others things, that hunger and thirst will remain. Yet those who by God’s grace come to God with a desire to be righteous - to be made right before God and to live with integrity, justice and honesty with others - they will be satisfied. God blesses those who desire to live in a right relationship with God and with others. St Augustine, an early church father prayed, “ (God) you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you”. May this be our desire and prayer.
Our thoughts and prayers are extended to Suzanne Kovac with the passing of her beloved husband John. Suzanne has invited me to participate in a memorial gathering on Saturday, June 29th which I am glad to do. We will pass on our condolences to Suzanne in her loss.
Christianity Explored is a course that I would like to offer on Wednesday evenings @ 7 pm over July and August. It is a course that explores the basic beliefs of the Christian faith. Who is Jesus? What are the basic doctrines of Christianity? What is a Christian? and much more. If you are interested please contact the office and I will be glad to welcome you to “Christianity Explored.”
Our new church road sign (Burnhamthorpe Rd) is still waiting permit approval from the City of Mississauga. We were to meet today (June 28th) with LED Lighting Solutions who are supplying and installing the new sign, however this meeting and installation date has been postponed until further notice.
Have a lovely weekend
Pastor Ian
