For Sunday the 26th of August - 10:00am

In our world it can sometimes seem that people who are sticklers for rules and laws can be cold hearted when it comes to their treatment of human beings. It can also seem that people who feel compassion for others can be less than clear when it comes to distinguishing between good and evil. With Jesus, however, there was no contradiction between showing heartfelt respect and obedience to God’s commands, and showing warm and compassionate love to human beings: Jesus fulfilled all God’s laws by the love that he showed all people.

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible about a time when Jesus healed a crippled woman on a holy day. Some people – sticklers for rules and commands – criticized Jesus because they thought he broke the law by working on a holy day. But Jesus, by his actions and his words, showed how God’s law and God’s love don’t contradict each other. He showed that God’s commands are rightly interpreted in light of God’s love.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 10:00am for a service with Holy Communion. The Sunday school will be meeting at about 10:45am.

God’s peace,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 19th of August - 9:00am

It’s not uncommon for Christian people to go through times when they feel discouraged and depressed: when they feel as if God is not keeping the promises he makes in the Bible. At such times Christian people can feel isolated and alone, and can feel like giving up on the life of faith.

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that gives us encouragement when we feel like giving up. We will be hearing about the people of faith who have gone before us in history, and who are with us as part of God’s people even now. We will be hearing that, no matter how tough life may become, we are never alone: God, the angels and archangels, and the whole company of heaven surround us like a cloud.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with communion. The Sunday school will be meeting at about 9:45am.

God’s peace,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 12th of August - 10:00am

The primary way that we experience spiritual and supernatural power in our lives is by trusting God’s promises. When, for example, we trust God’s promise that in Christ we have his forgiveness, we experience a supernatural freedom to forgive those who have hurt us. Likewise when we trust God’s promise t provide for all our needs, we experience a supernatural freedom to be generous with the people that God places in our lives. As we trust God’s promises we experience that reality of God’s goodness, beauty, and truth.

This Sunday we will be hearing readings from the Bible that deal with the theme of trust. As we meditate on the readings we will consider the ways that God makes his promises to us here and now, and we will think through the ways that we faithfully receive his promises, and so experience the power of the Holy Spirit as a Christian community.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 10:00am. The Sunday school will be meeting at 10:45am.

God’s peace,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor