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Services recap...

Advent I with Nancy and Randy Campbell

11/30/2014

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CALL TO WORSHIP:

ONE: The night is far gone.

ALL: The day is near.

ONE: And so we wait.

ALL: We wait with hope.

ONE: We wait for the coming of the Christ Child.
ALL: The kingdom of heaven has come near.


PRAYER & LORD'S PRAYER: Dear Lord, in this Advent of expectation, draw us together in unity, that our praise and worship might echo in these walls and also through ourselves. The Advent story of hope and mystery, anticipation, preparation and a king appearing when we

least expect, help us to open our eyes and our hearts, that this might be an Advent of hope to the world. God of hope, be with us in our Advent journey to the stable and beyond. Be with us in our meeting and in our travelling together. Be with us in our worship and praying together. Be with us in our Advent journey.

Let us pray together: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever Amen


ADVENT SYMBOLS: The First Sunday In Advent



CANDLE LIGHTER: Awake! The bells chime during Advent. Bells summon people to worship and they ring out the birth of Jesus. They remind us that the time of hope is at hand. Christ is coming! God comes and dwells with us. Christ is God with us, the incarnation of the eternal in our finite world. Christ is
coming! The bells herald the presence of Christ in our world and in our hearts. They call us to come and worship Christ now. Allow the bells of hope to ring in your heart. Christ is coming.


STORY: Through Jesus Hope Lives

For a moment, or perhaps a long while, we are dropped into the depths of despair, a tragedy of intense proportions. In the darkness we struggle with difficult and often confusing feelings. As Christians we often feel

guilty about these feelings. All are true human emotions, and necessary in enabling us to cope. God understands our pain and our suffering. He will wrap His loving arms around us, He will be there when no one else can.

After a time we begin to feel His presence. You can see a faint light in

the distance. This is the light of HOPE. Moving toward the light, the Holy Spirit takes us by the hand and helps us to move even closer to the light. The light of the Lord that shines into each of our lives.

Here in the Lord's loving presence our souls and our wounds begin to heal. God has a plan for us and we can rest assured that we have been called

here for a purpose. Our job is not yet finished. We must continue to move forward. We might not understand the sequence of events in our lives. We might not understand the meaning of our suffering. But we have not lost everything, we are not alone. We will always have HOPE.

As the holiday season approaches, let us remember that Hope was born at Christmas. His name is Jesus. And Hope does live on'.

Offertory Prayer:         God of Hope, in this season of Advent, this time of

waiting, we offer to You our gifts, our time and our energy. Accept what we offer, and use these offerings to the light of Your
hope in the dark places of our world. Amen


SCRIPTURE READINGS:

 Jeremiah 33, chapters 14-16, 



"The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise..." With this opening statement in today's first
reading, the longings of our heart should be stirred with eager anticipation, just as it moved those who first heard this message from the prophet Jeremiah. God is faithful and does marvellous things to rescue a beloved people from the bondage of sin and death. God has acted and continues to act, bringing us salvation. Do we dare to hope in God's promise of fulfillment, even when confronted with overwhelming odds? Hope we must!

Jeremiah 33: 14-16.          



The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will make a righteous branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days

Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.

The second reading is from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 21, verses 25­28 and 35-36, found on page 1636. Drawing attention to the end-of-time theme that is presented during the first half of Advent, our Gospel seems foreboding and perhaps frightening. Yet, the Gospel is always Good News. The intention is to "Reassure the faithful that God's promised salvation will indeed come to pass." Rather than become despondent and overwhelmed in the face of

adversity, the disciple of Jesus is called to remain steadfast in hope. The characteristic anticipation and joy which marks the season of Advent must permeate the heart. Come, Lord Jesus! Do not delay!

Luke 21: 25-28, 35-36. There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars.

On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and
tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. (verse 35) For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.


MEDITATION:  

THE PROPHECY CANDLE

A symbol is something that a group of people can identify or associate with something else. The early Christians used symbols to identify each other as followers of God. Today, we heard the children tell us about the symbol for the first Advent candle, the candle of Hope, and they will be back for the next three Sundays to tell us about the symbols of the other candles. And all this is leading up to Christmas Eve, when we will hear about, not only the symbols of Christmas, but the legends that go along with them.

Advent is the beginning of the Church Year for most churches. Every year during Advent we set out the Advent wreath with its five candles, lighting one each Sunday and finally the Christ candle on Christmas Eve. The Advent wreath includes many symbols. The wreath is in the shape of a circle, without beginning or ending. This reminds us that there is no beginning or ending to God. God's love and care for us never ends. The evergreen branches are a sign of ever new life. The candles tell us of the light which came into the world with Jesus Christ. The traditional colours of the Advent candles are penitential colours, reminding us that we need God's help to be the people we are meant to be. The white candle which we light on Christmas Eve, signifies the coming of Christ.

The Advent candles are traditionally purple, the colour of penitence and fasting, as well as the colour of royalty to welcome the Advent of the King. In the four weeks of Advent, the third Sunday came to be a time of rejoicing, and many churches replaced the purple candle with pink, turning the attention more to the celebration and joy of the season. As you can see, this year our third candle is pink.

Each Advent candle has a name. There's the candle of hope or prophecy, the
candle of peace or Bethlehem candle, the candle of joy or the Shepherd candle and the candle of love or the Angel candle. The candle we lit this morning is the candle of hope, also known as the Promise candle or the Prophecy candle. God promised the Old Testament prophets that He would send someone to deliver His people from their troubles. In the New Testament, God made a promise to a young couple, Mary and Joseph, that Mary would give birth to a son. His name would be Jesus and He would save His people from their sins. And so we remember that the first candle stands for God's promise that Jesus would be born.

The people of Israel heard God's promises through the prophets. For century after century, God's prophets had predicted the coming of the Messiah, who would set things right. Even in the midst of situations where there seemed very little reason to be hopeful, the great Jewish prophets reminded the people of God's promises. The prophet Isaiah spoke words of hope to Israel. He spoke of the coming of God's realm of Shalom, when
all nations will walk in God's light. We, too, hope and pray for a world of peace and harmony.


In the church's calendar, Advent is meant as a time for quiet reflection, self-examination and preparation leading up to the birth of Christ. That's quite a contrast from what the weeks leading up to Christmas are actually like for most of us, with everyone rushing about, exhausted from shopping, baking, sending Christmas messages, wrapping presents, decorating and all the rest.

A minister tells the story of eating dinner with his family during the Advent season. He asked, "Who can tell me what the four candles in the Advent Wreath represent?" His 7 year old son piped up, "There's joy, love, peace...and...and...and" Eager to keep up with her brother, his 6 year old daughter excitedly broke in, "I know! I know! There's joy, love, peace and quiet." Perhaps she was hoping for peace and quiet. We know that hope is often hard to hang onto, but we must always know that is there.

Jesus is coming and we are preparing to welcome Him again into the world and into our lives. We light the Advent candles to celebrate the gifts we are given. The prophet Isaiah declares that we are like clay and God is the potter. We are the work of God's hands, and we have the potential to be greatly transformed. Paul reminds us that, in Jesus, we have been blessed in every way, and likewise we can be a blessing to others. These are both statements of great hope.

Advent is all about hope, but hope isn't something we can manipulate. We can't just try to be more hopeful. Hope doesn't come with the power of positive thinking. Hope comes from knowing and trusting God's promises. The message of hope was written over 700 years before the birth of John the Baptist. Only a true message from God could predict the truth so far in advance.

Hope is at the beginning of the Advent season because it is the hope of the coming Saviour that would save the nation of Israel. It is the hope of the prophecies of Isaiah and Malachi that proclaimed the coming of John. It is the coming of John the Baptist that prepared the way for Jesus. Hope is what Christianity is based on. Hope for eternal life through the coming of our Lord and Saviour.

Hope is what happens before the fulfillment of God's promises, and His track record of fulfilling promises is perfect. We are here to celebrate the hope that God has given us through His promises and through His fulfillment. We are here to celebrate the coming of Christ, because without Him, there is no hope.

People need hope during times of darkness, and that hope is Christ. Christ was the hope of a world that sat in darkness for many years without hearing the voice of God. At
His birth, hope came into the world.









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With Stewart Burrows

11/23/2014

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Awaiting for Mr Burrows sermon
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   “New Life” with Rev. Randy Barrington

11/16/2014

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New life


Acts 5:17-20 

We are continuing our walk through the book of Acts, and along the way we have learned some very important things.

·       The Apostils were normal uneducated men before the Holy Spirit fell on them.

·       The Holy Spirit changed them forever.

·       They now had power, courage, and an incredible understanding of where they fit in the picture.

·       They were healing people and preaching the resurrection of Jesus and this made them enemies of the leaders of the Jewish faith.

·       When they healed a man at the Temple they were accused and arrested, but when the High Priest and his family realized they couldn’t punish them for doing good. And they realized they couldn’t deny that the healing took place, they warned them to stop talking about Jesus.

·       The boldness of the Apostils grew and they basically told the High priest not on your life and off they go.

Last Sunday night we looked at the fact that when they were released they went and told their friends all about it and they asked God to make them even bolder and to continue to heal people. If we read the begining of chapter we see how God has not only continued this but even increased it.


Acts 5:14-16 (ESV) 

    And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,  [15] so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.  [16] The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

Notice they don’t actually give an exact number in fact they don’t even seem to be counting any more. They just use the word multitude, the church is exploding and they were all healed.

 Now what is this new exploding church doing?

 They were in agreement with each other.

Acts 4:32 (ESV) 

    Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 

 They were meeting together daily, they were praying together

Acts 2:42 (ESV) 

    And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 

 
they were taking care of each other

Acts 4:34 (ESV) 

    There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 

 and they were praising God.

Acts 2:46-47 (ESV) 

    And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,  [47] praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

 So after looking at these verses (especially the last one about everyone praising God) does this verse make any sense to you?

Acts 5:17 (ESV) 

    But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

They (The religious leaders)  had a job to do, and that job was to get people praising God. They would recite the stories of God and His mighty hand and how He continually rescued the nation of Israel from their enemies through miracles and through people.

·       The red sea.

·       Manna

·       Samson

·       Joseph

·       Gideon

All of this was their history and their history with God, it was told and taught over and over to the people so they could see what a loving God He was and so they would praise His name.

So when they hear that people are praising God why would they be filled with jealousy?

Because it wasn’t Gods plan they were after it had to be theirs. It wasn't about God’s ministry it was theirs. They wanted the people to praise them not God. There is an incredible warning here for the church and I have seen this kind of jealousy in the church. People get saved and we get angry and say things like (well you don’t know what I had to go through with them)

Well wasn’t that what Jesus was teaching.

John 4:36-37 (ESV) 

    Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.  [37] For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' 

When Jesus was talking about this He was talking about working together as a team. Can you imagine what it would have been like if the religious leaders had actually listen to these Disciples and said "Yes these guy have the next step listen to them"? But they didn't because their hearts were full of jealousy and hatred because they weren’t in charge.

Acts 5:18 NIV

They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

·       They couldn't compete with the Disciples.

·       They couldn't deny the power the Disciples used.

·       They couldn't cope with the Disciples so they chose to use force.

 

 

Acts 5:19 NIV

 

But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.

 

·       The religious leaders did what they could do to stop them, but they weren’t really fighting the Disciples were they?

·       It is interesting that Luke tells us about the arrival of the Angel without any expression of surprise or wonder almost like we should expect it. God was nowhere near done with these men, they had a mission and not a worldly mission but a heavenly mission.

 

 

Acts 5:20 NIV

 

“Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

 

·       Remember when these men prayed that God would make them bold?

·       God had freed them because He loved them, and because he had a direction and job for them to do.

·       And what He wanted them to do is exactly what He told them to do through the Angel. "Tell them about this new life.

·       What about us? What has God freed you from? Why has He freed us? What does this new life look like?

 

 

“Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 CEV)

 

Can a butterfly go back into a cocoon after it’s come out as a caterpillar? Of course not. It can’t happen. Once the caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it is what it is -- a butterfly.

 

When you become a believer, you’re like that butterfly -- you come out of your cocoon. It may take you some time to fly spiritually, but once you become a new creation in Christ, you are what you are. You are a new creation.

 

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new” (CEV).

 

So what does it mean to become a new creation in Christ? The moment you believe in Christ, there’s a spiritual metamorphosis -- everything changes! This is a matter of faith and not sight.

 

The greatest step of faith we can take in our lives is to believe what God says about who Jesus is and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

 

I believe the second greatest step you can take is to believe what God says about who you are. You are a new creation in Christ! The Bible says in Romans 6:14, “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace” (NLT).

 

A true life, a better life, a wonderful life is only found in Christ. When you become a Christian, you have a new life in him.

 

Go tell the world about your new life.

 

Alter call

 

 

 

 

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We celebrate Remembrance day

11/11/2014

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PROCESSIONAL: Bagpiper: Robert Waller

Presentation of Colours

0 Canada/The Queen

Depositing Colours

Let us remember with gratitude those who, in the cause of peace and the service

of their fellow men, died for their country in time of war.

Minute of Silence


They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn;

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.


Picture
"In Flanders Fields" - Marion Bannerman

written by John McCrae, May 1915


In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
CALL & RESPONSE:

ONE We are here to worship Almighty God, whose purposes are good.
ALL: Whose power sustains the world He has made.

ONE: As we give thanks for His great works, we remember those who have livedand died in His service and in the service of others; 
ALL:  We pray for all who suffer through war and are in need;

ONE: We ask for His help and blessing that we may do His will, 
ALL:  And that the whole world may acknowledge Him as Lord and King.

PRAYER: Almighty and eternal God, from whose love in Christ we cannot be parted, either by death or life. Hear our prayers and thanksgivings for those whom we remember this day. Fulfill in them the purpose of Your love, and bring us, with them, to Your eternal joy. Let us remember before You, Lord, those who have died for their country in war; those whom we knew, and whose
memory we treasure, and all who have lived and died in the service of others.

Ever-loving God, we remember those whom You have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of Your presence. May that same peace calm our fears, bring justice to all peoples, and establish harmony among the nations.

Together, we pray as Jesus taught us:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.

ANTHEM: Hymn To The Victims                (choir)

SCRIPTURE READING :  Matthew 5:1-12

New International Version (NIV)

Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,  and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Picture

Hommage to Mr. Norval Blair who just celebrated his 90th birthday and who is a veteran.

Picture
High Flight read Mr Rob ireland

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew --
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

— John Gillespie Magee, Jr
A bit of history about Mr Magee :

During the desperate days of the Battle of Britain, hundreds of Americans crossed the border into Canada to enlist with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Knowingly breaking the law, but with the tacit approval of the then still officially neutral United States Government, they volunteered to fight the Nazis.

John Gillespie Magee, Jr., was one such American. Born in Shanghai, China, in 1922 to an English mother and a Scotch-Irish-American father, Magee was 18 years old when he entered flight training. Within the year, he was sent to England and posted to the newly formed No 412 Fighter Squadron, RCAF, which was activated at Digby, England, on 30 June 1941. He was qualified on and flew the Supermarine Spitfire.

Flying fighter sweeps over France and air defense over England against the German Luftwaffe, he rose to the rank of Pilot Officer.

On 3 September 1941, Magee flew a high altitude (30,000 feet) test flight in a newer model of the Spitfire V. As he orbited and climbed upward, he was struck with the inspiration of a poem — "To touch the face of God."

Once back on the ground, he wrote a letter to his parents. In it he commented, "I am enclosing a verse I wrote the other day. It started at 30,000 feet, and was finished soon after I landed." On the back of the letter, he jotted down his poem, 'High Flight.'

Just three months later, on 11 December 1941 (and only three days after the US entered the war), Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr., was killed. The Spitfire V he was flying, VZ-H, collided with an Oxford Trainer from Cranwell Airfield flown by one Ernest Aubrey. The mid-air happened over the village of Roxholm which lies between RAF Cranwell and RAF Digby, in the county of Lincolnshire at about 400 feet AGL at 11:30. John was descending in the clouds. At the enquiry a farmer testified that he saw the Spitfire pilot struggle to push back the canopy. The pilot, he said, finally stood up to jump from the plane. John, however, was too close to the ground for his parachute to open. He died instantly. He was 19 years old.

Part of the official letter to his parents read, "Your son's funeral took place at Scopwick Cemetery, near Digby Aerodrome, at 2:30 P.M. on Saturday, 13th December, 1941, the service being conducted by Flight Lieutenant S. K. Belton, the Canadian padre of this Station. He was accorded full Service Honors, the coffin being carried by pilots of his own Squadron."

Picture
Offertory Prayer: Lord of all good, we bring these gifts to You. Use them to fulfill Your holy purpose. These gifts are tokens of our love, showing that our whole life is offered to Your will. Amen.

PRAYER:              0 God of truth and justice, we hold before You those whose memory we cherish, and those whose names we will never know. Help us to lift our eyes above the torment of this broken world, and grant us the grace to pray for those who wish us harm. Let us be peace-makers. Let us be called the children of God, speaking boldly with moral conviction, to the nation and to the world, building, with God's grace, a new moral order in the world community; and acting now for world peace, an enterprise of justice, an outcome of love. As we honour the past, may we put our faith in Your future; for You are the source of life and hope, now and forever. Amen.
The story is as follows:

The song is of course about the horses sent overseas during WW1 to serve in the various theatres of war. Of the approximately 53000 horses Australia sent overseas during WW1, only one ever returned to Australia after the war. At the end of the war the Anzacs were ordered to get rid of their horses, the authorities did not want them returning to Australia and perhaps bringing in anthrax or TB or suchlike back into the country. Most of the horses were sold or given away, but in Palestine the Light Horsemen refused to give or sell their horses to the Arab  population of Palestine, and chose instead to shoot them  all. I based the song on an actual Light Horseman called Elijah Conn who had a horse in Palestine called Banjo. Elijah never forgot Banjo and for the rest of his life  could not talk about him without tears coming to his eyes.

AS IF HE KNOWS

It’s as if he knows
He’s standing close to me
His breath warm on my sleeve
His head hung low
It’s as if he knows
What the dawn will bring
The end of everything
For my old Banjo
And all along the picket lines beneath the desert sky
The Light Horsemen move amongst their mates to say one last goodbye
And the horses stand so quietly
Row on silent row
It’s as if they know


Time after time
We rode  through shot and shell
We rode  in and out of Hell
On their strong backs
Time after time
They brought us safely through
By their swift sure hooves
And their brave hearts
Tomorrow we will form up ranks and march down to the quay
And sail back to our loved ones in that dear land across the sea
While our loyal and true companions
Who asked so little and gave so much
Will lie dead in the dust.


For the orders came
No horses to return
We were to abandon them
To be slaves
After all we’d shared
And all that we’d been through
A Nation’s gratitude
Was a dusty grave
For we can’t leave them to the people here, we’d rather see them dead
So each man will take his best mate’s horse with a bullet through the head
For the people here are like their land
Wild and cruel and hard
So Banjo, here’s your reward.


It’s as if he knows, he standing close to me, 
His breath warm on my sleeve, his head hung low.
As he if he knew.


Copyright Eric Bogle July 2001

MEDITATION:        The Unknown Soldier

THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER

Finding a new way to talk about holidays, celebrations and events that occur year after year can be challenging. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, Easter, about His death and resurrection. But how do you expand and make it interesting? I was struggling to find exactly the right direction to take for this Remembrance Day service. Thank goodness for my wonderful husband, Randy, who said, "Why don't you talk about the Unknown Soldier?" So I thank you, Randy, for my inspiration for today's topic.

Every nation that became great did so at the cost of the individual soldier. On this coming Tuesday, in Ottawa, Washington, London, Paris, Rome, and many other cities around the world, people will honour those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of their country and world peace. Parades will have the most stirring military pageantry, decked with flags and exultant with music, and the focus will be centered about the bodies of unknown soldiers.

Canada didn't have its own Tomb of the Unknown Soldier until 14 years ago. On May 28th, 2000, the remains of an unidentified Canadian soldier who died in the First World War were repatriated from France and, with great ceremony, were buried in a special tomb in front of the National War Memorial in Ottawa. It was declared that, "From this point on, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier will become a focal point of commemoration for all

memorial events at the National War Memorial. It will be a memorial in Canada for Canadians. The tomb will be a fitting way to honour the sacrifices on which our freedoms were built."

This project began several years ago at the instigation of the Royal Canadian Legion, who developed the idea as a Millennium project, and it was taken up by the Canadian Government under the lead of Veterans Affairs. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was created to honour the more than 116,000 Canadians who sacrificed their lives in the cause of peace and freedom. Futhermore, the Unknown Soldier represents all Canadians, whether they be navy, army, air force or merchant marine, who died or may die for their country in all conflicts — past, present and future. Little did I know, or even suspect when I started drafting today's talk, that such a terrible and senseless tragedy would take place at that War Memorial. A young soldier, standing guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, senselessly shot to death. A soldier, doing his duty for the country he loved, killed, as was another, just two days prior, a few short miles from here. These two men will be honoured and remembered along with all who have died in service, reminding us that whether on foreign soil or here at home, freedom is never free.

An article was written, that tells the story of an unknown soldier. I don't know who the author of this article is, but this story is so compelling that I felt I must share it with you. The story is told by the unknown soldier himself.


"In April 1917, I died. It was at the Battle of Vimy Ridge. I was just one of the 3,598 killed. The bullet wounds hurt as they ripped jagged holes in my skin and pierced my internal organs. I was only hit in the stomach, nearly cut in half by machine guns, and it took me a whole, seemingly everlasting minute to die, writhing on the ground with my blood pouring all over the mud. This is the only thing I remember. The pain, the agonizing pain. I can't even remember what my name was. Perhaps that is a side effect of dying.

Dying was not like how I expected. It was not white as some people think. It was grey. Swirling grey in front of my eyes, until I flooded into nothingness. And then....I was nowhere. Floating.

I turned and could see my body, mangled and broken, full of bullet holes. An empty corpse, only identified by a bloody Canadian army uniform. And then I forgot. The body below; I didn't know who it was. I didn't know who I was. I just knew that I was rising, and then I was amongst others, like me. The dead.

I am pretty sure I have a body as I am now — I can move around and do all sorts of things. But I still don't know who I am. Others remember. Maybe it's me. Maybe it was my fault I forgot. Perhaps, I think now, perhaps I wanted to forget. Maybe I was a bad person.

And now I watch a body I saw being placed in a tomb at the National War Memorial. I guess that it is me, but I still do not know my name. The body had already been buried in the cemetery at Cabaret Rouge near Souchez in France, I think. But they dug it up and brought it to Ottawa. It laid in state in The Hall Of Honour at the Parliament Building for three days, until now. It's being placed in this new tomb. I have followed this body around whilst I am enjoying being dead. Being nothing. It is great, being nothing; there's no pain, or conscience.

If I was that soldier, I guess I must have killed some people, but right now, that doesn't bother me. Strange. I reckon it's because I am dead. I died, like the ones I slaughtered did. We are quits, finished, done.

I am not sure if I would rather be alive. I would like to have all my memories --family, friends, who I actually was. We even have birth and death days in this place I am in. for I don't know what's it's called, but, because I do not know my name, I am always left out. I have been given a death day, of course, the day I arrived, but because I was floating in nothingness for a seemingly long time, I do not know if that is the actual day.

I can watch what is happening as if through a translucent veil from where ever I am. Through the nothingness as other souls join us silently above the earth. I have even met Napoleon as I float around.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is what they are calling it. A body, brought from France, being laid, to act as a memorial to all those unknown soldiers. The body that I think is mine just so happens to be the lucky one, and has not just been left on the bloody battlefield to rot.


I can hear the cannon firing now, as a mark of respect. The troops march. I stay. Floating down, because you can do that in the nothingness, I come to stand in front of the tomb. People walk through me and pay their respects. I do as well. But not to me: I am not that vain. I pay my respects to all the fallen soldiers. I thank them for all they did — even the German ones, for I know many did not know what the cause they were fighting for was. I have met them. I know.

During my time in the war, I climbed over bodies as they were strewn over barbed wire to protect myself. Once, I even used a dead man as a shield to stop myself from dying, holding him by his bloodied shirt. I retrieved weapons that had been discarded from cold, unfeeling fingers, and used them to kill more.

I am the Unknown Soldier. I do not know my name, or who I was. I know some of what I did during the war, the most recent memories. Sometimes, I regret what I did. I regret taking lives. I am not proud of it, but I cannot take them back. And as I float up into the nothingness for the last time, an image of a boy comes to mind. I do not know who he is, but he is young, with brown hair and intelligent blue eyes. He is kissed on the head by his mother as he marches to join his regiment, a rifle hastily slung over one shoulder. That boy was me, and I am him. I may not have lived for a long time, but I did my duty and that is something I am proud of. Finally, I have been buried; my body is at rest. And now, I am,too. "

To end, I would like to read one of many poems entitled 'The Unknown Soldier.'

You need not ever know my name;
This unknown soldier seeks no fame.
I'm here to bring out thought from you;
May your heart see more than your view.
Canada, we marched with pride,
We gave our life, for you we died.
How well we knew the time might come
When life could sound that final drum.
Please think of us as life moves on;
We tried so hard till that last dawn.
Do let our spirit fill the land,
Pass treasured freedom, hand to hand.
God blessed this country with such love,
Hold in your heart, abundance of
And when you stand before my grave,
Think not of one, but each who gave.

THE KOHIMA EPITAPH:  
The words of this epitaph are some of the most moving lines ever written about the fallen. They state very succinctly what it is that each of them gave to his fellow citizens — all of their tomorrows. The epitaph is written on a marker in memory of the Commonwealth Forces who served on Burma from 1941-1945. "When you go home, tell them of us, and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today."

BENEDICTION: God grant to the living, grace; to the departed, rest; to all people, unity and peace; and to us and all God's servants, life everlasting. May the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you all and remain with you always.

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UNTYING FOOD AID with Nelson Weippert

11/2/2014

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Mr Nelson Weippert gave a great explanation of the workings and history of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank... quite enlightening! 
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UNTYING CANADA’S FOOD AID               Nov. 2-14
                                         LUKE  12: 13-21
                             Deut. 8: 7-10
                                     


In our SCRIPTURE THIS MORNING, the man was greedy   built bigger barns rather than share his abundant wealth,   he represents our society with such abundance we to have the choice to-- store it in the bank – build bigger bank accounts or share it with our neighbours .

Hopefully, we don’t want to end life like him –so I think a good place to store some of our wealth is with CFGB.  Not much interest- but the rewards are great.  —content   knowing you are sharing in God’s work



I’d say, if we are going to donate to CFGB it might be a good idea to know a little history of how they operate.

So this morning I thought I’d run through some of the milestones(challenges) CFGB faced in fulfilling their mission to END HUNGER.

From the very start CFGB’s hands had been tied by  Gov’t. restrictions as to what food can be provided and which countries were entitled to receive aid from Canada.

We need to go all the way back to the start of Canada’s food aid program. It began in the 50’s --  a way to help Canadian farmers sell   surplus crops and  --  a way the help the hungry.

When CFGB started In 1983 to receive matching funds from CIDA, CFGB had to follow certain government rules
       1- grain must be grown in Canada
       2- only give aid to non-communist countries.
                        ( a list of eligible countries was provided)


 

  GRAIN GROWN IN CANADA had two problems:

-1st.--  you had to find a ship that had space—  to a big city port—unload grain on the dock,-- pilfering—  smaller boat or trucks village  

2nd.-  wheat not the grain the people  ate.

 A way of obtaining the grains they ate was to   SWAP GRAINS  with various countries.

 One example:  emergency in Zimbawe--Canadian wheat  traded to South Africa for the maize--   maize distributed to families in Zimbawe.

It seems the early days of CFGB was mainly arranging to ship boat loads of wheat—arranging swaps and distributing food.  

IN 1994, CFGB INTRO A DISASTER RELIEF PROGRAM.

for the first 11 years CFGB main priority was providing food to END HUNGER.  But due to drought and flooding the local farmers had depleted their savings,- ate their seed for next planting season. Then A DISASTER RELIEF PROGRAM established.
Now CFGB is providing families with food, tools and seed and in some cases livestock, to help them re-establish their farm plots.


Many will remember, IN 1996,-- FAMINE STRUCK NORTH KOREA – once again another Gov’t. restriction tied their hands--communist countries get no food aid.-- no choice—to  be faithful to God and their mission or commit CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.  CFGB shipped 81,000 tons of food and other assistance to North Korea. The Canadian Gov’t. provided no funding for the shipments.

This attitude got the Church congregations how shall I say it—got their shorts in a knot-- they spearheaded a lobby against this restriction and now all countries can receive assistance but still only grains grown in Canada.

 

 

INTRODUCED MALNUTRITION FEEDING PROGRAM

In 2001--CFGB developed   special therapeutic feeding programs for thousands of malnourished children. Hard to image 1 in 4 children are malnourished.   Canadian wheat shipped to South Africa milled into fortified porridge mix distributed to children. I’m sure it saved many lives.     

Canadian government changed its food- aid policy in 2004-- allowed 50% of food to be purchased in the developing world. 50% still Canada grown.

 I figure it must have been an embarrassment AFTER TSUNAMI   SOUTHEAST ASIAN coast—CFGB sent food to the coastal people who had lost everything, while inland only a few kilometers-- crops were available    sending food from Canada made little sense.

Finally after 25 years IN 2008, Canadian Government untied all the restrictions on food aid—-- CFGB to use all the funds provided by CIDA to buy food in the developing world.

 Untying the restrictions had a TREMENDOUS AFFECT ON CFGB FOOD-AID:   more appropriate food--- eliminates 2-3 month delay and shipping costs -- more money  for food.—nearby farmers benefit-- purchase from them.

TRAINING OF CONSERVATION FARMING

 Drought—flooding—hybrid seeds-row cropping-not working. Land was producing food 4-6 months of food-then families needed food aid 8-12 months

During recent years, CFGB with its partners have opened up Agricultural Training Centers where conservation farming is taught-- called  “FARMING GOD’S WAY.”
     —open pollinated seed
         —ground cover


             —hill planting —animal waste fertilizer

Across sub-Saharan Africa small holder farmers, many are women, are seeing their crop production increase by 20-200 %.

 

GLOBAL WARMING-NEW CHALLENGE

Now CLIMATE CHANGE has become a serious problem, it has been predicted we will experience a loss of 35-50 % food production if action isn’t taken to curve the rise in CO2.

The problem will be--not only to feed the poor but the entire world population- which will grow by additional 2 billion by 2050-- All the more reason:

We say “yes” to God because Jesus tells us, “to those who have been given much, much more will be expected.”

 

And it reflects in our local CFGB PROJECTS doing.

Started in 1998, 1 church   raised $ 300.00-- grown to 13 churches past 14 years—we raised $ 115,000.   CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency)

 provide $ 4.00 for every dollar we donate--total contribution $ 572, 220.  —let’s keep up the good work!    

The world has changed in the past 30 years, the cause of hunger is also changing -- CFGB’s response to hunger has changed and diversified over time, but one thing remains the same, however--CFGB COMMITMENT TO END HUNGER.

We say Yes to God because our lives can make a difference!                     

Amen.

 Let us bow in prayer.   

Send me out into this world with the power and courage to share your love with my neighbour, to fight injustice, to feed the hungry, make me dissatisfied with the way things are and help me to work for the way things ought to be.  In Jesus name we pray. AMEN.

 

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