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Join us for Worship Sunday at 10:00 AM followed by fellowship and refreshments in the He/SheBrews Café
- Annual Meeting – Sunday, March 9 – Please join us after worship for a light lunch to be followed immediately by our Annual General meeting in the Van Roon Community Hall. The Annual Report is available on our website. People wishing the full auditors statement can email the church office next and it can be sent as a PDF. For privacy reasons we won’t be posting the Financial Statements on the website. Printed copies of both will be available at the meeting.
- The Mission and Social Action Committee invite you to a special presentation from Scott Gerbrand of A Rocha this Wednesday, March 12 at 1:00. A Rocha Canada is an environmental organization whose mission is transforming people and places by showing God’s love for all creation.
- Our Affirming Ministry Steering Group invites you to our first congregational event next Sunday, March 16 at 11:30 (following coffee time). This will be an introductory session as we examine the steps needed to making Charleswood an Affirming Church, consciously committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment to the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.
- We were saddened to learn of the death of Marj Crawford in February. While Marj has been unable to attend church for a number of years she is nonetheless remembered as someone who has been a part of our community for many decades. A former church treasured Marj was also for many years, our resident ‘green thumb’ caring for plants inside and outside the church. No service is currently planned but please remember Marj in your prayers with thanksgiving.
Dear Friends
Welcome to worship for Sunday, March 9, 2025.
So don’t be anxious about what you will eat or what you will wear. (Matthew 6)
Easy for Jesus to say. He wasn’t living in Canada in March 2025 with threats of tariffs rising and falling every other day. He didn’t have to deal with the uncertainty with which we are living. He didn’t have to address the prospect of inflation or unemployment suddenly rising unnecessarily at the whims of someone over whom no one seems to have any control or influence.
If I am going to make the claim that faith is a counter-force to anxiety I had better first acknowledge that faith doesn’t make anxiety go away. Jesus may say do not be anxious but I am pretty sure that anxiety is part of the package. I see it in you when life changes in an instant, an accident, or a phone call. And I recognize it because I know it in myself.
We are living in an anxious moment. In order to ease our anxiety we might start by acknowledging the blessings of this moment as well. More than just silver linings I believe there is great promise, and maybe the Spirit’s presence, in some of the ways Canadians are responding to the disrespect we are receiving from our neighbour. That manifests itself in pride of place. Far from perfect we are nonetheless an amazing country with a unique history, indescribable beauty, and a scale that defies imagination. We are also witnessing an uncharacteristic unity of purpose, the setting aside of provincial, regional and even party biases for the sake of a greater goal. And the present moment is drawing out an impressive imagination among Canadians about how we might act differently in the world, who to consider friends, how to bring the best of Canada to those who desire our friendship rather than reject it.
In some ways this is symbolic. I walked into a Liquor Mart the other day to buy a bottle of wine and saw a sign that said US products were no longer available. The shelves inside were similarly marked. Will that have any affect in the long run? I don’t know. Perhaps not. But for me it is a reminder that we have agency against anxiety. And Christians are especially familiar with the power of symbols to make new as the bread and the cup and the font remind us.
These practical responses to the present moment may ease anxiety…temporarily. One can only hope that our unity and resolve can continue as long as this disruption lasts. But when Jesus says do not be anxious I don’t believe he means it either as a command or as a directive to action. When Jesus offers faith as a means to counter anxiety I think he means ‘remember’. Remember that we are not alone. Remember that God’s people have been this way before. Remember our true selves and our deepest values and do not set them aside in response to anxious times.
And remember that Jesus actually is living in the present moment. He shares our life and we share his. What we experience he experiences. He has been this way before demonstrating that love conquers all.
The love of neighbour even when that neighbour does not seem to love us.
Grace and peace,
Michael
- For news and events, please have a look at Life & Work on our website: Life and Work
- Did you know you can support this ministry by e-transfer, automatic withdrawal (PAR), and gifted securities, in addition to weekly or monthly cheques? For Offering Information please visit: https://charleswoodunited.org/support/ We have begun to receive donations for this summer’s Roofing Project which will be held separate from Operations and Mission & Service. Thank you for your generous support.
- Share the service with friends by forwarding this email or using this link: https://youtu.be/uUfXrc6Gdvo
- Read this week’s scripture lesson here: Luke 4:1-13
