News for the week of November 9 - 15, 2023

This Saturday is Remembrance Day.

Every year on November 11, Canadians pause in a moment of silence to honour and remember the men and women who have served, and continue to serve Canada during times of war, conflict and peace. We remember the more than 2,300,000 Canadians who have served throughout our nation’s history and the more than 118,000 who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The poppy is the symbol of Remembrance Day.

Many churches have set aside the Sunday following Remembrance Day as Peace Sunday and take a moment to remember those who sacrificed so much so we can enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today and pray for peace.

A Prayer for Remembrance Day

God of love and justice, this week we remember all men and women who died in defence of our country and its freedom. Help us to honour their sacrifice through our prayers and actions for peace in our world. Send your Spirit to help us to let go of misunderstandings, hatred and prejudice so that we may grow together as one family. Guide our steps in the way of peace. We ask this prayer through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

This Sunday I will share a message from Acts 15 and reflect on how we as a church can resolve conflict when it arises within the church.

Please read through the text ahead of the service and reflect on these questions.

• What is the basis of the conflict facing the early church?

• What action did they take to resolve this conflict?

• What compromises did they make to bring the two sides together?

• What lessons can we learn from this passage of Scripture?

I look forward to worshipping together this Sunday. I always enjoy the rich fellowship which we enjoy together.

My prayer is that God will bind us together in unity and love and take time to give thanks to God for the wonderful gifts He has so graciously given to us.

I want to let you know that the disruption to the service last week has been looked at and the matter is in hand.

In closing let me leave you with a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer from his book “Life Together.”

“Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts.”

So, let’s take a few moments today to give thanks for what we do have.