Looking Ahead to February 22, 2026 --Lent 1, Deep Spirituality.

 

The Scripture Reading this week is Psalm 46.

The Sermon title is Dive Deep.

Early Thoughts: Welcome to Lent, the 40 days (not counting Sundays) between Ash Wednesday and Sundown on Holy Saturday (or Sundown on Maundy Thursday in some traditions). There are many different traditions about how best to keep Lent but in most it is seen as a season of reflection as we prepare our hearts, minds, and souls for the coming of Easter and Resurrection.

In keeping with this idea of using the Season as a time to reflect on how we live into the Christians life, I thought we could spend three of the Sundays on Lent this year reflecting on the logo above. A few years ago the General Council of the United Church released a new vision statement. At the same time they challenged the church to live in to the call of Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, Daring Justice. What do those words mean to us? How do they (or how can they) shape our lives as individuals and as a community of faith?

AS it happens these three things are also going to be the themes for our congregational newsletters this year, with the first, Deep Spirituality, coming out shortly. This is some of what I had to say in that:

We start with the most foundational piece – Deep Spirituality. This is, in my mind, what we build on if we are to be bold disciples. It is what gives us the courage to dare and take risks for justice ... As people of faith we are invited and encourage to intentionally take time and sink into God’s presence. As people of faith we feed our spirits/souls to allow us to live out our faith...

 As people of faith our guidance and strength comes from God. If we don’t attend to our spiritual health, if we don’t sink deep into God’s presence and love we suffer. We might become exhausted. We might lose hope. We might start to think it all depends on us. Deep Spirituality may not always prevent such things but it can help avoid them, it can help us recover when they hit.

When I went to choose a piece of Scripture to go with Deep Spirituality I was naturally drawn to the Psalms. In this book of poetry we find many places where we are just invited to sink into God's presence. We find calls of trust that God is with the poet. We are reminded that strength, protection, guidance, and wisdom comes from God. Chanting of Psalms is an ancient meditative spiritual practice.

I settled on Psalm 46 largely because of the last verse "Be still and know that I am God". For me this one verse captures what I see in the call to dive deep, to seek deep spirituality. 

It can be easy to say that we don't have time to do the work of Deep Spirituality. There is always something else that could be done instead of sitting quietly, or walking along the lakeshore (or river valley as your geography allows), or gently singing favourite hymns. Often the work of spirituality seem unproductive (which is sometimes seen as one the worst things one can be in our modern culture). I disagree. I think that for people of faith doing the work of feeding our spirit, doing the work of building our relationship with the Divine, is what allows us to do all the rest of the work.  It builds the foundation of our lives as people of faith.

So why don't we talk about it more?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 15, 2026

 The Scripture Readings this week are:

• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
• 1 John 3:11-19

The Sermon title is How Do You Speak Love?

Early Thoughts: The central commandment in Christian ethics and morality is to Love: Love God, Love Neighbour as you Love yourself, Love each other as you have been loved. But as Walter Farquharson reminds us in his hymn Would You Bless Our Homes and Families, "love's expressed in many ways".

Source

So how do you speak love? How do you express love? Which Love Language is your native tongue?

Humans have flaws, we all know that to be true. One of our flaws is that sometimes we assume everybody communicates things the same way we do. This allows us to claim that any breakdown in communication is the other person's/nation's/culture's fault. Of course this is not true. With time and observation we have learned (although logically it should have been obvious) that there are many different ways that people communicate. Some are culturally based, some are personality based, some are a result of being neurospicy vs neurotypical, and some are simple linguistics.

When we take the time to name how we communicate best and intentionally seek to understand how others communicate we build stronger relationships and communities.

So back in December when someone suggested to me that I could do a sermon on Love Languages I thought it was a great idea.

I have to wonder, how many relationships fall apart because people miss the ways love is being communicated? How many arguments blow up because people mis-understand an act or gesture?

We are ALL called to love each other, and I believe firmly that this is not about how we feel. The command to love neighbour, family, friend, and enemy is about how we act, love is a verb not an emotion. So how do you speak/share/communicate this love?

One of the blessings of community is that we don't all have to speak the same dialect of love. In any congregation there are a variety of ways that love is expressed (as Farquharson named). The theory of love languages lists 5 options. I think there are more, though that may well be due to some subdivisions within those 5.

Source

I think that as a community of faith, particularly a community that takes seriously the moral and ethical primacy of the commandment to Love, we need to make space for the varied ways that love can be expressed. I think that as a community of Love (as we hope we are) we need to recognize and celebrate the variety of ways that God's love is shared in our midst.

One thing that does not change is the Love, the Love that flows from God. One thing that does not change is that we are to aspire to a Love that is full-throated, that is inclusive, that mirrors and spreads the Love God has for us. There is not one 'right' way to do that. We each have our own ways. And that is a good thing.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 8, 2026 -- 5th Sunday After Epiphany

 The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Isaiah 58:1-12
• Matthew 5:17-20

The Sermon title is Choose God's Fast!

Early Thoughts: In just a couple of weeks we will find ourselves in Lent. One of the old traditions of Lent is that it is a time of fasting, of choosing to abstain from certain things (most traditionally meat) for the season as we prepare for Easter. Nowadays this tradition is most commonly found in the question "what are you giving up for Lent?" -- with the understanding that what you give up is supposed to be something you would actually miss. [Side note: this tradition of fasting, of Lent as a somber season may well be the reason the Mardi Gras and Carnival take place just before Lent-- a final blowout before we start the Lenten fast.]

Fasting as a spiritual discipline has an ancient history. In Torah we find there are times when one is supposed or required to fast (Yom Kippur comes to mind) as part of the rituals of life. Fasting is a sacrificial act done to strengthen the spirit or as an act of penance. It is found in many different traditions.

But do we sometimes get it wrong?

Do people sometimes make a big deal, a big show of fasting as a way of showing how strong they are? Do people sometimes make it about themselves and not about the discipline? Even when it is about the discipline do we always allow the act of fasting to lead us into a deeper relationship with the Holy, to lead us to make a commitment to the Reign of God?

Do we sometimes think deciding not to eat chocolate (talk about denying oneself) makes a real difference in the world? What would it mean to participate in a Godly fast?

Many years ago this post ascribed to Pope Francis (there is some disagreement whether he was the first to say these things or if he even said them) floated through many Facebook feeds. These words challenge the reader to reconsider what to 'give up for Lent'.  The list isn't about eating and drinking or any of the other things people often claim to be giving up. Instead they challenge us to give up things that get in the way of Kingdom-living -- and replace them with healthier/more helpful alternatives Is that more what God has in mind for a fast?

Reading this week's passage from Isaiah makes me think so. Speaking through the prophet God tells the people that they have been getting fasting wrong. They have been going though the motions but not living into the spirit. They make a show of the fast but still quarrel, still oppress each other, still look out for themselves first.

The fast God chooses is one that breaks the yokes of injustice and oppression.  The fast that God chooses humbles rather than makes proud. The fast that God chooses leads to the hungry being fed and the naked being clothed. The fast that God chooses, the fast that God would have us choose, leads to renewal and rebirth, to a world rebuilt and restored.

So what fast would God have us choose in 2026?  Or maybe how would God have us fast in 2026?  Choosing not to eat, a hunger strike, can be a powerful tool of protest, has been for years. Boycotts are/can be, in my mind, a type of fasting and have been shown to be powerful tools as well.  Fasting can help change the world.

Or there are the fasts we take for our own health, the ones that allow us to be energized to take on the reality of life. Many people choose to take a break from Social Media for just this purpose.  Or some take on a "buy nothing" month to re-center themselves. Or maybe making a sincere effort to avoid sarcasm for a period of time. Fasting comes in many forms.

IS there a fast you feel called to undertake as we approach Lent this year?
--Gord

Minister's Annual Report...

 

Celebrating the gifts of the Spirit,
we are a loving and supportive congregation

in service to the Church, the Community, and the World through Faith

Do you recognize those words? They are from our congregational Vision Statement. I believe that Vision Statements do two things. They describe both who we think we are and who we want to be (or more theologically, who we are called to be). I also believe that Vision and Mission Statements are meaningless if we never look at them, reflect on them, and ask how they intersect with what we are actually doing. So as you read through this Annual Report I encourage you to ask yourself how you see the words of our Vision and Mission Statements (which you can find printed out at the beginning of this booklet) lived out in these pages.

Everything you see in these reports, everything you see when you come in for Sunday worship, everything you see when taking part in the communal life of St. Paul’s is made possible because many people have worked together to make it happen. People have given money. People have dreamed and planned and facilitated events. People have attended and supported. Everything that happens in this community happens because of this community. Thank you all for making this place what it is.

• thank you to Ministry Team members
• thank you to readers and greeters and communion servers
• thank you to those who prepare and serve coffee each Sunday
• thank you to those who deliver newsletters, who connect and check in on community members
• thank you to all who faithfully give via envelopes or e-transfers or PAR
• thank you to those who are intentional about greeting visitors and newcomers
• thank you to those who share their musical gifts
• thank you to those who help other events happen (from Garage Sale to Concerts to Coffee parties)
• thank you for all those other things I have forgotten as I made up this list

Together we live out our Vision Statement. Together we make this community the place we love, a place where we feel loved and supported. Thank You Thank You, and in case you missed it – THANK YOU.

The past year has had its ups and its downs. We have said good bye to active and vital members of the community, even as we have celebrated their lives and given thanks for the gifts that they shared. We have carefully watched our local givings even as we celebrate the added income form Card’s which has led us to another 5 digit surplus. We have shared dreams about what we could maybe possibly do even as we have been forced to acknowledge that maybe we have less energy and fewer volunteers to do what we dream. I wonder what your highlights and lowlights of the past year have been? Maybe we can find a way to share some of those at the Annual Meeting this year?

One of the purposes of an Annual Report, in my mind at least, is also to look ahead. What do we need to do to continue to grow into the community described in our Vision Statement? How do we move beyond existing into thriving, how do we become a more vibrant voice for God’s Beloved Community in Grande Prairie. As I ask myself those questions I think back a couple of years to the report from the Pathfinders group. That report highlighted the need for intentionally marketing ourselves to the community, making St. Paul’s better known. It is an issue that comes up repeatedly in churches. We tend to say “this needs to happen” but are not sure how to do it or are lacking the tools/confidence/know-how to make it happen. Your Council has agreed to have someone come to talk with us about marketing questions. It is my hope that we can find a way to light our light shine more brightly. It is my hope that as we do that we can more boldly invite others to come and check us out, to see if we are a community where they too find a spiritual home.

For the last few years General Council has encouraged us to live into this vision:

Called by God, as disciples of Jesus, The United Church of Canada seeks to be a bold, connected, evolving church of diverse, courageous, hope-filled communities united in deep spirituality, inspiring worship, and daring justice.

In the Toward 2035 initiative (https://united-church.ca/toward2035) launched last year we are encouraged to imagine:

In The United Church of Canada, inspired, resilient, and diverse contextual communities of disciples seek to continue the story of Jesus by embodying Christ’s presence in the world. The church is present and deeply connected coast-to-coast-to-coast in rural and urban settings, and in ecumenical and global relationships. Guided by hope-filled, adaptive and effective ministry leaders, the denomination is increasingly multigenerational, multiracial, and intercultural.

As a part of that national vision may we be Deep, Bold, and Daring in 2026 and beyond, God being our helper and guide.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 1, 2026

This is the first Sunday of the month so it is a week both to celebrate Communion and to highlight or Local Outreach Fund.

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Psalm 15
• Micah 6:1-8

Source

The Sermon title is How Should We Live?

Early Thoughts: In the face of injustice, in the face of a deep lack of grace, in the face of a serious absence of humility how should we live? What should we do?

If we truly believe that choosing to follow The Way of Jesus calls us to be different people, if we truly want to live as transformed people what would that look like?

In a world where state-sponsored terrorists execute citizens on the streets on Minneapolis, where governments restrict the rights of people based on gender or sexuality, where the richer get richer and the poor struggle to get by, where 'me/I/mine' too often seems more important than 'we/us/ours' how should we respond?

Scripture answers these questions over and over again. From Moses through the Prophets to Jesus the answer is laid before us. Still we seem to struggle to get it right.

Do Justice. Love Kindness. Walk Humbly with God.

It is easy to say. Even easy to sing. It might be harder to actually do. In fact I know it is harder to actually do. Apparently it is even harder to push our governments, our wider society to do.

In some United Church circles Micah 6:8 has taken on a very special status. It has been lifted up time and time again, usually with the emphasis on the first instruction -- do justice. We as a denomination with strong roots in the Social Gospel movement of the late 19th-early 20th centuries have often pushed hard for a more just world. Social, Community, and Financial Justice is a key issue in Scripture. We need to continue not only to push for justice but to actually do it ourselves in our own circles of  power and influence. But there are two more instructions.

What does it mean to love kindness? Kindness sometimes gets confused with niceness but I don't think they are the same. Niceness can too easily become "don't make waves" or "just get along" whereas loving kindness brings to my mind the Golden Rule philosophy -- do unto others as you would have done to you. To love kindness, I think, means caring for the needs of the people around you -- at which point it often intersects with the first instruction to do justice.

Then we have the question of humility. One of my colleagues has pointed out in the past that this may be the piece of Micah 6:8 where we most often fall short. When we think it is all up to us to rebuild the world we have failed to walk humbly with God. When we fail to listen to the people around us we have failed to walk humbly with God. When we insist that we are the only ones with the correct point of view we have failed to walk humbly with God. Most certainly can do better at being humble.

The world is not what we wish it was. Justice, love, kindness, and humility often seem in short supply. God calls us to live as transformed people. God calls us to put our faith in action, not just words and songs. We know how we are called to live. How will we respond?
--Gord

Lent Newsletter -- Deep Spirituality

 Let us start with a story...

Jane looked at the time. Listed office hours were over. There was nobody else in the building. With a deep sigh she pulled out her phone, turned it off and put it back in her pocket. Then she stood up and made her way to the sanctuary.

There Jane turned on the sound system and started playing some gentle instrumental music. Then she turned off all the lights, letting the space soak on the sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows, and made her way to the chancel. Jane flipped open the big Bible on the communion table till she found the passage she was looking for. She read it aloud into the empty space, letting the words resound off the walls, then she flipped open the book of poetry she had brought from the office and read aloud one of her favourite pieces. As the last line of the poem echoed across the room Jane set the poetry down and sat silently in the choir loft.

4 or 5 minutes later she stood up and made her way down the chancel steps. Slowly, reflectively, even meditatively, Jane started weaving her way through the rows of seats. Carefully she passed between the rows, back and forth, like it was a very basic labyrinth. As she walked Jane allowed her mind to drift. For a while she reflected on the passage she had just read. For a while she replayed the poem. Then she started to quietly murmur words of prayer. Finally she fell silent and walked on, down one side of the sanctuary then back up the other, until she found herself standing again at the foot of the chancel steps.

There Jane settled into the front pew. She sat with her eyes closed, letting the music flow over her, silently lifting up her joys, her worries, her confusions, her hopes to the Holy One.

Suddenly she heard the church door slam and a cluster of voices in the hall, calling out her name. Then a group of people, the Social Committee, burst into the sanctuary. “Oh good! You aren’t busy!” the chair called out. “We need to have a quick meeting to discuss next month’s pancake supper!”

Jane grimaced. Then, as calmly as she could, she said: “Actually I am in the middle of something. If you go to the library I can join you in about 15 minutes.” The group left (though she could hear some grumbling as they went) and Jane tried to find that quiet calm place from which she had been dragged. But alas the moment was gone. She gathered up her book, turned off the sound system, grabbed what she needed from the office and joined the group in the library.

The next day there was a phone call from the chair of the personnel committee. They were concerned that when a group of people had come in (unannounced) and asked to talk Jane had made them wait even though she had clearly had only been resting in the sanctuary. Jane explained that she was working, she was doing the work she needed to be ready to serve, she was taking care of her Spirit. The call ended with a rather brusque “Well don’t let it happen again”.

....................

Back in 2022 the General Council released new vision and mission statements. Embedded in those were three pairs of words: Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, Daring Justice. We were all invited to embrace those ideals as ways we live out our Christian faith. This year our newsletters will invite us to reflect on them. As it happens I have also chosen them as the launching points for three of our Sundays in Lent this year.

We start with the most foundational piece – Deep Spirituality. This is, in my mind, what we build on if we are to be bold disciples. It is what gives us the courage to dare and take risks for justice (as I write these words I think of the people of Minnesota where dozens of clergy were arrested this weekend as part of protests against the terror inducing activities of ICE). As people of faith we are invited and encourage to intentionally take time and sink into God’s presence. As people of faith we feed our spirits/souls to allow us to live out our faith.

Christopher Grundy has a song called By the Stream. Within that song are these lyrics (I think inspired by Psalm 1)

“Blessed are those who trust in God

they will be like a tree by the water
and sending out its roots by the Stream”

Listening to the song, reflecting on those lyrics reminds me of the importance of attending to our spiritual needs. There we get nourishment. There we get what we need to be able to live out our faith.

The story about Jane up above is a work of fiction. It started writing itself in my head a couple of days ago. It is not a “names changed to protect the innocent” thing it never happened to anyone I know. In fact it is based on an old joke about the minister in their study praying and someone comes in and says “oh good you aren’t busy”. I just expanded it a bit. But the story (and the old joke) tells us a lot about how we sometimes see the work involved in deep spirituality.

Sometimes we see those quiet, “non-productive” times as less important, a thing that can be knocked off the calendar in favour of more important “productive” work. With all the important things to do can we really take time to sit quietly, or walk along the creek, or watch the birds, or sing random hymns? I think we have to. I think that when we don’t take that time it is so much harder to keep doing the “important” things.

As people of faith our guidance and strength comes from God. If we don’t attend to our spiritual health, if we don’t sink deep into God’s presence and love we suffer. We might become exhausted. We might lose hope. We might start to think it all depends on us. Deep Spirituality may not always prevent such things but it can help avoid them, it can help us recover when they hit.

I close with one of my favourite verses, one that I have used as a bit of a mantra at times to sink into God’s presence: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10)

Looking Ahead to January 25, 2026 -- 3rd Sunday After Epiphany

 The Scripture Reading this week is Matthew 4:12-25

The Sermon title is Good from Nazareth?

Early Thoughts: In the John reading from last week there was one line that always sticks with me. When Phillip tells Nathanael about Jesus Nathanael responds with "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

This week's reading suggests the yes, indeed something good can come from Nazareth.

Most scholars agree that Nazareth was a bit of a backwater town. Some have suggested that even worse it was a backwater town from a backwater province. Galilee and Galileans were not always seen positively by those in Jerusalem and Judea. They spoke differently (as in a regional accent). They were far from Jerusalem. Can anything good come from way out there?

SO glad we would never hold those sorts of attitudes today....right?

At any rater maybe the idea that Galilee was removed from the center of things is why Matthew tells us the Jesus withdraws there after John the Baptist is arrested. Maybe Jesus is going where the heat is a little bit less. [Narrative note, as Matthew tells his story this makes it appear that Jesus returns from his 40 days in the wilderness (temptation story) and immediately heads north to Galilee.] Away from Judea, away from Jerusalem. At the same time Matthew has told us earlier (chapter 2) that Jesus grew up in Nazareth so maybe he is just going home?

At any rate we are still left with Nathanael's question from last week. Can anything good come from a backwater town? Cana anything important come from a place we easily forget?

Yes. Yes it can. God tends to surprise us that way. In fact I would argue that throughout the course of Scripture God often comes from unexpected places to launch something new. Amos was a vine dresser. David was a shepherd boy. Jesus came from Nazareth.

And then something amazing happens. This unknown person from a backwater town arrives with a splash. People leave their very livelihood to follow him. People from all around start coming seeking wisdom and healing.  Something good indeed came from Nazareth.

How many times might we miss what God is doing because we fall into the trap Nathanael falls into? How many times might we discount the source and stop looking (which Nathanael did not do, he remained engaged and saw Jesus for who he was)? Can we have the open hearts and minds to see where God is active?

This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Christian Unity is one of those things that often seems like a good idea but not a reality. Churches often fall prey to dismissing what another church does simply because they are doing it. Churches often have trouble getting past our differences and recognize what God is doing in that place.

I challenge all of us to get past those times when we are tempted to say "Can anything good come from______?". I challenge all of us to look for what God is doing even (or perhaps especially) when the source seems very unlikely to us. Who knows what surprises we might find with that level of openness?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 18, 2025-- 2nd Sunday After Epiphany

 

From Facebook

The Scripture Reading this week is John 1:29-51

The Sermon title is Come and See

Early Thoughts: It isn't enough to know second hand. Sometimes you need to see/experience for yourself.

There is a story in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 11:2-6) where disciples of John come and ask Jesus if he is the one who was promised or if another was coming. In answer Jesus tells them to go back and tell John what they have seen. What have they experienced? Actions matter, seeing is more important than descriptions.

In these early verses from John's  Gospel many people are told about Jesus. They all need to go and see for themselves. John (the Baptist, not the Gospel writer) believes because he saw. John then tells others about Jesus and they go to seek him out. Then Jesus invites them to "Come and See". One of them then goes to his brother and says (I think) "you gotta come see this guy!" and another connection is made, another follower joins the crowd.

Then we have Phillip and Nathanael who again are called forth by immediate contact --even through Nathanael's initial skepticism. 

That first hand experience of the presence of God has more power than someone telling you of their own experience. This is not to say that we should not share our stories and tell others of our experiences. We need to do that but we need to do it as a way of inviting others in to seek their own experiences. Think of Andrew going to Simon/Peter after spending hours with Jesus. He invites his brother to come and see for himself. We nee to invite others to come and see what God is doing in the world today.

Seeing for ourselves is the best counter to our doubt and our skepticism. Experiencing for ourselves hits harder, sinks deeper into our psyche than relying on second-hand experiences.

This continues into John's story.  When Jesus stands before Pilate  Jesus asks "Do you ask this on your own or did others tell you about me?" (John 18:34). Do we know Jesus, know who Jesus is only because of what other say or because we have met him ourselves? Do we know about God or do we know God (or probably both)? John is also the Gospel writer who gives us the story of Thomas, the disciple who refuses to believe in the resurrection until he has his own personal encounter with the Risen Christ.

Seeing, experiencing for ourselves is important. Inviting others to "come and see" so they can see and experience for themselves is part of how we spread the Good News of faith.

What would make us offer that invitation? What would we invite others to see, to experience? Who in our story of life and faith has offered the invitation to us?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 11, 2026 -- Baptism of Christ Sunday

 

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Isaiah 42:1-9
• Matthew 3:13-17

The Sermon title is Beloved Servant

Early Thoughts: What does it mean to remember that you are baptised? 

It could be an act of blessing and affirmation. It also could remind us of a deep calling. Both at the same time.

From the earliest days baptism as been the rite of initiation for the Christian church. From the beginning it has been a rite where the newly baptized is joined with Christ -- "dying and rising with Christ" is the traditional language. In baptism, as our baptism liturgy puts it,

we are called, claimed, and commissioned:
we are named as God’s children,
claimed by Christ,
and united with the whole Christian community
of every time and place.
Strengthened by the Holy Spirit,
we live out our commission;
to spread the love we have been given throughout the world.

So what does it meant to remember that you are baptized?

Our readings this week talk about Jesus. One tells of Jesus being baptized by John -- and indeed on of the reasons Christians hold Baptism as a sacrament is because while we have no record of him baptizing anybody Jesus himself was baptized. The other is one of the passages from Isaiah that talks about the Suffering Servant. There is some disagreement about who Isaiah had in mind as the Suffering Servant but Christians have long read these passages as being about Jesus. SO taking the two together we have Jesus as Beloved Servant.

In Baptism we share in the death and resurrection of Christ. In Baptism we are named as God's children, we are claimed by Christ, and we are commissioned to take part in God's action of remaking the world. Maybe in Baptism we too are named as God's Beloved Servant?

This is both blessing and challenge, to me at least.  It is a great blessing to be reminded that we are Beloved by God, tat we are a Beloved child of God. We tend to like that. But there is the commissioning side to it as well. We are to be servants, to serve. 

Called to serve means we advocate for the Reign of God (remembering that Jesus was all about proclaiming the present/coming Kingdom of God). It means that we speak out against those things/persons/policies that work against the Reign of God. It may mean we have to run counter to some powerful or influential voices in the world around us. This can be difficult.

Still we are able to do this, to the best we can, because of the first part. We are able to play a part in God's ongoing mission to repair and remake the world because we are God's Beloved children. Remembering this moves us past our guilt and shame and regret. Remembering that we are Beloved helps us to turn (or to repent) and go a different direction, to go home by another way.

We need to remind ourselves of the blessing and the burden of being Baptized on a regular basis -- maybe even daily. We need to remind ourselves what it means to be baptized and reflect on how that gets lived out. Sometimes we do this to push ourselves (and each other) to live into God's mission. Sometimes we do it to lift ourselves out of depression or shame or guilt. Sometimes we do it to give us hope for the future.

In Baptism we are reborn (or "born again" to use a different turn of phrase). When we remember what it means to be baptized we can be reborn again and again and again. When we remember and recommit ourselves to our identity as Baptized. life wins and we are reborn.  Thanks be to God.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 4, 2026 -- Epiphany Sunday

Welcome to a New Year! As this is the first Sunday of a new month we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion this week.

The Scripture Readings for this Epiphany Sunday are:

• Matthew 2:1-12
• Luke 2:25-38

The Sermon title is Seeing the Child

Early Thoughts: What happens when we encounter God? What happens when we see clearly for an instant?

Both our stories this week are about people seeking or waiting to see the Promised One. In both our stories they end up having their quest fulfilled. In one case they "go home by a different way". In another both people are moved to praise and proclaim how God is at work in this child.

One of many artistic
impressions of the Magi
Source

The Magi are learned people from far away. They read the signs and know that something big is happening so they travel far to find the new king who has been born. Along the way they alert the current king of a possible contender because they are still stuck in a different understanding of where to find the Promised One. They look first among the high and mighty. They find the child in a much humbler space. 

The story tells us why the Magi go home by a different road. They do it because a dream warns them to avoid going back to Herod. Alerted by their earlier visit Herod is now seeking to get rid of any possible competition (which appears very much on brand for what we know of Herod the Great). However there have been many over the centuries who wonder if there is something more to that last line. Aside from the very practical political reason, is Matthew perhaps suggesting that the Magi have been changed by the encounter? It is an interesting question. How were they affected by their long journey and the actual finding of the child? These are people with a different spirituality, a different, non-Jewish, understanding of the Divine. How might the encounter with Emmanuel, God-Made-Flesh (as Christians describe this child) change them?

Rembrandt's interpretation 
of that day in the temple
source

Then we have Simeon and Anna. They are both well advanced in years. They are both in the temple when Mary and Joseph arrive with their newborn son. Both of them, on seeing the child, know who he is. Both of them respond with praise and prophecy. What could easily have been described as a pair of chance encounters takes on a whole new level of meaning because God is revealed.

This Sunday we are marking (two days early) the ancient festival of Epiphany. Capitalized the word epiphany refers specifically to this festival where the visit and adoration of the Magi is remembered. But as a word apart from the festival epiphany is something that happens many ways. Dictionary.com reminds us that the word refers to a revelation, either as a manifestation of Divine presence or as a sudden burst of insight. For the next several weeks the Christian Year has us in the Season After Epiphany (which bridges the time until the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday -- February 18 this year). I think that one of the themes of this season is to open ourselves for the possibility that God might be revealed to us. I mean yes, we are supposed to be aware of that all the time but maybe this is a time to be extra aware?

What impact does God being revealed to us have in our lives? Are we really aware of it at the time or only in retrospect?

Epiphanies (not the festival) happen in many ways. God is revealed in many different ways. Sometimes, I think, we totally miss it when it happens. But when we recognize it! When we become aware that something deeply special is happening right her and now! It leaves a mark. Encountering God changes us -- if we let it. 

I have learned that many of us have stories of becoming aware, sometimes suddenly, sometimes surprisingly, that God is really present with us in a situation. Many of us can look back and tell how that experience (or those experiences) has shaped us as people of faith.

The Magi were seeking the child. Simeon was waiting for a promise to come true. Anna might just have happened to be there or maybe she too was waiting. They had their chance. Are you seeking or waiting or jus happen to be at the right place at the right time? What happens when you too see the child for who he really is?
--Gord