Christmas 2022
2022-23 Year Theme
We are also looking forward to “3D,” dinner, doctrine, and discussion, on the first Friday evening of the month. Starting in October, we will gather for food (probably pizza!) followed by a time of learning and discussion about matters of faith. Please contact us for more information if you are interested in attending.
Lent and Easter Worship
In-Person Worship
We recognize there will be mixed feelings at gatherings, especially regarding appropriate conduct for physical distancing, mask-wearing, and the like. This will require everyone to be kind and hospitable toward each other while also being open and honest when feeling uncomfortable.
To give a sense of what Sundays look like as we gather, we share the following:
1) Masks are required for people aged 5+ while indoors in accordance with provincial restrictions. Some leaders will have their masks removed while leading worship.
2) While we acknowledge this may be difficult, we encourage you to limit your physical contacts, such as handshakes, hugs, and the like. This is not a hard and fast rule so much as an encouragement to be aware of each other’s boundaries and concerns at this time. We will not be including a “Mutual Greeting” in the services for the time being to avoid people feeling obligated to give and receive physical contact. Neither will the offering plates be passed through the rows.
3) We are not serving any food or beverage for sharing. If you want a hot drink or snack, you may bring your own.
4) There is Sunday School for young children. As before, lessons will be targeted for children age 8 and younger, though parents may choose if they want to send their children to Sunday School. Clipboards with an activity sheet will be available for children to use in their seats.
5) Please be social after the service! Let’s work on growing our connections and deepening our relationships!
6) If you are not comfortable coming to in-person worship, we hope you will join our livestreaming of the service on the church’s Facebook page. This is a great resource for those unable to attend in person and those who wish to watch the service over again. And share what was meaningful to you with your friends!
Prayer of Lament and Confession
We mourn the unthinkable loss of life and the pain that the discovery of 215 remains of children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School represents.
Lord, help us to admit the truth. Children were forcibly removed from their families. The laughter of children was stolen from their communities. Thousands upon thousands of children never returned home. Many died separated from their families and buried far from their land. Communities were abused and permanently scarred.
We recognize that much of this was done by those who bear your name, Lord, who called themselves Christians. These atrocities were done by people like us. They profaned your name by claiming these actions were your will.
We confess, Lord, that we closed our eyes and hardened our hearts to these truths. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission noted that large numbers of Indigenous children who were sent to residential schools never returned to their home communities and became “Missing Children.” We’ve seen the pain in faces. Yet we haven’t listened to the pain of scarred families and abused communities. We haven’t opened our hearts to feel their pain. We haven’t sought forgiveness. We have not worked for healing.
Lord, forgive us.
Lord, we pray for your Spirit to help us seek healing and reconciliation both for ourselves and for others. Give comfort to all who mourn, openness to face and feel the pain, freedom through forgiveness, and strength for the work of righting wrongs.
In the Name of Jesus, Lord of the Nations, we pray. Amen.”
Online Worship
(Worship note: For Sundays December 27, 2020 and January 3, 2021, we will be worshipping with Gateway Community CRC in Abbottsford, BC. The service will be livestreamed at 10 am both mornings and can be found here: https://gatewaycrc.org/livestream )
COVID-19 response
Maundy Thursday (with Communion) – 7 pm
Everyday Jesus Spirituality
Almost anything can be a Spiritual discipline if it gets you to know and become more like Jesus. During the Lent season, our messages will focus on what can we add to our lives to bring us closer to God. This is not about getting our actions right as it is examining our motives. Am I living with the desire to become more Christlike? Am I living to “know Christ – to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection of the dead”? (Philippians 3:10-11) Join us as we seek God’s way.
Winter Busyness
Doesn’t life often feel like it gets busier (and crazier) during the winter months? Sometimes it is good to stop, be quiet and let the world around us be quiet too. When we do, we can find a new perspective or thought to strengthen us, or a feeling of wholeness that may escape us most days, and most importantly remember that we have a God who loves us because of God’s own good pleasure. That is something special to rest in!