Sun. Nov. 23, 2008 (Rosie Perera)

In her sermon last Sunday, "How then shall we age?" Rosie Perera noted that spirituality and aging are closely related. With aging our lives become simpler, and we also face more challenges as our minds and bodies change. With a number of pensioners present, Rosie expressed appreciation for the collective wisdom and maturity of the congregation, complimenting several that have written their memoirs. The passing of wisdom to the next generation while reviewing and reflecting on one’s life is important. Rosie quoted the psalmist: “They will still bear fruit in old age.” Rosie encouraged younger people to appreciate the elders and to hear their stories. Aging gracefully is possible, even when facing difficulties. Rosie commented that her Dad is “happier than ever” caring for his wife who has Alzheimer's. Responses to the sermon included comments about aging being different today because people live longer which is due to genes, luck and new medical procedures. It was noted that some old people live with regrets and unresolved issues from their past. (HN) Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Nov. 23rd, 2008 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Nov. 16, 2008 (Garry Janzen)

Garry Janzen (Executive Minister of MC-BC and former Pastor of the Sherbrooke Mennonite Church) talked about how life has elements which are predictable and others which are not. The Book of Judges is comprised of stories illustrating the predictable pattern in which Israel sins, is punished, repents, God agrees to help and delivers them (and then the whole pattern recurs). Judges 4 continues this pattern by telling of another specific time in which Israel is punished for yet again forsaking God. This time the countryside is dominated by the King of Canaan whose technology produced iron for chariots, armour and weapons--none of which was available to the agrarian Jews. Once Israel finally repented (yet again), God sent deliverance, this time unexpectedly through two women. The first was Deborah, who had become Israel's foremost prophet and judge. Deborah inspired Israel's disorganized male leadership to raise 10,000 men. She then accompanied them into battle, and against all odds, the Jews were victorious. Shortly thereafter, again unexpectedly, Jael (a nomadic woman) somehow drove a tent peg through the head of King Jabin of Hazor, one of Israel's arch enemies. The writer of Judges portrays both women as acting decisively, promptly and heroically, even when faced with unpredictable events in their lives and the lives of their people. What is predictable/unpredictable in our lives and the lives of our congregations, and how do we respond to them (or prepare ourselves to respond)? [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Nov. 16th, 2008 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Nov. 9, 2008 (Angelika Dawson)

Angelika Dawson (MCC-BC, Communications and Teaching, and a former reporter to various Mennonite papers) began our Peace Sunday by recalling the story of Isaac's family struggle to get water in Palestine. After enemies filled Abraham's old wells with sand (essentially a declaration of war), Isaac moved and his men dug a new well. After it was captured by locals, he moved and dug again, and finally was allowed to use his own well for his families and herds. Even in antiquity, water was a scarce resource. Today this is more true than ever. Angelika then told of her visit to Cambodia, how the farmers she met learned to cooperate in making crucial decisions about sharing water from a local dam recently restored. Now there is no more fighting or water stealing. Like the story of Isaac in Genesis 26, these people found peaceful ways to share their precious water. How do we respond when we are faced with conflict? Could we, like Isaac, possibly walk away from our sources of wealth which make conflict with others, and trust that we will still be sustained by our God? [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Nov. 9th, 2008 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Nov. 2, 2008 (Andre Pekovich)

Andre created and led our morning service on the theme, "Recalling and Giving Thanks for the Radical Reformation and the Tauferjahr". Andre divided the service into seven sections (each including readings and a song), leading us through the story of the birth of Anabaptism in Switzerland, the split of the more radical reformers from those remaining with the state church, the resultant persecution and exile (either to other countries or to land thought to be unfarmable because it was above 1000 meters). We heard prayers by Zwingli, Blaurock, Baumann and others. The so-called "Radical Reformation" found itself dividing into different groups, including the Amish (and there were once 26 different kinds of Mennonites in Canada alone). In the 19th century, evangelists from the Reformed Church encouraged spiritual revival among the Anabaptists in Switzerland and elsewhere, the Swiss finally gave permission for Anabaptists to build their own churches and a seminary was stablished in Bienenberg. Finally, in 2003 representatives from the various Protestant Swiss movements met for prayer and confession for the centuries of persecution, offering official expressions of forgiveness on both sides, for both actions and attitudes. They also prayed that this sordid history no longer be a curse on Christians descending from either side of the divide. In 2007, Switzerland proclaimed a "Tauferjahr" ('Anabaptist Year'), celebrating the movement. Today there are only about 2,500 Anabaptists living in Switzerland, but the movement has grown to hundreds of thousands elsewhere, and its ideas--pacificism, believers studying scripture for themselves, and the separation of church and state--have profoundly influenced millions of people throughout the world. [JEK]