hpc spring 2011 newsletter

8/7/2019 HPC spring 2011 newsletter

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Our Devotion to God(please read Matthew 6:1-18)

I chose to write about our devotionto God for two reasons. Firstly,because Lent is a time of preparation and devotion duringwhich we reflect on the passion,death, and resurrection of our Lord.

Secondly, I want to continue thereadings from Matthew.

From Matthew 4 and 5 we gained aclearer understanding of Jesus, Hisministry, and His message, namelythat the Kingdom of Heaven is near.At the same time, we also gained anew understanding of our ministry.Christ calls us “salt of the earth” and

“light of the world”. He ordains usto have a presence and a witness inthe world that brings change to theworld around us. Christ thereforecommands us to live righteously; to

exercise surpassing righteousness inseeking reconciliation with ourbrothers and sisters, in honouringour marriage vows and beingfaithful in our relationships, inspeaking the truth, the whole truthand nothing but the truth, to actsurpassingly righteous when peopleinsult us, exploit us, persecute usand take advantage of us, and, yes,to love our enemies.

You probably feel the same way

about these commandments of Jesus. They sound good, but whoamong us has the slightest chance of keeping them? How on earth cananyone sustain such a lifestyle?

We can’t. We cannot keep them, nor can we sustain this kind of living inour own strength. The surpassing

righteousness that Christ commandsrequires much more than a few goodintentions. It is not merely a matterof disciplining ourselves andexercising our will-power. It is,beginning to end, a matter of grace. We can only be salt of the earth and light of thworld through Christ living in us, and through the work of the Holy Spirit whtransforms us into the image of Christ.

It makes sense then that Jesus continues His sermon by teaching us about our devotioto God (which is the common thread in all the passages of Matthew 6). The Lord giveus ways to commit ourselves enthusiastically and wholeheartedly to God. Without we cannot possibly sustain the righteousness, the love, the truth, and the peace th

Christ commands us to seek. Without healthy spiritual practices our light fades and thsalt loses its saltiness. Without a deep devotion there can be no maturing in love.

This is not a new idea. He uses familiar Jewish practices to teach His disciplesalmsgiving, prayer, fasting. The disciples lived in a world where they were exposed many examples of devotion. Theirs was a very religious world. They were surroundeby devout people who practised their faith dutifully, kept the Sabbath religiouslstudied the Scriptures fanatically, fasted regularly, and prayed zealously. They liveamong a people who showed a great concern for the needy and the vulnerable.

Jesus’ concern, however, is not just that we do these things. He is much moconcerned with how we do them and why we do them. In those days, as today, thingwere not always what they seemed to be. There are many temptations inherent to ospiritual practices. And many misuses. We, for instance, start to do these things for

SPRING 2011

NEWSLETTER

Haney Presbyterian Church



ourselves; for what we hope to get out of it. It makes me feel good. It gives me peace. It gives me strength and courage to

fight my battles. I like the fellowship. But, devotional practices are not about us or our needs. Once we let it be aboutourselves it is of no value in forming us in the image of Christ. Jesus wants to protect the integrity of our lives and thepurity of our hearts so that His righteousness might grow in us.

What do we learn from Jesus?

The first thing we notice is this: Our devotion to God cannot be separated from our devotion to people, especially theneedy. Love for God and love for our neighbours go hand in hand. Bonhoeffer wrote, “God will not be separated from ourbrother; He wants no honour for Himself so long as our brother is dishonoured.” Giving to the needy was a very important

duty in Jewish society. We see the same in the early church. A large part of the ministry of the early church consisted incaring for the needy among them. Jesus Himself taught that on the final day He will separate the sheep from the goats onthe basis of what we have done or haven’t done for the least of His brothers (Matthew 25:31-46).

We are often tempted to separate the two and to seek a pure religion where we don’t have to be inconvenienced by the

needs of others. It doesn’t exist. Our devotion to God goes hand in hand with our caring for the needy.

The second thing we notice is that prayer is at the heart of our devotion to God. We sometimes get bored with prayingWe feel we should be doing something and not just pray, whereas Jesus places prayer at the centre of our spiritual lives.And there doesn’t have to be anything fancy about it. Prayer is simply a matter of talking and listening to our Father who isin heaven. Prayer is a family conversation. There is a push sometimes for other more exciting spiritual disciplines, and fordifferent methods of praying. Jesus teaches us to pray simply, and not to use many words. Just say, “Our Father, who is inheaven …”

A third thing we notice is how important our motives are when we do these things. Our devotional practices can, for

instance, become a means to impress ourselves and others with our spirituality. We hope to receive recognition. Under nocircumstances does Jesus want us to draw attention to ourselves. Devotional practices are not about the recognition wereceive. They are about God – about loving God deeply. Jesus is quite critical of people who do things to be seen. He callsthem hypocrites. If we play for the crowd, He reminds us, if our devotion is merely a performance, then the applause ofothers will be our only reward.

Common to all the passages on devotion is the idea of “not doing it to be seen”. Do what you do quietly, i.e. “not to beseen.” He emphasizes sincerity.

When you give to the needy, give in such a way, He says, that your left hand does not know what your right hand isdoing. Don`t broadcast your good deeds, not even to your best and closest friends.

When you pray, go to your room and pray to your Father in heaven. We take it to be the privacy and comfort of ourbedrooms (or some other tranquil, secluded spot). Jesus refers to the storeroom that many houses had at the time.These storerooms were the only rooms that could be locked. These were not cozy, tranquil places, but you could be

private there. Don’t do it for the show. That actually happened in Jesus’ time. The Jews observed several prayertimes during the day. Should it happen that you were out on street at the time of prayer, the idea was that youshould cease everything and pray there and then on the street. Thus developed a form of silent public prayer. Itlooked very pious. It seems, however, from Jesus’ example that some Jews were misusing the exception anddeliberately went out on the streets just before the prayer-time in order to impress others with their devotion.

When you fast do not look somber, he says, but wash your face and oil your hair as you would normally do.

Jesus’ teaching about “secret devotion” seems strange, doesn’t it? Didn’t He command His disciples a little earlier to lettheir lights shine before the people, so that the people would see their good works and glorify their Father in heaven(Matthew 5:16)? So what’s up with this secrecy talk? Why does He teach His disciples not to broadcast their good deeds, topray in private, to use few and simple words, not to look somber when they fast?

Actually, Jesus’ two teachings are not in conflict at all. The light that we are commanded to let shine, is not our light ; it isthe light of Christ that we are to reflect. But if we steal the show, if we draw attention to ourselves, the light of Christ iseclipsed. To let the light of Christ shine, we need to get out of the way.

Finally, we learn this: Jesus doesn’t want us to pray and fast and help the needy because it is our duty. He want us to do it aschildren who are devoted to their Father. He seeks the kind of dedication that exists in a deep, loving relationship withour Father. Jesus mentions “your Father” 10 times in this chapter. The purpose of our devotion is not to win God’sapproval. God is already our Father who loves us. The purpose of our devotion is not to get God’s attention. He is ourFather “who sees what is done in secret” and “who knows what we need” (another common theme in Matthew 6). We don’thave to convince Him of our needs; we don’t have to twist His arm for help; we don’t have to jump up and down and doweird things to draw His attention; we never have to pull Him away from His work. God is our Father. God knows us; Godsees us; God cares.

God is devoted to us. He gives us ways to love Him deeply and to grow in righteousness.Submitted by Gerard Booy



Church Family RetreatApril 29 – May 1, 2011

Come for a weekend

away on the beautifulSunshine Coast

Theme:

‘Living as Easter People’

* Registration required. See Paddy for more info

Self-DeceptionMore “hard sayings” of Jesus

I am always a little uneasywhen I read the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew

7:21-23. “Not everyonewho says to me, „Lord,Lord,‟ will come into thekingdom of heaven, but

only the one who does the

will of my Father in

heaven. On that day many

will say to me, „Lord,Lord, did we not prophesy

in your name, and cast out

demons in your name, and

do many deeds of power in

your name?‟ Then I will declare to them, „I never knew you; go away from

me, you evildoers.‟ What aslap in the face that musthave been for thosebelievers to whom hespoke! And they werebelievers, they called himLord and did many greatthings in his name. Butsomething was lacking.

The simple fact of thematter was that theirfaith/belief had notresulted in theirsurrendering their will to

the will of God. In theirown minds they were“okay”, they did all the

right things, but obviouslyfor the wrong reasons. Intheir own minds they were“okay”, they had arrivedand Jesus would, in thefinal analysis “save” them.But Jesus had somethingto say about their easybeliefs that required littleor no effort on their part.In the previous chapter(6:33) they were

admonished to“strive first for the kingdom of God

and His righteousness.”

Strive is a pretty strongword. It means to work hard, put forth amaximum effort, dowhatever it takes toaccomplish the task. Theterm “kingdom of heaven”or “kingdom of God”(both mean the same

thing) must not beconfused with eternal life.The kingdom of heaven isa present reality, it is now,it is here, it is among us.

After all, it was to “proclaimthe good news of the kingdom”

that Jesus came,(Luke 4:43)and that kingdom, he said “is

among you” (Luke 17:21).But some just didn’t get it.They were like those describedby Timothy (3:5) “holding to

the outward form of godliness,

but denying its power.” Jesusput it pretty bluntly, “only the

one who does the will of my

Father in heaven” will comeinto the kingdom, i.e.,experience the power of God intheir lives. I can’t speak for anyone else, but all this raisessome difficult (and sometimesembarrassing) questions and, Imust confess, makes me ratheruneasy. How much of what I docan be categorized as my“doing the will of my Father in

heaven”? And how much of itcan be categorized under theheading of “doing what I will

or like to do”? How many timesdo I beg off doing somethingbecause it is an inconvenience,or because I don’t feel likedoing it? If I see something thatneeds to be done, is that a wordfrom God alerting me that hedesires me to fill that need? AmI one of those who find it easyto walk on by and leave it tosomeone else to do?

Do I strive first for thkingdom of heaven, or doemy supposed striving occuwhen I have the time or thinclination or feel like doingsomething that more oftenthan not takes me out of mycomfort zone? I don’t know

about you, but I strugglwith these questions. Therare times when I wish Jesuhadn’t said “if any want to

become my followers, le

them deny themselves and

take up their cross daily and

follow me.” (Luke 9:23But he did say it, so I guesthat is what he means whenhe says that only those whodo the “will of my Father in

heaven” will enter thkingdom of God. That ione thing I have learnedabout Jesus. He tells it likit is.

Dorne Cornish



Children in the Worshipping Community

A few Sundays ago the children of Haney Presbyterian were sopleased and proud to share their service with you. They havereturned to their regular Church School schedule now and asusual, will be attending the first part of our worship service,the Gathering. Here’s some ideas for how all of us (whether or

not our own children/grandchildren are in church) can build onwhat the children have been learning about worship.Help our children understand what we are doing in worship:

Come to church ten minutes early to give your child timeto “shift gears” from life at home to a time of worship Remind your child(ren) to pray when they first sit down.They can thank God for this time of worship and ask Godto speak to them.

Look at the children’s bulletin cover with your child(ren).Can they guess what this Sunday’s service is about?

Help our children open themselves to God:

Opening ourselves to God and focusing on God (despiteour busy minds and active bodies) is a learned skill.Adults and children alike are learning to be still beforeGod. At home, encourage brief moments of silentprayer before grace. At church, if you see yourchild(ren) losing attention, gently remind them what we

are doing together. The meaning of the different parts of the service is described in each Children Bulletin.

Help our children feel good about worshipping God and glad

to be with the Christian community

Just as adults feel they belong when we use theirnames, so do our children. All of our HPC children havename tags. Make sure you are as friendly to our children as you are to other members of our communityRemember that our goal is not quiet children but

worshipping children . A gentle reminder of what we aredoing is much more effective (and less disruptive) than“Shhh!” Friendly smiles go a long way to communicating, “We are

glad you are part of our church family!”

Yours in Christ,Paddy



Dear Partners in Mission,

It’s Canim Lake so it must be Monday. After 21

years of doing this mission work that’s how our calendar works. Each day of the week finds us driving to anotherrural community of the Cariboo-Chilcotin as we take the churchof Christ to where there is no other church. Fifty years ago or more, mostof these rural communities had churches, along with schools, post offices,government offices and even banks in some. However, the 1970’s and 80s saw most of theseservices move to town. Unfortunately the churches moved to town too. The people stayed;in fact most rural communities have grown substantially. But here is the thing. If you haveto travel considerable distance for school, bank, post office and all other services on your“town day,” a business day, how do you justify making the trip to town again for church on

the one day when most everything else is closed. You don’t, and that’s where we come in. Our mission has been, and continues to be, to take the church of Christ to those who

live beyond the traditional church in the rural communities of the Cariboo-Chilcotin regionof BC, (almost 1/5 of the province of BC). We do this using the house church, the 1st centuryform of Christian church that one keeps on running into in the New Testament. When I havefinished my week, I have been to at least 5 homes in as many rural communities and I havehad worship with 80 or more people. Across the Cariboo-Chilcotin we have 18 ruralministries going on each week. It touches a lot of people. It takes a lot of resources. That’s

where you come in.

We depend upon Christ to provide for this mission work. It is, after all, His work. Forthe past 21 years Christ has powerfully worked through you and others like you, as Hisproviding vessels. In 2010, through your direct gifts to this mission, you generouslyprovided 35% of our budget. We still ended the year with a deficit of almost $22,000, whichis a new experience for us. In 2011 we have reduced our budget by 13%, which cuts it to thebone. We are praying for direct mission gifts to increase just as we are praying for our localsupport to increase so that we won’t lose our ability to reach out to our rural communities.We covet your continued faithful prayers and support.

Blessings in Christ,David Webber,Ordained Missionary

***exerpt from the

CARIBOO NEWSLETTER……



“You don’t have to burn books…”

In February I attended a night school class with mygranddaughter Jessica. The three hour lesson covered thebasic principles of writing and publishing a book. It was a funevening. It’s not often that one gets to do a course with one’sgrandchild.

The room where the course was being offered was obviously aclassroom used primarily to teach writing skills. Lots of posterscovered the walls with such headings as “Simile”“Personification”, “Foreshadowing” and so on. But my eyeswere drawn to a statement by Ray Bradbury: “You don’t have

to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”

It made me think. Has Christianity lost its relevance because people have stopped reading the Book?

Yes, I do know that the Bible is still number one on the best-seller list but buying a Bible and readingone is quite something else.

My friend and mentor, Morrison McVea, died almost a year ago now but the stories he shared with me

are very much alive. Morrison learned to read using the Bible. He had his Bible on his desk throughouthis teaching career and would often refer to the Proverbs while teaching. In many families at the turnof the last century the Bible was the only reading material available. My mother stated that hergrandfather read the Bible for an hour every day yet I never saw her or my dad read the Bible exceptin church. Our children and grandchildren see us reading the newspaper, a magazine, a great pulpnovel. Do they see us reading the Bible?

When my son Michael was 5 years old our family went to visit friends in the Okanagan. On our returnhome he asked my husband and me if we were Christians. Needless to say it took us aback. We wereboth baptized, both confirmed and had made personal commitments to Christ so I asked the obviousquestion, “Why do you ask, son?” And in the unfettered wisdom of children he replied, “Because your

friends have a Bible on the coffee table and they pray at every meal. They said they were Christianand we don’t do that.”

Going to church and taking children to Sunday school does not a Christian make. We had a long row tohoe but I thank God for the wisdom of our young son. Our children see how we conduct our lives,what is important to us. If we never refer to the book except on Sundays, the book is seen by ourchildren and grandchildren as irrelevant in our day to day life. When our Bible only takes up space onthe bookshelf, we destroy more than just a culture for our children and grandchildren—we destroy alife of hope and redemption.

Karin Breuer



Jackie’s prayer

I call this Jackie’s prayer because I received it from our dear friend Jackie Hoekstra who

with her husband Ed are PCC missionaries in Malawi. She in turn received it through her

niece Kelsey from a Baptist Pastor on the east coast of Kenya.

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial

relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of

people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection,

starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a

difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Gerard Booy

Odd Laws still on the booksThere are some old laws, still on the

books, in various places in the United States that are pretty strange...

-Young girls are never allowed to walk a tightrope inWheeler, Mississippi, unless it's in a church.

-In Blackwater, Kentucky, tickling a woman under herchin with a feather duster while she's in church servicecarries a penalty of $10.00 and one day in jail.

-No one can eat unshelled, roasted peanuts whileattending church in Idanha, Oregon.

-In Honey Creek, Iowa, no one is permitted to carry aslingshot to church except a policeman.

-No citizen in Leecreek, Arkansas, is allowed to attendchurch in any red-colored garment.

-Swinging a yo-yo in church or anywhere in public on theSabbath is prohibited in Studley, Virginia.-Turtle races are not permitted within 100 yards of alocal church at an time in Slau hter, Louisiana.



A mom was concerned about her kindergarten sonwalking to school. He didn't want her to walk with him, and she wanted to

give him a feeling of independence. but she also wanted to know that hewas safe. When she expressed her concern to herneighbor, Shirley offered to follow him to school every morning for a while,staying at a distance so he wouldn’t notice. Shirley saidthat since she was up early with her toddler anyways,it will be a good way for them to get some exercise.All week long, Shirley and her daughter followedTimmy as he walked to school with another neigh-borhood girl. As the two children walked and chatted,kicking stones and twigs, Timmy's friend said, “Haveyou noticed that lady following us to school all week?”

“Do you know her?” Timmy replied, “Yes, I know who she is.That's my mom's

friend Shirley Goodnest and her litle girl Marcy.”

“Shirley Goodnest? Why is she following us?”

“Well,” Timmy explained, “every night my mom makes me say the 23rd

Psalm. It says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all days of my

life’. I guess I'll just have to get used to it.”

Apr. 2nd

- Women’s Breakfast

Apr. 16th

– Garage Sale

Apr. 17th

– Camp Douglas Sunday

● Apr. 17th – 22nd

– Holy Week

Services

Apr. 29th

– May 1st – HPC

Family Retreat

May 6th

– Girls’ Group Wind-up

May 7th

– Camp Douglas

Fundraiser

May 15th

– Ministry Fair

June 12th

– Congregational Picnic

June 18th

– Davidson Memorial

Golf Tournament

Apr. 17th

6:30 pm Anointed Matt. 26:6-13

Apr. 18th

7:30 pm Betrayed Matt. 26:14-30

Apr. 19th

7:30 pm Denied Matt. 26:31-35

Apr. 20th

7:30 pm Troubled Matt. 26:36-46

Apr. 21th 6:00 pm Maundy Thurs

Communion

Matt. 26-27

Apr. 22nd

10:00 am Good Friday

Apr. 24th

10:00 am Easter Sunday

HOLY WEEK SERVICES 2011

Watch and Pray is the theme of this

year’s Holy Week Services.

From April 17 to April 21 we gather in

the evenings to watch and pray with

Jesus as we prepare ourselves for

Good Friday and Easter.



The Triumphal Entry

Can you help Jesus find the way through the streets of Jerusalem?

Those who went ahead and those whof ollowed shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is

He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Mark 11:9

Look what’s coming to Haney Presbyterian

this summer!

hpc spring 2011 newsletter

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