Yes to Joy

Gabriel appeared to Mary and turned her life upside down. She knew God differently. God was now someone who did the impossible. God was now someone who kept his promises to his people. God was now someone who saw old barren women and young unknown women as important. God was now someone who would approach her in the same way he approached her forefathers, Abraham and Moses.

The encounter also changed the way she experienced herself. It gave her an awareness that her life was a gift with meaning and purpose beyond herself. She was invited by God to participate in the redemption of her people!

There was no one in her life with whom she could share this newness. She would receive no external validation from her friends and family, for the pregnancy would bring her disapproval and judgement.  She could not depend on others to validate her new ways of knowing – she would have to look within, to her own heart and to God, to validate her own lived experience.

Yet God, in mercy, did provide Mary with one person who would affirm out loud the goodness of her baby, one person who would bless her new calling as mother of the messiah – Elizabeth.

Blessed are you, Mary!!!

Blessed is this child in you!!!

Blessed am I, that I get to be with you!!!

Blessed are we for believing all that God promises us!!!

This giant YES leapt up within Elizabeth, and the baby leapt inside of her.

When these two women came together, the Spirit leapt like energy in between them. Their joy was mirrored and magnified as they came together and shared their stories.  Joy was something they experienced in the communion of their friendship.

We are a small church. We don’t own property. We don’t have a fancy sound system, worship teams, or lights. We might not have a lot of external validation from our denomination. We might not have the external validation of the dominant religious or secular culture around us.

Nevertheless, like Mary, we can look within our hearts and look to  God for the validation of who we are becoming as a church: We know who God is becoming for us.  We know the calling God is weaving into our life together.

When we come together and speak out, bearing witness to what we see God doing in our lives, our joy is mirrored and magnified. Our joy rises as we glimpse the hidden presence of Christ in our midst and then name it out loud to one another.  In our joy, we find courage and confidence to continue our calling to welcome and love.

Skating Party

Everyone is welcome to join us for an ice skating party!!
Hot chocolate will be provided, but please bring lots of goodies to share!  Mini oranges, cookies, chips, chocolates, etc.

When: Saturday, Jan. 5th, 3:00-5:00
Where: Centennial Arena

Christmas Eve Service

4 -5 pm. Main house, Brooksdale Environmental Center, 192nd and 16th Ave.  Come join us for our annual Christmas Eve Service. We keep it simple. We sing together, read the Christmas story, and break our fast from communion with beautiful loaves of Challah bread, glasses of wine and grape juice.This might be the last time we can all fit into the Brooksdale living room!

Our Advent Loonie Toons Campaign: Fill the Stable!

1 Goat for a $100
2 hens and rooster for $50
1 Piglet for $40
1 Cow for $600
1 sheep for $150
And even an Alpaca for $250

Let’s fill a  stable with as many animals as we can this Christmas!  This Advent, our Loonie Toons campaign will go towards the purchase of livestock for a community overseas. Bring your loonies, toonies, raid your change pots, or bring some baked goods to church to sell! Help us raise enough money to fill a stable!   We are still exploring the best organization to purchase our animals through – Canadian Baptist Ministries, World Vision, Compassion International all have Christmas Gift Programs. We are also exploring the possibility of a more grass roots option. We want to say yes to bringing hope, peace, joy, and love this Christmas!

Services in December

Sunday, December 23:
Advent, Week 4 – Kids Nativity Play!
“Yes to Love”, Matthew 1:18-25

Monday, December 24th:
Christmas Eve Communion and Carol Sing @ 4 pm

Sunday, December 30th: 
ALL OUT SUNDAY IN GATHERING GROUPS

Have an Announcement?

If you have an addition you would like included in this newsletter, please send a prepared announcement as you would like it to appear to: office@southpoint.ca by Tuesday and we will get back to you.

Prayer Needs

There are many prayer needs in our community right now. If you would like to join the prayer chain to be in more intentional prayer for our community, or if you have a need for prayer that you would like to pass on to the prayer chain, please contact John Hardy.