How Does a Weary World Rejoice? We Make Room.

Our Advent Vigil is over! We have waited a long time for the warmth of Christmas Eve. We’ve sat with our weariness, leaned into companionship, opened to awe, and practiced being generous on Christmas Morning. We have remembered together beautiful old stories that tell of the birth of Jesus. 

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you, to your families, and ALL those you held dear. I pray you feel this week the truth that God is near you, always coming near you, waiting for you in your heart, and accompanying you in facing whatever strange house guests arrive at the door.

I hope that you know that we as a church want to be near you too, and that your presence matters so much to us. There is room for you at Southpoint, even if we have to squish and get close to each other in a cold barn. Even this is our practice—the practice of making room.

Here are two snippets from A Sanctified Art material to deepen your celebration and practice of Christmas this week:

“We believe in a God
who makes room for us—
who opens the door,
pulls up a seat,
puts the kettle on, and says,
“Tell me everything.” 
—A Sanctified Art

…we can turn on the porch lights.
We can add chairs to the table.
We can keep clean sheets on the guest bed,
just in case.
We can hold the elevator,
and learn pronouns.
We can tell stories of belonging,
and take turns listening.
We can learn each other’s names,
and plant trees for our children.
We can study privilege
and advocate for mental health.
We can insist,
every single day,
in a million different ways:
there is room,
there is room,
there is room for you here…

—Excerpt from There is Room
by Rev. Sarah Speed

Deep peace and blessing,

— Anne

Rev. Anne Baxter Smith
Pastor, The Church at Southpoint 

Worship Calendar

Location & Zoom. We meet on Sundays at 15639 24 Avenue, Surrey. Zoom is offered if you cannot attend in person. Zoom link. Meeting ID: 831 1690 9977 password: 753319

Listen to Sermons
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Blogs
Catch up on Anne’s recent blogs under “News” on our website, southpoint.ca

Sun Apr 7
(2) Opening to Love
Rev Anne Baxter Smith
John 21:1-19

Sun Apr 14
(3) Receiving Clarity
Rev Anne Baxter Smith
Acts 3:12-19
 
Sun Apr 21
Rev Scott Swanson
Acts 4:5-12

New to Southpoint?

At Southpoint, it all begins with God’s love. Just as a plant grows, it receives sunshine, so we grow as we receive God’s love. At Southpoint, we are growing in our capacity to love God, ourselves, one another, and creation.

We seek to be a community of grace that is intentional yet organic, spacious yet authentic, grace-filled yet accountable. * We are fully welcoming. *

We encourage relationships rather than run programs, yet we recognize the importance of intentionality and structure as we nurture life together.

As a community, we seek to put our love in action. We value helping out on Sunday mornings, sharing food, and showing up in hard times. We keep our church life simple so folk have time to build relationships with family, friends, and neighbours. We encourage folk to serve in tangible ways within the wider community. We rent space rather than own a building, allowing us to do more with less, supporting missions at home and abroad.

Curious to know more?

These six slides express what motivates our ministry (best viewed on a monitor). Here’s the bio of our Pastor, Rev. Anne Baxter Smith.

If you’d like to really peek inside, sign up for our weekly Southpoint News (scroll to brown footer at bottom of page). The Southpoint News is a MailChimp distributed email—you can unsubscribe anytime and will not be added to our contacts list. Email us at office@southpoint.ca. Website: southpoint.ca.