Ordinary Time

Paul had impressive credentials as a leader. However, the real power of Paul’s life wasn’t how well recognized his preaching was, or how many important people he knew, or how many credentials he had. It was the way he so profoundly and intimately entered through his own suffering and renewal into the cruciform pattern of Christ, returning in love to be a servant witness of what he had experienced.

This is a radically different take on leadership than the one promoted by Greco Roman society, where strength, power, wealth, and social influence was honoured and weakness was suspect and a source of shame.

Paul, however, was not ashamed of his weakness, his suffering, or his imprisonment at the hands of the empire. Rather, these experiences for Paul became a portal through which his suffering co-mingled with the suffering of Jesus and the resurrection power of Jesus. 

There are a lot of voices out there that are trying to define us. Telling us who we should be, and who we shouldn’t be. Telling us therefore, what we can do, and what we cannot. Voices that tell us it is not safe to be human, to show weakness, to make mistakes, to suffer. That somehow, we are “less than” for these things. Whomever those voices belong to, they don’t belong to God. You, with all your weaknesses, are the perfect container for God’s glory.

Deep peace and blessing,
Anne

Rev. Anne Baxter Smith
Pastor, 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
Follow “Meditations from the Church at Southpoint” on Spotify and Apple.

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

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.