Southpoint News December 11, 2015

The Postures of Advent

“The Lord is my light, my light and salvation. In God I trust…”

It has been a week of intense emotion. Today I have been watching video clips of the first refugees being welcomed into Canada. My heart was warmed by the sight of Justin Trudeau handing out winter coats to a newly arrived family, 4 of the 163 people who arrived in Toronto. I wept at the sight of a father and his 2 sons being reunited in Richmond. I felt moved to tears as I watched people, hands outstretched  in greeting, welcoming families onto Canadian soil.  I found myself wanting to mirror this posture, also extending my hand in welcome to these refugees.

Earlier in the week, I experienced a different kind of emotion. I felt deep anger over the words of Donald Trump, who would like to bar all Muslims from entering America, and I felt deep outrage over the words of the President of Liberty University, who wanted to arm his students with handguns.  It is hard for me to imagine extending my hand in  love these two men, even after listening to Christie’s sermon from last week in which she reminded us that Jesus has removed the category of “enemy.”

This morning, I felt frustration. The developer responsible for building the Trump Tower in Vancouver is refusing to change the name of the building, despite pressure from former city planner Brent Toderian and city councilor Kerry Jang.  The reason? The company doesn’t want to mess with politics, it just wants to build the finest luxury property in Vancouver. Huh. What is the value of luxury in a world where 60 million people are refugees.

60 MILLION:  60,000,000,000

As I reached my hand towards the chickadees in Campbell Valley Park today, I thought of the teachings of Jesus in the sermon on the mount.  Even Trump, in his designer suits, is not clothed as lavishly as a lily.  And consider the birds of the air: they do not invest in stocks, nor sell property, nor store money in banks, yet God provides for their needs.  Why are we so obsessed with what restaurants to frequent, what drinks to consume, what style of clothes to wear? The likes of Trump runs after these things.  Seek first the Simple Way of Jesus –  give away, forgive, extend, welcome, pray – and what we need will be provided.

ADVENT CALENDAR

December 11th:  Youth Group: 7:30 @ Jen and Andrew’s home

December 13th:  SUNDAY SERVICE – Speaker: Christie Goode

December 18th:  “Joyuex Noel” 7:30 movie screening @ Brooksdale:  bring a snack to share

December 20th :  ALL IN SERVICE

December 21st: Ice Skating Christmas Party: 6-8pm We have rented the Centennial Arena Rink plus a room for mingling. (If  you don’t like skating, come for the goodies!) We’ll provide hot chocolate. Please bring your favourite christmas cookie to share. Rentals available for a fee. Skating from 6:30-7:30

December 24th:  CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE @ Brooksdale, 4-5 pm

December 27th:  Christmas Caroling at Retirement Communities

Mending the Net:  Community Connections

Calling Southpoint Singers:
A word from Angela: “There are different kids groups preparing songs for our service on Dec 20.  It would be great if we could have a little adult group singing.  I would love to practise after church this Sunday. Instruments playing along are most welcome:) Please let me know if you’re able/willing to sing, thanks.We will sing “O Come Civine Messiah”:

Refugee Response
The leadership team is excited to share with you this Sunday our financial response to the refugee crisis:)   If you would like to contribute to this response, please place a check in the offering this week.
Winter Retreat – February 5-8, 2016
We have a great response so far for the winter retreat.  The camp is a wonderful way of deepening our connections as a community and is open to ALL ages and all stage of life.  Registration forms and first payment are due December 13, final payments by January 17. Please put check and form into offering, clearly marking memo line of check “retreat”, check made out to church).

Prayer Needs
Please pray for all refugees entering Canada this week, and for those actively helping these families relocate.

Blood-Drive
Hospitals never close and neither does Canadian Blood Services.  They need donors throughout the entire month of December. When donating remember we are in the Partners for Life Program and our church ID is: THEC180665.