Southpoint News Febuary 14, 2018

February 25th is an All Out Sunday!

There will be no service in the Sunnyside Church building.

Love Unveiled

“God wants nothing more than our consent to be loved.” Thomas Keating

Today marks the beginning of Lent. It also happens to be Valentine’s Day, which is an interesting coincidence, given our lenten theme: “Love Unveiled”. In the midst of making Valentine pancakes for Adam, awaiting a delivery of flowers for Johanna, and having lunch out with Craig, I am reading about Julian of Norwich’s visions – God’s love unveiled. If you ever find yourself in Norwich, you can visit the cell attached to St. Julian’s church where Julian of Norwich lived out her days as an anchoress. There’s a little open window built into the stone wall where people would come and visit with her, seeking encouragement, prayer, and spiritual advice. Given that the good people of Norwich were suffering from the plague, poverty, and famine in the late 1300’s, she must have held space for people in real pain and crisis. Despite the harsh reality she witnessed, her writings bear witness to an even more powerful reality – a God of unending compassion and love. In 1373, while near death, she had a series of spiritual experiences. She recorded these in The Revelation of Divine Love, the first theological book known to be written in English by a woman. Her writings offer up a glimpse of a God who enfolds us in love. She did not perceive God as blaming, judging or full of wrath. Rather she perceived these passions as belonging to us, and God releasing us from them through Jesus and the Spirit. “The wrath – all that is contrary to peace and love – is in us and not in God. God’s saving work in Jesus of Nazareth and in the gift of God’s Spirit, is to slake our wrath in the power of his merciful and compassionate love.”   http://juliancentre.org/about/about-julian-of-norwich.html  This profound experience of God’s love infused her life and became the source of her hope:  “God is nearer to us than our own soul, for he is the ground on which our soul stands… for our soul sits in God in complete rest and our soul stands in God in complete strength, and our soul is naturally rooted in God in eternal love.” This Lenten season we seek the grace to experience this Divine Love. We will be leaning into each passage, asking for an unveiling of this love, seeking a deepening awareness of what it means to be God’s beloved.

Pastor Anne Smith
Southpoint 2017 AGM

Wednesday, 28 February?Save the date! Sunnyside church building, 6:30 pm. All adults invited! This is our opportunity as the Church at Southpoint congregation to review 2017 and look ahead at 2018 together with our Leadership Team and Pastor Anne Smith. Please bring some finger food to share to open the meeting. Sarah Adams has kindly made herself available after service this week to explain/ discuss details of the budget outlined in the package!

Love Unveiled: A Lenten Calendar

Sunday the 18th, Feb.?Mark 1: 9-15, Love Blesses, Sunnyside church building, 10:00 am

Sunday the 25th, Feb.?Mark 2: 2-9, Love Transforms, ALL OUT

Wednesday the 28th, Feb. AGM (all are welcome) at Sunnyside church building, 6:30 pm

Sunday the 4th, March John 2: 13-25, Love Purifies, Sunnyside church building, 10:00 am

Sunday the 11th, March John 3: 14-21, Love Saves, Sunnyside church building, 10:00 am

Sunday the 18th, March John 12: 20-33, Love Draws, Sunnyside church building, 10:00 am

Sunday the 25th, March John 12: 12-16, Love Approaches, ALL IN, Sunnyside church building, 10:00 am

Friday the 30th, March Good Friday

Sunday the 1st, April Easter, Love Unveiled Suunnyside church building, 10:00 am