Caught in the Storm of Society

If you turn on the TV or pick up a magazine or drive down the street, you and I are inundated by advertising. We live in a sea of advertising, it is almost everywhere our eyes look. As kind and as good as some companies would like to portray themselves, the first and foremost reason to advertise is to sell or market themselves. Advertisements are designed to get your attention on what they are selling and to get you to consider buying it. Their goal is to make you not just want what they are selling but that you, in fact, feel like you need it. All advertisements do this from laundry soap and toothpaste to luxury cars and 3d-plasma screens. It is almost a full time job just keeping up with and aware of all this consumer propaganda. With all the advertisements around us, it is almost exhausting to sort out what is really important, what is really honest, what is necessary, and what is actually of true benefit for us, from all the other worthless drivel. I mean, take the local paper as an example, and I have nothing against the Independent and the local news and information it provides, but do you think you could find in this weekend’s paper one advertisement for a company or product that might actually make us better people without its seller having it’s own profit driven ulterior motive? Of course not. So if we are surrounded then by such a pervasive cloud of advertising finely crafted to persuade and shape our desires, do you think we make it through a day without being persuaded or shaped? Is it even possible to imagine we could make it through a single day without being shaped by advertisements in our consumer culture when they make their push at every conceivable place and opportunity? Seriously, as Christian’s for whom God’s will and desire and to whom following Jesus is most important, we need to be very aware of how our thoughts, wants and desires are being shaped by whom and for what purpose.

I would argue that for you and I living in an urban setting that we are as impacted by advertising as we are by the weather and the seasons. We know what time of year it is by what “they” are selling on the TV, the radio, the billboards, or the flyers.

Jesus says in Luke 12, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” Jesus in this passage is comparing the ease with which the people who gather around him to hear him teach have learned to read the signs in the weather to know when dangerous weather is coming, but who choose, which is why he calls the hypocrites, to remain ignorant to the “weather” of the culture and society around them and the harmful things that can happen if they let themselves get caught up in it. One of the main themes of this whole chapter from Luke’s gospel has been to encourage us, as followers of Jesus, to be prepared for the coming of the kingdom by warning us to not be driven by the superficial goals of the materialistic world and culture around us.

In our day, with the recent economic troubles of the world, does anyone really need to paint a picture of the cultural and societal pressures of our consumer and profit driven world on individuals. We are all well aware of the dangers can befall so many in its’ storm. For me one of the things that became clear when the economy stumbled and everyone’s financial savings and jobs were affected, was the contrast of those consumer market things to the things in our life that were left mostly untouched by these material matters. The things most untouched were our closest and most important relationships. Not that they didn’t feel some stress, but these relationships with others, like our family or close friends, and even more fundamentally our relationship with God were like a safe harbour from the storm. God didn’t change. Our spouse, family, and our good friends were still there to listen and support us, to laugh with us or to cry with us. Yes, all our relationships were and are impacted, even our relationship with God, but the deeper and the stronger we have built those relationships, the least impacted they were. They are like the foundation of a house built on rock. These relationships are where we will always find our peace.

Now wait a minute preacher, you are saying that it is in our relationship with God and our closest relationships, be they family or friend, that we will find peace. But doesn’t Jesus say in Luke 12 something about peace? Yes he does and in fact Jesus says, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!”

Yes, that is what Jesus said.

But there are two types of peace. The peace the world gives and the peace God gives and they are two different creatures. Jesus in this passage is acknowledging that the peace he proclaims and brings is not of this world and its the narrow political definition of Peace, but a spiritual peace that will, in fact, challenge the world, and cause conflict and even division.

The peace Jesus proclaims brings division to the world because its’ values run against the power and profit structures of our earthly structures. Caring for the poor and those in need has no profit. Living humbly and always sharing ones abundance will get no one to the top of the corporate ladder. Jesus asks his followers to put spiritual values ahead of societal and cultural values, and even in his day he knew that doing that would cause conflict and division.

The message that these passages have for us today is that being a follower of Jesus means be attentive to our culture and surroundings. It means being wise to the signs and our cultures attempts to shape our needs and wants.

Jesus is calling Christians to be smarter and more aware of the pressures that are at work around us. We are here today and that even in a small way proves that we haven’t fallen fully to the sway of the world, but that our ears and eyes are still open to the way of God. Stay close to God’s word and try to follow God’s voice in your heart and in your actions everyday. As Jesus says, in this same chapter, “Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:33-34)

2010 ALS Walk

On Saturday June 5th, a group of walkers from St. George’s joined folks from the Halton Hill’s community in our communities second annual “Walk for ALS.”

The weather was perfect for our expedition of hope. We were lead by Dr. Jeff Sutherland and his wife Darlene who cut the starting line ribbon. It was a great show of support for Dr. Sutherland and all in our area who suffer from ALS.

My thanks to everyone who walked on Saturday and for everyone who sponsored us who walked.

Empty Bank Accounts Made Full!

Jesus was able to connect to the people of his community first because he demonstrated that he understood their situation and their needs and he helped them, then he offered them the Good News of the Gospel.

Jesus proved that if you want to attract someone to your message, you need to first speak his or her language and show that you are worth listening to. Jesus does this in the gospel story in Luke chapter 5, where he first convinces Simon Peter to cast his nets into the water after an unsuccessful night of fishing and they bring them in full to overflowing and then Jesus convinces Simon Peter and two others to follow him to be “Fisher’s of People.” In this story and for these experienced fishermen, Jesus, basically, made fish appear where they knew none existed. He asked them to drop their nets where they knew there was no fish because they had just fished there. In a way, this story is like Jesus saying to someone today who has just left the bank to go back and look in their bank account, only to find that their account was now full of money.

Yes, I know, dream on that for minute or two. OK, come back.

If money or fish were what Jesus was really about, then he and his disciples could have just gone around filling people’s empty nets or bank accounts. Yet, what Jesus did with the miracle with the fish was to acknowledge their physical needs and to get their attention. And then, when he had their attention, he could make his point about the Good News of the Gospel. The whole aim of the miracle was so that Jesus could prove to them that he is and was the real deal, that he is more than a teacher, that he is God’s Son. Jesus wanted to prove to those that he hoped would follow him that with him anything was possible.

What I want to make clear is that the goal of the miracle was not to fill the fishermen’s empty nets, but to be able to get their full attention by making a real and tangible difference in their lives. Once he had their attention, once he had proved that he was able to understand what they wanted and needed, then he could challenge them to live a life with a higher purpose, God’s purpose. I also want to make it clear that I believe that that too is the ultimate goal of our church. Our mission as a Christian community, our job, our most important task has two steps to it. First, it is to get folks attention but showing that we understand their needs by making a difference in their lives and then secondly, when we have proven ourselves to them, it is to pass on to them the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The story of Jesus filling the fishermen’s nets, reminds us of that very important first step of communicating God’s message about Jesus. We need to get their attention first by meeting their need. If we are going to reach out in his Name, as Jesus reached out in God’s name, then we need to able to get the attention of the people around us. These “people” are our neighbours and friends. They are everyday folk, who are just trying to make the best of their life. As Christian’s we need to be able to demonstrate that we can understand what they need, and then show them that in Jesus they can have something worth so much more. If and when we are able to do something practical for them to show them we care and understand, then we they will give us the chance to present them with something deeper and more meaningful. We need reach out to them first, we can’t just wait for them to come to us and ask. If we do, then we have forgotten that our invitation is to be fisher’s of people and not just keepers of the boat. We must be calling others into relationship with God and not just making sure the lights are on and the roof doesn’t leak.

Haiti Earthquake: Church at work

Read more about how the Anglicans from the Anglican Church of Canada are helping through the PWRDF.

2009 Christmas Services

Thursday, December 24th
Christmas Eve

5:00 p.m. Carols and The Christmas Story

7:00 p.m. Worship and Carols accompanied by guitar & piano

9:00 p.m. Worship with Parish Choir

11:00 p.m. Traditional Worship and Music

Friday, December 25th
Christmas Day

10:00 a.m. Worship and Carols

Sunday, December 27th
1st Sunday after Christmas

8:00 am Worship

9:30 a.m. Worship and Carols

Note: There will be no 10:00 am service on Thursday, December 24th or 31st

Sacred Shrines or Messy Churches?

So many of the Bible’s stories remind us that, since the fall, we have gotten “caught up” in places; Holy Lands, Holy Mountains, Holy Sites, Holy Buildings. To these places, we get attached in a way that often overtakes the original reason that the place itself was important. For instance, even the disciples, who spent all of there time on the move with Jesus traveling from place to place and who never stayed long anywhere, were tempted to try to make a location Holy with a shrine. Remember the story of Peter, James, and John, when they saw Jesus transfigured on an unnamed mountain. In Mark 9:5 after seeing Jesus transfigured before them “Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”” This shows us that even Peter couldn’t resist the urge to want to build a shrine on that mountain side. We get attached to places and buildings where special events happen and we often try to preserve/honour or even freeze in time that special and important event or encounter with God by building a shrine.

Take the Temple of Jerusalem for instance. The building of the first temple was an important sign for the people that God had made true on his promises to Abraham and Moses and delivered them to a land of their own where they built the temple. In Jesus day, the temple was in fact the third one which had been rebuilt by Herod, over the second, not long before Jesus’ Birth. It is important to note that Jesus spent most of his time outside the temple and Jerusalem, preaching against the Scribes and Pharisees who taught that the Temple and that temple ritual was absolutely central to the Jewish faith and their relationship with God. Jesus’ message removed the temple from its place in the relationship between God and God’s people. This is what made him such a marked man among the religious authorities. Our Gospel passage today reads, As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”” (Mark 13:1-2) In our gospel passage today, when Jesus seems to be predicting the destruction, yet again, of the grand and glorious Temple, Jesus is more truly pointing out that the New Covenant, the new relationship that he has come to invite us into with God, that this teaching itself removes completely the importance of this glorious building. The building of the temple in Jerusalem was a culmination of hundreds of years of struggle and growth for a community who were constantly working out their relationship of faith with God. But once the temple became the center of all they did they began to lose their true center, their relationship with God. God loves people, not buildings.

You see, it does not matter to God or Jesus if we meet in a church or in a pub, or a home, or on the street or anywhere else. It is more important to be the community of God in our actions. It is not where we worship, but that we worship. Even then if what we all we do is worship, if we just speak the words or only pray the prayers, and that worship, those prayers, and those words don’t actually touch us and change us, or guide our actions in everything else we do during the week, then we are missing the point of Jesus’ message. Meeting God and Jesus doesn’t happen in a church, it happens in our hearts! What we do in this physical place is only important if it lead us to go out by word and example to introduce it to others.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this pile of stones, we call St. George’s. But as far as our mission as the church, every effort and dollar that we spend on this physical building needs to be held up against that “new relationship” that Jesus called us into. If we are building up our facilities for their own sake our for the sake of what this place once meant to us or for the sake of those that were once here, then we have most seriously gotten off track! Jesus calls us to preserve his message, not the building we built in his name. Jesus taught his disciples to go out and tell others about this new relationship that was available for them. Jesus makes this clear in the commissioning he gives his disciples in the final chapter of Mark Gospel. In chapter 16 verse 15, the resurrected Jesus instructs his disciples to “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” For you and I today that remains the mission as the church.

I want to highlight for you today about one of the great ways that St. George’s is proclaiming the Good News and introducing people in our community to the message that Jesus has offered each of us a new relationship with God. Messy Church. The reason I highlight it today is twofold. First, it is very clearly the results of us as followers of Jesus establishing relationships with those who wish to be introduced to the message of Jesus and second it is an example of one of the ways that we, working together as a Christian community, are providing others with the opportunity to begin to grow in their relationship with God through Jesus. I also want to highlight it this morning because it was just this week that some of the abundance of the fruits of our work was revealed. This past Wednesday night, in the parish hall we hosted “Messy Church.” and Messy Church is a monthly service intended and aimed at providing a relaxed, meaningful and family friendly way for folks to experience the teachings of Jesus and taste the kind of community and relationships that God invites us into. This past week, thirty eight people, made up of mainly parents and young children and including The Rev’d Nancy Rowe and her team of volunteers, were guided and supported at Messy Church through crafts, some music and a reflection on the importance of Jesus. At Messy Church prayed, had some fellowship and we ate a meal. This months’ attendance, along with last months total of 34 people both guests and hosts, for me were proof that our efforts to connect new families are beginning to bear good fruit. And I need you to know that the growth that’s beginning to take hold at Messy Church is directly related to the dedicated ministry that Nancy is helping us to provide to the family’s that come to us for Baptism. With her leadership preparing the families for baptism and her shepherding them with the monthly “First Steps” program, her monthly phone calls, and her letters, Nancy has been tilling the soil of relationship with these young families. Her important ministry says to these families that we as a church community care about them and their children’s and family’s spiritual growth.

I rejoice today in Nancy’s ministry and ministry of her volunteers that support her Messy Church gatherings, and I say thanks to everyone of you who supports our ministry here at St. George’s that allows us to reach out to these young families and invite them into a fuller relationship with God and with us. If you would like to be part of this growing area of our ministry then I would encourage you to attend to help us welcome and connect with these new families. I would also encourage you to invite others to our Messy Church gatherings who you think might find this sort of gathering a good step toward strengthening their relationship with God.

What God’s children accomplished with the temple was truly awesome. But with the New Covenant, Jesus was inviting them, and us to take it to the next step. The definition of being the church, being a community of Christians, being Anglicans, being St. George’s, being a Christian, is determined by the strength of our relationship both with God and with each other. These bonds of relationship form, they hold strong, or they break based on how we treat each other and act with each other. Jesus knew that they day was coming when the stones of the great temple, which had become the central focus of the Jewish Faith, would be torn apart, but he knew he was offering a way build a community in a way that could not be destroyed or torn down by any outside force. The New Covenant was the bond between us and God that he came to strengthen and repair, and the bond between God’s children that he came to build up. These relationships are the building blocks if the Kingdom he proclaimed and promised. These relationships build the ultimate and final structure which we glimpse in our lives when we get it right, like we do when we get it right here on a Sunday, or like we did at Messy church on Wednesday, or this week maybe you saw a glimpse of it at work, or even in you home with your family, or when you were out with a friend. With every baptism and every new relationship, the Kingdom grows. With every act of compassion, with every opportunity we have to demonstrate to another person a Christian virtue, the kingdom grows. So may God continue to strengthen us as we encourage and support each other in this mission Jesus leads us in. Amen.

Note from Rob

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I wanted to keep you up to date with some ongoing and upcoming happenings here at St. George’s. I can not highlight all the great activities that we are doing here, but please feel free to ask Sue Graham, office@stgeorgesgeorgetown.com, to put you on the emailing list for our weekly e-bulletin.

I also must admit that I completely forgot to let everyone know about the fact that we welcomed Pat Klaus to St. George’s in September.

I am soooo sorry, Pat!

Pat is a theological student at Trinity College and will be doing her intern placement at St. George’s until Christmas. Please welcome her and keep Pat in your prayer as she spends the next few months walking along side us, and with us (and extra prayers because she has to put up with ME as her supervisor).

Bazaar: November 7th, 10am – 2pm
The Bazaar is fast approaching. I am always amazed and grateful at how many folks help and support our yearly bazaar. One of the highlights and “signature items” of our Bazaar has been our cookie trays. We invite everyone who would like to help with our cookie trays to bake us up a tray or two of your fanciest (nut-free) holiday cookies or squares and drop it by the church on the Thursday night (6-9pm) or Friday morning (9am-noon). Our Coordinators are Marilyn Pope and Linda Reaume if you need any information about any of the great things we have at our bazaar or if you would like to help out. I hope you come and check out the Christmas, Country Kitchen, White Elephant, Sewing, Baking, Used Book, Toy’s and Baby’s, Jewelry, and Used Book Tables. You can even stay for Lunch!

Bell Ringing: Encouraging Better Stewardship of the Earth
St. George’s was invited to join with other churches around the world in raising awareness about the important upcoming UN World Climate meeting. 350.org, invited us to ring the church bells 350 times on Saturday October 24th as symbolic support for their call for world leaders to set a goal of keeping atmospheric CO2 levels at or below 350 parts per million. We did and I posted here about that earlier.

Bishop’s Vision: Your Opportunity to Chat
Bishop Michael Bird had asked for the opportunity to come and visit our area to have the opportunity to speak with us about his vision for the Diocese of Niagara. Bishop Bird was at St. Stephen’s, Hornby and all five of the local Anglican parishes, including St. George’s were invited to attend and speak with him. I was very encouraged that so many people from St. George’s came to here and speak with the Bishop. Our recent changes in our ministry with the Contemporary worship service at 11:15, monthly Messy Church gatherings, an improved focus on our ministry to our baptismal families, and our STEAM conversation with the other four Anglican makes St. George’s an excellent partner with the Bishop in helping his vision become a reality for our diocese. Here is a link to a copy (in pdf format) of the Bishop’s vision as it was presented to synod last November.

Helping in our Community
Now not steal away any of the thunder of our church’s bazaar on November 7th but that morning is also the day the local Christian churches have set aside for the fall version of our spring Community Unity clean up. Volunteers are welcomed to help form small teams to go to people’s homes and help them with their fall clean up. Contact me if you are interested in helping or if you know someone who would benefit from the help. There is also a sign-up sheet available in the church lobby. The meeting point on the 7th is the Georgetown Alliance Church @ 8:30 am until about noon and please bring rakes, garden gloves and other small garden tools.

Also, I would like to thank everyone who brought non-perishable food items to church on Thanksgiving Sunday and I invite you to continue to support our local food bank, The Georgetown Bread Basket. It is operated completely by volunteers from within the community and, as a member of the Ontario Association of Food Banks, it collects and distributes non-perishable food to needy families and individuals in our community at no cost to them. The Bread Basket is open Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 9 am – Noon and is located at 55 Sinclair Avenue, Unit 22. For information about volunteering or about how to receive food please call 905-873-3368.

mEssY ChUrcH and a VBS reunion
Our latest Messy Church gathering was a great success, as we invited all the families that participated in our summer VBS program. 34 adults and children made crafts, sang, and talked about the many ways that we think about who Jesus is. All that fun and fellowship ended, as always with a meal. Messy Church is the 2nd Wednesday of every month from 5pm to 7pm. Thanks to The Rev’d Nancy Rowe, her team of helpers, and everyone who came out.

Thanks for your prayers and your continued financial support that allows the ministry at St. George’s to continue to do all the good things it does to proclaim Christ in your lives and in the lives of our community!

Peace,
Rob

350 Rings of the Bell

On Saturday October 24 members of St. George’s and other concerned citizens in Georgetown, gathered to ring the bells 350 times in solidarity with hundreds of thousands of people around the world on the International Day of Climate Change Action. Our hope is that as world leaders prepare to meet in Copenhagen for the UN Conference on Climate Change in December, all the worlds leaders engage fully in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

http://www.independentfreepress.com/editorial/article/79009

Hi All,

This is my September update for the parish family to keep you informed about some of the happenings and goings on at St. George’s and in the local Anglican Community. This note will also be included in a traditional parish mailing so that the folks who haven’t had a chance to read the emails or on line that I am trying to get out regularly.

Church School Co-ordinator Change
After two years of hard work, Carol O’leary has finished her time as our part-time Church School Co-ordinator. I am grateful to Carol for her work and especially in aiding the church school in making the move from the 9:30 service to the 11:15. I am pleased to announce that Stephanie McLean has agreed to take on this role. I hope you will join with me in supporting Stephanie and our church school in the coming months to help us provide a most fun and interesting place for our children to grow in their faith.

New Video Equipment
Since we have now received almost the full budgeted amount that we need to purchase the video stage of our audio/video equipment upgrade for the church, we have decided to move ahead with the purchase and installation. We hope to schedule the installation in the next four to six weeks. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this project and Kevin Sharpe for championing and coordinating this project.

Grow in Your Faith
I am very pleased that St. George’s will be able to provide you with a number of opportunities for you to grow in you understanding of the Bible and to grow in your faith in Christ. There are two Bible Studies planned to begin in September, a trip to see the Dead Sea Scrolls displayed at the R.O.M. in October and STEAM run book study (based on Dianna Butler Bass’ book “Christianity for the Rest of Us”) planned to begin October.

STEAM
Also in October, along with the beginning of the STEAM book study, there is going to be a party! The party is to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund and everyone from all five of the local Anglican parishes are invited to take part. There will be games, cake, and entertainment. We won’t be buying a gift for the PWRDF, but we will have a gift box out if you would like to make donation to this Anglican helping organization’s continuing work. The Party is planned for 7pm on October 3rd, so please mark it on your calendar.

Stewardship
When I think about all the ways that St. George’s is able to provide for worship each week, the care that we offer to our community, and the spiritual growth we encourage in people, I am so grateful for the support that so many people give to make that possible. Thank you for providing us with both the volunteer and financial resources that makes it all happen.

I would like to encourage everyone who donates to consider becoming one of those who donates by Pre-authorized Giving. Currently Pre-authorized Giving makes up more than half the offerings we receive each month. It has become very important to help us “be the church” month to month. Signing up is easy. There are forms available in the foyer or at our office. Online, you can sign up for Pre-authorized Giving online at the Diocese of Niagara website or to make an increase to your scheduled Pre Authorized Giving amount you can use this linked form and return it to Kim Waltmann at the diocese.

Thanks for reading this and I hope to see you soon.

Peace,
Rob

The Rev’d Canon Robert W.A. Park

. . . Also Happening at St. George’s

St. George’s Christmas Bazaar will be held on Saturday, November 7th. If you would like to volunteer your services or if you have any articles to donate to the bazaar, please contact co-convenors Marilyn Pope or Linda Reaume.

St. George’s Catering group raises funds for our church by catering functions, both at St. George’s and at Jones Funeral Home. There are 3 ways to volunteer:

• providing ingredients for sandwiches, squares and cookies
• baking or assembling lunches in our “ health-inspected kitchen”
• serving at the funeral home

This is a very worthwhile endeavour and funds raised will go to special church projects If you are able to help out, please contact Janet Armstrong.

The Way of the Cross is no cliché

My parents gave me lots of things. A place to live, clothes to wear, food to eat, Care, love and teaching. There were many things they tried to teach me about life, like the clichés like “wait until you have kids of your own and then you will understand.” One of the pieces of advice that my parent’s taught me, whether it was school, or sports, or life was, “to always try hard and do your best.” They taught me about the important relationships that we have, like family and friends. One of those important relationships was also my relationship with God. It was my parents that brought me to church and it was there I learned about Jesus and I heard his teachings. I heard them and the stories about the message of hope that God had given to humanity through Jesus, but it has taken me along time to even begin to really get them. Most of those teachings have taken me most of my forty years to get. I think that understanding these teachings are something that I will be trying to do all my life.

Jesus is having to be a bit like a parent in todays gospel. Trying to figure out just how much the disciples have learned by asking “Who do you say I am?” Then he rebukes Peter, the one who had the correct answer previously, because he still doesn’t get it. And then Jesus makes it a teachable moment, for both the disciples and the surrounding crowd, by outlining the Way of the Cross that all Christian’s must walk if they wish to follow him.

The Way of the Cross is an important teaching for all of us to hear. Jesus, reminds us, first off, that our life is the most valuable and precious thing we have. He warns us that living our life following him will not be easy or without suffering. And he promises us that by following we will truly receive our life, which is an Eternal life. The Way of the Cross is the Christian journey and it is no simple path to follow. It is a path to the greatest reward, greater than anything this world could ever offer. Going to church, or spending one day thinking about God will only be important if it informs how you walk the path the other six days of the week.

If that path sounds a bit daunting, then Peter and the disciples can be a comfort to you. They were there with Jesus and even they struggled to get it right. Peter calls Jesus “Messiah” in the first part of the reading and then he tells Jesus to stop talking about his death and resurrection. Peter is one of the brighter disciples and here we see that even he gets it, but he doesn’t get it.

While Peter and the disciples can be a comfort, but they should not an excuse. We should not stop trying to follow the Jesus’ path, just because we find it too difficult. Everyday, each of us still has to make our own choices of how to act. Although we may fail, and we may not understand or be able to act out the entire Gospel Message fully as we stumble down the path, it should never be our excuse not to try hard and do our best.

There are times in our life when we need a little encouragement to the things that we know are right but that we might find difficult or challenging to do. I wish to encourage you today. It might sound a little cliché, like so much of my parent’s teaching, but it hold truth no the less.

It does not matter if you are young or old, if you have breath in you today, you have life, that most precious gift, and you have the opportunity to live it. It is not how you were born or how you die, but how you live out that life that is most important.