March 2010
From
the Pastor
The Lenten Journey
We
are fast approaching the middle of the Lenten season, the time of preparation
and fasting. Lent is a time to contemplate the great gift God has given us in
Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Some think Lent has to be a time for doom
and gloom. But this isn’t true. On the contrary, Lent is a time of looking
forward--looking forward to Easter, when we celebrate God’s great victory
through Jesus Christ, and the gift of eternal life, which is promised in
baptism. So take time to
contemplate what this means, and to listen to God’s voice as it directs you according
to the way of Jesus. Take time to Study the Word of God, Holy Scripture. Take
time to pray, and take time to act in love.
Before we celebrate Easter, we will journey through
Holy Week. First we journey through Palm Sunday, which celebrates Jesus arrival
to Jerusalem. Multitudes greeted Jesus, but would soon abandon Him. On Maundy
Thursday, we celebrate Holy Communion, and remember the Last Supper, the night
Jesus was betrayed. Following Holy Communion, the altar is stripped and covered
with black cloth. On Good Friday, we join in worship, and hear the Passion of
Christ read aloud. This was the day Jesus was crucified for the sake of the
world. Within forty-eight hours, the darkest moment in salvation history is
transformed into the brightest, as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord!
We come together and celebrate the day of resurrection, and our own new life in
the risen Lord.
Please note our Holy Week Schedule, and please
invite a friend!
Palm Sunday: March 28, 10:30 am with
Holy Communion.
Maundy Thursday: April 1, 7:30pm with Holy Communion.
Good Friday: April 2, 10:30 am.
Easter Sunday: April 4, 10:30 am with Holy
Communion, 8:30am hot breakfast
Your Servant in Christ,
Pastor Thomas Keeley
From
the President
“Winning
Gold”
The flame is out, the party is over – 14 gold (26
medals) and to put icing on cake – “Hockey Gold”. “Now we believe”, Canada believes and the world believes.
Globe & Mail said post game blues are part of
every host Olympic city, now it’s Vancouver’s turn. I do not agree with this comment. What a super experience to have the winter games in our city
and Whistler and Richmond. Ute and
I attended 14 Olympic events, Vancouver, Cypress and Whistler, opening and
closing ceremonies and Russia and Canada hockey. We even missed one event in Whistler. We needed a break and watched some TV
Olympics, and just rest our feet.
Dunbar
Church and the whole Christian world is now in Lent, and soon Christ’s death
and Easter, Christ’s resurrection.
We also won a gold medal.
We also should be cheering, shouting and jumping up and down. We are all assured a gold medal and be
so proud to wear this medal with pride.
Tell each other, tell your friends, tell the world that a gold medal is
just for saying “I believe”, that Christ died and rose just for me, and gave us
all victory.
In
closing I would like to say to all the athletes and thousands of volunteers
“From every Canadian in every home, in every community you have made us all
very proud to be Canadian.” And
many thanks and God bless us all.
In Him,
Hans Gust
Council President
ENCOUNTER:
An
Introduction to Christianity continues….
Wed
March 10, 17 and 24.
*
REMEMBER TO “SPRING” FORWARD
AND TURN YOUR CLOCKS ONE HOUR AHEAD NEXT WEEK, SUNDAY, MARCH 14!
AND
NOW A WORD FROM MARTIN………………
“This
life is a journey on which we constantly progress from faith to faith, from
love to love, from patience to patience, and from cross to cross. It is not
righteousness but justification; not cleanness but cleansing. We have not
reached the goal but are all journeying toward it. Some have progressed much further
on their way than others. God is satisfied to find that we work with
determination”.
--Rev
Dr. Luther.
On
the lighter side……..
The Limo The Pope had just finished a tour of the East Coast and was taking a
limousine to the airport. Having never driven a limo, he asked the chauffeur if
he could drive for awhile.
Well, the chauffeur didn't have
much of a choice, so the chauffeur climbs in the back of the limo and the Pope
takes the wheel. The Pope proceeds to hop on Route 95 and starts accelerating
to see what the limo could do. He gets to about 90 miles per hour and, WHAM,
there are the blue lights of our friendly State Police in his mirror.
He pulls over and the trooper
comes to his window. Seeing who it was the trooper says "just a moment
please I need to call in."
The constable radio's in and asks
for the chief. He tells the chief "I've got a REALLY important person
pulled over and I need to know what to do. "
The chief replies "Who
is it, not Ted again ?"
The trooper says," No, even more important. "
The
chief replies, "It's the Premier, is it?"
The trooper replies
"No, even more important."
" It's isn't the Prime Ministeris
it?"
"No, more important", replies the trooper.
"Well WHO
the HECK is it!", screams the chief.
" I don't know" says the
trooper. "But he's got the Pope as a chauffeur!"
Heavenly Rates A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the pearly
gates.
St. Peter says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make
it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a
certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you
reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I
was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my
heart."
"That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth
three points!"
"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended
church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!"
says St. Peter, "that's certainly worth a point."
"One point?
Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a
shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for two more
points," he says.
"TWO POINTS!!" the man cries, "At this
rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!"
"Come on
in!"
The Cowboy in Church One Sunday a cowboy went to church. When he entered, he saw that he and
the preacher were the only ones present. The preacher asked the cowboy if he
wanted him to go ahead and preach. The cowboy said, "I'm not too smart,
but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I'd feed him."So
the minister began his sermon.One hour passed, then two hours, then
two-and-a-half hours.
The preacher finally finished and came down to ask the
cowboy how he liked the sermon.
The cowboy answered slowly,"Well, I'm
not very smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up,
I sure wouldn't feed him all the hay."
This
is a beginning…….Notice that blank spot up above? We want to hear from you!
Please feel free to suggest changes
or additions to the newsletter. It’s yours, after all! We are looking
for your submissions—stories, info or pictures you would like to share.
