God is the Great Communicator

Welcome and welcome back to St. John’s.
I am very thankful for holidays and for work to come back to. Dianne and I and our family enjoyed good times at the cottage on the Muskoka River. Between rain storms, we got out to paddle, swim, spray wash the cottage siding, do some cleaning, sit and read, visit friends and family. Thank you for your prayers for us.  When I hear of lay-offs from manufacturing plants, or people no longer welcome in their place of employment for economic or other reasons, I feel a sense of concern for the hole it must leave emotionally and financially.
 
I am grateful for my work. But what I or any of us do, whether employed or volunteering, is really unto the Lord. If you have the attitude that what you do is for God, it can change your whole outlook. Not that God needs it; God is capable of creating without us, but includes us out of the love God has for us and out of respect for you and me. So as I pressure-washed the cedar siding at the cottage, I thought, ‘this is all for God.’ Maybe I am strange, but a wave of joy came over me as I did a mundane, repetitive chore. God made the cedar, the water and me and gave us this moment. The water sprayed over me, drenching my clothes, cleansing me on a hot day. God, whom we serve delights, in communicating with us.
 
S.D. Gordon wrote, “Jesus is God spelling himself out in language we can understand.”

Our theme through the month of September is Communicating. God is the great communicator through creation, Jesus, the bible, the Holy Spirit and numerous other means.

With cell phones, computers, etc. left at home (or turned to ‘mute’ during the church service) we will stop to reflect on how God communicates with us…through grandparents, through times of conflict, through our neighbour in need, and through God’s mission to the world.
 
Themes for September Services
Sept. 7 “Communicating our faith to the next generation” (Grandparents Day)
Sunday School registration at 10 am.
Sept. 14 “Communicating in times of conflict” (Holy Cross Day and FaithWorks campaign kickoff)
Sept. 21 “Communicating with our neighbour” (FaithWorks speaker)
Sept. 28 “Communicating with the world” (Intergenerational service, celebrating Guatemala mission trip.)
 
As the September web site updates are being prepared, Dianne and I will be celebrating 23 years of married life. At the same time, our son, Nicholas, and the Maddock family from St. John’s will be in Guatemala on a mission trip with the people from St. John the Baptist Anglican Church in Lakefield, Ontario, August 23 to 31. You will have a chance to hear about their ministry at our Intergenerational Service, Sunday, September 28th at 10:00 a.m.


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