Questions, questions 17 October 2021 Knox Bayfield Rev Dolson
BULLETIN 17 October 2021 Knox Bayfield
May the grace of Jesus Christ be with you … and also with you. Welcome to worship at Knox Presbyterian Bayfield on Sunday October 17th.
Announcements
It is good to share with you that Jim Thompson joined Session as an Assessor Elder, appointed by Presbytery. We are thankful that Jim has agreed to take on the role of elder.
Mission Moment: Keeping Hope Alive
For Palestinians, the olive tree is a symbol of their nationality and connection to the land. Cultivated for thousands of years, it is a major source of income for many Palestinian households. Between 1967 – 2009, over 830,000 olive trees were uprooted by Israeli settlers and military to build settlements and roads. In 2002, the Joint Advocacy Initiative launched the Olive Tree Campaign (OTC), inviting partners to sponsor olive trees as a sign of solidarity with Palestinian farmers. The OTC has supported 15,000 households with 200,000 olive trees, allowing them to maintain their lands, earn an income and keep their hope alive. The PCC has been supporting this life-giving project since 2018. In celebration of the campaign’s 20th anniversary, organizers hope to plant 40,000 olive trees in 2022, and they still need sponsors for 15,000 trees to reach the goal. Discover more about this project on page 30 of the Presbyterian Connection newsletter. Discover more about this issue in the new Presbyterian Connection. Paper issues are in the narthex and online at https://presbyterian.ca/magazines/pc_Issue19_Fall2021
Church Signs: Under the same management for more than 2,000 years!
During the weeks of weeks of October 18 and November 1 Rev Lisa will be on holiday. You will be pleased to know that Rev Theresa McDonald Lee, Executive Director
Camp Kintail, will preach at Knox Bayfield on October 24 and November 7. She will be available for emergency pastoral care.
Our worship services are live streamed and recorded. Join Knox Bayfield Sunday Service on Zoom at 11 am Meeting ID: 837 2628 1962 Passcode: 358069
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83726281962?pwd=akx4NG9ZQS9WOExmWmJyWlRMK29LZz09
The videos are posted on our website https://pccweb.ca/knoxbayfieldpc/ facebook https://www.facebook.com/KnoxBayfield and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUo3-FAL07sp0CcbUkEhVKg The worship services are recorded for people who are unable to attend due to health concerns, physical accessiblity and distance. The videos expand our outreach into the larger community. Please speak with Brenda McLean, Deb Cosford, or Rev Lisa if you are interested in volunteering to help on the Audio Visual Crew.
Are you receiving the weekly Knox Bayfield email? Share changes in your contact information including email, phone, and address with Brenda Mclean. 519-524-8645 brmclean@hurontel.on.ca
Do you have food to share? Your non-perishable donations can be left at the church. Collection bins are also available at the Bayfield Public Library and on the porch of Trinity St James’ Parish Hall. Financial gifts are greatly appreciated. BAFB is a registered charity.
Bring your used postage stamps, unwanted spectacles, and empty outer milk bags (wash/dry first!) to church. So many ways to help others and reduce our landfill waste.
Your patience and co-operation is appreciated as we navigate COVID protocols – screening questions, masks, hand sanitizer, and a physical distance of 2 metres (6.5 feet) and the restriction on singing. We are thankful for the ongoing efforts to ensure we are able to worship in-person. Many thanks to our COVID Safety Group – Brenda McLean, Deb Cosford, and Jim Knox. Thank you!
Congregational email October 14, 2021
Dear Church Family,
Thanksgiving has always been a time to share with family and be thankful for all the blessings we have in our lives. I know that this past year and a half has been difficult for all of us but there are still many things we can be thankful for…especially within our little church.
We have never hidden the fact that even though we were not able to be together in our church building the upkeep and maintenance of the church had to continue. Not being able to plan fundraising events put an additional strain on our finances. But thanks to you we were able to continue with regular maintenance and through a donation our church bell is ringing once again, the furnace was also repaired with the help of a donation and our introduction of four special offerings during the year has and will make a huge difference.
The Easter “Hope” offering and Anniversary “Faith” offerings were very successful and now the Thanksgiving “gratitude” offerings have started to come in as well. If you are able and wish to share in the Thanksgiving offering, October is our month of “gratitude”. With church services now in house you can add to the collection plate indicating Thanksgiving offering or mailing to Knox Presbyterian Church, Box 565, Bayfield, ON N0M 1G0 also is an option. We will end this year with our Christmas “love” special giving.
So we are full of gratitude and hope and excited to be together again for weekly services. I pray that our mission work and fundraising efforts will begin again soon and Knox Bayfield will continue to flourish as the “little church with the big heart”.
Blessings always, Brenda on behalf of Finance/Maintenance & Fundraising Committees
The people of Knox Bayfield acknowledge that our community worships, lives, plays, and works on the traditional lands of the Anishinabewaki, Attiwonderonk (Neutral), and Mississauga peoples within Treaty 29, of 1827.
Hymn Let there be light #727
Call to Worship[responsive][1]
One: Praise the Lord, for God is great indeed! Let us sing praises for God’s glorious works.
All: We give glory, honor, and thanksgiving to the Lord, who makes and sustains all things.
Prayer of Adoration and Assurance of Pardon
Mark 10:35–37; Hebrews 5:2
Join me in prayer
Merciful and gentle God, you call us to follow in your way, to serve others, and to love our enemies. We confess our struggle to live in this way. We turn a blind eye when others are in need. Our hearts are hardened against our enemies. We seek your grace and forgiveness as we struggle to make better choices in our daily lives. We pray all this in the name of Christ. Amen
God’s forgiveness shines into the world and the darkness scatters. Jesus knows our every strength and our every weakness, and loves us still. We are called to the promise of God’s amazing grace. Thanks be to God. Amen.
May the peace of Jesus Christ be with you. And also with you.
Hymn Praise him, praise him #372
Prayer For Illumination
Give us undivided hearts and undistracted minds, O God, so that we might walk in your truth and live in your light. God of wisdom, soften our hearts and direct our minds as we discern your holy scripture. May we be like fertile soil in which to plant your living Word. Amen.
Readings
Scripture
Hebrew Bible Job 38:1-7, 34-41 [B#484/ W#533][2]
Responsive Psalm 104:1-9 [B#554/ W#614]
Epistle Hebrews 5:1-10 [B#220/W#236]
Gospel Mark 10:35-45 [B#47 / W#47]
May God bless our understanding of this, God’s holy word. The Word of the Lord.
Hymn O worship the King #313
Questions, questions, and more questions
In our study of the book of Job, there have been over 30 chapters expressing lament for his suffering and the challenges put to God. Where was the God of justice when there was suffering? Job’s friends tried to comfort him with the claim that people suffer because of wrongdoing. They advised Job to repent for his sin and the corruption of his children. This advice was rejected because Job was certain that he did not deserve to suffer. And then, there was a whirlwind.
Suddenly, Job is in God’s presence reminding him that God has been caring for the entire of creation in ways that Job will never fathom. This whirlwind captures Job as he experienced the expansive questions posed when God proclaimed, “I will question you, and you shall declare to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding.” How could we possibly comprehend God and God’s ways.
John Calvin wrote, that we are “so presumptuous as to glorify ourselves in our own imaginations to have power and wisdom in ourselves.” Calvin insists that we are to stand in awe before the great God.
There are wonder-filled images of life, of rain, sun, and silent forests in the questions. Such imagery makes a difference for we are touched, often deeply moved, when we witness the dramatic impact of God’s creation. Right now the autumn season fits so well with the imagery in this chapter. The amazing sunsets over Lake Huron. The immense cloud banks that sweep in off the lake. The intense wind that threatens to lift us of the sidewalk when we walk our dogs.
The book of Job raises more questions than it answers. In this we are assured that God is God, and we are not. This is God’s world, not Job’s, not ours.
The questions continue into the gospel reading. John Calvin wrote that the disciples demands demonstrate a “bright mirror of human vanity,” because “it shows that proper and holy zeal is often accompanied by ambition, or some other vice of the flesh, so that they who follow Christ have a different object in view from what they ought to have.”
Jesus had told the disciples of his impending persecution and death. James and John, the Zebedee brothers, were unable to take in the stark reality of what is to come. They continued to believe the Messiah will hold traditional political and cultural power. They were asking to be part of his inner circle when he takes power. Jesus encouraged them to comprehend the full cost of what they were seeking but the brothers could not. Jesus spoke of sacrifice as they imagined taking political control. The disciples had difficulty expanding their concept of leadership and power. Their knowledge was firmly rooted in the ancient structure of status and success.
Mark then shares that the other disciples were upset by the actions of James and John.
Jesus addressed their concerns when he said, “…whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
In this teaching we discover that Jesus not only sets aside cultural expectations, he turns them upside down. Jesus illustrated this new perspective with the teaching, ‘Whoever would be first must be last.’ This explanation continues to confound within our cultural context of power and leadership. This passage also serves as a reminder that the disciples were struggling against their cultural structure and traditional teachings. Jesus urged them to see from a new perspective, a very different vision. They were learning a new way of being and it disrupted much of what they knew.
Perhaps this teaching is a reminder that during times of significant transition we need to be mindful of new perspectives. In order to comprehend life-shifting teachings within the gospels it may be necessary to reconsider our expectations of self and others. We will struggle to understand, especially when the teachings challenge our existing ways. We make mistakes, we misunderstand, and we find that some of our perspectives have become too narrow.
Jesus demonstrates compassion when the disciples struggled. There seems to be a pendulum effect, where they take in the new teaching and then revert to the familiar ways they know. Perhaps they found comfort in holding onto the familiar ways rather than the discomfort of change. Yet, they discover, as we do, that following Christ can lead toward wholeness.
The diverse questions posed in scripture continue throughout time. In closing, we look to the Peace Prayer of Francis of Assisi. It captures a sense of wonder in the questions,
‘O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.’ Praise be to God.
Hymn God is love #314
The Offering Of Our Life And Labour To The Lord
Quote: We are surrounded by God’s benefits. The best use of these benefits is an
unceasing expression of gratitude. John Calvin (1509–1564) theologian, pastor, reformer
All that we have— our lives, our possessions—comes from God. Give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Blessing Of Gifts & Prayers Of The People
Mark 10:21–30
Let us join in prayer:
O holy and wondrous God, the beauty of your creation is amazing. The breathtaking beauty of the sunrise and sunset, the elegant beauty of the autumn colours. We are thankful for the farmers who tend the crops and all the work of those who bring the produce to us. Help us, o God, to protect the eco-system that you have provided. We pray for the earth. Guide us be proper stewards of your complex creation.
Gracious God, we offer you a small portion of the gifts we have received. May the offerings be multiplied to bear witness to your goodness in the world.
We pray for your church in its many expressions. May all your people discover the joy of service in faith and love.
We pray for the international peace and security. We pray for all who suffer under the tyranny of oppression. We remember those who have died and pray that we find ways to provide comfort for those who grieve.
We lift up, in silence, any prayers we hold in the corners of our hearts—for you know and understand all things.
God of hope, we bring before you the names of people on our hearts this day: Sandy; Judith; Rudy and Grace; Cesare and Lynn; Bonnie; Rob; Courtney and Kyla; Jordan, Sarah and Hazel; and, David and Sharon. We lift up all those who prefer to remain un-named as they face immense challenges of health and finances. We wait for you, Lord, in your word we hope. Merciful God, accept our prayers, spoken and unspoken, and strengthen us to do your will through Jesus Christ.
O Holy One, we join our voices together across space and time to speak the words that Christ taught his disciples … Our Father who art in heaven, hallow’ed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Hymn All things bright and beautiful #435
To Go Forth In God’s Name
Commissioning and Benediction
Mark 10:35–40; Psalm 91:14–16
May you know the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit. Go in peace; go in joy, go in love. amen.
Postlude #623 Holy, holy, holy
Questions for Reflection
James and John ask to sit at Jesus’ side and share in his glory. Jesus, in turn, asks whether they are able to drink his cup or be baptized with his baptism (Mark 10:35-38). Isaiah’s song of the Suffering Servant has similar themes: “Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great … because he poured out himself to death” (Isa. 53:12).
What does it mean to share in Christ’s glory? What does it mean to share in his cup or his baptism? What can you do to seek God’s wisdom? How can you be a better servant?
Morning Prayer
Gracious God, keep me humble throughout the day. Help me to seek your wisdom as I stand in service to others. In your name I pray. Amen.
Evening Prayer
Loving God, thank you for keeping me today. Thank you for the awesome works you have blessed my eyes to see. Continue to bless my community and me throughout the night. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Daily Prayer Mark 10:38–39
We give you thanks and praise, O God, that you have called us to this place to hear the promise of your holy word, to be immersed in the font of your grace, and to drink the cup of your blessing. Draw us deeper into your presence and send us out to love and serve; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Scripture readings next week Oct 24
Psalm 34:1–8; Mark 10:46–52
#727 Let there be light
Let there be light; let there be understanding; Let all the nations gather; let them be face to face. Open our lips; open our minds to ponder; Open the door of concord, opening into grace.
Perish the sword; perish the angry judgement; Perish the bombs and hunger; perish the fight for gain. Hallow our love; hallow the deaths of martyrs; Hallow their holy freedom; hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come; your spirit turn to language; Your people speak together; your spirit never fade. Let there be light; open our hearts to wonder; Perish the way of terror; hallow the world God made.
623 Holy, holy, holy Words: traditional Music: F Schubert
Refrain: Holy, holy, holy, God almighty Lord!
Holy, holy, holy, everywhere adored!
God without beginning, God eternal One reigns and rules forever all beneath the sun Refrain
Power and love and wonder circling round God’s throne Praise our God most holy, Lord of Life alone Refrain
313 O worship the king
Oh worship the King, all glorious above; Oh gratefully sing God’s power and God’s love,
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days, Pavilioned in splendour and girded with praise.
Oh tell of God’s might, oh sing of God’s grace, Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space; Whose chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form, And dark is God’s path on the wings of the storm.
The earth, with its store of wonders untold, Almighty, thy power hath founded of old, Hath stablished it fast by a changeless decree, And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.
Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite? It breathes in the air; it shines in the light; Thy mercies, how tender, how firm to the end, Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend.
O measureless Might, unchangeable Love, While angels delight to hymn thee above, Thy ransomed creation, in glory ablaze, In true adoration shall sing to thy praise.
314 God is love
God is love: come heaven, adoring; God is love: come earth, rejoice. Come creation, voices soaring, Sing exulting with one voice. God who laid the earth’s foundation,
God who spread the heavens above, God who breathes through all creation– God is love, eternal love.
God is love, whose arms enfolding All the world in one embrace, With unfailing grasp are holding Every child of every race, And when human hearts are breaking under sorrow’s iron rod, All the sorrow, all the aching wrings with pain the heart of God.
God is love, and though with blindness sin afflicts all human life, God’s eternal loving-kindness guides us through all earthly strife. Sin and death and hell shall never o’er us final triumph gain; God is love: so love forever O’er the universe must reign.
435 All things bright and beautiful
Refrain: All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small; all things wise and wonderful, in love God made them all.
Each little flower that opens, each little bird that sings, God made their glowing colours;
God made their tiny wings. Refrain
The cold wind in the winter, the pleasant summer sun, the ripe fruits in the garden, God made them, every one. Refrain
The rocky mountain splendour, the haunting curlew’s call, the great lakes and the prairies, the forests in the fall, Refrain
God gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell how great is God almighty
who has made all things well. Refrain
Knox Presbyterian Church, Bayfield
Box 565, 2 Bayfield Main St N, Bayfield, ON N0M 1G0
Website: www.pccweb.ca/knoxbayfieldpc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KnoxBayfield/
Church Office: (519) 565-2913 [messages checked weekly]
Ministry of Music: Jean Walker and Betty Lou Norris
Session: Deb Cosford, Jim Thompson, Brenda McLean Clerk of Session
Minister: Rev. Lisa Dolson (519) 955-2158 [call/text] revlisa.knoxbayfield@icloud.com
[1] Psalm 104:1–9
[2] Page numbers shown for pew bibles with Blue or White edged pages