Weekly Invite – 5 January 2020: Happy New Year!
Youth News Youth Post-Christmas Christmas Party! Sunday, 12 January, following worship! Christmas Party! Join us Sunday 12 January after church for our Post-Christmas Christmas Party! Bring a gift (€10 or less) or a re-gift (didn't like that Christmas present from grandma?) for a White Elephant gift swap (https://www.whiteelephantrules.com), wear your favourite Christmas sweater, and bring a snack to share with the group. We'll be watching The Grinch, eating pizza, and discussing youth plans for 2020 and ways we can grow in our
Read the Bible in A Year!
Working with the SF Church Leadership Team, Pastor John is making this coming year's focus biblical literacy and discipleship. But can you read the Bible in a year? Well, do you have about 10-12 minutes a day? And do you want to read the whole Bible? The average person reads 200 to 250 words per minute; there are about 775,000 words in the Bible so it takes less than 10 minutes a day to read the whole Bible in a year. Many thanks to
2020: Nothing Will Separate Us from the Love of God
Well, that was 2019. And what a year it was! For Shirin, Sarah, Stephanie, and me, it was one of the most memorable on record, packed with surprises—the good and the bad. Do you remember reading Paul’s list of unexpected events in his life? Thankfully, ours was not close to that! Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was
From the Pastor: Trust in the Lord
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:5–6 The above is one of my favorite passages. Life would be much easier and more positive if we could do what it says we should. The advice for us, as well as the promise, is clear enough: Have complete trust in God’s faithfulness, never depend upon our own perceptions and understanding
Photoshopping Jesus—Because He Just Refuses to Fit In
Have you heard of a raster graphics editor? It is an application that makes it easy to create or edit or retouch photos as one sees fit, and then saves them in formats of JPEG, GIF, PNG, and others. If you haven’t heard of a raster graphics editor, maybe you’ve heard of Adobe Photoshop—one of the most popular raster graphics editors out there. Personally, I’m not that familiar with it, but I live with techies who try and educate me
Weekly Invite – 22 December
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. –John 1:1-5 This Sunday at a glance: -A Christmas Carol & Family Worship Service -Fourth Sunday in Advent -Family Worship Service - 16:00
The Gift of Kindness
If you’ve spent even a little time watching the disheartening news on television or looking over the headlines of your magazine—or even found yourself waiting in a long line of Christmas shoppers, you’ve probably asked yourself, “Why is it so difficult for someone to be kind?” Or worse, “I wish I had been kinder.” Jesus was born into a “troubled and turbulent world”—not a kind world. Long before his birth, the prophet Isaiah said, “The people that walked in darkness have
An Advent Sunday Devotion: Fakers, Breakers, and Makers — Peace
by Chaplain Chris Linzey, Guest Author The four Advent themes are love, joy, peace, and hope. This week we're talking about peace, but I wanted to take a different approach to it. I want to talk about peace from the perspective of personal conflict. Sure, we could talk about the peace that we have in Jesus. We could sing "Silent Night" and fool ourselves into thinking that a manger with a newborn baby was calm, serene, and peaceful. The fact of the
Christmas: What’s Important in Your Life?
By Mike Page It’s not easy being Caesar you know, an emperor. Even if I wanted to be the good guy, there are still taxes to be brought in—the empire doesn’t run itself. And unfortunately, like the saying goes, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs! I hate having to threaten people to get the taxes in. Wouldn’t it be great if I just asked and people cheerfully gave? But no! You have to threaten to break a
An Advent Devotion: Finding Fearless Faith
By Chaplain Chris Linzey, Guest Author We’ve arrived at the second week of Advent, the time of year we prepare our hearts for the coming of the Messiah at Christmas. This week we’re talking about hope. But what is hope? To many people, hope seems to be nothing more than a pipe dream—a wish. “I hope that I get a raise.” “I hope Uncle Frank doesn’t say anything offensive at Christmas dinner this year.” “I hope….” It’s nothing more than an expression of a wish
