Midweek Message – February 12, 2025

Worship – We continue with our Six Stone Jars series on the Abundance of Jesus by marking Black History Month with reflections from Black United Church people from across the church. The scripture reading is Luke 6: 17-26 – The ‘Sermon on the Plain’ Blessings and Woes. I will offer a few reflective words asContinue reading “Midweek Message – February 12, 2025”

Don’t Throw Hope Off the Cliff

Last week, if you were here, you heard Jesus in his hometown of Nazareth, reading from the scroll of Isaiah these words: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,    because he has anointed me        to bring good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives    and recovery of sight to the blind,        toContinue reading “Don’t Throw Hope Off the Cliff”

Midweek Message – January 22

There are a couple of things that are weighing on my heart and mind today. One is the amazing witness of Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, at the Washington National Cathedral yesterday. You can watch her entire sermon below, or if you just want to watch the part that stirred up such a storm, youContinue reading “Midweek Message – January 22”

Midweek Message – December 4

We continue with the series: Words for the Beginning in this second week of Advent with the theme: We Can’t Go Alone. Scripture this week is Ruth 1 & Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12, which might seem odd choices for Advent. These passages are often read at weddings although they have nothing to do with marriage, butContinue reading “Midweek Message – December 4”

Midweek Message – November 27, 2024

Advent starts in just 4 days! Many folks at the church have been working away at many things to make the season meaningful. There is an Advent Devotional Book available to go along with the theme; we are only printing them for those who request them. Also an opportunity to participate in an Advent PhotoContinue reading “Midweek Message – November 27, 2024”

A Little Meal.. a Little Oil…

450 grams of dry rice or some other grain. 50 grams of beans/lentils of some sort. 50 grams of oil. 5 grams of iodized salt. That is a day’s worth of emergency food aid. And this is what it looks like as one of three meals a day. As most of you know, I wasContinue reading “A Little Meal.. a Little Oil…”

Mission: Possible!

I spent much of last week in an old church building, an Anglican church building, on Elgin Street in Ottawa. Not quite as old as ours, and the hall that we used was bright and cheerful with comfortable chairs and a small kitchen. I didn’t attend church on Sunday morning… 😉 I was going toContinue reading “Mission: Possible!”

If Only

If only, if only. Those were the two words that stuck in my head as I pondered and prayed about this passage! It’s part of Hannah’s fervent prayer for a son, which you are about to hear. This passage introduces her story, a woman deeply troubled by her inability to have children. And remember, inContinue reading “If Only”

Midweek Message – October 3

Monday was National Day for Truth and Reconciliation; a holiday for many people. I try not to think of it as a holiday, but more as a day set aside to learn some more about Indigenous History and present day realities. So, while I spent some time in the morning at my computer, working onContinue reading “Midweek Message – October 3”