SUNDAY @ THE VILLAGE

This Sunday being the first Sunday in advent, we'll be taking the opportunity to mark the season together at THE VILLAGE...8:00PM @ 96 North Oval.

STUDENT LUNCH...DECEMBER 3RD

Just a reminder that this Sunday @ 12:15pm, it's our final student lunch of the Fall term...SO, if you're university-aged or in your 20s/30s, we'd love to see you there. AND if you're in school and have exams in December, we've made up special exam survival kits just for you (candy, chocolate, study tips, etc...).

A Beautiful Collision

Here's something from the liner-notes of David Crowder Band's latest album A COLLISION (a band/album worth checking out):

"...for the past two years we have ended most nights in concert with the following statement: 'when our depravity meets His divinity it is a beautiful collision.' This recording is about that collision. It is the collision of our fallen state and our Maker's transcendence. It is a rendering of our mortality and eternal life. It is about the tension that exists in the living of life, here, where the sky meets the broken earth. It is about a tsunami in East Asia. It is about a sunrise over Hiroshima. It is about too many who know intensely what pain the word 'cancer' holds and the words of my friend whispered in my ear, 'It's okay. None of us are getting out of here alive you know.' It is about victory. It is about the joy that comes when blood tests return and a miracle is announced. It is the hope in a rescue that has come, the hope in a rescue that has found us, and the relentless hope in a greater rescue that is still coming - one that has not yet arrived but is no less present. This music, broken, improper and inadequate in its response is rooted in that hope. The Kingdom of Heaven is here and now and coming."

THIS SUNDAY...

...we'll be talking about the way that God has been at work in our lives. Namely, sharing our testimonies with each other. Same time and place (8:00PM @ 96 North Oval).

mark your calendars...

...THERE IS NO STUDENT LUNCH THIS SUNDAY.

THE NEXT STUDENT LUNCH WILL BE HAPPENING ON DECEMBER 3RD.

THIS SUNDAY NIGHT

Any specific questions on your mind about the Bible, God, faith, or life in general? This week at THE VILLAGE, we'll be having something called Q-FILES, where we'll have an opportunity to wrestle with some of your questions...feel free to leave your questions below, or email them to Mike: mpowell@missionbaptist.ca.

MP

p.s. 8:00PM, 96 North Oval

We've Raised Enough for Methuselah!

Although goats through the WORLD VISION catalogue were $150 at one time, the Christmas catalogue has them listed at $100. To date, as THE VILLAGE and STANDING GROUND (Sr. High Youth), we have raised exactly $138.25. Great job...and with $100 designated for Methuselah, that means there's already $38.25 that we can put towards another animal. Any suggestions? Maybe a friend for Methuselah?

LOST predictions

The "Fall Season Finale" of LOST airs tonight (8:00PM on CTV, 9:00PM on ABC). Since a number of people @ THE VILLAGE watch the show, feel free to leave your theories about what you think will happen next, who "the others" are, who/what the "monster" on the island is, etc...

MP

THIS SUNDAY...

Sunday the 12th @ 6:00PM, girls from THE VILLAGE will be meeting at 96 North Oval for a girls night...please bring along $ for dinner, a favourite movie, and a favourite snack. We'll either be going out for supper or ordering take-out, and then hanging out in the lounge. Email Heather if you have any questions: heather.macumber@canada.com


Sunday the 12th @ 8:00PM, boys from THE VILLAGE will be meeting in front of the church (100 North Oval), and then going out to play pool. Bring along some cash, and email Mike if you have any questions: mpowell@missionbaptist.ca

The Quintessential Human Act

It has been said that the most elemental form of human speech is prayer...that prayer is "the quintessential human act"(Dr. Victor Shepherd). Considering that God created humankind in His image - designed us with an innate capacity for a relationship with our Creator - this makes perfect sense. But why is prayer so often a last resort, when it should be our first response?

Countless answers could be given to this question, with varying degrees of depth...but as i consider my own prayer life (or lack thereof), the conclusion i come to relates to a lack of dependence on God. Let's be honest. Though we may truly believe that God hears/answers our prayers, how often do we neglect setting time aside to pray because it appears unproductive? In our independence, so often we're driven by what we perceive to be tangible/visible/measurable, aren't we? And prayer may or may not factor into the process. We're self-reliant. We want to be completely self-sufficient. We'd rather do things on our own, without God's help.

But if prayer truly is the "quintessetial human act" - the essence of life in its purest form - then the majority of people in the world aren't really acting very human (myself included). Therefore, against all of our inclinations to be independent, we need to re-learn dependence...and i'm pretty sure it's no accident that prayer is often referred to as a spiritual discipline. Learning to depend fully and completely on the Lord is a life-long struggle, especially in a culture that values independence and considering our sinful nature that is thoroughly self-centred.

Therefore, may we un-learn complete self-reliance, and re-learn dependence on God by devoting ourselves to prayer.

MP

in conclusion...COLOSSIANS

This week @ THE VILLAGE (Sunday the 5th, 8PM, 96 North Oval), we'll be concluding our study of the letter to the Colossians (i.e. Chapter 4). Regardless of whether or not you've been able to join us for our first few studies on the book, we'd love to see you there...

Mike & Heather

PRAYER REQUESTS?

Make a request, pray for a request that has been left, comment on an answered prayer.

AIDS Walk 2006

THIS WEEKEND @ MISSION

The last Sunday of the month means it's time for our STUDENT LUNCH...so if you're at college/university (or in your 20s/30s), this is for you. Following our morning service (which runs from 11:00AM to 12:15PM), we'll be meeting downstairs in the lower auditorium.

ALSO...there are two other things to remember this weekend:

(1) THE AIDS WALK: Saturday @ 1:00PM, you're invited to come to an event that we are organizing. At Mission Baptist (100 North Oval), we'll be hearing from a WORLD VISION REPRESENTATIVE about the problem of HIV/AIDS, and what they are doing to help. Opportunity will be given to donate $ that will directly help with global care and treatment programs. Following this, there's a 10 KM hike along the Hamilton Harbour Waterfront Trail.

(2) SUNDAY NIGHT: We'll be doing something a little different this week at THE VILLAGE, as Pastor Dieter will be joining us, and leading a discussion entitled: "The God of the Bible and Allah of Islam...Are They the Same Person?" Same time (8:00PM), same place (96 North Oval).

The Place of Jesus Christ in Worship

With the unmistakable emphasis that the letter to the Colossians has on Jesus Christ (as we have seen at THE VILLAGE), i thought i would share something that was transformational in my understanding of worship. If you ever have an opportunity to pick up the book WORSHIP, COMMUNITY & THE TRIUNE GOD OF GRACE (by James B. Torrance), it's well worth the read. But here's a brief section from the introduction that was invaluable to me:

"Our chief end is to glorify God and creation realizes its own creaturely glory in glorifying God through human lips. But nature fails in its realization because of our human failure. Instead of singing songs of joy, the whole creation groans in universal travail, waiting for the fulfillment of God's purposes in human lives. Does God then abandon his purposes for humanity and for all his creatures? Does God leave all nature to be subject to vanity and futility - to be ruthlessly exploited and abused - and forget he has made us in his image for a life of communion and shared stewardship? The good news is that God comes to us in Jesus to stand in for us and bring to fulfillment his purposes of worship and communion. Jesus comes to be the priest of creation to do for us, men and women, what we failed to do, to offer to the Father the worship and the praise we failed to offer, to glorify God by a life of perfect love and obedience, to be the one true servant of the Lord. In him and through him we are renewed by the Spirit in the image of God and in the worship of God in a life of shared communion. Jesus comes as our brother to be our great high priest, to carry on his loving heart the joys, the sorrows, the prayers, the conflicts of all his creatures, to reconcile all things to God, and to intercede for all nations as our eternal mediator and advocate. He comes to stand in for us in the presence of the Father, when in our failure and bewilderment we do not know how to pray as we ought to, or forget to pray altogether. By his Spirit he helps us in our infirmities. As the head of all things, by whom and for whom all things were created, he makes us his body, and calls us to be a royal priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices. He calls us that we might be identified with him by the Spirit, not only in his communion with the Father, but also in his great priestly work and ministry of intercession, that our prayers on earth might be the echo of his prayers in heaven. Whatever else our worship is, it is our liturgical amen to the worship of Christ...Christian worship is, therefore, our participation through the Spirit in the Son's communion with the Father, in his vicarious life of worship and intercession"(p. 13-15, italics added).

THE VILLAGE...x-ray showing one's inner self?

@ THE VILLAGE

...journeying onward

We've had a great first couple of studies on the letter to the COLOSSIANS, and have now covered two chapters. This week, we're jumping into CHAPTER 3. As always, it was awesome to see you all there...we hope our time together is not only encouraging but challenging. Have a great week, and we'll hopefully see you (again) on Sunday @ 8:00PM (96 North Oval).

Peace,
Mike & Heather

Coming to Theatres December 2006

OCTOBER 15th @ 8PM

Join us as we continue our journey through the book of COLOSSIANS...this week, we'll be taking a look at CHAPTER TWO. See you at 96 North Oval.

Mike & Heather