New Opportunities

Many congregants love their church, love their church community, and love how the community loves their church. Members may be proud of their outreach programs, their community garden, increasing church numbers, or their amazing praise teams. Some may have been members of their church for decades, while others may have only recently joined a church where they finally feel they belong. Many know when a new member has been born into their church or when a member passes on to be with our Saviour, Jesus.

He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?   (Micah 6.8)

Prepare our hearts to be vessels of peace and understanding, granting us the wisdom to speak with humility and the courage to listen with empathy. ~ John Habibi 

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it”, says the NRSV in Psalm 24:1. God has called human beings to take care of that precious gift. We need to work hard to protect the earth from threats to its well-being.

Dubai, a city synonymous with opulence, ambition, and grandeur, played host to the crucial COP28 summit. As I walked through the Expo Center, memories of a bygone era in 2005 flooded my mind. I remember the moments of excitement and anticipation that randomly happened during my busy work days leading up to my first trip to Dubai that year to attend a film festival for work. The thought of the hotel—which had canals for roadways, and gondolas that drifted you from your villa to the world-class spas, or elegant shops and restaurants—elicited sighs.

How does my heritage determine my inheritance?  Tracing our heritage sometimes becomes challenging. Here are five stories that can help us to think more about inheritance.

This December, on the West Lawn of the Capitol Grounds in Washington DC will stand the 2023 Capitol Christmas Tree. Every year since 1964, this site has been home to “The People’s Tree,” cut down in one of our nation’s National Forests and carted to the seat of legislative power to be adorned with lights and ornaments.

Centennial Christian School in Terrace recently participated in the KAIROS Blanket Exercise.  The BC First Peoples Grade 11/12 class wrote letters to their friends afterwards reflecting on their experiences.  Consider yourself a friend and read these three thoughtful reflections.

People are a little shocked when we tell them that we are “Missionaries” who don’t start any programs.  As servants of Christ we come beside individuals and see what their dreams are for their community. We work together on how we can support them.  

I had a friend in my twenties that had a knack for getting himself arrested. As a rule-follower, child of immigrants and an immigrant, getting arrested is something I try to avoid. The only run-ins I had with the law was getting speeding tickets; and that was painful enough. For him, he wore that fact with pride.