No Parish Prayer in August
Please note that due to the holiday Monday there will be no Parish Prayer this month (August). Parish Prayer will resume on September 8th.
Missions Lunch
Please join us next Sunday, Aug 9, after the 10:00 am service, in the Trendell Lounge, to hear Doug and Anna Marie Graham speak about their ministry in China. Cost is $5 for individuals or $10 per family, please call the church office to RSVP. All are welcome.
Nursery Help Needed For August!
We need help in the toddlers room for the 10:00 am services in August and the first week of September. This a great opportunity to give those that regularly volunteer a break. It is also a great time to spend with the youngest members of our church family. Please contact the office if you are able to volunteer any of these weeks.
Daily Bible Reading –
Nourishment for our souls
Today in your bulletin, you will find a copy of the Bible Reading Guide for the next 9 weeks, Aug 2 to Oct 3. This guide is an abbreviated version of the Book of Common Prayer Table of Lessons (pp xvi to xlv), which was written with the assumption that a person would pray and read two passages from the Bible morning and evening. We choose one of those four readings for this little Guide. If you don’t have a Prayer Book, Norah Johnston (604.224.8986) would be glad to provide you with one at cost. There are two readings – one from either the Old or New Testaments and the other a Psalm. May God bless you as you read His word.
Keeping Company With God
Are you a summer visitor or a member of St. John’s? Looking for a quiet time with God at the end of your day, a place to receive prayer support for personal concerns or a desire to hold up this congregation in prayer? Then come to a service called “Keeping Company with God”, on Monday Aug 10 at 7:30 pm. This is a place to be still before God and receive his good care. The service will be held in the sanctuary at 7:30 pm, every second and fourth Monday. If you have any questions, email Manya Egerton.
St. John’s Summer Youth Camp
The youth summer camp is taking place Aug 15-20 at Point Roberts, Washington. Flyers are available at the church entrances and the front desk of the church office. For more information visit our website or contact Chloe Moore or Robert Edwards. To register please email Julie Moser.
Help with St. John’s Summer Youth Camp Needed
We need cooks for our St. John’s youth summer camp 15-20 Aug at Point Roberts, USA (across the border from Tsawwassen). If you are able to help out please contact Julie Moser.
Help with VYLC (Vancouver Youth Leadership Conference) 31 Aug- 3 Sep
We need cooks for VYLC (held at St. John’s) 31 Aug – 3 Sep. We need help with morning/afternoon tea and preparing lunch. If you are able to help out for part of the time or all of the time please contact Julie Moser
Library Update
We were all so blessed to hear Paul Phibbs speak last week about how God has been working in their lives. Paul and Miriam Phibbs have also blessed the church by presenting a book to the library which is about the life and work of Leslie W. Maxwell, Miriam’s father. It is the powerful story of a man described as “one of the three greatest influences on Canadian evangelicals.” The comments about the book are enough to make people want to read it. There is a message from Paul and Miriam inside the book and you are welcome to borrow it from the library.
Parish Family News
Condolences
Please keep the family of Ralph and Lucy Lewis in your prayers. A few years ago they moved to Nova Scotia to be closer to family members. Recently we learned that Ralph died in the fall of 2008 and Lucy passed away on Jul 24, 2009.
Condolences
Please keep Eric and Bouk Schaap in your prayers. Recently, their son, Alex, died suddenly.
Community News
One Week Housing Needed
Regent College is looking for friendly Vancouverites to provide up to one week of free housing for incoming students while they search for permanent housing in August. Meals are not expected (but welcome nonetheless!). This is also a great solution for people going out of town and in need of a house-sitter. For more information, please call Cheryl at 604.221.3355, or email. Thank you!
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Dear friends,
It’s been a great joy to be on the long pilgrimage with Jesus through Luke’s gospel over the last 10 months. The gospel finishes where it started, on the note of God’s great blessing and the great joy of those who belong to Him. Yet at the start of the last chapter of Luke, the disciples are afraid, confused, facing great uncertainty. In response, the risen Jesus appears and He gives to the world three signs of the reality of the resurrection. The first is His risen body, with scars on hands and feet, and the ability to eat. The second is the unity and testimony of God in the fulfillment of the Scriptures - all pointing to Jesus, His death and resurrection. The third is a living church which witnesses to the heart changing, life changing reality of repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name. Since the time of Jesus’ resurrection, God’s people have often faced times of uncertainty and confusion. Through these times, Christ continues to show the reality of the power of the resurrection through the living church, which continues to hold to and hold out repentance and forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name.
Will we keep our property?
Like the disciples in the last chapter of Luke we face considerable uncertainty. When the decision of the court is announced we need to keep walking by faith, seeking to do what is best for the gospel. While we pray for a happy outcome to all our afflictions, there is a committee thinking through what we would need and what would be available should we lose our properties. This is what we call “Plan B” and the priority would be to keep our core ministries undisrupted while we seek to find a long term solution.
Looking forward
There is a strong sense among many at St. John’s of our unity in Christ, of God’s kindness to us and of our mission to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name. We have been called to stand for Christ, just as our brothers and sisters in Christ all around the world, and to move forward with humility and confidence in the gospel. This is God’s desire for us: that as we wait we do good and seek first His kingdom, so that when he comes He might find us faithful. May God enable us to trust Him and to play our part in extending His love this year.
Warmly,
David Short
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