GRACE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

I remember thinking about the Summer as a child, and enjoying the different activities and sometimes going on a trip. It was a happy time, as I recall, being away from school. Going back to school seemed traumatic, some years more than others. Perhaps it was because I didn’t have many friends, or perhaps I just didn’t like school, but I did fairly well, and in the end, spent too many years in post secondary education.

We use that word “gracious,” in the title of our Newsletter as a little bit of a play on words with the name of our congregation, “Grace Church.” Graciousness is that ability to be kind and patient under stress and difficult circumstances. What we learned at General Assembly was that you get treated graciously when you...

Families are often difficult to figure out. Living in good relationship with all parts of them is usually a challenge. One could argue this for both physical families and Jesus’ family, which is represented in our congregation, and all congregations that belong to Jesus. One of the strange and beautiful family narratives of the Bible is...

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith…but Christ has indeed risen from the dead…  (1 Cor. 15: 13-14, 20)

This April has us consider the cross and the resurrection of Jesus once again. These are not...

As the weather moves slowly again toward Spring, we also take up another season of Lent. This forty-day period, preparing our hearts and minds and lives for Easter allows us to reflect again on the Lordship of Christ in all that we are as followers of His.

February as the coldest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere is supposed to be warmed by love, so we take the middle of the month and dedicate it to love. Good idea. Of course, like all other holidays, it is not just my idea or your idea, there is a history and a reason for Valentine’s Day. Now hagiography, the study of the saints,...

We have come to worship Him. (Matthew 2:2)

The focus of the Magi was to find the new king (to encounter Jesus), worship Him and give Him their gifts. I suggest we do the same today.

We don’t know much about the Magi. We know that there may be links to the wise men and scholars that the kings of Babylon of old used. There...

It is a wonderful moment on Christmas Eve when we light the candles and see the light across the room. Our lights reflect Jesus’ light and Jesus’ presence. The Christmas carol we sing has the words “…all is calm, all is bright…” and that is a moment in the story directly follow the birth of Jesus, but it was...

November is a month where we remember. For many of us, it is a time of intense remembering of family members who were in the military during a war. My oldest brother was in Vietnam with the navy. My father was in the merchant marine in WWII. My grandfather on my father’s side was in the trenches in WWI. Other family members were in the...

I’m getting out my soapbox to once again trumpet my heartfelt desire for a longer time of Thanksgiving. One weekend or one day is simply not enough. A month or two would be good. In fact, Labour Day until American Thanksgiving would be just about right. That would give us one quarter of the year to reflect on the blessings and the good...