McPhail Baptist Church

Sunday May 10th, 2020

"Now Thank We All Our God"

Sue Sparks

Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices,

Who wondrous things has done, in whom his world rejoices;

Who, from our mother’s arms has blessed us on our way

With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

All praise and thanks to God, the Father now be given,

The Son, and Him who reigns with them in highest heaven,

The one eternal God, whom heaven and earth adore;

For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

"For All Of Life" 

Terri-Ann Wint and Ernie Cox 

We thank You, God, for all of life, the joy of birth, a baby’s cry,

For loving arms and lullabies, we thank You, God, for life. 

We thank You, God, for innocence, for childhood dreams, laughter and friends,

The strength of youth, the growth of mind, we thank You, God, of life. 

For all of life is a gift, a child’s first step, a bride’s first kiss,

And every stage, unique and precious, every day, a gift from You. 

We thank You, God, for joy and tears, wisdom that comes from many years,

The power of love, the hope we find, in families loving and kind,

For every breath from birth to death, we thank You, God, for all of life.

We thank You, God, for all of life, all of life. 

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Mark 3:20-21, 31-35 (NRSV)
20 and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. 21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”
31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters[a] are outside, asking for you.” 33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

John 19:25-27

25 Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

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Message: A Mother's Love 
Rev. Ernie Cox

Favourite Hymns 

Ernie and Lynda Cox 

                                

“O God In Heaven” 

O God in heaven, whose loving plan ordained for us our parents’ care,

And gave us when our life began the shelter of a home to share:

Our Father, on the homes we love send down Thy blessing from above.

May young and old together find in Christ the Lord of every day,

That fellowship our homes may bind in joy and sorrow, work and play.

Our Father, on the homes we love send down Thy blessing from above.

O Father, in our homes preside, their duties shared as in Thy sight;

In kindly ways be Thou our guide; on mirth and trouble shed Thy light.

Our Father, bless the homes we love and make them like Thy home above.

“When Mothers of Salem”

When mothers of Salem, their children brought to Jesus,

The stern disciples drove them back and bade them to depart;

 But Jesus saw them ere they fled, and sweetly smiled, and kindly said,

“Suffer little children to come unto Me.”

For I will receive them, and fold them in my bosom; 

I’ll be a Shepherd to those lambs, O drive them not away!

For if their hearts to Me they give, They shall with Me in glory live;

“Suffer little children to come unto Me.”

“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father; 

There is no shadow of turning with thee; 

Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not; 

As thou hast been thou forever wilt be. 

Refrain:     

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! 

Morning by morning new mercies I see:

All I have needed thy hand hath provided,

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness 

To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, 

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, 

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

"For Everything There is a Season"

Rev. Steve Zink

For everything there is a season, 

and a time for every matter under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to seek, and a time to lose;

A time to keep, and a time to throw away;

A time to tear, and a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;

A time for war, and a time for peace.  

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Though we live in and from nature, we are sometimes guilty of missing its more important lessons. There are some people, though, who have shown themselves diligent students. Emily Dickinson once told a friend that the direction of Jesus’ to “consider the lilies of the field” was the one commandment she had never broke. And one of the most important lessons of nature is the cycle of seasons. The lilies come and the lilies go. This reflects back to us the ups and downs, the highs and lows of our own personal existence. Life and death. Good and bad. Sickness and health. Joy and fear. Riches and rags. “For everything there is a season.” 

There are polarities we experience in life that we would never have picked if given the choice. There is “a time to be born, and a time to die…a time to weep, and a time to laugh…a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” This is life! A series of seasons. But why must it be this way? Why can’t we be born and not die? Why can’t we laugh and not weep; dance but not mourn? Why does each thing need its terrible counterpart? Can’t we have perpetual day and forget about the long dark night? Can’t we live in endless summer and never again feel the chill of winter? The answer that comes back to us from the universe is unforgiving, unyielding: “No! For everything there is a season.”

We really don’t want to embrace the hard reality of the changing seasons. One way we respond is to muster all our energy to pretend there is only one season. Imagine a man who laid out a large roll of astroturf overtop his snowy yard. What if he put up a plastic palm tree or two in the vain attempt to deny the obvious fact that his favourite season had passed? A hoarder tries to extend “the time to keep” and avoid “the time to throw away.” But in keeping everything he keeps nothing, burying his treasure in his treasure, making it impossible to find anything worthwhile and enjoy it. In effect, he still therefore “throws away.” Some people make heroic attempts to avoid the process of aging. But creams and procedures are really acts of denial not miracles of reversal. The wheel of time keeps rolling along in its own horrible way. There is no way to avoid the changing seasons.

Another way we respond to the reality of the seasons is to cry out. The seasons of sorrow often feel so protracted that we spontaneously offer up a very specific form of prayer. We find this prayer to be one of the most common petitions in the book of Psalms: 

“…how long?…” (Ps 6)

“…how long?…” (Ps 13)

“…how long?…” (Ps 35)

“…how long?…” (Ps 74)

“…how long?…” (Ps 79)

“…how long?…” (Ps 80)

“…how long?…” (Ps 82)

“…how long?…” (Ps 89)

“…how long?…” (Ps 90)

“…how long?…” (Ps 94)

Even if you are not a person who prays, I am sure you have felt those words burn within: “How long? How long must I endure this? When will my winter turn to spring? When will my weeping turn back to laughter?” Yet as those words pour out of our hearts, an ominous six-word answer comes back: “For everything there is a season.” Where then can we look to find relief? To what can we turn for deliverance? 

Perhaps we can find some comfort in those very same words that brought the discomfort in the first place. “For everything there is a season.” Just as the cold and dark seasons surely come, just as surely they pass. We could ask ourselves when in the valley, “Is your situation really permanent? Perhaps now is indeed 'a time to weep,' yet there is also a coming season to laugh. Perhaps it is now 'a time to mourn.' Nevertheless, tomorrow comes the dancing season. While now is a time to 'refrain from embracing,' the season will again return to once again embrace.” And yet there is a limit to this. This can only afford some relief. We must lift our thoughts yet higher. 

Although our author says, “For everything there is a season,” he also says in the opening verse that this drama plays out “under heaven.” What of things “above” this boundary? Once again nature helps us, pointing to this transcendent reality. Every tall tree and peaked mountain are symbolic fingers pointing to it. Human architecture also makes the same hopeful gestures. In his book, Fallen Leaves, Will Durant wrote, “These steeples, everywhere pointing upward, ignoring despair and lifting hope, these lofty city spires, or simple chapels in the hills—they rise at every step from the earth to the sky; in every village of every nation on the globe they challenge doubt and invite weary hearts to consolation. Is it all a vain delusion? Is there nothing beyond life but death, and nothing beyond death but decay? We cannot know. But as long as men suffer, those steeples will remain”. And friends, just as the trees, the mountains, and the church spires point to what is infinite, so we can find deliverance by pointing ourselves there as well.

"This is My Father's World"

Sue Sparks

This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears,
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world: O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father's world: the battle is not done,

Jesus, who died shall be satisfied, and heaven and earth be one.

Coping with the Corona Crisis

(A series of responses from our McPhail congregants)

Diana Takova and David (above)
 Deyam Dicov and David (below)

1.)  All of us are confined to our homes. How are you spending your time?

During the week me and Dan are working, and David is watching a lot of Youtube. He is saying “I am working mommy can you please be quiet” when he is learning how to write in his notebook.

We all have a wonderful family time and feeling well. Every evening we ride our bikes to the closest Baskin Robbins or play board games.

2.) How are you staying connected?

We are talking to our family back in Bulgaria via Facebook and Viber and often call our Canadian friends over the phone or Skype. 

3.) Some people have stopped following the Coronavirus news, suffering from an    

     overload of information, much of it not encouraging. How are you handling all 

    the news?

I do not watch/read news for more than 1 hour a day. After watching the statistics, I know in Canada everything is under control.In Bulgaria now they allow the young families with kids to go to the parks as they now think is better, we to build immunity which will happen if we get infected. 

4.) Have you been able to find a silver lining in the current situation?

I had 2 very hard days at the beginning but shortly after I realized God allowed this virus to happen. I accepted his will for me and the world. After this moment I had no issues to continue living.

5.) What things do you especially miss?

I realized that I do not really miss a lot of things... I have my Bible, food, family, water, and internet all with me. Maybe my mom is far and the swimming pool is still closed.

Also our family loves to travel and camping here is this beautiful Canadian land.

Benediction 

Ernie and Lynda Cox 

During this quiet time, Lord Jesus, speak to me.

Fill Thou my heart with love divine,

Thy spirit let me see.

And in the coming week, be with me every hour,

That I may bring Thy love to all,

And spread Thy healing power.

Did you know you can mail in your regular financial contributions to McPhail? Faith communities, along with cultural institutions and many businesses have had to close temporarily. Nevertheless, normal operational expenses continue as usual. In the light of this, do please consider continuing your support of McPhail by mailing your offering to: 249 Bronson Ave, Ottawa, ON. K1R 6H6