Sparling is moving forward into the technological age. You can now read our latest E-Newsletter by simply clicking on the following link. Our E-Newsletter is now entitled "Sparling Speaks Out" and contains various articles on various topics by a range of authors. Put your thinking cap on and Enjoy!!
Click on the following link to view the newsletter
Sparling Speaks Out
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
LITURGY AND ADVENT
In short, we understand the word "liturgy" to mean the worship service, but in fact, it is much more than that. The word "liturgy" originally meant a "public work on behalf of the people". In Christian tradition it has come to mean the "work of the people" participating in the "work of God". Liturgy then, refers not only to the celebration of worship, but also the proclamation of the Gospel and the living of a charitable life.
Through the witness of sacred Scripture, we see both the work of God and the work of the people present in both testaments. God calls Abraham and enters into a covenant with him so that through Abraham a family of faith may be formed so that through their work the work of God in the redemption of the world may be fulfilled. In his book, Justification, author N.T. Wright states: "God, the creator, called Abraham, so that through his family he, God, could rescue the world from its plight". Wright speaks of this as God's "single purpose" - a plan "through Israel for the world". Israel longed for a Messiah who would restore right relationship between humanity, creation and God. In analyzing the writings of St. Paul, Wright concludes that what "Israel had longed for God to do for it and for the world, God had done for Jesus, bringing him through death and into the life of the age to come." The implications of this are that from a covenant perspective, God's promises to Abraham had been fulfilled and from the eschatological perspective (future hope and fulfillment of God's plan begun in Jesus), the new world order had begun (but is not yet complete).
For Christians, the liturgical year (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time) mark the central themes of God's work among God's people while the liturgy is an active participation of God's people in the work of God. The liturgy celebrates the fact that God has been faithful to the covenant with Abraham in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and proclaims the new age begun in Jesus that God will bring to fulfillment in the future and our participation in the process of bringing it to fulfillment.
All of this forms the "mystery of Christ" which we proclaim and celebrate in liturgy. To accomplish so great a work, Christ is always present in the Church and in the liturgical celebrations of the Church. The liturgy does not contain ALL of the actions of the Church, but it is the source from which the people of God are nourished to participate in God's work and it is the pinnacle toward which the activity of the people of God is directed. Liturgy is therefore an encounter between Christ and the people of God. The reading of Scripture, signs and symbols, words and actions, singing and music, preaching and sacraments all point to Christ who himself is the meaning of all these things.
The season of Advent begins on November 27th. Advent comes from the Latin "adventum" which means waiting. Throughout this four week period the Church, the people of God, waits for the celebration of Christmas. This waiting is marked by both a remembrance of the waiting of the Hebrew people for the birth of the Messiah and an anticipated hope of the return of Jesus at the end of this new age that God began in the resurrection. For this reason, throughout the liturgical season of Advent we will re-read and relive the great events of salvation history in our Sunday liturgy in our own time and space. May our Advent celebrations - our Advent liturgies - our Advent "work" be a time of devout and joyful expectation.
Through the witness of sacred Scripture, we see both the work of God and the work of the people present in both testaments. God calls Abraham and enters into a covenant with him so that through Abraham a family of faith may be formed so that through their work the work of God in the redemption of the world may be fulfilled. In his book, Justification, author N.T. Wright states: "God, the creator, called Abraham, so that through his family he, God, could rescue the world from its plight". Wright speaks of this as God's "single purpose" - a plan "through Israel for the world". Israel longed for a Messiah who would restore right relationship between humanity, creation and God. In analyzing the writings of St. Paul, Wright concludes that what "Israel had longed for God to do for it and for the world, God had done for Jesus, bringing him through death and into the life of the age to come." The implications of this are that from a covenant perspective, God's promises to Abraham had been fulfilled and from the eschatological perspective (future hope and fulfillment of God's plan begun in Jesus), the new world order had begun (but is not yet complete).
For Christians, the liturgical year (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time) mark the central themes of God's work among God's people while the liturgy is an active participation of God's people in the work of God. The liturgy celebrates the fact that God has been faithful to the covenant with Abraham in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and proclaims the new age begun in Jesus that God will bring to fulfillment in the future and our participation in the process of bringing it to fulfillment.
All of this forms the "mystery of Christ" which we proclaim and celebrate in liturgy. To accomplish so great a work, Christ is always present in the Church and in the liturgical celebrations of the Church. The liturgy does not contain ALL of the actions of the Church, but it is the source from which the people of God are nourished to participate in God's work and it is the pinnacle toward which the activity of the people of God is directed. Liturgy is therefore an encounter between Christ and the people of God. The reading of Scripture, signs and symbols, words and actions, singing and music, preaching and sacraments all point to Christ who himself is the meaning of all these things.
The season of Advent begins on November 27th. Advent comes from the Latin "adventum" which means waiting. Throughout this four week period the Church, the people of God, waits for the celebration of Christmas. This waiting is marked by both a remembrance of the waiting of the Hebrew people for the birth of the Messiah and an anticipated hope of the return of Jesus at the end of this new age that God began in the resurrection. For this reason, throughout the liturgical season of Advent we will re-read and relive the great events of salvation history in our Sunday liturgy in our own time and space. May our Advent celebrations - our Advent liturgies - our Advent "work" be a time of devout and joyful expectation.
Friday, September 2, 2011
BACK TO SCHOOL...BACK TO CHURCH
Did you know that while 82% of people say they don't go to church because they've never been invited only 2% or regular church attendees invite other people to church? That means 98% of us never extend an invitation to others. Did you also know that most people who drop out of church haven't lost their faith in God, they simply fell out of the habit of churchgoing. Some moved or had a change in life circumstances or they simply drifted away. Most often life became too busy. This means many people are open to returning to church.
I encourage you to click on the following link and watch the video....then invite someone to church this fall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NK1RsItAAs
I encourage you to click on the following link and watch the video....then invite someone to church this fall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NK1RsItAAs
Thursday, June 30, 2011
A THEOLOGY FOR SUMMER
It’s summer time – go enjoy the cottage; try your hand at sailing; take many refreshing swims in the lake and don’t be afraid to kick back and enjoy your favourite sunny spot (or shaded spot) donning your best straw hat complete with designer sunglasses, Capri’s or clam diggers and a big tall glass of ice tea. Most importantly….don’t feel guilty about it. Why? You ask! Because you’re practicing theology!
Say what??? How am I practicing theology by lazing about and enjoying the summer? You are practicing theology because you are embracing leisure time and believe it or not there is a theology of leisure! (Well…actually there is a theology for just about anything…but hear me out).
We often speak of theology as “faith seeking understanding”. Just as God created work to focus the creative powers of humanity, formed in God’s image, so too, God created leisure to be a part of our weekly routine. Remember that seventh day in the book of Genesis – the one God called Sabbath – the one God blessed and made holy. It’s about leisure; rest; rejuvenation of the human spirit.
In his work, “Towards a Theology of Leisure”, author Graham Neville states that “the intention of Christian theology is to examine and reflect on the whole of human experience in the light of Christian revelation”. Since leisure is a part of the human experience, there must be a place for theological reflection on the experience of human leisure. German theologian and philosopher, Josef Pieper (1904-1997)said that the “soul of leisure lies in celebration”. Celebration is the point at which 3 very important aspects of leisure merge – effortlessness, calm and relaxation. There was probably a time where you and I might have thought of leisure as a kind of “sloth” or mere idleness. Remember the old adage: “idle hands are the work of the devil?” Well…apparently not! Pieper says that “leisure is superior to all and every function of the human person”. If we accept this, then leisure becomes something mysterious and deeply related to worship. Work is a kind of action, while leisure is a kind of time – something Pieper says is a preparation or “internship for eternity”.
But how do we use our leisure time so that it doesn’t become sloth or idleness? Well…we use it to reflect on the wonder of God and God’s creation – to lift our hearts in praise and worship. Pope Gregory the Great (540AD – 604AD), better known as the “Father of Christian Worship” said that “the contemplative life (quiet, prayerful solitude) is a foretaste of the coming rest.” The coming rest is the rest of Paradise and if there is any link between the contemplative life and the leisure of our Manitoba summers, then our leisure should be occupied with things that offer a foretaste of heaven – what could do this better than enjoying God’s creation – the warm sun on our backs; the beauty of the trees in full leaf; the aroma of flowers in full bloom and the refreshing taste of an ice cold refreshment.
Yes…enjoy your summer because this Sabbath leisure time is a necessary accompaniment to work – a time for recovery of strength and renewal of spirit so that in the fall….we can pick up the work of the Gospel once again.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Easter Letter
Dear Friends in Christ,
Our Lenten season here at Sparling has been one that was marked with grief. The loss of senior members of our Congregation and the loss of family members and friends who have touched our lives has deepened the sadness we feel as a community of faith. And so it is that our Lenten journey together in 2011 has been very much about our lives, our mortality, hopes and dreams. While Lent often steers us to an inward examination of ourselves and our relationship with God, the events of this year have made our Lenten journey more about our relationships with each other and with God. Together we have journeyed through much pain helping to bear one another’s burdens.
But our faith informs us that death does not have the final say. After all, this is the primary truth revealed in the Resurrection. Easter is a season of hope – hope that amid the pain and injustices of life we can see that God is doing a new thing in our lives and in creation. (Rev. 21:5). Easter is when we see the power of God over death, evil, pain, sorrow and the breaking in of God’s kingdom.
On the first Easter morning, the sorrowing women come to anoint the body of Jesus and are greeted with the astonishing words of the angel: "Why do you search for the Living One among the dead? He is not here. He has been raised up." (Luke 24:5-6). What marvelous "Good News." The confidence of Jesus in His Father is rewarded with the ecstatic conquest of Easter. Death is conquered – which means our own deaths are not the end but rather a doorway to the life that God has promised. Easter is a time of great joy. Christ, our hope, is risen! Imagine the joy of the apostles, the women, the disciples, and of Mary, His Mother. All of them ready to go around the world singing His glory and announcing His message of redemption and salvation.
We are the children of God. Today this victory is ours if we embrace with faith the Easter event - Jesus risen from the dead for you and for me. Accepting this truth and living by the hope that the physical death of our loved ones and friends, indeed even ourselves, is not the end, allows us to be people who live the Easter message every day of our lives. In the Risen Jesus, God comes into our lives. He shapes our destiny. He cares for us, loves us, heals us, strengthens us, walks with us in all the circumstances of our lives. The challenge of Easter is to decide whether we want to live in the Risen Christ or not. The life and joy and peace of Easter are ours for the asking. Let us ask God today to move us to accept the Easter message into our hearts. Let us ask Him to make us Easter people - people who are God-centered, people who follow Jesus, people who serve the Church.
We need this celebration now more than ever because we need to concentrate on the values, the faith and the truth that Easter reveals to us. We need to know them, be convinced of them and live by them. We should not allow the trials and challenges of this life destroy our hope in the life guaranteed to us by the Easter Good News.
In peace and with the joy of Easter blessings,
Rev. Scott R. MacAuley
Pastor, Sparling United Church
Monday, January 24, 2011
YOU ARE WITNESSES OF THESE THINGS
The words "you are witnesses of these things" come to us as part of Christ's final words before his ascension and form part of what we call the Great Commission.
January 18th through 25th is what we have come to know as the "week of prayer for unity among Christians" and following these final words of Jesus this years theme is "Witnessing to Christ Today". The following information is taken from the resources provided on the website: www.oikoumene.org entitled "The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity".
Also please note that there is a link on the right hand side of our blog which will take you to the World Council of Churches resource inviting you to participate in a prayer circle.
Enjoy!!
FROM "The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" ...
... From Jerusalem, Jesus sent the apostles to be his witnesses “till the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
In their mission, they encountered many and rich languages and civilisations and started
proclaiming the gospel and celebrating the Eucharist in these many languages. As a consequence,
Christian life and liturgy acquired many faces and expressions that enrich and complete each
other. From early times, all these Christian traditions and churches wanted to be present together
with the local church in Jerusalem, the birthplace of the Church. They felt the need to have a
praying and serving community in the land where the history of salvation unfolded, and around
the places where Jesus lived, exercised his ministry and suffered his passion, thus entering into
his paschal mystery of death and resurrection. In this way the church in Jerusalem became a
living image of the diversity and richness of the many Christian traditions in the East and the
West. Every visitor or pilgrim in Jerusalem is, in the first place, invited to discover these various
and rich traditions.
Unfortunately, in the course of history and for various reasons, this beautiful diversity has also
become a source for divisions. These divisions are even more painful in Jerusalem, since this is
the very place where Jesus prayed “that they all may be one” (John 17:21), where he died “to
gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11:52), and where the first
Pentecost took place. However, at the same time, it must be said that not a single one of these
divisions has its origin in Jerusalem. They were all brought to Jerusalem by the already divided
churches. As a consequence, almost all the churches around the world bear their part of the
responsibility for the divisions of the church of Jerusalem and therefore are also called to work
for its unity together with the local churches.
... What is also significant is that the church in Jerusalem continues to live in a political climate that
is in many ways similar to the life of the early Christian community. Palestinian Christians have
become a small minority facing serious challenges that threaten their future in many ways, while
they are longing for freedom, human dignity, justice, peace and security.
In the midst of all of this, the Christians of the Jerusalem churches address their brothers and
sisters around the world through this week of prayer for Christian unity to pray with them and for
them in order to reach their aspirations for freedom, and dignity and the end of all kind of human
oppression. The Church lifts up its voice in prayer to God in anticipation and hope for itself and
the world so that we all may be one in our faith, in our witness, and in our love.
January 18th through 25th is what we have come to know as the "week of prayer for unity among Christians" and following these final words of Jesus this years theme is "Witnessing to Christ Today". The following information is taken from the resources provided on the website: www.oikoumene.org entitled "The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity".
Also please note that there is a link on the right hand side of our blog which will take you to the World Council of Churches resource inviting you to participate in a prayer circle.
Enjoy!!
FROM "The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" ...
... From Jerusalem, Jesus sent the apostles to be his witnesses “till the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
In their mission, they encountered many and rich languages and civilisations and started
proclaiming the gospel and celebrating the Eucharist in these many languages. As a consequence,
Christian life and liturgy acquired many faces and expressions that enrich and complete each
other. From early times, all these Christian traditions and churches wanted to be present together
with the local church in Jerusalem, the birthplace of the Church. They felt the need to have a
praying and serving community in the land where the history of salvation unfolded, and around
the places where Jesus lived, exercised his ministry and suffered his passion, thus entering into
his paschal mystery of death and resurrection. In this way the church in Jerusalem became a
living image of the diversity and richness of the many Christian traditions in the East and the
West. Every visitor or pilgrim in Jerusalem is, in the first place, invited to discover these various
and rich traditions.
Unfortunately, in the course of history and for various reasons, this beautiful diversity has also
become a source for divisions. These divisions are even more painful in Jerusalem, since this is
the very place where Jesus prayed “that they all may be one” (John 17:21), where he died “to
gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11:52), and where the first
Pentecost took place. However, at the same time, it must be said that not a single one of these
divisions has its origin in Jerusalem. They were all brought to Jerusalem by the already divided
churches. As a consequence, almost all the churches around the world bear their part of the
responsibility for the divisions of the church of Jerusalem and therefore are also called to work
for its unity together with the local churches.
... What is also significant is that the church in Jerusalem continues to live in a political climate that
is in many ways similar to the life of the early Christian community. Palestinian Christians have
become a small minority facing serious challenges that threaten their future in many ways, while
they are longing for freedom, human dignity, justice, peace and security.
In the midst of all of this, the Christians of the Jerusalem churches address their brothers and
sisters around the world through this week of prayer for Christian unity to pray with them and for
them in order to reach their aspirations for freedom, and dignity and the end of all kind of human
oppression. The Church lifts up its voice in prayer to God in anticipation and hope for itself and
the world so that we all may be one in our faith, in our witness, and in our love.
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