Once again, the monthly calendar tells you where to find community meals and food services in Verdun. Please note that Wednesday lunches and the Mini-market continue at SouthWest Mission through April 17th. As of April 24th, they will have moved to Dawson Boys and Girls Club at 666 Woodland ave.
Bake sale, raffles and sandwiches April 14
You’re going to want to bring a little pocket money to church on Palm Sunday, April 14. Volunteers are preparing a bake sale to take place directly after the service. There will also be prepared sandwiches available to buy and either eat right away or take home. Finally, you can buy raffle tickets for various prizes. All this, and Palms too!
Foire artisanale/ Artisan Fair @ Summerlea United
Artisan Fair & Book Sale, on Saturday April 13th, from 10am-3pm, at Summerlea United Church, 225-50th Avenue, Lachine.
There will be over 30 artisans displaying their beautiful crafts, delicious home baking, and many books at great bargain prices!
A lunchroom serving quiche with soup, salad & homemade dessert will also be available between 11am & 2pm for $10 (advance ticket $8). For information or to purchase a lunch ticket in advance, call Colleen at 514-634-2651.
Read and sign up for the Regional Council Nakonha:ka Newsletter
Communications support person for Nakonha:ka Regional Council, Judy Coffin, writes about her recent Sunday visit to Kanesatake United Church. And much more!
Minister's Message: Take Up Your Cross and Follow
Then Jesus said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)
I struggle with this teaching of Jesus.
To deny oneself and take up a cross every day? And as a prerequisite to being a Jesus follower? This is a tough word.
Sometimes this verse is used to keep people in their place, to tell them to accept their lot and not aspire to improve their lives. Telling an abused spouse that their cross is to endure such abuse is not what this text condones. Telling a family that they must slowly starve rather than leaving everything for a better life, or a child that their birthplace means they will not have access to education or medicine, are not crosses to bear. Following Jesus is always justice seeking for one.
As the snow melted in the front of my house last week it exposed the soil, shrubs and earth hidden underneath. The white frame of the for sale sign, unnoticed against the snow, was contrasted with the earth and formed a small cross. It caught my attention and imagination.
Leaving my home (much more than a house) with so many years of rootedness both in relationships and in gardens is emotional. Leaving behind the neighbourhood, the familiar, and the city of Montreal after 40 years are significant changes. In this transition, in this choice and move I feel a sense of call to follow Jesus. Cost and call, being ready for a new phase and season of life and ministry, open to live in faith some new adventures, learning and discoveries. Opportunities for service, growth and new challenges. I live these contrasts all at the same time. But following Jesus also means leaving behind and saying goodbye. It is loss, sadness, tough choices and letting go.
Is this a part of taking up the cross?
For now I look at the cross before me, seeing it in life transitions and change. I stand under it and let Jesus’ love that sacrifices all, touch me with forgiveness and hope. I hear Jesus inviting me into relationships defined by that balance of self-denial and service to others. I willingly take on the symbol of the cross and question what it means for me in this moment.
A hymn from my youth expresses some of these thoughts:
Take up your cross, the Saviour said,
if you would my disciple be;
take up your cross with willing heart,
and humbly follow after me.
Take up your cross, let not its weight
fill your weak spirit with alarm;
Christ’s strength shall bear your spirit up,
and brace your heart, and nerve your arm.
Take up your cross, heed not the shame,
nor let your foolish pride rebel;
your Saviour once accepted death
upon a cross, on Calvary’s hill.
(Charles William Everest, 1833, VU 561)
We live together this Lenten season, taking up our cross and following Jesus.
We believe that he leads us and trust his way.
Rev. David
Mini-market April 3, 2019
Mini-market March 27, 2019
Les Mini-marchés se poursuivent à la Mission les mercredis jusqu’au 17 avril. De 10h30 à 15h30, venez magasiner. Télécharger la liste des prix de cette semaine ci-dessous.
Mini-markets are continuing at the Mission on Wednesdays through April 17th. From 10:30 to 3:30, come by and shop. Download this week’s price list below.
Minister's Message: The move is on!
If you see a U-Haul this Saturday on Highway 10 heading east, please honk! It is my rented moving truck. I have been surprised to have so many asking me which moving company I am going with. Moving company? Why?
”I have sons,” I respond.
All the four Gospels record the story of Jesus’ unique transportation as he enters Jerusalem (read and compare Matthew 21: 1-11, 14-16, Mark 11: 1-11, Luke 19: 28-40, John 12: 12-19). For many, including his disciples, the expectation had been that Messiah would be like a military general who would defeat the Roman occupation army with sword and violence. Jesus surprises everyone when he asks the disciples to find a donkey and its colt. When both are brought to him he chooses to ride on the foal or colt. This unusual means of transportation says that he comes in humility bringing peace, not a sword. His disciples, the spectators and religious and political rulers are confused, they do not understand the meaning of the colt - and the die is cast. His enemies see him as a usurper of their power, a challenge to status quo and will seek his death.
Our means of transportation says something about who we are; I hope one day to be driving an electric car although I appreciate my energy efficient hybrid. My most recent purchase is a lightweight bike that I will ride in a resolution to choose healthier living habits. But more important than the means of travel is the destination of our lives, where we are heading and how we are living in the journey.
What I most admire about Jesus in his last weeks is that though the storm clouds are gathering he stays focused on ministry and on staying the course, to do the will of God. Jerusalem is where he will die.
It matters most on our journey that we do not get distracted from the essentials of living in right relationships, of seeking justice through our words and actions and doing God’s will which directs us to always live in the light. It matters how we face prejudice or speak out against xenophobia, homophobia or Islamophobia. It matters how we face adversity and choices relating to our later years and end of life. It takes courage to follow Jesus in how he lived and also how he died.
It matters how we stay strong when others don’t understand what our choices and decisions are all about. Living Jesus’ way brings negative comments from others that may distract us from the way forward. Stay the course in doing what is true.
I enjoy these words from a Lenten hymn.
Ride on, ride on, the time is right:
the roadside crowds scream with delight;
palm branches mark the pilgrim way
where beggars squat and children play.
Ride on, ride on, your critics wait,
intrigue and rumour circulate;
new lies abound in word and jest,
and truth becomes a suspect guest.
Ride on, ride on, though blind with tears,
though voiceless now and deaf to jeers.
Your path is clear, though few can tell
their garments pave the road to hell.
Ride on, ride on, God's love demands.
Justice and peace lie in your hands.
Evil and angel voices rhyme:
you are the man and this the time.
(John L. Bell, VU 126)
We travel on our Lenten journey together as brothers and sisters! The move is on!
Rev. David
La célébration de Pâques à SouthWest
SouthWest vous invite:
Célébration de Pâques 2019
Mission du Sud-Ouest, 631, rue Melrose, Verdun
La célébration du VENDREDI SAINT
vendredi le 19 avril à 11 heures
suivi d’un repas léger
Église Unie du Sud-Ouest, 1445, rue Clémenceau, Verdun
CONCERT GOSPEL du Vendredi Saint
Stewart Burrows avec ses invités
Le 19 avril, à 19H. Souper à 18H.
Don suggéré de $20 pour les deux.
DIMANCHE DE PÂQUES le 21 avril
8H30: New Fire (devant l’église)
9H00: Petit déjeuner (sous-sol)
10H00 ALLÉLUIA: Célébration de Pâques
Chasse aux œufs! (suite à la célébration)
Prière du modérateur: Répondre au terrorisme par la paix de Dieu
Quarante-neuf personnes assassinées.
Plus de quarante autres blessées.
À Christchurch.
Lors du culte.
Pendant la prière.
Quarante-neuf personnes assassinées.
Plus de quarante autres blessées.
Pour une unique raison :
elles étaient musulmanes.
Quarante-neuf personnes assassinées.
Plus de quarante autres blessées.
Des centaines endeuillées de la perte d’un membre de la famille, d’un ami ou d’une amie.
Et des milliers d’autres encore plus effrayées
pour les personnes qu’elles aiment et pour elles-mêmes.
Quarante-neuf personnes assassinées.
Plus de quarante autres blessées.
Parce que la crainte s’est transformée en réquisitoire,
s’est changée en colère, s’est métamorphosée
en haine de suprématistes blancs.
L’heure est à la prière.
Et l’heure est à l’action.
L’heure est venue de nous lever, tous et toutes ensemble,
de riposter aux gestes de haine,
grands ou petits,
par des gestes d’amour;
de riposter aux gestes de haine,
partout où nous les rencontrons,
avec tout ce que nous avons et tout ce que nous sommes;
de répondre au terrorisme
par la paix de Dieu
Pleurer.
Prier.
Agir.
Aimer.
Et quelle est ma prière pour ce jour?
Dieu… aide-nous à agir ainsi.
— En réponse aux attentats des mosquées de Nouvelle-Zélande en mars 2019, une prière du pasteur et modérateur Richard Bott, affichée initialement sur Facebook, qu’il nous invite à diffuser, comme toutes ses autres prières durant son mandat à titre de modérateur.