Communion this Sunday

No, we’re not back at church, but this Sunday Pastor Beryl’s online service will include communion. It’s particularly important this week that we gather at the same time. A link to the service will be sent to you on Sunday morning. Please think about friends who may not have access to the internet. Would it be possible to get someone on the phone so they can hear the service through your computer? It’s low-tech tech but it just might work.

If you wish to participate in communion, please have ready:

1.  A candle and matches.  We will light our candles together.

2.  A small juice glass for juice or water (one for everyone with you)

3.  A piece of bread, or cracker, or muffin or whatever (enough for everyone with you)

If we all watch the service at 10 am, we can take communion together as one family of faith.

Beryl's Blog: A Story About Resurrection

The Telephone Pole

The telephone pole that captures my attention nursed no life-long ambition to telecommunications greatness. It was once a Douglas fir towering nearly 80 feet above the forest floor. Its trunk sways gently as the winds pass over its mountainside. Its great arms, clothed with successive layers of green foliage, shade the understory plants.

Yet one day the sound of a bulldozer disturbs its mountain fastness. The whine of chainsaws sends a chill through the trees, and they fall one by one, fodder for the mill downstream.  Rrrrrr.  Chainsaws lop off each limb that protrudes, and mighty jaws lift the giant amputee on board a truck headed for the mill.

Inside the mill the sound is deafening. The de-barker whines and bucks as it slices through branch stubs and reduces them to submissive knots. Layer after layer of bark and outer wood are peeled back until the trunk is naked and smooth. Its base is plunged into a vat of burning creosote and preservative forced into its pores with unremitting pressure.

Violence now complete, the new telephone pole is stacked with brother poles on yet another truck. And one day he feels himself drop to the side of the road. A crane stretches his top to the sky and lowers his feet into a deep hole. The pole is now pierced by climbing spikes and crossbeams, connectors and insulators, then strung with humming high voltage lines. Phone conversations and TV shows pass under his artificial limbs, but he does not hear them.

For the most part, he stands in stillness and ponders his fate. An occasional car roars by, a hawk rests upon his head for a few moments waiting for rodents to stir in the field below. But mostly he stands stoic and sterile — never to grow again, never to bear cones, never to see young ones grow up between his toes. All he can look forward to are the cracks and fissures that come with dryness and age. He will feel the water of snow storms melt and trickle down those cracks into to his feet. It is there, underground, that he will eventually rot and decay 30 to 40 years hence. When he can, the pole lives in the fragrant memories of his past, not in the stark hopelessness of his present.

My life hasn't exactly gone as I had planned either. But I realize that the telephone pole silhouetted against the sky has found a new meaning to his life that he had no reason to expect.

Birds flutter near his top. Now, one of them inches down the pole and suddenly inflicts a new violence upon him. Bang, bang, bang. The woodpecker drives his sharp bill deeper and deeper into the pole's fibrous tissues. Bang, bang, bang. The hole is deep enough now. Peck, peck, peck. The bird splinters the sides of the hole to widen it. It flies away momentarily, but now returns with something in its beak. It jams an acorn into the new hole until it is firmly wedged. And now the bird and his friends begin again. Bang, bang, bang. Peck, peck, peck.

As I look carefully, I can see that this particular telephone pole has been a favorite of generations of Acorn Woodpeckers. Every deep crack, every widening crevice is jammed with hundreds of acorns from the live Oak tree across the road. Every hole whittled out in years gone by is re-stuffed with an acorn against the coming winter. I try to count them, but soon give up. Their number is beyond hundreds and must be more than a thousand — enough to feed an entire colony of woodpeckers the whole winter long. They will not starve, for their food tree — their sterile food tree friend — sustains them. The childless fir will live on in the woodpeckers and their hatchlings.

And as I see the pole surrounded by its woodpeckers, bearing a harvest not its own for a family not its own, I sense it has grown more philosophical, more thankful with age. Few trees aspire to be telephone poles, you know, but for many that is their destiny.

Often, we can feel only pain and loss. We suffer. We hurt. We feel sorry for ourselves. But sometimes, if we can grasp it, God is creating for us a new and wonderful life through that which has died.

Who would think that an aging pole could be thankful for a colony of woodpeckers? Who indeed?  (Author unknown) 

In the coming days, we will share many stories about Jesus’ Resurrection and his appearance to his disciples.  I would invite you to remember that resurrection is all around you; death is not the end but the beginning of something which may be different but still new and wonderful in its own way.

Peace and blessings

Beryl

Acorn woodpeckers can be found in the Southwestern American states, Mexico and Central America.

Answers, Easter Bible Quiz

Answers to the 20 questions found in an earlier Blog post:

1. Passover (Luke 22:1)

2. A young donkey (Matthew 21:1-7; Mark 11:1-7; Luke 19:28-35; John 12:12-15). In eastern tradition it was customary for a king going to war to ride a horse. Yet when the king was at peace he would ride a donkey. The symbolism is the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, was coming for purposes of peace between God and man.

3. When Jesus entered into Jerusalem at the beginning of the Passion week, the people welcomed Him as king and Messiah. They covered the road with their garments and palm fronds as a symbol of their worship and acceptance of Him as king (Matthew 21:8; Mark 11:8; Luke 19:35, 36; John 12:12, 13).

4. Peter (John 18:10)

5. Malchus (John 18:10)

6. Three times (Luke 22:54-57; Mark 14:69, 70; Matthew 26:73-75; John 18:13-27)

7.  30 (Matthew 26:15)

8. By giving Him a kiss (Matthew 26:47-49).

9. Hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-5)

10. Bought the potter’s field with the money which is where strangers were buried (Matthew 27:6-8).

11. Barabbas (Matthew 27:15-26; Mark 15:6-15; Luke 23:18; John 18:40)

12. To leave Jesus alone because He was a just man. She had a bad dream concerning the Lord and she probably felt it would bring bad luck on the household of Pilate (Matthew 27:19).

13. Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15:21)

14. “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (Luke 19:19). It was written in three different languages according to John 19:20; Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

15.“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

“Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

“…he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!” (John 19:26, 27)

“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)

“I thirst.” (John 19:28)

“It is finished:” (John 19:30)

“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit:” (Luke 23:46)

16.“Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54). Slightly different statements, but the same idea are found in Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47.

17. The veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). We call this access to God the “priesthood of the believer.” This means that Christians can approach God’s throne through prayer without the need of a human mediator or priest. Because the veil was torn from the top to the bottom, that is symbolic that it is God who grants us access and not that we have worked our way into God’s throne room; which could be implied if the veil was torn from bottom to top.

18. Three hours (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-45). From noon to 3 pm.

19. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (John 19:38-42). Interestingly, these two men did not follow Jesus as He traveled through the region, but they were there when all the outspoken disciples had abandoned the Lord.

20. Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9)

Read more: https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/easter-bible-quiz-20-trivia-questions/#ixzz6J2DdpFqC

Easter Sunday Service, April 12, 2020

Crossword ANSWERS (How well do you know your church?)

Across                             Down

3. Bingo                          1. Friendly
4. Brown                         2. Pipe organ
5. Holly                          6. Elder
7. Barraclough                8. Amalgamation
9. Everlasting                 12. Veterans
10. Breakfast                  14. Shirleys
11. Methodist
13. Cornerstone
15. Baptist
16. King
17. Maundy

The Stone Rolled Away: A Reading for Easter Sunday

John 20:1-18 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Resurrection of Jesus

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look[a] into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Good Friday Service: April 10, 2020

Traditionally, SouthWest has had a simple service at 11AM on Good Friday. Let's all try to "gather" virtually at 11AM on April 10th to watch Pastor Beryl's  service. Click below. The words to the hymn, Were You There?, used throughout the service, are printed below so you can sing along.

Were You There? (VU 144, Trad. African-American Spiritual)

1. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

2. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

3. Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?

4. Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?

5. Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

Beryl's Blog: Seeking Signs of Hope

It is Holy Week, which, according to Wikipedia, in the Christian church, is the week between Palm Sunday and Easter, observed with special solemnity as a time of devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ.  The week begins with Palm Sunday, and continues with Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday (Spy Wednesday), Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday), Good Friday (Holy Friday), and Holy Saturday.  With this in mind, many people over the years have asked “what is good about Good Friday?”

How appropriate a question for the Holy Week we are facing….in fact, after three weeks of social distancing, even from immediate family members, I too am searching for something “good”.

In the Gazette of Monday, April 6, some of you might have read the beautiful words of Kitty O’Meara.  For those of you who did not, I think it appropriate that I share them with you now.  May they be the “holy” in this most difficult of Holy Weeks, and the “good” in the Good Friday we are walking towards.

And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows.

And the people began to think differently. And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.

And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed. - Kitty O'Meara.

In times of uncertainty and darkness, there have always been those among us whose creativity is stirred, who gift the world with life-saving medical technonlgy, those who step up to the plate, risking their own well-being to serve others, or those who are merely the calm in the storm and the pillar of strength within their own families.

I encourage you to take heart.  In the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first inaugural address (in 1933, the height of the Depression): ”the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.  Let us be wise enough to leave this to God, knowing we are loved in spite of ourselves. 

In peace

Beryl

In Memoriam: Carolyn Grant

UPDATE: Here is Carolyn’s obituary from the Gazette:

BURKE, Carolyn
nee Grant
1948-2020

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of a wonderful wife, mother, nana and friend. She will be sadly missed and fondly remembered by her loving and devoted husband Ted. Her daughters Kelly (Wayne), Victoria (Dave) and the Prides of her life Noah Boah, Sammy Whammy, Charlie Barley and Lea, as well as Uncle Andy (Punkie), loving Friends Kathy, Gilbert and Kathleen, Jim and Delores. Thank you Honey for being an inspiration and for sharing your love and passion for life with us all. Special thanks to DR. Victor Cohen who guided us through a tough ten years of battling cancer, and Bridget (Special Angel).110-10-4 Forever
A private funeral will be held with her family.Please consult and sign the virtual register at www.urgelbourgie.com

ORIGINAL POST:

It is with sorrow that we announce the passing of Carolyn, on April 6th, after a brave fight with cancer. Beloved wife of Ted and mother of Vicki and Kelly, she is also sadly missed by three grandsons and a step-granddaughter. Carolyn often attended services at SouthWest with Helen Pantridge. Due to the pandemic, there are no plans for a funeral in the near future. Our prayers are with the family at this difficult time.

If you knew Carolyn, we invite you to light a candle in her memory and repeat the familiar words:

In darkness there is light
In sadness there is hope
And even at death there is light, and love, and life everlasting. Amen

Easter Bible Quiz

Holy Week is the week Christians celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is also called Passion Week or Easter Week. The first Sunday in the week is called Palm Sunday and the second one (the day Christ arose) is called Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday.

Test your Bible knowledge with these trivia questions related to Easter Week. (copied from the website What Christians Want to Know)

Questions:

1. What was the Jewish feast which was being celebrated the week Christ was crucified?

2. When Jesus entered Jerusalem during what is known as His Triumphal Entry, what animal was He riding on?

3. Why is the Sunday before the resurrection called Palm Sunday?

4. Which disciple cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant in an attempt to protect Jesus from being taken as a prisoner?

5. What was the name of the high priest’s servant who had his ear cut off by the disciple and subsequently reattached by Jesus?

6. How many times did Peter deny Christ after he abandoned the Lord?

7.  How many pieces of silver did Judas trade the life of Jesus for?

8. How did Judas identify Jesus to the soldiers?

9. In repentance Judas returned the money to the priests that he was given as the price of betrayal of the Lord and then did what?

10. The priests took the money that Judas had returned to them and did what with it?

11. Who was surprisingly released before Pontius Pilate sentenced Jesus to death?

12. What did Pilate’s wife counsel him to do concerning Jesus?

13. A man named Simon was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus. In Mark 15 we are told the names of Simon’s two sons. What were their names?

14. What was the inscription above the cross?

15. Can you quote 4 of the 7 statements recorded in the Bible that Christ said from the cross?

16. Following the statements of Jesus on the cross, there was a statement by a Roman soldier concerning Christ. What was it?

17. What happened in the Temple as a sign that the death of Jesus had made way for the individual believer to approach God?

18. When Jesus died there was darkness in the land. How long did it last?

19. In John 19 two men helped prepare the body of Christ for burial. One is said to have been a secret disciple and another secretly came to Jesus early in His ministry to ask question. Who were these men?

20. Who was the first person to see the risen Christ?

THE ANSWERS CAN BE FOUND IN A SEPARATE BLOG POST.

Banner image: The Garden of Gethsemane, by Andrea Mantegna, c. 1470

Read more: https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/easter-bible-quiz-20-trivia-questions/#ixzz6J24Yz5A4