Pastoral Reflections

Greetings in the name of Jesus who invites us to live the way of love…

The love that Jesus and the Bible calls us to is not a warm fuzzy love that fills us with strong positive feelings of attraction toward everyone we are called to love.  It may include some of that on some occasions but it’s not the goal of the Jesus way of love. The way of love that Jesus calls us to is the way of actions toward the other. Actions that are… kind, good, patient, tolerant of difference, non-judgmental, respectful, truthful, seeking to understand the other, gracious, forgiving, full of blessing, and are expressive of our desire for the well-being of the one we love.

This Sunday Lloyd will launch a 3-week preaching series on the words of Jesus recorded in Luke 6 in the ‘Sermon on the Plain’. They are hard sayings of Jesus that even go so far as to call us to love our enemies! Imagine that! What was Jesus thinking?

Jesus was onto something and offers teachings we so desperately need in our world today. The rhetoric rising because of this pandemic and its mandates, and the frustrations growing around freedom convoys and rallies, are two of the challenges, and opportunities, we face in this moment as followers of Jesus. How will we enter the conversations? How will be respond to our neighbours, and family members, that have different opinions than we do? How will we live our lives as followers of Jesus today? Will we walk, and talk, and post, in the Jesus way of love? Will we love in the power of God’s Spirt, in a way we could never love on our own?

I pray that we will live in the Jesus way of love! By God’s grace we can! When we fail, we will get up and try again.

¹² As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. ¹³ Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lordhas forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 

Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (MCEC) shared this prayer written by Ly Vang, one of the first members at First Hmong Mennonite Church in Kitchener.

God of all creation,

Today we come together in our weakness, with the desire of peace, unity and love.
Give us the strength to walk humbly with our brothers and sisters in humility and integrity so that we do not let the lies of the enemy to overtake us,
But help us to count ourselves as equals with one another, that we would treat and love one other the same way we do for ourselves.
Help us not to merely look out for our own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Help us to lives worthy of your calling.

Remind us to be completely humble and gentle; being patient, bearing with one another in love. 
Help us to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Today we come to stand against the arrogance and pride that causes division. We say no to hatred, racism, sexism, war and poverty. We will not be afraid but rise up and meet every challenge and circumstances that come upon our lives.
We pray and trust in you to do all these in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Pastor Ray

Greetings to my travelling companions on the journey… 

This week Bell hosted another “Let’s Talk” day. I have been inspired by stories that are shared and the courage of the story tellers. I am grateful for the increased awareness these “Let’s Talk” days have brought to the challenges that many face as they live with mental distress and illness, and work to maintain good mental health.    

“Mental health is not a finish line but a journey.” That is one catch line that caught my attention this week. I believe it provides an important reminder that mental health is not something we achieve, and then never struggle with again. Mental health is an ongoing journey that requires all the planning, equipment and supplies, maps, companionship, refreshments, and rest stops… that any journey needs. While favourable weather always enhances a journey, somedays it rains and pours or snows and storms.  Over the last 2 years the covid pandemic climate has made the mental health journey a significant challenge. The physical and social climates have contributed to many stormy days.  

Since mental health is a lifelong journey the importance of companions for the journey cannot be overstated. We need each other! Already in the Genesis story God said: “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” God would say the same about all of us – It’s not good that we should be alone! We need each other! 

The mental health journey can weigh us down, so… “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2). Christ’s law is the way of love, light, healing actions and grace.  

So, let’s journey together so we can lighten each other’s load and fulfill the way of Jesus. Let’s support each other! Let’s keep talking! Let’s keep listening! Let’s keep sharing our burdens, and resources! Let’s keep extending to each other love and grace!  

As I suggested in a message a few weeks ago, go through the church directory, or do a mental walk through your neighbourhood, and then reach out to someone. Check in, call, and say hi, see how they are doing. Let’s keep inviting conversations. Let’s keep listening. Let’s keep talking! 

Pastor Ray 

Greetings to those who love our generous and faithful Heavenly Father  

I loved Ray’s message last Sunday, quoting the words of Mary the mother of Jesus – ‘They have no more wine’.  The wedding celebration of Cana of Galilee was going to end on a dismal note, an embarrassment to the family of the bridegroom.  This was disaster.  

I find it very interesting that Jesus likened Himself to many things.  He was Bread, He was Water, He was the Good Shepherd, He was the Gate, etc.  I don’t believe He said He was wine.  At the wedding, he supplied wine.    

It seems that wine is typical of celebration.  Bread is considered a staple, or basic need.  For five thousand hungry people, Jesus multiplied the bread so that all were satisfied.  Wine has the connotation of celebration, and good times. And Jesus shows, in His first miracle, He supplies this also.  

A number of years ago, Tony Campolo wrote a book, ‘The Kingdom of God’ is a Party’.  From Matthew 22, Campolo quotes Jesus as saying, ‘the kingdom of God is like a father who prepared a wedding feast for his son’.  Sounds like party time to me!  Good food, good company, dancing and good times.  And the Father wants his servants to invite others.  

Sometimes I think, we in the kingdom forget that we have a celebration going on.  We are trying to be good, trying to follow all the rules, and are involved in serious matters like life and death.  And it seems like we think we must have long faces and grim outlooks.  This shouldn’t be the case!  ‘Therefore, with joy shall you draw water out of the well of salvation’ is an Old Testament reference that doesn’t sound like doom and gloom.  God’s people have been ‘redeemed’, no longer slaves, but free, and have new life!  God’s people should be the happiest people on earth.  We have something to sing about!  It’s time we celebrate!  

I’m not stating this to add to your list of ‘now I have another chore, – to be happy’.  The celebration is a natural outflow of thankfulness and joy of being part of the redeemed, and part of the kingdom of God.  

May you experience joyful abandon as you serve our king this week.  

Determined not to look like I suck on lemons,  

Pastor Lloyd  

Greetings to the disciples of East Zorra who say to Jesus, ‘teach us to pray’ – Luke 11:1

Real prayer is not a normal part of life for most people.  When a person is ‘born from above’, he can either nourish or starve the life of Christ that is within.  Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished.  People tend to think that the purpose of prayer is to get things that we want from someone like Santa Claus anytime of the year.  The biblical purpose of prayer is that we get to know God Himself.

A child can show a magnificent boldness to ask.  The Bible seems to suggest: ‘Ask and He will do’.  There is a pervasive encouragement to give Jesus the opportunity, and the room, to work in us and through us.  The problem is, we tend not to ask until we have exhausted all other resources and are at our wits end.  When we feel self-sufficient, we do not need to ask God for anything.  Are our plans and dreams for our lives bigger than what we can do ourselves?  That’s when we need our Father most.

How is the life of Christ in you?  Is He rather wane, due to lack of loving attention?  This Thursday, Jan 20, is a great time to join with the body of Christ here at East Zorra, for a Day of Prayer to nourish His life in You, to ask for boldness in asking, and to ask! 

I encourage each disciple in East Zorra to join us in the Day of Prayer.

There are resources provided that may help you to pray, but the big idea is to SPEND TIME WITH GOD! 

I, for one, really do want to make Jan 20, a DAY of prayer.  I hope you are with me.

Pastor Lloyd

Greeting to those who need, and share, the light of Jesus!

Thursday January 6, 2022 was the Christian holiday of Epiphany. Epiphany means appearance or manifestation, especially of a divine being. The holiday of Epiphany is a celebration of when the three wise men followed a star to visit Jesus, the newborn king of the Jews. The appearance of Jesus to the Gentile wise men is God’s reminder that God is for all people, not only one select group of people. 

The prophet Isaiah reminded the Jewish nation that the Lord coming to their nation of people was a gift they were called to share with all the nations of the world.

“Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see.
    For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you.
² Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
    but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.
³ All nations will come to your light;
    mighty kings will come to see your radiance. (Isaiah 60)

As I reflect on this scripture an epiphany of sorts comes to me. Epiphany also means, “a sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.” The name “Jerusalem” in our scripture text could be replaced with “East Zorra Mennonite Church”. The glory and light of the Lord has certainly shone on us!  We have experienced God’s goodness and light in many ways: in the Live Nativity experience 3 weeks ago; in another financial surplus that will be reported in this letter; through the caring and compassion we have demonstrated to each other in times of recent illness, pain, and grief. We have received much from the Lord, and we therefore have much for share and shine forth.

Yet darkness continues in various forms today as it did in the days of Isaiah. Injustice, prejudice, suspicion of the other, hate, war, sickness, pain, depression, and other forms of mental anguish…and a continuing Covid pandemic and all its difficult effects. Sometimes in the darkness of all this it is hard to see the light. I invite us to arise and look to the light of Jesus that continues to shine on us, even through the darkness. The Lord’s light is a light that shines to dispel the darkness and open a way though it.

By God’s grace may we receive the light, live in the light, and shine the light of Jesus through our words and action. If we do, those among us suffering, and those around us living in fear, will see the light, be drawn to the light and come to experience the light that is Jesus. An “epiphany” will come to them that has potential to transform lives!

“Arise, East Zorra! Let your light shine for all to see.”

Pastor Ray