Welcome to Saturday on the blog! It’s time for some resources to prepare your hearts for tomorrow’s worship:

This super fun take on #398 in the Presbyterian hymn book, “When the Spirit of the Lord moves in my soul,” from my friends at St. Andrew’s, Brampton ( watch for the Cdn flag – that totally cracked me up!):

This version of The Blessing, done by Torontonian worship leaders (warning: UGLY CRY MOMENT!). Also, I know some of these worship leaders – fun to see some familiar faces! There is also some ridiculously beautiful footage of our city. It’s about 10min, but worth every second:

And these quotes from a couple of well-loved church leaders:

A call to worship to bless you gather (while scattered) to worship tomorrow:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, may your hearts be ready to worship God!

Sometimes we dismiss love. It’s a small word. It’s easy to reduce to to a nice feeling. It is (in my rose-coloured-glasses way of seeing the world) all around. And it’s easy to take it for granted or to think there are more weighty/difficult/intellectual theological matters.

So I am grateful for this reminder that love isn’t small minded or something we can bypass. It is, in fact, the crux of our faith. I use the word “crux” on purpose because it is a word that means “cross” and “decisive point or most important point at issue.”

The cross is THE decisive point of our faith. The most important point of our faith. The moment when the rift between God and humanity is bridged, by the LOVING sacrifice of Jesus. It all comes down to love. Always.

Love is also difficult. It demands action from us, it demands vulnerability, it demands that we put others above ourselves. It demands that we do that even if we don’t “like” the person we’re trying to love. It is a life-long process, and simply the most important thing to which you can devote your time.

Jesus loves you. Dearly. Desperately. Enough to lay down his life for you. If you feel even the slightest gratitude for that reality – the best thing to do is to pay it forward by loving others. When you do that, Jesus says, you honour him, his life, his teachings, his death and his ressurection!

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep on loving others in His name.

So I came across this song on YouTube today:

I love it! I remember listening to Andy Stanley preach – years ago…maybe a decade ago – and he was talking about faith and what changes in someone to make them a follower of Jesus.

He talked about how it becomes personal. In some way, any person of faith will tell you about the times when God showed up for them, personally. They will tell you stories of their “God moments.” That’s what this song is all about.

I encourage you to think about the times when God has showed up for you, personally. It could be something huge, or something small (I have a friend whose testimony is about being able to speak Spanish fluently when she and her husband were lost in Spain – she had taken a year of Spanish in High School, but this was many years after that and she had no idea how she was able to speak and to understand the person helping her.).

But thinking about your personal faith experiences does two thing – first, it strengthens your faith (retelling stories of God’s saving acts is a big part of the scriptures – because remembering and retelling these stories is powerful, important and formative.), second, it prepares for times when God might want you to share your testimony.

You never know when someone will begin a conversation that leads to you being able to share the stories of your personal God moments. But I believe that God does open those doors for us, especially when we are prepared with a story about “who You are to me,” that could change another’s life.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, know your story and be ready to share it. Then sit back and watch God open doors for you to talk about your faith.

I love my country. It is a gift and a joy to live in this great land. We don’t always get it right, but I like to believe we are always working to get it better!

Today, I just want to share some fun and celebratory moments from my home and native land.

The natural beauty of our home is unbelievable!

This fun version of the national anthem by Walk Off the Earth:

This fun episode of Americans trying Canadian snacks:

And this fun one you mighta seen floating around social media:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, enjoy our national birthday, and be blessed!

The ongoing discussions around racism south of the border, and in our own country, have me thinking. These two videos are songs in response to all that is happening. They are posted by Americans, so speak specifically to the situation in the States. But I think there’s a lot of beauty and truth here, for people in all parts of this world.

First, Julian King, singing “I’m no longer a slave” (I hope this works for those of you who are not on facebook…please let me know if you weren’t able to view the video, and if possible, I will email it to you personally):

And second is Andrew Peterson’s new song, ‘A White Man’s Lament for the Death of God’s Beloved.” Andrew’s lyrics are always packed tight with Biblical imagery and deep theology. So I want to share those as well. It’s a long song, as Andrew has much to say on the subject. But worth more than one listen, for certain.

Click on the images, to enlarge the lyrics:

I think there is a freedom to be found when we recognize that we ourselves are children of God, and that SO IS EVERYONE ELSE. (I yelled that last part for the people in the back who might not have heard it. 😉 )

Dear friends, until tomorrow – remember the One whose child you are, remember that everyone else is His child as well, remember that He is the One who sets us free!

Good Monday to you! Of the many things that 2020 has messed with, Monday has become a day off (most of the time) for me (Friday was a day off before). It’s also the day that I share some memes on the blog. It’s one of the easiest days of the week for me. 2020 has ruined all my “I hate Monday,”
jokes. Just another weird thing about this year!

EXACTLY:

This is pretty much my motto, goodness I love summer:

In case any of the younger folk are wondering what being an adult is like…(remember when you were in your teens and you couldn’t wait to be out on your own, in your own apartment with a real job? Ha. Ha. Ha.):

For those of us who are visual learners, I loved this simple and effective chart that makes the point about why the health measures are important (and why layering them up – staying home as much as possible, wearing a mask, keeping your physical difference – is the best course of action!).

I love my Mommy. She’s been building my character for years! (She knows I think she’s weird, we laugh about it ALL THE TIME – she once bought me a book entitled “My Mother is Weird” as a stocking stuffer!)

This reminder about how important it is to witness with the way you live:

It’s almost Canada Day, and this just felt like a NECESSARY meme this week:

A couple faith reminders…these could probably blog entries on their own, but I’ve been holding on to them for a while, and it felt like time to post them:

This reminder that our differences can be a blessing, if we allow them to be:

And finally, a blessing for your day:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep trusting in the LORD and find your happiness there!

Just click this link: https://rebekahmitchell.ca/2020/06/28/welcome-for-these-hard-times/ and hopefully all shall be well. WOW, sometimes technology is a struggle! Blessings to you!

Ugh. My phone and my laptop are arguing this morning.

Here is the service, for those of you who receive this via email:

Welcome to worship this Sunday. This is a special Sunday, in which we have partnered with the good folks at St. Phillip’s Lutheran Church to produce a joint servce.

Here is the bulletin (please download to your ipad or other device, or print off so you can follow along, join in responsive parts and sing along with the choir!):

And here, dear friends, is the service:

I want to express my thanks to the folks at St. Phillips for giving us this opportunity and for making it such a smooth and fun process! Bless you all!

And also sincere thanks to all our participants from Graceview. You are all awesome! And to my Dad for the special music!

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep welcoming everyone in Christ’s name. Amen!

Here are a few things to help you prepare your hearts for worship tomorrow, my friends.

First, I want to start with this video posted by my friend Rob Hennig. You can argue that “What a Wonderful World” isn’t a worship song. But I’d fight ya! Do you not know that God sees all the beauty of what our world is and can be – even when it’s a mess? I hope so. Be filled with hope (I ugly cried at this one) as you listen:

https://youtu.be/yeHRV52sh_w

I literally never know that this song had verses to it – I only knew the chorus. So I’m pleased to have found this to share with you. Here is Shane and Shane singing, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus” (oh my goodness, those harmonies!!!!):

And a couple of thoughts, from a couple of great thinkers when it comes to worship:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep living every moment as an act of worship!