Today in worship we welcome my Dad – The Rev. Dr. Morley Mitchell. I’m going to apologize in advance that this one is a bit long. I forgot to set my timer and Dad and I just enjoy talking to each other waaaaaay too much. I hope you enjoy!

Let’s begin with Eric’s prelude, “Let Us Break Together” (with apologies to the arranger John Carter for some additional improvised content!).

An opening prayer:

Our scripture today is John 3:16 & 17:

Here is our Zoom conversational sermon:

And our hymn of response is #274 Crown Him with many crowns:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, please know that Jesus saves and that the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again!

Larry Norman is generally recognized to be the grandfather of Christian Rock. Back in the 70’s he came to faith and wanted to sing music that was dedicated to Jesus, but sounded like what was on the radio those days. (Quite like how Luther would write hymns and set them to the tunes that he learned at his local pub!)

When I was a kid we had a cassette of a bootlegged Larry Norman album and it was just about all my brother and I would allow our folks to play whenever we went anywhere in the car. One of my favourites from that album was entitled “The Outlaw.” In it, Norman imagines all the different rumors about who Jesus was, and then ends by declaring his own faith in Christ as the Son of God, his Saviour.

So that’s what Dad and I are sharing with you this Singin’ Saturday on the blog:

And because I find the lyrics so meaningful, I wanted to share those with you as well (I’ve always appreciated well-written lyrics…):

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep on singing His praise!

I’m always obsessed with the sky. It doesn’t matter if it’s noticing the texture and pattern of clouds, smiling at the clear blue, noticing all the colours of a sunset (you know that’s my fave!), or enjoying a sky full of stars. I just like to look up and see the glory of God in the heavens above.

So it should come as no surprise that today’s Farmhouse Friday is all about the skies. So many varieties of blue, grey and sunset glow to enjoy! Look up, the heavens declare His glory!

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Until tomorrow dear friends, look up and remember the One who set the heavens in place by the words of His mouth!

Time to get our think-on!

John Ortberg is one of my heroes. His kind, compassionate, clear and clever way of writing (and preaching) has blessed me since the early days of my life in full-time ministry. Plus, he’s Presbyterian. 😀

Ortberg writes:

Some questions for thoughtful consideration:

1. Why are we so afraid to confess things to God, even though we believe He already knows everything?
2. Were you surprised at Ortberg’s statement, “There is more intimacy in one deep confession than in a thousand résumés of achievement”? Why or why not?
3. What fears do you think are behind your sins?

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep on thinking it through – this too, is worship!

MSC is the in-house worship band for the church where Erwin McManus is lead pastor – Mosaic, LA (which, incidentally, is where I’ve been worshiping online during the pandemic). This year they released a full length album entitled “Human.”

Here is what Erwin McManus says about MSC: “Everything we do is about connecting people to Jesus. We know that worship opens the hearts of those who have closed their hearts to God.  We also know that worship causes our hearts to burn brighter and our love for God to grow deeper.  We hope that the music of Mosaic MSC will be a gift to the Church and a light to the world.”

For your edification, here are two of their songs, “Everlasting Light” and “Close to You.” You can subscribe to their Youtube channel here.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep singing His praises!

Sometimes you just need to remember that Jesus knows what it is to suffer, and calls us to be healers with him.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, trust that God is reconciling all things through Christ.

Let’s get this meme party started!

These thoughts on distancing measures:

These thoughts on worrying:

This tough, but important truth:

This cracked me up:

And finally, a blessing for your day:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, trust in the one who is always making a way in the desert.

As we continue in our summer worship series, today we welcome my dear friend, The Janet (as she is affectionately known at Graceview!). The Rev. Janet Ryu-Chan is the minister at Morningside High Park Presbyterian Church. Since I came to the Presbytery of West Toronto in 2017, The Janet and I have planned Advent and Lent together, and found it a joy to support each other in ministry.

Let’s begin with Eric’s prelude,  “Andante cantabile” by S. Surzynski:

Let’s pray, and lift up those who are in need:

Our passage for this day is Matthew 13:24-43:

Here are The Janet and I discussing this passage together:

Our hymn of response is #499 Tell me the old, old story:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, remember that even though you may think your actions are small – God is huge and abundant and able to grow even the smallest things into something big, and beautiful!

Another favourite from the Amberlea Chorus Book is “Our God Reigns.” In the chorus book it’s only one verse, but there are actually about 6 verses to the whole song. We selected a few, and share this with you:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, know that our God reigns!

Another of the things we love about the farmhouse is what we call “wildlife moments.” Those moments when all of a sudden we come face to face with wildlife we don’t often get to see.

So far this year, we’ve spotted deer three times, seen a hawk having his breakfast at the side of the road and spent a quiet morning at Crowe River with a Great Grey Heron flitting up and down the river bed.

The problem is that often these moments happen so quickly, that it’s impossible to get photos. I managed one or two of the Heron, but my phone camera isn’t strong enough for those photos to be great. Here they are anyway:

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You’ll just have to believe me about the hawk and the deer (one of the deer sightings was on a morning walk, Koski’s ears perked up, and thence fawn and it’s mama came out of the bush, took two leaps along the road and disappeared into the bush on the other side. I actually raised my phone up, but they were gone before I could swipe to camera!).

The other wildlife we love, of course, is our dogs. Who bark at random things, chase chipmunks, get the zoomies, give lots of cuddles and make us laugh (when they aren’t driving us crazy!). So for good measure, here they are enjoying themselves in this unique summer:

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Until tomorrow, dear friends, know that God’s fingerprints are to be found all round us. God cares for both people and animals.