Emmanuel's Seniors Journal

Good Morning Everyone, I have been reflecting all week on how to connect with the senior community at EBC.   Having a blog is a great idea, but not everyone goes online. Email or phone seems to be the way to communicate during these days of isolation.   I have been writing a Sunday Morning Thought , for three weeks and posting it on the blog, but today I am also sending it via email. I want all of you to know I care, and I AM praying for you.   Thank you to all who are praying for me during this time I appreciate every prayer.   I have been doing well. During this time of isolation, it is my prayer that this time will be used wisely and not wasted. I sense that this is truly a time to practice being still before God, letting Him guide and direct my prayers.   And to practice being grateful for all that I have even the gift of every breath I breathe.   Living a grateful life truly makes a difference in this world. A scripture that has been in my pr...

Good Morning I had the privilege to lead us in community prayer at EBC today. Click here to listen.   To begin, a prayer of confession. Our God, whose son is the light of the world and the resurrection and the life,          in his penetrating light we acknowledge our darkness; in his constant gaze, our careless love; in his generous giving, our sordid grasping; in his equal justice, our dire prejudice; in his fortitude, our fearful failure; in his inclusive love, our deep divisions; in his pure sacrifice, our selfish sins. But in his cross is our forgiveness, and in his resurrection, our enduring hope. The pardon and the promise we now claim in penitence and faith, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.   Holy Father, we gather today to worship and praise you.   Maybe not in a church building, but right here in this moment.   We come now to rest in your presence, remind us of...

I am excited to announce a new Bible study for women at Emmanuel (EBC)!! Have you ever noticed when hard circumstances enter your life, new opportunities present themselves?   The thing is we need to be willing and open to considering new ways of moving forward.     Four weeks ago, as for all of us, life the way I knew it changed.    My home life changed, my ministry at church changed, and I found myself in some sort of liminal space.   It felt like I was hurled into the air, with no direction or familiar place to land. The words suspended, social distancing, and pandemic, became part of my new vocabulary.   I am still in this place of not knowing what is next.   We all are.  Change is hard but necessary. The ancients called times like we are in, the crazy season, liminal time.   A month ago, I would not have thought a zoom room would become a third place to meet.   Yes, there are challenges with going online, but it...

Living God,  we worship you today with joy in our hearts and thanksgiving on our lips. When the powers of evil had done their worst,  crucifying your son, and burying him in death,  you raised him to life again: an act of power giving hope to the world. Lord Jesus,  we rejoice that death could not keep you in its grip; that you were raised to life, alive forevermore.  You greeted your friends,  and now you stand amongst us in your risen power.  Spirit of God, you are always giving life to the people of God,  giving birth to the children of God. Remodel us in the image of Jesus,  fill us with his love and enable us with his risen power,  that we might be faithful to his way,  used by you in redeeming your world.   Amen.    "I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 ...

Over the last six years, I have had the privilege to be a mentor and ministry supervisor for students from Horizon College and Seminary in Saskatoon.   It is an honor to walk alongside younger people and offer ministry opportunities.   God has brought amazing people into my life who have also encouraged me and helped me grow in my faith. Today, I finished up the administration side of being a mentor for Leah and Erin, the horizon students who were part of my life this year.    It is interesting to be part of triad-cohort, which is three people encouraging and walking alongside each other.   Very inspiring.   Both women have the heart to visit with senior adults, care for their well-being, and grow their own faith.   I do hope you had a chance to meet these young women. Hopefully, God will open an opportunity next year for a student or two to come and be part of the ministry at EBC.     A question to ponder:   Have you spoken w...

It is Palm Sunday.  It is bizarre not to be gathering today.   The church had ordered Palm branches and decided to honour their order.  There was an email sent out last week that if you would like to pick up palm branches, there would be a pickup time at the back door of the church.   Several people from our community took up this opportunity to still worship at home with their palm branches while listening to the online worship time. If you have not checked out, the Emmanuel Website click here .   There are many excellent resources for Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Good Friday, and Easter.  I was able to update the Stations of the Cross devotional.   It is now on the website click here .   There are two new pieces of art from Chole Meadows and Sherri Hathaway, and both decided to work on Station 14.  Both works of art are beautiful and worth pondering.  I am grateful for the many artists from our community who have contributed art ov...

Stay safe is part of my new language.   A sort of blessing or desire for another.   Stay safe.   I needed to go to the church for a few items.   I put on my grey coat and realized it had been almost two weeks since I have put on my dress coat.   It felt weird that I have not gone to a store or the church for two weeks. It will be even crazier when it has been a few months.   Right? I have not needed to go out to the grocery store.   Murray has been going out.   He likes to get out, but I would rather stay at home.   It could be an extrovert versus introvert thing.    I heard the stores are taking appropriate measures to keep people a safe distance apart from one another. There are also other measures that we can take to keep ourselves safe during this season.   I came across this short video from The Washington Post click here concerning what is important to remember when going shopping.    There...