Living Faith Community Presbyterian Church

Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  How can love possibly be a command?  Sometimes it’s hard enough to love the people we care about – how can we possibly love people we don’t even like!  In this message, Heather illustrates that loving as a command IS possible, and can even be a source of joy.

You can listen to Heather’s message here:

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LFPC – No Greater Love than This – 01. Track 01

Order of Service: Church bulletin May 13 2012

This weekend has been set aside on our calendars to celebrate Mother’s Day, and within the Christian community we celebrate Christian Family Sunday – giving thanks to God for FAMILY in whatever form it might happen to be.

When I think of the word “family”, I think of safety, protection, warmth, love, acceptance, and grace.  What a wonderful place our world would be if all families exhibited those qualities!  And wouldn’t it be great if our church family exhibited those same qualities?!  It is my prayer that our families, including our church family, would be places of unconditional and sacrificial love – the same type of love that Christ has for us.

It is this unconditional and sacrificial love that we will be discussing this Sunday as we continue our sermon series – “Experiencing Christ Through the Eyes of John”.  We will be examining John 15:9-17 (which you can read here) to discover how love has the power to change lives.  I hope you will come and join in the conversation.

 You are also invited to join us for a special Mother’s Day Breakfast before our service, starting at 9:30am.  We will be taking up a free-will offering at our breakfast to support the work of Presbyterian World Service and Development as it responds to the Food Crisis in Sahel, Africa.  You can read more about PWS&D’s work in Sahel by clicking here.

Some dates to keep in mind:

May 26^th – Town and Country Dance at 7pm featuring the North of 50 Band.

June 2^nd – Annual Living Faith Golf Tournament at Tangle Creek.

June 2^nd – 2^nd “Make a Difference Day” & Carnival at Living Faith, 9am-2pm.  Free Spring and Summer clothing for the entire family! (donations of new and gentle used clothing are now being accepted)

June 2^nd – Living Faith Yard Sale to be held in Cookstown in conjunction with Wing Ding.

May you experience the peace of Christ as you celebrate your family this weekend!

Heather

In John 15:1-8, Jesus says “Abide in me and I will abide in you”, but what does it mean to “abide”?  In this message, Heather examine’s Jesus’ use of the word “abide” and discovers how abiding in Christ can help us navigate the storms of this life.

You can listen to the message here:

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Living Faith – Abiding – 01. Track 01

Order of Service: Church bulletin May 6 2012

This Sunday, we begin a sermon series called ”Experiencing Christ Through the Eyes of John”.  So for the next several weeks we’ll be delving into the writings of the disciple John who had a very special relationship with Jesus.  This Sunday, Rev. Heather examines John’s re-telling of Jesus as the Good Shepherd and discusses how sometimes it’s important for us to be like sheep!

You can listen to the message here:

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Following the Good Shepherd – Living Faith – 01. Track 01

I am sending out my weekly emailing a bit early this week as I will be at the National Church Office in Toronto on Thursday and Friday for the semi-annual meeting of the Committee on Education and Reception.  I am a new member of this Committee (this will be my second meeting) which meets in October and April.  The Committee interviews and evaluates candidates who would like to serve as ministers in the Presbyterian Church in Canada.  Many of the candidates are ordained ministers with another denomination who would like to serve in the PCC, while other candidates are students who are discerning their call to ministry.  Being interviewed and examined by the Committee on Education and Reception is one step of many in the discernment process.  It doesn’t seem like that long ago when I was being reviewed by the E and R Committee so it is an honour to serve the national church in this capacity. 

This upcoming meeting reminds me of how important it is for our congregations to work together – praying for one another and assisting each other in a variety of different ways – acknowledging that each congregation has its own unique role to play in God’s kingdom.  If we’re not careful, we can become very insular-minded in our congregations; looking out for our own needs and interests and simply ignoring or not even being aware of the needs of other congregations.  Helping out our National Church and other Presbyterian congregations helps broaden our perspective; but I hope that sense of family and sharing would extend beyond our own denominational boundaries as well.  Jesus Christ did not come to earth to found the Presbyterian Church, or the United Church, or the Baptist Church, or the Pentecostal Church…(you get my drift).  Jesus Christ came to unite us all with the life-saving power of His love and forgiveness.  It is my prayer that we would emulate Christ’s love for ALL His children – whether they attend a Presbyterian church or not!

I will be home from this meeting on Friday evening and look forward to worshiping with you this Sunday at Living Faith.  We will begin a new sermon series entitled “Seeing Christ Through the Eyes of John”, examining many of the challenging teachings found in John’s Gospel.  Our first teaching will come from John 10:11-18 (which you can read here) in which John describes Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  This might bring to mind peaceful, pastoral scenes of a shepherd leading his flock in blooming pastures but we’ll discover this week that the image of the Good Shepherd means so much more.  I hope you will join us.

We are very fortunate to be hosting the North of 50 Band one Saturday a month from April to October this year for our Town and Country Dances.  The first of these dances will be held THIS Saturday, starting at 7pm.  Admission is $10 and is open to all ages.

May the peace of the Good Shepherd be with you all,

Heather

After Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples were confused, scared, and bewildered.  They didn’t know what to do next.  Two of them were leaving Jerusalem travelling along the road to Emmaus, trying to make sense of what had just happened.  Trying to figure out what to do next.  Jesus met them on their journey; however, they didn’t recognize Him for who He truly was until they saw Him in action – breaking the bread at their meal.  In this message, Heather discusses how sometimes WE don’t experience Christ until we see Him in action, and – perhaps, others will see Christ in action through US.

You can listen to the message here:

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LFPC – OnThe Road to Emmaus – 01. Track 01

Order of Service: Church bulletin April 22 2012

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We rejoice that Jesus Christ is Risen!

You can listen to Heather’s message here:

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scars of hope – living faith – 01. Track 01

We conclude our sermon series, “Famous Last Words”, on this Palm Sunday, examining Jesus’ response to one of the criminals who had been crucified alongside Him, when He said “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”  These words would have transformed the thinking of that crucified criminal, and these words can transform our thinking as well.

You can listen to the message here:

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lfpc – today you will be with me in paradise – 01. Track 01

Order of Service: Church bulletin Apr 1 2012

Heather continues our sermon series – Famous Last Words – with this week’s discussion surrounding Christ’s words “It is Finished.”

These words sound sorrowful, almost hopeless, but as we discover, these last words of Jesus are actually overflowing with hope!

You can listen to the message here:

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Living Faith – It is finished – March 25, 2012 – 01. Track 01