Good day,

At The ConneXion we value conversation about all of the many amazing, challenging, perplexing, and strange elements of the life we have been given to live by God. Because we value conversation so highly, we want to make sure that all are given a chance to engage and think about those elements to life that are of particular relevance to them. With that in mind, if you have a particular idea for a teaching focus that you would like to see in our services, please either submit a comment here or send me an email. Thanks!

On April 15th, 2012 the ConneXion community will gather together to speak its yearly commitment to each other. This commitment we call our “covenant”. But what does this word mean?

Covenant is first and foremost a theological word which means that it tells us something about God: who God is and what God does. In scripture, covenant refers to God’s resolute love and commitment to his people. In the Old Testament, God called Israel and made a covenant with them because he wished to shower his goodness on them and also to use them to be a blessing to the whole world. In later times, God called the church for the same reasons and made a new covenant with them through Jesus Christ. We, the church around the world today, are a part of that new covenant.

So, why should The ConneXion have a covenant if all Christians are already part of the New Covenant? Well, two things need to be said to that: First, The ConneXion covenant is NOT a different covenant from that of what all Christians belong to. Rather, The ConneXion chose to form a document called a “covenant” in order to make concrete, in our time and place, what the Gospel made universal in Jesus Christ. Put differently, we made a covenant as a way of asking, “what does it look like to be a part of the New Covenant in Arborg, Manitoba and how can we commit to that life?” Second, the motive behind having a covenant is to encourage intentionality within our community. Of course we should always be intentional in our commitments to each other and to God. However, having a service once a year to remind ourselves of our commitments is helpful for encouraging us to continue to think about and act towards ways of fulfilling that covenant with greater and greater faithfulness. This is our covenant:

I covenant to bless God and those around me through the use of my God-given gifts.

I covenant to live in fellowship by following the example of Jesus in serving the community and in eating together to build growing relationships.

I covenant to listen to the promptings of God in my life (through interaction with others, solitude, reading, prayer, etc.)

I covenant to keep learning what it means to be a Jesus follower in my world by reading God’s Word individually and in community.

I covenant to send and be sent to be the healing fragrance of Jesus as God enables me.

On Wednesday, February 22nd at 8pm, The ConneXion will be having an Ash Wednesday service and all are welcome to attend. To many people who have grown up in Protestant traditions, Ash Wednesday will be a foreign date on the church calendar. Furthermore, the very idea of coming to a service where you will be given the opportunity to come to “the front” of the church and have the sign of the cross made on your forehead with the ashes of palm branches from last years Palm Sunday service may seem to some too depressing or morbid to be fit for a church founded upon the hope of the resurrection.

However, I would argue that it is precisely because we are a people of hope that we need to be a people that face the reality of death that is all around us. As the person performing the imposition of the ashes often says, quoting Genesis 3:19, Remember, “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” This is both a fact of our humanity and it is a statement about our life as disciples of Jesus. We are called to recognize that it is only by God’s gracious gift that “…Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:49). Ash Wednesday is our recognition and our owning of this dual aspect to our humanity.

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.” – Luke 1:26-38

It is perhaps a temptation in admiring Mary’s trusting response to the Angel’s message to think that then things were great for Mary because she trusted, and that if we can just trust in a likewise manner, everything will be great for us too – in other words, it is tempting to think that God’s miracle in our midst will make our life better the way the world defines better. Lest we fool ourselves with this thought, let us see that the likelihood is the exact opposite. As any mother can tell you, pregnancy in general is not easy, not to mention for an engaged Jewish woman of Nazareth over two thousand years ago in a politically volatile context. Trust does not guarantee any familiar worldly security, health, or comfort. But, neither was Mary simply asked to trust in a completely foreign and unknowable God.

The Angel Gabriel told Mary that “God [would] give to [Jesus] the throne of his ancestor David. [That] he [would] reign over the house of Jacob forever, and [that] of his kingdom there [would] be no end.” This wasn’t all coming out of left field for Mary and in fact, where Zechariah neglected to ground his response to the Angel in God’s promise to Israel (cf. Luke 1:18), Mary did! This woman of low social influence and religious significance knew Israel’s story well and that is why later she could perform the priestly duties that Zechariah failed to perform. She could proclaim in wonder: “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” (Luke 1:54-55)

Mary’s trusting response teaches us this Advent and Christmas season that the truest example, yea the very definition of God’s miracle among us, is when Christ is enfleshed. This miracle happened with Mary, and it continues today where the Church faithfully manifests the Christ within us and walks the road of service and sacrifice, all the way to the cross, just as he would do in his later years. In this way, Advent and Christmas remind us of our miraculous starting point as Christians: we can house the Christ within us (John 14:23) and so find ourselves being conformed to his image (Rom. 8:29, Phil. 3:21), “in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17)

For those who are interested in the latest release of our conference’s statement on how our conference might handle matters of unity and diversity within the various congregations that make up the EMC, go to our member area and click on the link for the document there. Keep in mind that this document has yet to be formally accepted across the conference but is being distributed in order to give congregations time to consider it and respond with comments. To give you a taste from the preamble:

“The statements in this document are designed to give direction to the Conference as we seek dialogue and decisions in difficult theological questions important to our future together. The health of our Conference depends on our ability to rightly discern diversity and unity, to engage in practices that deepen our covenant together, and to avoid practices that seed disorder and disunity. Membership in the Conference assumes a covenant relationship where we listen to each other and learn from one another.”

Good day all,

I thought I should make mention that in a couple of weeks time, the acclaimed Terrence Mallick film, “Tree of Life” will be released on DVD. This is a movie you should all see, a movie that is both theologically profound and simply profound on a gut level. Has anyone else seen it and do you have thoughts?

Stories from the Cloud of Witnesses

A Teaching Series on Inspirational Characters from Scripture

The general idea for this series is to look at the biblical characters mentioned in Hebrews 11 and delve a little deeper into their stories from the Old Testament, asking how their faith serves as a model for us as we seek to “lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and…run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Abel – Key Texts: Genesis 4:1-16, Hebrews 11:1-4, 12:1-4, 12:22-24

Enoch – Key Texts: Genesis 5:18-24, Hebrews 11:5,

Apocrypha Text: Sirach 44:16 (vv.1-15 sets context), 49:14,

Extra-canonical literature: see Book of Enoch (http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/boe/index.htm). For a condensed summary of the Book of Encoh, see Pastor Zac for some commentary resources on Enoch.

Noah – Key Texts: Genesis 5:29-9:29, Hebrews 11:7

Abraham – Key Texts: Genesis 12:1-5a, Genesis 17:1-8,17-19, 18:1-15, 21:1-8, 22:1-18, Hebrews 11:8-12, 17. *Because Abraham’s story is quite diverse and lengthy, it is up to you to choose either to focus on one particular part of his story, or to take a “big picture” look at his life.

Isaac – Key Texts: Genesis 27:1-40, Hebrews 11:20

Jacob – Key Texts: Genesis 48:8-22, Hebrews 11:21

Joseph – Key Texts: Genesis 50:24-26, Hebrews 11:22

Moses – Key Texts: Exodus 2:1-2, 11-25, 12:21-51, 14:19-31,

Rahab the Prostitute – Key Texts: Joshua 2:1-21, 6:17, 23, 25, Hebrews 11:31

Gideon – Key Texts: Judges, chapters 6:1-40 & 7:1-25, Hebrews 11:32

Barak – Key Texts: Judges, 4:1-24 & 5:1-12, Hebrews 11:32

Samson – Key Texts: Judges 16:1-31, Hebrews 11:32

Jephthah – Key Texts: Judges 11:1-40, Hebrews 11:32

David – Key Texts: 1 Samuel 17:1-54, Hebrews 11:32

Samuel – Key Texts: 1 Samuel 7:1-17, Hebrews 11:32

The prophets – Key Texts: There are so many options to choose from so pick one! Suggestions are: Daniel 3:1-30, 6:1-23, Jeremiah 26:1-24

If you are interested in teaching/sermonizing on one of these characters, please send me and email.

A verse of scripture and a question for the church today:

If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. (1 Corinthians 12:26)

I think we tend to do what we can to rejoice together when one part of our church body is honored, but do we do all we can to suffer together when one part of our church body suffers?

In the past couple of years, The ConneXion community has had a book club running on and off. The book club met to read The Shack and then Blue Like Jazz. Now, there has been interest expressed to get started on a third book. Please comment with your votes for which book(s) you would like to read in a book club, and then we will narrow down the list through further voting.

Hello All,

As many of you will know, our Baptism service will be happening this upcoming Sunday, July 24th at 10am at Gimli Bible Camp Beach (just 3km north of Gimli). Please make sure you come out! Following the Baptism Service, we will be having a BBQ Picnic Lunch at the Camp Morton Rec Hall (click here for a map of the Park). Please bring enough hotdogs/hamburgers, salads, and drinks for your family and any friends you may be inviting. If you have any questions, please call Zac at 376-5857.

The ConneXion

Teaching focus at The ConneXion

The ConneXion Covenanting Service

Ash Wednesday Service 2012

The Definition of a Miracle

The Harmony Project: Unity and Diversity in the EMC

Tree of Life: A Movie Experience of a lifetime

Fall Teaching Series

Stories from the Cloud of Witnesses

A Teaching Series on Inspirational Characters from Scripture

Being the Body: Rejoicing and Suffering

Book Club Part Trois?

The ConneXion Baptism Service on July 24th

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