SASS Newsletter
April 6 2020
Worship Services
We continue to hold our Sunday worship services online, via ZOOM. From now on ZOOM requires a password to join any meeting. The link to SASS meetings and worship services will be as follows:-
Zoom link – https://zoom.us/j/7959307120
Password – “sass” (no quotes)
If you are unable to join the LIVE service on Sunday mornings, we have recordings :-
- VIDEO recordings of the online services are available on our SASS YOUTUBE channel, or search for “SASS Presbyterian” on YouTube.
- AUDIO recordings are available on our church website, under "sermons", (if you scroll down on the homepage you will see a list of the latest sermon recordings.) These are in MP3 format, and playable directly from the website or downloadable.
During LENT we have been making our way through The Story We Find Ourselves In, the entire story of the Bible. Prior to Holy Week we focused on the OT, 4 of the overall 7 themes; Creation, Crisis, Calling & Conversation. During Holy Week we are focusing on Theme V, “Christ” (April 5 and 10), and Theme VII, Consummation (Easter Sunday).
Beginning on May 3rdwe will pick up on Theme VI, as we do a 4 week series focused on the Church. What part does the church play in The Story We Find Ourselves In?
Holy Week / Easter Services
We are planning the following online ZOOM services this coming Easter weekend :-
Maundy Thursday, April 9, 7-8pm - Prayers, readings &
The Sacrament of Communion
Good Friday, April 10, 7-8pm - Theme V “Christ”
Resurrection Sunday, April 12, 10:30am - Theme VII “Consummation”
To begin each online service we are inviting everyone to place a candle (wax or battery operated)in the worship space where they are meeting. We will light them together as a sign of our community and our acknowledgement that we are all in God’s Presence, no matter where we physically worship. For Maundy Thursday night we are going to celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s “Last” Supper together, so please prepare some bread and “fruit of the vine” for the service.
Also watch out for a “SASS Holy Week devotional” emailed to you every day throughout Holy Week, written by a selection of our elders.
Following Easter
CoVID-19 has changed our lives, our world. One of the aspects of life which has shocked me recently is the emptiness of our supermarket shelves. I’m guessing that means our household pantries and cupboards must be full to the brink. I wonder are we all full aswell? On Sunday April 19, I am going to discuss what we can be doing to better fill up during these strange days.
Then on April 26, Rev. Dr. David “Monty” Montgomery, will look at select verses from Genesis 32, 1 Kings 19 and Matthew 26, as he discusses being “Alone with God,” during this period of strange self-isolation. Monty works for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students in Europe, with responsibility for student ministry in around a dozen countries. Before that he was Director of the Irish IFES Movement, Ireland. He is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland where he served in three congregations. He is a graduate of Regent College, where he is currently Pastor-in-Residence, and while living in Vancouver from 1992-95 he worshipped at Fairview Pres, occasionally preaching at SASS. He is married to Gwen who assists in his ministry with IFES Europe and is a professional declutterer. Monty enjoys crime fiction, cycling and the poetic football of Manchester City FC. (ed. “Monty, who’s top of the Premiership this year?”)
Bible Study
The Thursday morning Bible Study is resuming this Thursday, April 9, 10:00am. Daniel will host the ZOOM service, using the same link & password above.
Prayer
I encourage you to continue praying for Don Campbell, Muriel Dionne, Jean & Alan Bone, Margaret Williams, Kel Keyser, Penny McDonald, David Forrest, David Ballentine, Liz Lilley, Lorne Dennis, Joanne Graham, Jim Hall and Dean Scott.
Let’s pray for the health care workers who are on the frontline fighting to defeat this unseen reality, especially those in our congregation, and those who have friends and/or family members who have tested positive for this virus.
Let’s uphold the many many people who have had their lives turned upside down because of this virus. People have been laid off and are applying for EI. People are anxious about their financial situation. People are stressed about home-schooling their children for the foreseeable future. People are gripped by fear. People are worried about their loved ones who statistically are more vulnerable to this virus.
BC Hydro Relief
Did you know, BC Hydro introduced a COVID-19 Relief Fund to help residential customers who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19. If you've lost your job or income, the Relief Fund provides you with a credit to your account to reduce your bill.
- The credit will be equal to three times your average monthly bill.
- You will not have to pay this back.
- The application window opens next week and you can apply online at BC Hydro, until June 30, 2020.
Medical Info
Dr. Nicola Walton-Knight has forwarded the following helpful links re CoVID-19.
Useful link for talking it through with families.
http://www.sharedcarebc.ca/sites/default/files/CYMHSU CoP - Managing Anxiety and Stress in Families with Children and Youth_COVID-19 (ID 322929).pdf
BC gov app with the self assessment and statistics and who to call for help;
https://bc.thrive.health/
Parenting tips;
https://www.unicef.org/media/66146/file/COVID-19 parenting tips.pdf
Final Thoughts
One of the most vivid memories I have from my youth is every Christmas Day our family would gather in front of the TV at precisely 3pm. There was something special about listening to the Queen’s annual address to the nation. Once a year, for five minutes. On Sunday, April 5th2020, the Queen, aged 93, addressed the UK because of this pandemic. Her Majesty said,
"We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again."
Yes, we will. We will meet again. When? No-one knows, but I am guessing it will not be before June at the earliest. Until then how should we be seen?
What a strange question, I hear you ask. Given that we are making every effort to not interact with anyone, how will we be seen? Well I think we will be seen. How we deal with this pandemic as individuals, as families, as a church will be seen. How we speak about this crisis will be seen. How we begin again will be seen. Her Majesty said this to the UK …
I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge.
And those who come after us will say the Britons of this generation were as strong as any.
That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country.
The pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future.
How should Christians respond to this pandemic? How should we be seen? Will we be salt and light to the world? I am not asking us to go about happy-clappy. But are we being seen to be trusting God no matter what? I am not asking us to have answers to people’s tough questions. In fact I don’t think we are called to have an answer to why this virus has appeared and spread and killed so many. The Psalms allow for God’s people to respond to their circumstances with lament. We should be lamenting what is happening but trusting that God has got this. Will we be seen as faithful in the face of a severe trial? I hope so. I hope my kids will reflect in years to come that they remember this pandemic and they recall my actions, my response to this situation. I hope they will be proud of me. I hope they remember that I am trying to be faithful, in word, in action, in belief.
We will meet again! And I can’t wait!
Your brother in Christ,
God bless,
Rev. Martin Baxter
