Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone

Dear BLCF Friends,

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church and BLCF Café continue to remain closed effective March 16, 2020, and until further notice. Today we would like to share with you a Lesson in a virtual format. We pray after the advent of a COVID-19 vaccine and following the determination of Health Canada and other Health Authorities the danger of a pandemic has subsided, the Board of BLCF will be able to reopen worship and outreach activities without concern of infection to the vulnerable within our community. In the meantime, please enjoy the following lessons stay safe, and keep the faith.

– Pastor Steve

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church, 1307 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON.

Message for Sunday: 

‘Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone’

 © July 25, 2021, by Steve Mickelson

Based on Messages Shared with BLCF on September 2, 2018, and on October 9, 2011 

BLCF Bulletin September 2, 2018

BLCF Bulletin October 9, 2011 Bulletin  

Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone

Announcements & Call to Worship; Prayer                                                             

Opening Hymn #286: Years I Spent in Vanity and Pride; Choruses                        

Prayer and Tithing: Hymn #572: Praise God from Whom All Blessings           

Responsive Reading #606: (Blessings from God – Psalm 103)

Message by Stephen Mickelson: 

‘Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone’ 

Let us pray…

Welcome to Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship’s Sunday Praise and Worship Service. On the first Sunday of every month we give thanks to the Lord’s gifts of Salvation, Sanctification, and the Holy Spirit by taking the elements of communion. This leads us to the following questions:

What does the Bible indicate the importance of giving thanks to God? The following Scripture is taken from the 12^th Book of the New Testament, which is  Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV):

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The above scripture is attributed to have been authored by Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, to the church in Colossians, so named for being located within Colossae. Colossae is in the region of the seven churches of Revelation 1-3. In Colossians 4:13 there is mention of local brethren in Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. Colossae was approximately 12 miles from Laodicea and 14 miles from Hierapolis. Members of the congregation at Colossae had incorporated pagan elements into their practice, including the worship of elemental spirits.

The Epistle to the Colossians declares Christ’s supremacy over the entire created universe and exhorts Christians to lead godly lives. The letter consists of two parts: first a doctrinal section, then a second regarding our conduct. In both sections, false teachers who have been spreading terror in the congregation are opposed. But just we find in Biblical times, as today, some people conduct their worship or faith practices incorporating pagan beliefs. In time the worship ignores and forsakes our Lord.

And what is the Lord’s view of such pagan observances?  We read in Nehemiah 9:1-3; 15-17: (ESV):

The People of Israel Confess Their Sin

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.  And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.  And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day

 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

“But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. ¹⁷They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

The key part about this scripture is that in spite of their sins, that some refused to obey God’s Laws or even to acknowledge what the Lord had provided for his people, God’s love remained steadfast. That He is a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, in spite of our sinful, ungrateful tendencies.

Colossians 3:17 –  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Many in today’s society seem to have found themselves wandering in the wilderness, stiffening their necks to their Lord as had happened in the time of Moses, in Exodus 17:1-7 (ESV):                           

Water from the Rock 

All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.  Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.”

And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah [a] and Meribah, [b] because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

It is sad to see that as a reminder of the people’s ungrateful attitude, Moses saw fit to name this spring created by the Lord as Massah and Meribah, which as you see in the footnotes translates as  [a]Exodus 17:7 Massah means testing [b] Exodus 17:7 Meribah means quarreling.

We often find ourselves in a place where instead of counting our blessings, we end up creating a litany of complaints and criticisms.

I remember some years, as a young man, new to the Christian faith, I attended a church meeting. The associate Church Pastor had taken great pains to prepare coffee for those in attendance. When offered a cup, I not only said no thank you, saying that “I am all ‘coffeed-out’ and that I should not be drinking so much coffee”, to which several others in attendance acknowledged the same. By adding those remarks, I had made the Pastor’s efforts appear to be something worthy of complaint, instead of just an act of love and kindness to others.

It was only some years later when I had the opportunity to really understand how we can harm others with our casual comments.

Steve Mickelson, President and Newsletter Editor for the 9T9 Users Group, Toronto

For several years, as President of a local computer club, (9T9 Users Group for the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A Home Computer), I also edited the clubs newsletter which consisted of 20 pages per issue, with ten issues a year. In those days, computer technology lacked high-resolution scanners and word recognition software. Since many of the articles we printed came from printed articles from other clubs with whom we exchanged newsletters, and the newsletters were not in electronic form, we either had to transcribe articles, a difficult task for this two-finger typist or photocopy, cut and paste master copies for the local photocopy shop. Needless to say, I chose the latter. Still, the process of producing 20 pages of a newsletter, which included a page or two outlining the clubs activities in my own bi-line translated into 8-10 hours of labour effort every month.

You can imagine my feelings when I proudly presented the new issue of the newsletter, which one or two members, instead of acknowledging many hours of effort, seemed to take delight in obvious typos or spelling errors. Needless to say, after four years of what seemed to be a thankless job, I decided to step down as president and newsletter editor. But I have a good idea of how that Associate Pastor felt, as, after my remarks, he stopped making coffee for our church meetings. Yet, in spite of all our bickering and complaints, God still loves us. He has not given up on us. Now that is something for which we may be thankful.

With a little faith, Moses produced water from a rock, and to be grateful for God’s work, which is for some people, like getting blood from a stone. That is why we all should obey God’s law as described in Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV):

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Have you ever wondered why we partake communion?

Communion celebrates the Gospel: Jesus was broken for us so that we can be fixed by Him.

Celebrating communion marks the story of Jesus, how He gave Himself completely to give us a better life, a new start, and a fresh relationship with God (1 Peter 3:18). It’s not about a ritual to revere, but a person to worship. Jesus is less concerned about the method of celebrating communion and more concerned that we celebrate it.

As often as we remember Jesus, we should celebrate Jesus.

Communion is important because it’s a command to remember. Jesus wants us to remember every time we taste bread and wine, and even when we sit at the tables in our own homes, that He is the one who provides all we need. He gives us the physical food that we need to survive and the spiritual nourishment we need to keep taking our next steps with Him.

https://newspring.cc/articles/what-is-communion-and-why-do-we-do-it

Communion – An Act of Fellowship and Demonstration of Our Faith:

1 John 1:3 (ESV): Fellowship

 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Communion

Communion began on the annual celebration of Passover Supper when Jesus told his disciples to remember his sacrifice as they ate the bread and drank the wine.

Just as Israel celebrates the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, when the angel of death passed over their homes, so believers in Jesus celebrate and remember his sacrifice for the judgment of all of our sins when he died on the cross.

Communion uses bread as a symbol of his body and juice as a symbol of his blood. The act of taking communion does not save us, it is an act of worship and remembrance our Lord, who instructed his followers to continue, until the day he returns.

Luke 22:14-20 (ESV): Institution of the Lord’s Supper

14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it[a] until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.                                                                                                                                        

[b] Footnotes: a. Luke 22:16 Some manuscripts never eat it again b. Luke 22:20 Some manuscripts omit, in whole or in part, verses 19b-20 (which is given… in my blood)

1 Corinthians 10:1 – Warning Against Idolatry

10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[a] that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown^[b] in the wilderness.

Let us conclude today’s lesson by taking to heart a demonstration of our gratitude to both our Lord, as well as our neighbours as expressed by David in 1 Chronicles 16:8-12:

David’s Song of Thanks

⁸ Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
    make known his deeds among the peoples!
⁹ Sing to him, sing praises to him;
    tell of all his wondrous works!
¹⁰ Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
¹¹ Seek the Lord and his strength;
    seek his presence continually!
¹² Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
    his miracles and the judgments he uttered,

Let us pray…

Hymn #569: When upon Life’s Billows

Benediction –  (Colossians 3:15): And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Social Media and the Word of the Lord

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:

‘Social Media and the Word of the Lord’

© January 6, 2019, by Steve Mickelson

blcf bulletin january 6, 2019

Based on a Message Shared at BLCF on October 2, 2016

blcf-bulletin-october-2-2016

Announcements & Call to Worship of Prayer; Prayer

Opening Hymn #392: Take Time to Be Holy

Tithing and Prayer Requests: Hymn #572: Praise God; Prayers                                                     

Responsive Reading #651 (The Holy Scriptures – 2 Peter 1, 2 Timothy 3, Hebrews 4, Romans 15, Psalm 119, Isaiah 40)

Message by Steve Mickelson: ‘Social Media and the Word of the Lord’

Let us pray…

Welcome to BLCF Church’s Sunday Worship and Praise Service. As today is the first Sunday of October, we will be observing Communion. There is no requirement that you must be a member of BLCF in order to receive the elements of Communion.

To receive Communion, participants must be a member of the body known as Christ’s Church. This membership means that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, having  confessed to Him that you are a sinner;  and that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, was raised from the dead, ascended to heaven, sent God’s Holy Spirit as companion to all believers until the day He returns to judge all.

Our lesson today, entitled: Social Media and the Word of the Lord, we will examine some aspects of what we commonly refer to as social media. Social media today may include Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, any other media methodology that permits the user to communicate with others in real time.

Dennis Moles, author of the booklet: Being Jesus Online,  Biblical Wisdom for a Wired World, published as part of Our Daily Bread Ministries’ Discover Series, attempted to answer the rhetorical questions:

“What would Jesus tweet? Would He have social media accounts? And if He did, what would He say and share? How would He relate to his ‘friends’ and “followers” and to those who disagreed with Him?”

Mr. Moles seemed to apply the old standard questions Christians are encouraged to apply to their conversations with others: “What would Jesus Say?”  Or “What would Jesus do?” with respect to the content of what we express on social media conversations and postings. Moles basically indicated that we should conduct our social media conversations and postings under the same guidelines as how we would personally interact with other people, by asking whether what is posted demonstrated a love for God and a love for our neighbor, which is also known as Jesus’ Great Commandment, described in Matthew 22:36-40, where the Ten Commandments or Laws that God gave to Moses may be considered as expressions of love and honor to either God or your neighbor:

Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV):

 ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Dennis Moles indicated that anything we post on social media should be scrutinized to ensure that will not fail to demonstrate love to God and love to our neighbor. If it fails scrutiny, then it should not be posted.

With all due respect to Mr. Moles’ message, I chose to examine the questions,

“What would Jesus tweet? Would He have social media accounts? And if He did, what would He say and share? How would He relate to his ‘friends’ and “followers” and to those who disagreed with Him?” when applied to believers in the Resurrected Christ, sharing Jesus’s Great Commission of sharing the Lord’s Gospel unto the ends of the earth, as well as any other Scripture account.

My consideration is based more on the issues and limitations of the form of social media, than the content focus of Mr. Moles.

To examine an example of the form limitation, let us look at Twitter which has a size restriction on the Tweets or messages of a maximum of 140 characters.

In my recent Sunday lesson lesson, ‘David Over Goliath: A Victory of Faith’, I used the first 54 Verses from 1 Samuel 17 to present the argument that David’s victory over Goliath happened because of the shared faith by both Saul and David, that God would accompany David to provide the victory, in the same way, He enabled David to succeed against the bear and lion. Imagine trying to express this Scripture passage in 140 characters or less. For that matter, imagine trying to condense all the lessons of the Bible, each one restricted to the limitations of a Tweet and make it comprehensible.

If it were possible, God would have chosen to inspire the Scriptures as such short segments. This would be like considering a movie preview tells the same story of the entire film or that a brief snippet from a speech expresses everything spoken in a one-hour speech.

The dramatic editing of a movie or speech results in a tremendous loss of intended message. In the same manner, shortening God’s Word not only changes the Scriptures meaning, but it also dishonors God by not conveying the complete message that the Lord intended to be expressed.

To understand the importance of keeping God’s Word unchanged and not abbreviated, let us look at Isaiah 40:1-8 (ESV):

           Comfort for God’s People

40 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare^[a] is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

³ A voice cries:^[b]
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Word of God Stands Forever

⁶ A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said,^[c] “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty^[d] is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.

Footnotes: a. Isaiah 40:2 Or hardship b. Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one crying  c. Isaiah 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic TextAnd someone says d. Isaiah 40:6 Or all its constancy

Not only would a 280 let alone a 140 character Tweet fail to express this thought, but Twitter has also placed other restrictions on what we may Tweet.

If, for example, I decided to Tweet the same message: “Jesus Saves” to ten or more recipients, Twitter would intervene and warn that my Twitter messages, being worded the same, exhibit behavior that Twitter considers SPAM-like in nature. If I continued sending identical messages, I risk suspension or cancellation of my Twitter account.

If I chose to randomly send 140 character Tweets out from my account, there is little likelihood that it would be read at all. I could choose to Tweet out a message containing a link to a site containing a sermon or longer message, but with the same unlikelihood of successfully being read, just like a futile “voice in the wilderness.”

Speaking of voices in the wilderness, Twitters cannot completely convey the words, beliefs, and actions of either John the Baptist or Jesus, as described in John 1:19-34 (ESV):

 The Testimony of John the Baptist

 ¹⁹ And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight^[a] the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵ They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷ even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son^[b] of God.”

Footnotes: a. John 1:23 Or crying out, ‘In the wilderness make straight b. John 1:34 Some manuscripts the Chosen One

Even Facebook viewers of the above Scripture passage would not be inclined to read the above passage, because it far exceeds the length of the average post. And if I randomly messaged strangers by Twitter or Facebook messages, the recipients could complain to the respective administrators about receiving unsolicited SPAM-like messages and result in having the respective Twitter and Facebook accounts closed down.

To unbelievers, my social media, messages of the Word of God is nothing more than folly and foolishness, as we see in 1 Corinthians 1:17-25 (ESV):

 ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach^[a] to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Footnotes: a. 1 Corinthians 1:21 Or the folly of preaching

Social media fails by rules that limit the length, content, and content filters applied the messages. A personal one-on-one dialog would have a better chance of successfully sharing even the most simple of ideas found in the Bible.

Social media, such as Twitter or Facebook, is useful for “preaching to the choir” or sharing short messages or links to longer messages with other believers.

Now BLOGs, which are vehicles of larger more complex content, are more capable of sharing such content on the web.

I post my weekly sermons, along with illustrations and Scripture passages to a World-Wide readership averaging 30-50 readers each and every day. Because I can post key tag words and phrases, such topics, titles, characters, and Scripture verses, anyone using a search engine will hit upon those key-words and bring the searcher to the BLOG. You will note that a searcher may or may not be a believer. They only require an interest in finding out more about the word, phrase or topic they chose to “Google”.

On many occasions, we have had visitors to our BLOGs communicate questions or comments about a sermon posted online. Some of our readers and visitors have come by on a Sunday morning to participate in the service.

While social media may help introduce people to the Gospel and the Word of God, it is the personal conversation and interaction that allows them to perceive God’s Holy Spirit, the true power that convicts people to believe in the truth of God’s Word and the Gospel of Jesus, which leads to a Christian faith conversion.

Let us pray…

Communion Observance (Responsive reading #663 – 1 Corinthians 11)

Closing Hymn #265: I’ve a Message from the Lord

Benediction – (Colossians 3:16-17):

 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday: 

‘Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone’

 © September 2, 2018, by Steve Mickelson

BLCF Bulletin September 2, 2018

Originally Published on October 9, 2011 

BLCF Bulletin October 9, 2011 Bulletin  

Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone

 Announcements & Call to Worship; Prayer                                                                  

Opening Hymn #286: Years I Spent in Vanity and Pride; Choruses                        

Prayer and Tithing: Hymn #572: Praise God from Whom All Blessings           

Responsive Reading #606: (Blessings from God – Psalm 103)                                       

Message by Stephen Mickelson: 

‘Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone’ 

Let us pray…

Welcome to Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship’s Sunday Praise and Worship Service. Happy Labour Day Weekend to each and every one of you. And since today happens to be the first Sunday of the month we give thanks to the Lord’s gifts of Salvation, Sanctification, and the Holy Spirit by taking the elements of communion. This leads us to the following questions:

What Is Communion And Why Do We Do It?

(Courtesy of the New Spring Network)

 Have you ever wondered why Christians eat a small piece of bread and drink a sip of wine (or grape juice) in some church services?

You’re not alone.

 For thousands of years, the Church has continued a practice called communion, or depending on different church traditions, the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist.

Communion uses bread as a symbol for Jesus’ body and wine as a symbol for His blood. Yes, it sounds strange. But why do Christians talk about eating Jesus’ body and drinking His blood? Are we cannibals?

Where Did Communion Come From?

Jesus started the tradition of communion. He instructed His followers to use bread and wine to remember the sacrifice He was going to make when He died for our sins on the cross (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

 Jesus called Himself “the bread of life,” which means that we’re nourished by Him, we survive because of Him, and He satisfies us when everything else leaves us empty (John 6:48-51). There’s a connection between our nearness to Jesus, believing in Him, and being fulfilled by Him (John 6:35).

The early Church celebrated Jesus by taking communion, sometimes every day (Acts 2:42-46). They saw that every time they gathered around a table to eat and drink, it was a chance to recognize Jesus and thank God for all He’s done.

Reasons Not To Do Communion

Taking communion doesn’t make you a Christian. It doesn’t save your soul or get you to heaven.

God actually warns us about taking communion without considering what it means and why we’re doing it. The intent is not for us to mindlessly perform a ritual, but to intentionally set aside time to remember what Jesus has done and why He did it (1 Corinthians 11:27-31).

Why Christians Do Communion?

It’s not about the bread and wine; it’s about the body and blood of Jesus.

It’s not about the ritual or the method; it’s about listening to Jesus and doing what He says.

Communion is not an obligation, but a celebration.

Communion celebrates the Gospel: Jesus was broken for us so that we can be fixed by Him.

Celebrating communion marks the story of Jesus, how He gave Himself completely to give us a better life, a new start, and a fresh relationship with God (1 Peter 3:18). It’s not about a ritual to revere, but a person to worship. Jesus is less concerned about the method of celebrating communion and more concerned that we celebrate it.

 As often as we remember Jesus, we should celebrate Jesus.

Communion is important because it’s a command to remember. Jesus wants us to remember every time we taste bread and wine, and even when we sit at the tables in our own homes, that He is the one who provides all we need. He gives us the physical food that we need to survive and the spiritual nourishment we need to keep taking our next steps with Him.

https://newspring.cc/articles/what-is-communion-and-why-do-we-do-it

What does the Bible indicate the importance of giving thanks to God? The following Scripture is taken from the 12^th Book of the New Testament, which is  Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV):

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The above scripture is attributed to have been authored by Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, to the church in Colossians, so named for being located within Colossae. Colossae is in the region of the seven churches of Revelation 1-3. In Colossians 4:13 there is mention of local brethren in Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. Colossae was approximately 12 miles from Laodicea and 14 miles from Hierapolis. Members of the congregation at Colossae had incorporated pagan elements into their practice, including the worship of elemental spirits. The Epistle to the Colossians declares Christ’s supremacy over the entire created universe and exhorts Christians to lead godly lives. The letter consists of two parts: first a doctrinal section, then a second regarding our conduct. In both sections, false teachers who have been spreading terror in the congregation are opposed. But just we find in Biblical times, as today, some people conduct their worship or faith practices incorporating pagan beliefs. In time the worship ignores and forsakes our Lord.

And what is the Lord’s view of such pagan observances?  We read in Nehemiah 9:1-3; 15-17: (ESV):

The People of Israel Confess Their Sin

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.  And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.  And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day

 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

“But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. ¹⁷They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

The key part about this scripture is that in spite of their sins, that some refused to obey God’s Laws or even to acknowledge what the Lord had provided for his people, God’s love remained steadfast. That He is a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, in spite of our sinful, ungrateful tendencies.

Colossians 3:17 –  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Many in today’s society seem to have found themselves wandering in the wilderness, stiffening their necks to their Lord as had happened in the time of Moses, in Exodus 17:1-7 (ESV):                           

Water from the Rock 

All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.  Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.”

And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah [a] and Meribah, [b] because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

It is sad to see that as a reminder of the people’s ungrateful attitude, Moses saw fit to name this spring created by the Lord as Massah and Meribah, which as you see in the footnotes translates as  [a]Exodus 17:7 Massah means testing [b] Exodus 17:7 Meribah means quarreling.

We often find ourselves in a place where instead of counting our blessings, creating a litany of complaints and criticisms.

I remember some years, as a young man, new to the Christian faith, I attended a church meeting. The associate Church Pastor had taken great pains to prepare coffee for those in attendance. When offered a cup, I not only said no thank you, saying that “I am all ‘coffeed-out’ and that I should not be drinking so much coffee”, to which several others in attendance acknowledged the same. By adding those remarks, I had made the Pastor’s efforts appear to be something worthy of complaint, instead of just an act of love and kindness to others.

It was only some years later when I had the opportunity to really understand how we can harm others with our casual comments.

For several years, as President of a local computer club, I also edited the clubs newsletter which consisted of 20 pages per issue, with ten issues a year. In those days, computer technology lacked high-resolution scanners and word recognition software. Since many of the articles we printed came from printed articles from other clubs with whom we exchanged newsletters, and the newsletters were not in electronic form, we either had to transcribe articles, a difficult task for this two-finger typist or photocopy, cut and paste masters copies for the local photocopy shop. Needless to say, I chose the latter. Still, the process of producing 20 pages of a newsletter, which included a page or two outlining the clubs activities in my own bi-line translated into 8-10 hours of labour effort every month.

You can imagine my feelings when I proudly presented the new issue of the newsletter, which one or two members, instead of acknowledging my hour’s efforts, seemed to take delight in obvious typos or spelling errors. Needless to say, after four years of what seemed to be a thankless job, I decided to step down as president and newsletter editor. But I have a good idea of how that Associate Pastor felt, as, after my remarks, he stopped making coffee for our church meetings. Yet, in spite of all our bickering and complaints, God still loves us. He has not given up on us. Now that is something for which we may be thankful.

With a little faith, Moses produced water from a rock, and to be grateful for God’s work, which is for some people, like getting blood from a stone. That is why we all should obey God’s law as described in Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV):

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

So let us demonstrate our gratitude to both our Lord, as well as our neighbours as found in 1 Chronicles 16:8-12:

David’s Song of Thanks

⁸ Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
    make known his deeds among the peoples!
⁹ Sing to him, sing praises to him;
    tell of all his wondrous works!
¹⁰ Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
¹¹ Seek the Lord and his strength;
    seek his presence continually!
¹² Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
    his miracles and the judgments he uttered,

 Let us pray…

Communion – An Act of Fellowship and Demonstration of Our Faith:

1 John 1:3 (ESV): Fellowship

 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Communion

Communion began on the annual celebration of Passover Supper when Jesus told his disciples to remember his sacrifice as they ate the bread and drank the wine.

Just as Israel celebrates the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, when the angel of death passed over their homes, so believers in Jesus celebrate and remember his sacrifice for the judgment of all of our sins when he died on the cross.

Communion uses bread as a symbol of his body and juice as a symbol of his blood. The act of taking communion does not save us, it is an act of worship and remembrance our Lord, who instructed his followers to continue, until the day he returns.

Luke 22:14-20 (ESV): Institution of the Lord’s Supper

14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it[a] until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.                                                                                                                                        

[b] Footnotes: a. Luke 22:16 Some manuscripts never eat it again b. Luke 22:20 Some manuscripts omit, in whole or in part, verses 19b-20 (which is given… in my blood)

Hymn #569: When upon Life’s Billows

Benediction –  (Colossians 3:15): And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Social Media and the Word of the Lord

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:

‘Social Media and the Word of the Lord’

© October 2, 2016, by Steve Mickelson

blcf-bulletin-october-2-2016

Announcements & Call to Worship: Responsive Reading #651 (The Holy Scriptures – 2 Peter 1, 2Timothy 3, Hebrews 4, Romans 15, Psalm 119, Isaiah 40); Prayer                                                    

Opening Hymn #392: Take Time to Be Holy                                                                 

Tithing and Prayer Requests: Hymn #572: Praise God; Prayers                                                     

Today’s Scriptures: Isaiah 40:1-8, Matthew 22:36-40, John 1:19-34

 

Let us pray…

Welcome to BLCF Church’s Sunday Worship and Praise Service. As today is the first Sunday of October, we will be observing Communion. There is no requirement that you must be a member of BLCF in order to receive the elements of Communion.

To receive Communion, participants must be a member of the body known as Christ’s Church. This membership means that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, having  confessed to Him that you are a sinner;  and that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, was raised from the dead, ascended to heaven, sent God’s Holy Spirit as companion to all believers until the day He returns to judge all.

Our lesson today, entitled: Social Media and the Word of the Lord, we will examine some aspects of what we commonly refer to as social media. Social media today may include Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, any other media methodology that permits the user to communicate with others in real time.

 

Dennis Moles, author of the booklet: Being Jesus Online,  Biblical Wisdom for a Wired World, published as part of Our Daily Bread Ministries’ Discover Series, attempted to answer the rhetorical questions:

“What would Jesus tweet? Would He have social media accounts? And if He did, what would He say and share? How would He relate to his ‘friends’ and “followers” and to those who disagreed with Him?”

Mr. Moles seemed to apply the old standard questions Christians are encouraged to apply to their conversations with others: “What would Jesus Say?”  Or “What would Jesus do?” with respect to the content of what we express on social media conversations and postings. Moles basically indicated that we should conduct our social media conversations and postings under the same guidelines as how we would personally interact with other people, by asking whether what is posted demonstrated a love for God and a love for our neighbor, which is also known as Jesus’ Great Commandment, described in Matthew 22:36-40, where the Ten Commandments or Laws that God gave to Moses may be considered as expressions of love and honor to either God or your neighbor:

Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV)

 ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Dennis Moles indicated that anything we post on social media should be scrutinized to ensure that will not fail to demonstrate love to God and love to our neighbor. If it fails scrutiny, then it should not be posted.

With all due respect to Mr. Moles’ message, I chose to examine the questions,

“What would Jesus tweet? Would He have social media accounts? And if He did, what would He say and share? How would He relate to his ‘friends’ and “followers” and to those who disagreed with Him?” when applied to believers in the Resurrected Christ, sharing Jesus’s Great Commission of sharing the Lord’s Gospel unto the ends of the earth, as well as any other Scripture account.

My consideration is based more on the issues and limitations of the form of social media, than the content focus of Mr. Moles.

To examine an example of the form limitation, let us look at Twitter which has a size restriction on the Tweets or messages of a maximum of 140 characters.

Last Sunday’s lesson, ‘David Over Goliath: A Victory of Faith’, used the first 54 Verses from 1 Samuel 17 to present the argument that David’s victory over Goliath happened because of the shared faith by both Saul and David, that God would accompany David to provide the victory in the same way He enabled David to succeed against the bear and lion. Imagine trying to express this Scripture passage in 140 characters or less. For that matter, imagine trying to condense all the lessons of the Bible, each one restricted to the limitations of a Tweet and make it comprehensible.

If it were possible, God would have chosen to inspire the Scriptures as such short segments. This would be like considering a movie preview tells the same story of the entire film or that a brief snippet from a speech expresses everything spoken in a one-hour speech.

The dramatic editing of a movie or speech results in a tremendous loss of intended message. In the same manner, shortening God’s Word not only changes the Scriptures meaning, but it also dishonors God by not conveying the complete message that the Lord intended to be expressed.

To understand the importance of keeping God’s Word unchanged and not abbreviated, let us look at Isaiah 40:1-8 (ESV):

           Comfort for God’s People

40 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare^[a] is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

³ A voice cries:^[b]
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Word of God Stands Forever

⁶ A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said,^[c] “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty^[d] is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.

Footnotes: a. Isaiah 40:2 Or hardship b. Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one crying  c. Isaiah 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic TextAnd someone says d. Isaiah 40:6 Or all its constancy

Not only would a 280 let alone a 140 character Tweet fail to express this thought, but Twitter has also placed other restrictions on what we may Tweet.

If, for example, I decided to Tweet the same message: “Jesus Saves” to ten or more recipients, Twitter would intervene and warn that my Twitter messages, being worded the same, exhibit behavior that Twitter considers SPAM-like in nature. If I continued sending identical messages, I risk suspension or cancellation of my Twitter account.

If I chose to randomly send 140 character Tweets out from my account, there is little likelihood that it would be read at all. I could choose to Tweet out a message containing a link to a site containing a sermon or longer message, but with the same unlikelihood of successfully being read, just like a futile “voice in the wilderness.”

Speaking of voices in the wilderness, Twitters cannot completely convey the words, beliefs, and actions of either John the Baptist or Jesus, as described in John 1:19-34 (ESV):

 The Testimony of John the Baptist

 ¹⁹ And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight^[a] the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵ They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷ even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son^[b] of God.”

Footnotes: a. John 1:23 Or crying out, ‘In the wilderness make straight b. John 1:34 Some manuscripts the Chosen One

Even Facebook viewers of the above Scripture passage would not be inclined to read the above passage, because it far exceeds the length of the average post. And if I randomly messaged strangers by Twitter or Facebook messages, the recipients could complain to the respective administrators about receiving unsolicited SPAM-like messages and result in having the respective Twitter and Facebook accounts closed down.

To unbelievers, my social media, messages of the Word of God is nothing more than folly and foolishness, as we see in 1 Corinthians 1:17-25 (ESV):

 ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach^[a] to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Footnotes: a. 1 Corinthians 1:21 Or the folly of preaching

Social media fails by rules that limit the length, content, and content filters applied the messages. A personal one-on-one dialog would have a better chance of successfully sharing even the most simple of ideas found in the Bible.

Social media, such as Twitter or Facebook, is useful for “preaching to the choir” or sharing short messages or links to longer messages with other believers.

Now BLOGs, which are vehicles of larger more complex content, are more capable of sharing such content on the web.

I post my weekly sermons, along with illustrations and Scripture passages to a World-Wide readership averaging 30-50 readers each and every day. Because I can post key tag words and phrases, such topics, titles, characters, and Scripture verses, anyone using a search engine will hit upon those key-words and bring the searcher to the BLOG. You will note that a searcher may or may not be a believer. They only require an interest in finding out more about the word, phrase or topic they chose to “Google”.

On many occasions, we have had visitors to our BLOGs communicate questions or comments about a sermon posted online. Some of our readers and visitors have come by on a Sunday morning to participate in the service.

While social media may help introduce people to the Gospel and the Word of God, it is the personal conversation and interaction that allows them to perceive God’s Holy Spirit, the true power that convicts people to believe in the truth of God’s Word and the Gospel of Jesus, which leads to a Christian faith conversion.

Let us pray…

Communion Observance (Responsive reading #663 – 1 Corinthians 11)

Closing Hymn #265: I’ve a Message from the Lord

Benediction – (Colossians 3:16-17):

 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 

Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone

Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone

 

 Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone

Message Shared by Stephen Mickelson with BLCF on Sunday, © October 9, 2011 

BLCF Bulletin October 9, 2011 Bulletin  

 

Announcements & Call to Worship: Responsive Reading #606r of Prayer, Prayer 

Hymn #286: Years I Spent in Vanity and Pride; Choruses

Prayer and Tithing: Hymn #572:  Praise God from Whom All Blessings

Scripture: Exodus 17:1-7

Message by Stephen Mickelson: ‘Water from a Rock, Blood from a Stone’ 

Let us pray…

Welcome to Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship’s Thanksgiving Sunday Service. Now how do we reconcile this morning’s service with a Holiday many have the view as a strictly secular celebration when compared to Christmas or Easter, both of which are acknowledged as faith holidays. Does the Bible mention Thanksgiving?  The following Scripture is taken from the 12^th Book of the New Testament, Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV):

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The above scripture is attributed to have been authored by Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, to the church in Colossians, so named for being located within Colossae. Colossae is in the region of the seven churches of Revelation 1-3. In Colossians 4:13 there is mention of local brethren in Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. Colosse was approximately 12 miles from Laodicea and 14 miles from Hierapolis. Members of the congregation at Colosse had incorporated pagan elements into their practice, including the worship of elemental spirits. The Epistle to the Colossians declares Christ’s supremacy over the entire created universe and exhorts Christians to lead godly lives. The letter consists of two parts: first a doctrinal section, then a second regarding our conduct. In both sections, false teachers who have been spreading terror in the congregation are opposed. But just we find in Biblical times, as today, some people conduct their worship or faith practices incorporating pagan beliefs. In time the worship ignores and forsakes our Lord. And what is the Lord’s view of such pagan observances?  We read in Nehemiah 9:1-3; 15-17: (ESV) The People of Israel Confess Their Sin:

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.  And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.  And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day

 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

“But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. ¹⁷They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

The key part about this scripture is that in spite of their sins, that some refused to obey God’s Laws or even to acknowledge what the Lord had provided for his people, God’s love remained steadfast. That He is a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, in spite of our sinful, ungrateful tendencies.

You may have read the cartoon on the front cover of today’s bulletin, where the child at the table comments “We have so much to be thankful for. One day a year hardly seems adequate” in other words, we should give thanks daily, we read in Colossians 3:17 –  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

OK, but what about Canadian Thanksgiving, where is the connection to God in this holiday? For the answer, we must look into the origins of this national holiday: (http://www.kidzworld.com/article/2614-canadian-thanksgiving)

The secular view for the reason for Canadian Thanksgiving arriving earlier than its American counterpart is that Canada is geographically further north than the United States, causing the Canadian harvest season to arrive earlier than the American harvest season. And since Thanksgiving for Canadians is more about giving thanks for the harvest season than the arrival of pilgrims, it makes sense to celebrate the holiday in October. So what are the differences between Canadian and American Thanksgiving, other than the date? Not much! Both Canadians and Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with parades, family gatherings, pumpkin pie and a whole lot of turkey.

Historically, the origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are more closely connected to the traditions of Europe than of the United States. Long before Europeans settled in North America, festivals of thanks and celebrations of harvest took place in Europe in the month of October. The very first Thanksgiving celebration in North America took place in Canada when Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England, arrived in Newfoundland in 1578. He wanted to give thanks for his safe arrival to the New World. That means the first Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated 43 years before the pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts!

For a few hundred years, Thanksgiving was celebrated in either late October or early November, before it was declared a national holiday in 1879. It was then, that November 6th was set aside as the official Thanksgiving holiday.

But the final authority on the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving Holiday in October can be traced back to January 31, 1957, Canadian Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October, Thanksgiving would be “a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.” Thanksgiving was moved to the second Monday in October because, after the World Wars, Remembrance Day (November 11th) and Thanksgiving kept falling in the same week. So in a legal sense, the current observation of Canadian Thanksgiving is a day in which we give thanks to Almighty God for the blessings of the bountiful harvest. The wording of Parliament legislation not only acknowledges God, our Lord’s authority as almighty or omnipotent!

Many in today’s society seem to have found themselves wandering in the wilderness, stiffening their necks to their Lord as had happened in the time of Moses, in Exodus 17:1-7 (ESV):                           

                                                             Water from the Rock                                                                    

All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.  Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.”

And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah[a] and Meribah, [b] because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

It is sad to see that as a reminder of the people’s ungrateful attitude, Moses saw fit to name this spring created by the Lord as Massah and Meribah, which as you see in the footnotes translates as  [a]Exodus 17:7 Massah means testing [b] Exodus 17:7 Meribah means quarreling.

We often find ourselves in a place where instead of counting our blessings, creating a litany of complaints and criticisms.

I remember some years, as a young man, new to the faith, attending a church meeting. The associate Church Pastor had taken great pains to prepare coffee for those in attendance. When offered a cup, I not only said no thank you, saying that “I am all ‘coffeed-out’ and that I should not be drinking so much coffee”, to which several others in attendance acknowledged the same. By adding those remarks, I had made the Pastor’s efforts appear to be something worthy of complaint, instead of just an act of love and kindness to others.

It was only some years later when I had the opportunity to really understand how we can harm others with our casual comments.

For several years, as President of a local computer club, I also edited the clubs newsletter which consisted of 20 pages, ten months a year. In those days, computer technology lacked high-resolution scanners and word recognition software. Since many of the articles we printed came from printed articles from other clubs with whom we exchanged newsletters, and the newsletters were not in electronic form, we either had to transcribe articles, a difficult task for this two-finger typist or photocopy, cut and paste masters copies for the local photocopy shop. Needless to say, I chose the latter. Still, the process of producing 20 pages of a newsletter, which included a page or two outlining the clubs activities in my own bi-line translated into 8-10 hours of labour effort every month.

You can imagine my feelings when I proudly presented the new issue of the newsletter, which one or two members, instead of acknowledging my hour’s efforts, seemed to take delight in obvious typos or spelling errors. Needless to say, after four years of what seemed to be a thankless job, I decided to step down as president and newsletter editor. But I have a good idea of how that Associate Pastor felt, as, after my remarks, he stopped making coffee for our church meetings. In spite of all our bickering and complaints, God still loves us. He has not given up on us. Now that is something for which we may be thankful.

With a little faith, Moses produced water from a rock, and to be grateful for God’s work, which is for some people, like getting blood from a stone. That is why we all should obey God’s law as described in Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV):

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

So let us demonstrate our gratitude to both our Lord, as well as our neighbours as found both in 1 Chronicles 16:8-12, as well as was legislated by our Parliament:         

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Let us pray…

Hymn #569: When upon Life’s Billows   

Benediction – (Colossians 3:15): And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.