Serving together!

If you have been in church for awhile, you will know that there is a “duty elder” who helps assists with leading the service.  The elder will typically lead the Prayers of the People and receive the Offering.  Other than that, do you know what the role of an elder is?

Did you know that eldership is at the heart of what it means to be Presbyterian. 

All of our Presbyterian churches are led by our ruling elders and teaching elders. They are called by God to seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance for a particular congregation and to follow that path sincerely, faithfully, and effectively. It’s one of the great strengths of the Presbyterian system that drew me to this denomination.  I truly believe that when this system is working as designed, it makes Presbyterianism a great light amongst Christian denominations.

As the minister of Amberlea, I am the teaching elder in the church. It’s a role that I am honoured and love to fill. Along with the Session, currently made up of 10 ruling elders, soon to be 13, we create a team of individuals who together solve problems, seek answers, and look for guidance from the Holy Spirit. We try to keep the church on the right path, just as the world tries to distract our goals and diminish our effectiveness.

For me, it is a privilege to work alongside these faithful men and women. I can honestly say that there is a great sense of team work, respect, responsibility, and faith in Christ that we share with one another.

Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:1: 

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed.

What I love is that Peter refers to elders as being witnesses to Christ’s suffering, which reminds me that being ruling and teaching elders in the church is never an easy process.

We are the gate keepers of the faith and are meant to be the visionaries of our churches. Elders are always looking at the bigger picture and what lies ahead. 

If we only concentrate on the here and now, we will never reach the blessings yet to come.

These are anxious times for our faith, but if our elders at Amberlea and across the Presbyterian Church remain faithful to Christ, uphold His teachings, and live according to God’s Word, then we will not only share in Christ’s glory, but we will also be handing over a strong church for the elders yet to be ordained in years to come.

Please come this Sunday to witness the ordination of three new elders who will join the Amberlea Session.  

It is finished but not over!

Just like that, Easter is over!  The preparing, shopping, cooking, church services and celebrations are all over for another year.  Other than Christmas, I don’t know of another holiday that is subject to so much anticipation. 

With the celebration of Easter over, now what?

Life can so quickly resume to normal, can’t it?  If we’re honest, we might wonder what difference the resurrection has made in the practical stuff of life.  We still have difficulties with work or school or loved ones. The world is still broken and scary. 

You may remember the story in Luke 24 about two men walking along the road to Emmaus in the time after Jesus’ resurrection and before His ascension.  Jesus came up and walked beside them but they didn’t recognize who He was. 

Jesus asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” (Luke 24:17) 

With downcast faces, they answered the “stranger” and wondered aloud how anyone could have missed knowing about the events in Jerusalem. As they walked together they explained how they knew of Jesus by His reputation: “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” (Luke 24:19b) 

They continued to tell their walking companion that: “We had hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:21a) They described how it had been three days and His tomb was open but He was missing.

On this walk together the two men heard from Jesus “what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27) and they still didn’t get it! They didn’t see that Jesus was right there walking with them! It wasn’t until they invited the stranger in to sit down and eat with them that they finally put it all together.

At the table, Jesus takes the bread, gives thanks, and then breaks it before He gives it to them with His nail-scarred hands. “Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight.” (Luke 24:30) 

Spending time with Him, hearing truth from Him as He taught from Scripture, and being given the broken bread—that’s when their eyes were open.  That’s when they recognized Him. Their hearts burned within them from their experience on the road and they returned to Jerusalem proclaiming “It is true! The Lord has risen….” (Luke 24:34)

Those two men on the road to Emmaus are not unlike you and me.  

Spending time in Scriptures, spending time in worship, spending time with God’s people, breaking bread together, remembering God’s faithfulness in our lives—that’s how we get to know the Lord.  Our journey does not stop at Easter.  Our journey, like the journey of the two men on the road, is just beginning. May our our hearts burn within us and may we continue to proclaim, well after Easter Sunday, “It is true! The Lord has risen. . . . .”

Hosanna!

A couple of weeks ago our eldest, Emily, moved back to Ontario after living and working in Yukon for two years. I am so thrilled to have her “home”! It feels like my heart is finally back in my chest. 

When we went to the airport to pick her up I was giddy with excitement.  But I was not alone. At the airport, there were other people picking up loved ones.  Some were decked out with balloons and flowers, which had me feeling outdone. Regardless, as each moment passed the more excited I got.  Emily was coming!! 

On Sunday we celebrated Palm Sunday with the waving of palm branches and singing “Hosanna”. I can’t help but think of the crowd of people that gathered on the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem (check it out).   This crowd gathered not see a bunch of different people but to see one person, and that one person was Jesus.  The Messiah! 

Imagine if you were there in Jerusalem those many years ago.  The Passover was being celebrated, a celebration of thankfulness to God for bringing God’s people out of Egyptian captivity.  So Jerusalem was an incredibly busy place with people filling the streets.  It was also a time, however, when the Israelites were under oppression from the Roman government and they were anxiously waiting for God to send them a deliverer, another Moses or David.

As Jesus entered into the city the people began to cry “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest”.  They had heard of Jesus’ great wisdom and miracles.  Others were there when He had fed the five thousand with only a few fishes and loaves of bread.  This must be the man who would save them! 

The crowds took the cloaks off their backs and spread them on the road.  They waved branches, cheering “Hosanna, in the highest”.  Their shout of “Hosanna” was a shout of “Save us”.

But as we know, Jesus did not come to save them from their political oppression.  He came to rescue them from their sins. 

As we enter into the Easter story this week, know that this man of power and presence – Jesus the Christ – came not only for those in the crowed streets of Jerusalem, but He came for you and for me.  

Jesus came to rescue us from our sins.  As we sing “Hosanna in the highest” we, like the crowd in Jerusalem, are singing “Save us”.  However, unlike the crowd that gathered that day, we have the assurance that when we surrender and commit our lives to the king, Jesus will save us!  Praise be to God.  

Hosanna!

We invite you to take part in all the Easter services and activities at Amberlea:   

• Special Maundy Thursday Messy Church, 6 p.m.  For all ages… dinner provided.
• Good Friday service, 11 a.m.   
• Easter Breakfast, 9:30 a.m.  
• Easter Worship Service, 11 a.m.

Take in the richness of this season.