Sunday April 26, 10:30 a.m.
As I write this, an invitation from the national offices of the Presbyterian Church in Canada has appeared on my desktop screen. It just popped up, but amazingly, providentially, seems directly connected to this coming Sunday’s service of worship …
The message during our worship will be offered by the church school, through readings and interpretative dance, focusing upon God’s great gift in Jesus Christ. It will conclude with lyrics by Matt Maher from his composition ‘Christ is Risen’, ‘Come awake, come awake, Come and rise up from the grave’.
The invitation of my inbox offers an opportunity to take up the life we know in the risen Lord, particularly his ministry of reconciliation. ‘All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation’ (2 Corinthians 5:18).
The invitation is to colour a paper flower – it sounds easy but will be hard. The national Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s closing event will be held June 1-3, 2015 in Ottawa. Church groups across Canada are being invited by KAIROS to make Hearts for Reconciliation, to be ‘planted’ by local school children on the grounds of Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General of Canada. We are being invited to embrace our native brothers and sisters who were residential school students and acknowledge that what we offered may have been with the best of intentions but has brought hurt and harm, personal and generational, cultural and indeed spiritual.
To take up the work of reconciliation is not easy for us as Christians, but then it was not for Christ either. And it is the way of life. ‘Come awake, come awake, Come and rise up from the grave’
Join us in the worship of God this Sunday (see the full list of announcements in the attachment below) – there will be papers with flower patterns waiting!
p.s. for more information, check http://presbyterian.ca/healing/
http://presbyterian.ca/wp-content/uploads/Heart-Garden-Instructions-KAIROS-Final.pdf