Leadership Community Christmas Breakfast 2009

"2nds, 3rds, 4ths...anyone??"
"At least Mary Lou is listening intently... just kidding Scott..."

Just a few pics from our breakfast get together on December 12. The Fireside Room was the place to be to chow down on the amazing breakfast was cooked up by Connie and George!! Food and fellowship was shared by all. What a great way to close off 2009 and begin to anticipate and get excited about 2010 at Cambridge Vineyard!!

A missional Christian is....

Here is a funny video in light of our discussion at vineyard days about missional churches being the new buzz word...

A great Outcome

So one of the great outcomes of Vineyard days was gathering Sheri and Trevor as reps for the newly forming National Youth Development group for the Canadian Vineyard. These are great, great youth leaders and visionaries with a passion for youth in Canada. Here is what they came up with..... enjoy.





Hi Friends-I wanted to give a quick update on what came out of my time in Ontario for youth ministry development group meetings:3 of the 4 Development Group reps were present- Sherri McConnell from B.C. , Rob Hall from Ontario and myself representing the Atlantic. (Katie Schenk from Edmonton is the Prairie rep, but she couldn’t make it). Sherri is going to connect with her over the Christmas break, and gather some of her input. Monique also joined our talks from a National office perspective. This was the first face to face meeting for us all and it went well. We shared our personal visions for the next generations of the Vineyard in Canada, got to know each other, and then began talking about some plans moving forward.





Key points:


1) For the National Celebration in Penticton, we discussed running a concurrent equipping conference for students/young adults. Being in Kelowna, Sherri is developing a lot of this, so more details will unfold in the next couple of months.


2) We agreed to connect with Vineyard student ministry leaders within our regions, developing relationships and encouraging, resourcing them in any way we can. There are possibilities of equipping weekends for leaders within the regions.


3) The idea of short-term missions opportunities for Canadian Vineyard youth has a lot of energy on it. Beginning in the summer of 2011 we want students to be able to choose one of several missions outreaches lead by Vineyard leaders and joined by people from around the country. We plan to have the locations set by the National Celebration in 2010 so we can promote them and students can decide where they want to go and begin saving for the next year. Our first immediate action is for each team member to put together a photo/bio/personal elements of vision and send it to the whole team and to Jon for the website. I feel it was a valuable time- thanks for making the resources available.

Temptation

Here are some of the resources that I used for todays sermon in case you wanted more info.

1.The prayer at the end was adapted from a brilliant sermon by Charles Spurgeon.

“Lead us not into Temptation”

LORD, Lead us not into temptation
I don’t want to dishonour your name again
Lord, don’t lead me back there again.
I am not arrogant enough to think that I have the resolve to face my greatest fears about myself.
Lord, I have seen those who have lost life because of temptation….God I pity them, for it could be me…..help me Lord, and give those in temptation strength
http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols22-24/chs1402.pdf

2. wanna hear a great sermon....jim cantelon preaching on 'sex is the easy part'
www.wellchurch.ca

3. everyman's talmud-a great book explaning the sayings of rabbinic jews....

4. 2 other great classics worth reading
thomas a kempis the imitation of christ
jonathan edwards religious affections

Hell?

here is a nice little video from NT wright about hell.

Walking the Talk

Our first Vineyard Days has come and gone. I thought it was great that the Region pulled this off. It was easy for me because my only role was to run a workshop for 1 hour on Saturday.
It was to be on the whole thing of spiritual formation and leadership. I created this teaching around the idea that if you want to maintain your spiritual integrity in ministry, then you need to view ministry leadership through the lens of orienteering. Orienteering is a cross country sport where one navigates their way through unknown territory using only a map and a compass. I spoke about 4 different areas that one comes upon during the trek - the open field, the trail, lost in the bush, and the lookout. The open field represented Sabbath rest. As I was preparing this I kept feeling this prodding about practicing what I teach.

I try to do Sabbath rest, but I may as well be honest...'try' is not really accurate. I 'think about it' - that's as far as I usually get. Why? Lots to do!

Sabbath means quitting or stopping - on purpose! I know that the benefits are huge. But there is something inside me that sees all the work that has to be done...and it's a killer to NOT do it. So I'm feeling...really feeling that the Lord is putting a challenge in front of me: Take 24 hours straight, once per week and quit from doing things. I want to argue that this is not the season for this. We have begun to restructure, how can I possibly afford to take a full 24 hours off? But then I hear this other whispery voice saying - "you can't afford not to!"

My desire has always been to live like Jesus lived. You would think that by quitting [Oh yeh...quitting doesn't mean get busy around the house and do those chores - but to take time to do those things that bring me life - to rest - to read - to STOP.] Taking 24 hours totally off is radical for our culture - our culture measures our value by what we accomplish. And I've bought into that. So am I up to the challenge? I think so - I hope so, anyway.

So now the tough part - examining my schedule and life and fitting in this time...first. I invite you to follow me on my journey...
s

V Course Challenge

We just completed the V course with a group of 9 energetic people. We had 3 Sundays of exploring who Cambridge Vineyard is - everything from our history and values, to our core teaching of Jesus - the kingdom of God, and ending off with the challenge to engaging with other followers of Jesus - in other words, being part of community.
The last class was more experiential, so we had them participate in 2 team building activities. The object in the picture was the result of their second challenge...and this is what they came up with. I'm not going to tell you what it is because then we'd have to come up with a new activity! Can you guess what this is and why they needed to construct it? And you're not allowed to ask anyone from the group, either!

If you want to find out more, make sure you join us for the next session in the winter. Remember, it's not just for the newbies...but also for the oldies who may need a refresher!
s

Shauna's last supper

take a look at the photos of our last lunch with Shauna. we will miss her.

Vineyard Days Nov.6,7- Seminars

Remember their is child care at the conference.

Seminars available.
Theology
Missional Churches- are they a myth, or just trendy? Missional is the new in word in Christian circles, what does it mean, is what churches talk about today new, or is a reinvention of something old. Join Daniel Schuster, Brad Culver and Bob Buckley in a panel discussion about this.


Grace and Invitation: Participating in God's Work.
Join Frank Emanuel as he shares his passion for Theology. Christians believe that the expression of grace is God’s powerful answer to the problem of sin.... that whenever we observe, give or receive acts of grace we are seeing God actively confront and undo sins effects. What does this mean for us personally? What does this mean for society?

This workshop will explore how our eyes may be opened to see God’s work of grace in our jobs, our homes, our schools, and in our marketplaces; and how we, taking our lead from Jesus who always did what He saw His Father doing, might participate in this great labour of redemption.

Spiritual Health and Leadership
Orienteering Through Ministry. Engaging in ministry leadership is much like the sport of orienteering, navigating from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain. Scott Roe (pastor at Cambridge Vineyard) will discuss the essentials of maintaining spiritual integrity in ministry.

FAMILY AND CHILDREN
Family Devotions @ Work- passing on faith to our kids is a big deal. Come to a practical seminar with resources, and ideas to help you as parents pass on faith at home. leader:Jacqui Pylypiw

Children's Ministry Gathering- are you involved in a children's program at your church? Want to share the griefs and glories of it. Join Jacqui Pylypiw and the other leaders of the children's ministry from across Ont.

WORSHIP
A time of encouragement for worship artists (whether as worship leader or worship band member). Each of the folks from the worship development group will take a few minutes to speak value, purpose and direction to us world-weary worship leaders. These will be pointed, life-lived messages that will seek to build us up, point us forward and encourage us to dig deep as worship influencers.

Reclaiming imagination in our worship. This interactive workshop will focus on encouraging creative thinking/active listening during our times of worship. We want to learn together how to move past simply following along with our corporate liturgies into very personal meaning and intent. How can offering our imaginations to God create a far richer corporate gift for Him than simply gathering together and singing songs? This is ultimately about demonstrating how creative liturgies are best thought of as launching pads, not destinations. Look to move past theory into some experimental practice during this session.

Practical Ministry Leadership
Leaders who Launch Leaders- Every wondered how you multiply a ministry, or have you needed to find a leader to take over something? John Wright will be following up on his morning session with a discussion about the practical skills that help every leader move to being leaders who launch others into leadership. This will have practical outcomes for every leader in the church.

Ministry to New Immigrants- Ed and Marnie Kolar will tell of their experiences in helping care for new immigrants and Muslims. The Kolars have had opportunities to befriend and support refugees, as well as build friendships with Muslims and share Jesus with them. Learn some practical lessons for overcoming barriers of interacting and caring for people of other cultures. Get a taste of the ministries that are taking shape across the province in our various Vineyard Churches.

Great News

last week i had an unusual dilemna. I had a group of grade 8 boys disappointed that there was no youth program until they were in grade 9. This is unusual because boys in grade 8 aren't really thinking much about bible study.

This unnerved me a bit because I love jr high programs. They help build relationships and the spiritual foundation that kids need before they get in the competitive world of high school. In highschool kids compete for attention from friends, teachers, for marks, for spots on sports teams. Without a firm grip on their faith most kids fit in faith where ever there is room left over.

So when you have group of boys sad.....God's gotta do something. To answer my prayer i was approached sunday by someone who wants to help lead it. All we need is an occasional volunteer, the kids to buy in and we are off!!!!!

We hope in Nov. we will run Jr. High for grade 8's the same time as Ngage. (wed 7-9). We will run it 2x a month.

cool eh!

What a Great Neighbourhood!

I find it interesting how 1 person talks to 1 person, and then that can start a whole chain of events. A couple of months back, Kylie Portaccio was at a board meeting to discuss our preschool starting up, and she happened to mention to me about the Alison Neighbourhood Community Centre. She was talking to Courtney who runs the centre and relayed some info about the neighbourhood where CV is planted. I was intrigued. I contacted Courtney and set up a meeting. I met her and learned lots about the demographics of the area, what they are doing, and light bulbs began to come on as to how we could partner.
So I had Courtney come to our Leadership Team Gathering in mid-September to chat with us about our neighbours...more ideas began to flow from that.

Yesterday, the Community Centre was having a party to celebrate the clean up and restoration of the tunnel at the end of Elgin St. There were around 10 folks from CV there - really cool. And the networking that took place and connections with the neighbours was even better. Ideas were flowing and it's so great to be a part of this neighbourhood. Take a walk around and thank God for planting us here. What a huge blessing!

Check them out at www.alisonneighbourhood.org

God Wants to Meet with Us

Hi CV. This morning I had the opportunity to emcee the services, since Scott and Rob were both away at the men's retreat.

I want to tell you an interesting thing that happens to me every time I have the mic and stand in front of all of you. Whether I am up there to speak or just to make one announcement, or whatever, I am overwhelmed with a feeling of intense longing and love - And I know it is the Lord's heart for you all. The feeling is something like how much he longs to meet with us, with each of us. It is intense - it's longing and love and compassion and both a bit excited and teeny bit sad at the same time, like when you want something and you love it but you can't quite get enough of it either. You may have noticed that often when I am up there I am trying not to cry as I share. And that is why. I am overwhelmed with this feeling of how much Jesus loves us, how much he longs to meet with us, and that he is waiting for each of us to invite him - to tell him that we want Him to be involved and to meet with us. It is beautiful and intense and it gets me every time!

So come to church next time with that in mind - that Jesus is waiting for you, wanting to meet you wherever you are at, intensely longing to connect with you and love you and give you some of himself.

Announcement for Sunday Sept 30 2009

Prophetic Picture- Sept 20 2009

Patrick shared this picture with the elders this summer. They discerned that it would be important to share with the church and have the church prayerfully consider it.

If people have words, pictures, prophesies for the church put it in writing and approach the elders who will consider it and get back to you as quickly as possible.

thanks.

Vineyard DAYS

So I have finally got up the website for Vineyard Days. Nov. 6,7. I had a bit of trouble cause it actually meant making a webite for the ontario region. At some point I hope it will look cool, but at least it is functional.

http://www.ontariovineyards.org/

THE GREAT NEWS is we are hosting the other vineyards gathering here. I always feel like I have family coming when we get together like this.

Mark it on your Calendars
AND
if you have space to billet someone please let me, donna, or reception know. We want everyone to come who wants too.

Vineyard Days Nov 6,7

Hey we are hosting a conference for Ontario Region here in Nov.

Nov 6,7 2009

It’s better Together
Ontario Vineyard Churches gather in Cambridge this November for a worship, teaching, and loads of practical seminars. This conference answers the question, ‘why do training alone when we can do it together?’ Partnering with Vineyard National Development groups we are offering seminars for every person in your church-from parents, to theology professors, from worshippers to board members.

Highlights- worship with leaders from across Canada (worship to be by leaders from the National Worship Development group and may include: Monique Tute, Kris MacQueen, Adrian Wilson and friends)
- Daniel Schuster- the Vineyard’s landlocked surfer who loves the poor will be sharing his journey at JLYS and Epic.
- Training for- children’s ministry, small groups, mercy ministry, worship leaders
- A special Children’s program- preschool to grade 4 (Saturday only)- Super Book Olympics

Cost for weekend $40 and evening sessions free
*register in advance for child care
**to make the conference feasible, we are offering billets (first come first serve)

Key note speakers


Daniel Schuster - SpeakerCalgary, AB. Canada
Daniel Schuster spends a large portion of his day along the dirty streets of the ‘Beltline’ in Calgary, AB. As the director of a family centre in the inner-city (JLYS), what you’d find him doing most days is hugging his friends on the street and speaking ‘life’ over them. What you’ll hear from him, are stories of what love does as it leaks out into the lives of broken people. Daniel belongs with his lovely wife Jennifer, and together they have three crazy boys who do the best job possible of creating all sorts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness…and bloodshed.





John Wright- will be sharing about creating leaders who develop leaders. Many of us have figured out how to lead something, but the next hurdle is passing leadership on to new people, even a new generation. Sharing from scripture and from his leadership experience, John will help identify the skills necessary for stewarding new leaders. Has a long list of credentials, head of the board for Vineyard Canada, Pastor of Guelph Vineyard, and Leadership coach for CEOs through his work with Eagle’s Flight.

Dunkin' - baptism video Sept 09

Love Incarnate

So I am reading Jean Vanier this aft...after a great morning of worship! And this part is so great I have to tell you, because it is about us at CV.

Jean writes "L'Arche (his organization of group homes for the mentally handicapped) is special, in the sense that we are trying to live in community with people who are mentally handicapped. Certainly we want to help them grow and reach the greatest independence possible. But before 'doing for them', we want to 'be with them'. The particular suffering of the person who is mentally handicapped, as of all marginalized people, is a feeling of being excluded, worthless and unloved. It is through everyday life in community and the love that must be incarnate in this, that handicapped people can begin to discover that they have a value, that they are loved and so are lovable." (bold and italics mine)

This is what we want to do at CV - to 'be with them' before 'doing for them'. And when we do that, they become a part of us, and we are all changed into the image of Jesus. And then together we 'be with' the next person, and the next...He is Emmanuel - God with us. May we reflect Him, every day.

Tour to Windsor

Kate, Genevieve and I went to Windsor to preach and lead worship. We had a great time. Here are some photos:

Here is Ed, pastor of the Windsor vineyard. You might be interested in knowing the Windsor is the oldest vineyard in Ontario...

When we walked in the front door this is the scene. A pile of bottles ready for the next water giveaway. Now if you talk to people who have been through windsor, you know that giveaways play a huge part in the ministry of the Vineyard. Not only have they been faithful in practical demonstrations of God's grace for 20 years. Now that is faithful.. What was really cool is I meant 2 people who had been saved because of this simple ministry. Everything works.

God bless, Ed and Marnie and the rest of the Windsor Crowd.

Amen.

Labour Day Outdoors- Photos.

Here are some photos from our outdoor service Sunday.

A gift of a bible- afterthought

here is the illustration from scott's sermon sunday.

Learning To Receive

Have you ever been given a gift, a reward or an encouraging word that you just couldn't understand why or where or even how it came to be for you?

Were you able to accept it wholeheartedly or did feelings of guilt, undeserving or even shamefulness stir inside of you?

When a few of us were in Toronto a couple weekends ago we met an amazing man named Richard. He took us on a walk through the streets of T.O. and shared with us pieces of his story and the world he continues to live in, but is no longer a part of.

At the end of the weekend Em (leader of UrbanX) received a text message from Richard and took note to mention that he never sends messages unless it's about an excursion. He said he had a message for me and went on through five text messages to say that basically, I had greatly inspired him.

I was speechless. In fact it still stumps me.

I've been finding it really hard to accept this amazing blessing and encouragement because I didn't do anything that night, in my eyes, that would initiate such beautiful comments from another. Especially one who has come out of a much darker place than I have ever been.

Richard is the inspiring one. He's the one who has strength, love and compassion on the sleeve of his arm.

Rob asked me if I felt guilty and undeserving of the gift given. After thinking about it for a bit I thought, "Ya kind of... it's just... I didn't do anything!"

This has not been an easy blog for me to write (ask Julie). I think it's because I've been trying to make sense of why, out of five other people I was centered out as an inspiration when all I did was look Richard in the eyes and listened. I've been trying to work it out so I could give God all the credit and not have to receive the gift.

Sometimes we have encounters with people and to us, we may just feel like us (maybe not even the best version of us), but to another, in that moment, something within us touches them.

Richard saw something in me that moved him...

God blesses us because we are His children...

Receive it. Accept it. Share it.

To Blog Or Not To Blog - What's The Big Deal?

I was informed by the BBM yesterday that there was a specific reason he made it a requirement for me to write blogs. He informed me last week that I was three blogs behind and I had not realized he was keeping track. I had been keeping track. I knew I was behind, but I also thought it wasn't a big deal if I didn't complete them all... they're just blogs.

What is so important about blogging anyways? What are blogs for?
Why do we blog?

1. To communicate. To share our ideas, thoughts and resources with one another.

2. To share stories. It is beneficial for others to hear what pain, frustrations and victories we have and face. It can be of great encouragement to those who are in the midst of their own battles and triumphs. It is also beneficial for ourselves to share our stuff.
Shelley ended one of her blogs back in July with a statement that really impacted me. Paraphrasing she said, that being a witness to Jesus is about being open with our lives and inviting people to see into our struggles, hurts, lessons learned, joys and gifts.

3. To have a voice. We all have things to say. We all have good days and bad days, times when we don't know where we're at in our heads and hearts. We all have God moments or moments of truth, as some may put it. We all have different perspectives on how we see and feel about what's going on in our world and the world at large. These are valuable things to share.

This leads me to my final point, which I think is the reason Rob is adamant about me blogging.

4. Our person has value. This means what we do, what we think, what we use, how we feel, how we are, who we are... these things are important and hold such great value we need to share them with others.

So, you're thinking, "well yah Genevieve, that's obvious". Well, the thing is, I have a love hate relationship when it comes to blogging. (This happened in university in Dan's class as well.) I want to blog because I enjoy writing, but unless what to write about is obvious I never know what to write.
Rob is always pointing out things I could blog about and I think he's crazy, "I can't write about that," I say...

Why?

Because someone might disagree with me (which means I'm wrong -in my head).
People would know how I really feel or think (which makes me vulnerable).
I might offend or hurt someone (which would make them mad at me, which means they don't like me -in my head).
Who really cares about what I think anyways (shut-up youstis! - the name Sarah Compton gave her negative inner voice and shared at the 2008 Women's Retreat).

Rob said to me this morning that it's generally not our stories/messages that people remember, it's everything that makes up our stories and how we choose to tell them -the stories within the Story. How we interact with our family, what we do for fun, what challenges us, what we do when we're sad, what books we read, what movies we watch or don't watch, what inspires us, what makes us mad, what is our art.

All these things reveal pieces of who we are as individuals. Each one is an expression of the uniqueness God has put in us and shows how we are choosing to form our journey's.

Why is it important for me to blog? Because it challenges me to look for the value within my environment, my community and most importantly the value I have within myself - all of the elements that make up who I am are valuable and worth sharing with others.

Having this knowledge move from my head and root itself in my heart is a big part of my journey.

How True it is...

I'm in the middle of a week of vacation and haven't really done all that much...which is just the way it's supposed to be! I'm doing a bit of this and that - no real projects. Any reading that I'm doing is mostly light. I'm reading a bit from Fred Smith (he was a model Christian leader) and thought I'd pass this little quote he made. He wrote this in the context of being a mature leader and that at some point, maturity will bring us to the crossroads of the here and the hereafter - and mature leaders live their life with an understanding of the hereafter. And then he adds this:

If I see any one danger sign in our society, it is losing our consciousness of God and the hereafter. The Puritans were strongly motivated by their sense of God’s ultimate judgment. In my many years of living I have never known a devout Christian come to the end of his life and wish he had lived unChristianly. On the other hand, I have known many non-believers who felt they missed the bar and wanted a do-over. A priest for street people told me, “I’ve never known a dying man to call for his therapist.”

I think he's right...but then again, maybe it's because 50 is crouching at my door ready to pounce!

Attention Worship Leaders -- It can be easier.

One of the great benefits I recieved from being a student in the former program, The Institute of Contemporary Emerging Worship Studies (ICEWS) at St. Stephen University, is that I became a member of a fantasitic worship resource called, WorshipTeam.com.

This is a web-based program that has pretty much everything a worship leader needs to build a set, enter new songs, share songs and most importantly communicate with the rest of their team and the church. And it's incredibly simple!

The program allows you to brows through thousands of songs, change the key of songs with one click, as well as hear the songs in the same chosen key... Amazing!

You can edit, revise and save songs to fit yours and your bands needs. When you create a set list you give it a title, when the set is complete you can tell your team the title of the set, they log in from home and click the set title and all the songs, chord charts and mp3's are there before them. They can then print them off and practice.

It can also come in handy on a Sunday morning as the person on PowerPoint just pulls up the program, clicks on the set title and clicks export to set-up the viewing screen -- Quick and Easy.

This program has saved me time, energy and basically from going crazy, especially on days or nights that I'm in a hurry to prepare sets and get chord charts and lyrics together.

http://www.worshipteam.com/ I encourage all lead worshippers and team members to check out this link. You can explore and research the site. It does cost money to join, but it is not at all unreasonable and if all leaders and teams feel this will work best for them, you can make a proposal to the church.

If you want a deeper look at the program I'd be happy to go through my account with you -- just let me know.

This program really has changed my life as a worship leader.

Cleaning your cup

So,

The nagging thing about cleanliness is, 'how do i clean my cup?' 'Will I ever be clean?' It can be such a nagging thing that often Christians resort to thinking, 'well, at least jesus loves me when i am dirty, so I guess I'll just stay that way.' This is basically restorting to the idea that God forgives my sin, so it doesn't matter that I keep on sinning.

Romans 6,7 address this when Paul says, 'should I keep on sinning, so that more grace abounds?- NO. Galatians 5 talks about freedom that we receive as Christians, that we no longer need to sin, because God gives us the power to live differently. Freedom means, we are free to choose the right thing.

Needless to say, that being dirty, separates us from others. Nobody likes dirty stuff. Being dirty is discouraging because we feel our inadequacy, our shortcomings. The hope is that God loves us, and can change us. Faith is walking this change out. By walking it out, this faith, that ignores the dirt, and our hopeless, godless emotions, we find that God makes us, clean and makes our dirty lives valuable.

Sunday, I talked about Sunje, the guy doing rock balancing on Queen st. in toronto. I have his website linked here. Check it out.

Ironically I also was listening to CBC on the way home where the program Tapestry, was dealing with the idea of cleanliness in world religions. It is well worth the listen.

The program we went to be a part of is called URBAN X. Check them out, they are a fantastic group who take people to be with and learn from the poor. Challenge yourself to go beyond thinking the poor are projects to be fixed.

Who's reading the blog?

I thought I'd throw this up as a human interest story.... Here is a sample of the people checking us out from around the globe.

It's nice to know someone is reading...hope you're enjoying it.

God's Rhythm...My Rhythm

When does the day begin for you? If you're like me, it begins when the alarm goes off...for me, around 5:30.

I'm curious...when I read Genesis, I read 'there was evening, there was morning...". Is it possible that according to God, the day begins when we think it ends? From my perspective, 'activity' begins when people get up. So from God's perspective, does activity really begin when we stop all of our activity and efforts? Something tells me that when I am asleep, God is at work in his world and in the hearts of people. And when I wake...rather than beginning something, am I being invited to join God in what he's already started? If that is so (and something tells me that it is), then it changes things drastically for me and it should for all lovers of God.

If a new day is being created just when my body is winding down, then I have this thought that sleep should be sweet and restful. Think about it...according to Genesis, my day starts with a meal shared with family or friends; followed by casual talk and hanging out with family and maybe some friends; then I get to sleep. When I wake up, I am aware that He has already been at work in me and in others. What a difference that makes for me as I begin my day. I still don't know what I'm going to face that day, but I think there is a better chance at approaching it with anticipation rather than fear and trepidation.

God is good (and smart)!

Neighbourhood Life

So how do you like living in your neighbourhood? Better still, if you have lived there long enough, have you ever wondered what the neighbours think of you? Usually how we see ourselves and how others see us can be worlds apart. I hope my neighbours like me, because I like them...at least most them anyway.

As the Cambridge Vineyard, we live in the Alison street neighbourhood. And believe it or not, the folks that live around here have opinions about their neighbourhood. I found that out when I was handed the results of a survey taken by the Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries. Here are some of the things our neighbours had to say:
- it's a good place to live
- good place to raise children
- safe

Some things they really liked
- mosque
- sense of community
- quiet
- school

Some of the things they least like
- using the tunnel
- dirty
- bullying
- theft and vandalism
- lack of interaction with neighbours

How they like to be communicated with
Favourite way - word of mouth, followed by newspaper, newsletters, posters, flyers, church bulletins...

Things they see as assets in their community "the park, mosque, Alison Community Centre, the Vineyard Church, St. Anne's School."

Some things they would like to see:
- an English language learning centre
- increase safety by the tunnel
- foot paths
- more open space for kids to cycle and play
- clean up the scary night life
- someone from the community who can speak the same language as the women who cannot speak English well
- a program to link new Canadians with their surroundings and new neighbours
- a community centre that is more accessible to all age groups


I love John's words in describing the essence of Jesus' mission - The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. (John 1:14) So simple...

God's Left Hand

Last week I was reflecting in Psalm 118. There are some heart piercing verses there like:
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever.
or "In my anguish I cried tio the Lord, and he answered by setting me free." or 'The Lord
is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man to to me? The Lord is my helpr." or
'I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength
and my song; he has become my savation."

Then my eyes lighted on "The Lord's right hand has done mighty things!
The Lord's right hand is lifted high; the Lord's right had has done mighty things!"

I pondered then asked the Lord, "So what do you do with your left hand?", and I
though I heard Him say, "That's the hand I hold you with."


Jacqui P

Finding Jesus

I am reading Jean Vanier, a guy who has devoted his life to finding Jesus in the poor**. Here is a quote that I think applies to us all at CV, since we are pursuing the mission of Jesus as described in Isa. 61.

"...God chose the weak and the despised in order to accomplish his work of love. The world seeks human and technical knowledge; God wants the heart and love. So he chooses the little ones in order to confound the clever. That is the folly of the Gospels and of God, whose ways are often just the opposite to the ways of culture and reason. Our world is a world of scientific discoveries, materialism, search for money, power and independence; it is also a world of confusion, oppression, tyranny, apartheid, a breakdown of values and the rejection of God. L'Arche and Faith and Light*, (and Cambridge Vineyard) as small as they are, have a message for the world and good news for the poor** and for those who are close to them: God loves them and watches over them. "God has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the humble and the lowly."
In a world that constantly urges people to climb the ladder of human promotion, the Holy Spirit is teaching us to go down the ladder in order to find light in the hearts of the poor**. That seems crazy and even impossible. It is a secret Jesus has entrusted to us...and to many others in our world today. However, in order to live this secret folly, each one of us needs to grow in the love of God. In order to discover Jesus in the heart of the poor** and to be faithful in living with them, our hearts must grow in Jesus. To become a faithful friend of the poor** we must become a faithful friend of Jesus."

"Are there not two dangers that confront all followers of Jesus: either to be too distant from the poor**, too closed up in our own spiritual life, or else to be too distant from a union of love with Jesus and his Father because of too much involovement in social matters? Is this not the challenge of L'Arche*: to try to find a harmony beteween an intimate union with Jesus, an interior life in the Holy Spirit, and at the same time a loving presence to and with the poor**? We need to ask Jesus and his Holy Spirit to give us the grace to live this unity."

"Each one of us is called in an urgent way to become a man or woman of peace and reconciliation wherever we may be. We are called to open our hearts and minds to people who are different from us and who disturb us - to let the Holy Spirit come in to our beings and take away our fear of others, so that we may become less intimidated in welcoming others and listening to them."

After a visit to a large institution in Romania filled with handicapped children Jean writes...
"As I went from room to room and from bed to bed in that insitution, seeing all the little faces that were looking at me with such a thirst for love, I felt almost physically ill. It was too much. But how to help these people in Romania discover that all these little faces are faces of prophets who are calling us to tenderness and to love, that these faces in search of love are revealing the deepest thirst in the heart of all human beings, that the anwer to war is to welcome one of these little ones in the name of Jesus?"

"God is hidden in the weak and in the poor**, and as we enter into communion with them, we enter into communion with Jesus and the Father."

"There is a tendency everywhere today to want a victorious religion, a successful Jesus, as proof of our goodness and our truth. We forget the true Jesus who was persecuted, abandoned, lonely, who suffered agony, wept and was crucified. We forget that Jesus continues to live today in those who are persecuted, abandoned, lonely, crucified, in agony and in those who weep. They are waiting for friends who will be with them, who will accompany them on this journey of life and whose presence will transform the pain of loneliness into the joy of communion."

*(organizations which work to build relationships and commununities with the intellectually disabled and their parents)

**From dictionary.com
poor 
–adjective 1. having little or no money, goods, or other means of support
2. dependent upon charity or public support.
3. meagerly supplied or endowed with resources or funds.
4. characterized by or showing poverty.
5. deficient or lacking in something specified
6. faulty or inferior, as in construction
7. deficient in desirable ingredients, qualities, or the like
8. excessively lean or emaciated
9. of an inferior, inadequate, or unsatisfactory kind
10. lacking in skill, ability, or training
11. deficient in moral excellence:cowardly, abject, or mean.
12. scanty, meager, or paltry in amount or number
13. humble; modest
14. unfortunate; hapless

Synonyms:
needy, indigent, necessitous, straitened, destitute, penniless, poverty-stricken. meager.unsatisfactory, shabby. sterile, barren, unfruitful, unproductive. thin, skinny, meager, gaunt. miserable, unhappy, pitiable.

Summer Childrens schedule

Afterthought- A Question about Fasting

Matt 9. 14-17

So there are a few things that seem to be a fact of life....

1. is that people get old-Now don't get me wrong, I am the first to admit my lack of youthful gusto. But it seems to me that...something that defines adulthood is- stability By the time you have kids you have become who you are..change is harder. I notice that people in their 50’s don’t often like new things…they can teach others, and lead them into new things, but their preference would be to stay the same. That means to bring in young people into leadership, what we often do is tell them inadvertanly, 'well you gotta fit into our thing.'

This message today for all us oldies might seem hard. But I think the awesome thing that I see is that the motivation of the kingdom is to pursue new containers, not get rid of old ones. Old wine needs its container too. (I love that there are churches that play organ music. It affirms that even when I get old there will be a place for me)....but in seeing so many old churches full of resources and no people it makes me wonder.....how can we grow old better?

I think Jesus' words to us are....

Find a new container for the New wine.
A great example of this might be Tim Kellers mega church in the states. He has decided to retire and realizing there is no one to take his place he has said, you know what we are going to do is....CHANGE. We are going to find 4 young pastors and plant 4 new churches. You can choose where you want to go, but this thing is going to end.
This approach:
doesnt sacrifice a new piece of cloth (a young preacher) on a old cloth
it allows people to reevaluate and contextualize what God is doing now in 4 new and unique ways, and provides the stretch the new thing will need to contain the new wine.


how do you see this passage?

Strangers in Black

A couple months ago I preached a sermon about how strangers are a gift of the Holy Spirit to us. God uses us to bring the kingdom to them and them to us. Far from being able to just walk by and ignore them-the people we bump into can profoundly impact our life. This should just be an expected occurence for Christians.

Tom Vogel, our resident story teller, here recounts an experience of his as an infant encountering the men in black.

Summer Preaching Schedule

people have been asking....here it is..

WHAT IS burning on your heart to share with the church?

July 5 - Scott
July 12 - Cyndi
July 19 - Kim
July 26 - Rob
Aug 2 - Outdoor Service W. Galt
Aug 9 - Chris Land
Aug 16 - Rob
Aug 23 - Jason Baskerville
Aug 30 - Scott

The Candle of Devotion

When I was at university this past year, I had the privilege of being inspired, taught and guided under the wing of Dan Wilt M.Min, an honourable child of God, who teaches through the abundance of his experiences as an International Worship/ Creative leader. It was definitely one of the better years of my life.

Something Dan would do at the beginning of every class we had with him was light a candle and recite a phrase, "Lord, as I light this candle we recognize that You are completely devoted to us and we say in response that we are completely devoted to You." We would then follow with a prayer and sometimes worship and then go on with the teaching time. I really enjoyed this action and I began doing it on my own. When I got up in the morning or before I started writing a paper, and also at the beginning of my quiet times. I found it helped to centre me, bring my thoughts to One focus; a stillness before my Maker.

When I came home for the summer and began leading worship for our youth again, I had a sense to include this symbolic action at the beginning of our worship time. In doing this I noticed a great calm that would wash over the kids. I haven't had to fight for their attention as much to begin the worship and one of them usually asks if they can light the candle. It seems it has given them something to focus on and opens a space for them to worship Jesus.

Below I have included a link to a YouTube clip of Dan explaining in more detail why this simple action can be useful in our personal times of daily devotion. He'll explain it much better than I ever could. It's about 6mins and worth a watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7MF9OWJRNo

Hostess'

Fresh faces!

One more thing to look forward to this summer as part of our services, other than Chris Land, Kim Maxwell, and Jason Baskerville preaching is.....Genevieve and Stephanie Wahl Hosting the services. This is a great opportunity for some public speaking. It is also a great opportunity for us to include some new faces- (we're glad they agreed to it!). If you like it be sure to cheer each Sunday for them.

Cheers

Mining Wisdom

I admire leaders who are full of integrity and godly wisdom. Either listening to them or reading their words is like drinking a hot cup of dark roasted coffee - you savor every mouthful!

Fred Smith Sr. is a man who loved Jesus, was full of wisdom, and was a brilliant leader. Although I've never met him, I feel like I know him quite well. The other day I read something by him that was so rich, that I need to share it with you. It's entitled:
Fundamental People Principles

Here are three simple things that I have learned about people.

First, I have learned that I waste time in trying to correct other people's mistakes. I should use the time to utilize their strengths and buttress their weaknesses. A lot of training programs I have seen are geared to overcoming weaknesses - what a waste of time!

Second, I have learned that you can't change anybody else. Each person has to change himself or herself - you can't do it for them. You can set up pressures or you can be there to encourage, but the action can't be taken for another. You might even create fear that will cause a temporary change but nothing permanent. We spend an awful lot of time putting temporary situations in place, thinking that we have changed a person, but in the end it is only a short-term fix.

Third, I have learned that people are the way they are because they want to be that way. I haven't always believed this. In fact, when I started out in life, I wanted to be a social worker and I became extremely disillusioned with people. Now I am totally convinced that each of us is the way we are because we want to be that way. We rationalize and give all kinds of reasons that it's not true, but bottom line: You are choosing to be who you are.

When you have an opportunity to change and you don't take it, you are deciding to stay where you are. And of course, when you grow through personal challenges, you are becoming who you want to be. People who want to change make a plan. Too often lack of a plan is an easy way to rationalize the unwillingness to make changes.

Now that's rich! Here are 3 questions from Fred that you can ponder:

1. How am I choosing to stay stuck in life?
2. What is the best choice that I have made in the last six months?
3. Who is my mentor, or coach?

What's Your Piece?

In Elder's Team meetings lately we have been discussing the biblical, historical and present role of elders in our church. The subject came up for a couple of reasons, one being when we add new elders to our mix they naturally want to know what it is they need to be doing. The other reason is, as with any job, when the expectations are high and the instructions are vague, much stress and burnout may result. Our expectations are high not because we serve a demanding bunch, but because we want to see the kingdom come and the gospel lived. And because we always want to see more. So in order to better serve as elders and to stay healthy as individuals, we are discussing, praying about and contemplating our role.

There are some things that are very clear to us. We want to be a church that is about all of us living the gospel, not a church where the leaders do everything and the people come to watch. When people come and join us we want them to participate with us and to be a disciple of Jesus. I think of it sometimes as though CV is a big picture, and each of us are a part of it, like in a puzzle. Together as we serve Jesus the whole picture becomes visible. I personally like this idea, since I often tend to look at my piece all on its own, and think that it doesn't look like much of anything. But of course, when you put a puzzle together you know that each piece on its own shows pretty much nothing at all of the whole picture!

So what piece of the picture am I? What piece are you? This month we had elder homework. We are each contemplating some personal questions to help us zero in a bit more and better identify our roles, or our own piece of the puzzle.

Since CV is the sum of its members, I thought I would put the questions up here, re-written to be applicable to all of us - they are great 'food for thought'!

What questions do you have about being a part of CV (Cambridge Vineyard)?

Why are you a part of CV?

Do you feel you have a specific role in the team?

How does your role fit with the other members of CV?

Finish the sentence: I am a disciple of Jesus to _____

If you are in a small group this might make an interesting discussion. And of course you can also comment on here if you wish, or talk to any of us in person.

Shelley Maw

P.S. Something to think about: Allowing others to witness your life as you learn and love and struggle and hurt and serve and give and receive...this is being a witness to Jesus.

Insect Questions - Here!!

K. so every once in a while I get asked insect questions.....your garden variety usually. I love to answer them, so if you have one...by all means send it to me. It is just one way i justify all the money and 4 years spent on an agriculture degree.

BUT....here is the answer to a riddle that Bruce had for me while he was weeding the gardens at the church- thanks Bruce!! It seems the canna lilies and the roses at the church were being eaten....but by what? We found these little wonders on the roses eating small holes.

It is called the Japanese Beetle.

Popillia japonica

The beetle species Popillia japonica is commonly known as the Japanese beetle. It is about 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) long and 1 cm (0.4 inches) wide, with iridescent copper-colored elytra and green thorax and head. It is not very destructive in Japan, where it is controlled by natural enemies, but in America it is a serious pest of about 200 species of plants, including rose bushes, grapes, [hops], canna, crape myrtles, and other plants.

SO BRUCE....I got bad news. Planting Canna, and roses together means.....hungry, hungry, Japanese Beetles....

BUT.

There may be good news.

During the larval stage, the Japanese beetle lives in lawns and other grasslands, where it eats the roots of grass. During that stage, it is susceptible to a fatal disease called milky spore disease, This may mean nothing....but at least it is something.

BUT wait there is more.....

Natural repellents include catnip, chives, garlic, and tansy[3], as well as the remains of dead beetles. Additionally, when present in small numbers, the beetles may be manually controlled using a soap-water spray mixture.

other good news....

There is only one generation per year. Adults emerge from the soil in late June through mid-July, feeding actively in sunny locations for 30-45 days

For further information....

check out omafra which has info on almost every insect found in Canada

now you know.

Macintosh Musing

It was a beautiful day, a perfect day to work outside. I was standing under what appeared to be an apple tree, though before that day I had not realized the existence of it's fruit bearing abilities -- a strand of Macintosh at that. It had been a couple of weeks since Rob had announced to me that we were going to prune the apple trees on the property. "Apple trees," I had exclaimed, unknowing that we even had one. We have four! Four (decent kinds of apple) trees in the backyard of the Cambridge Vineyard. One more new discovery since I've started working here six weeks ago.

So, there I was standing under the first chosen tree to prune, apparently a first experience for both us. Rob was already fully immersed in chopping off limbs and branches at the top of the tree when I walked over. I had a memory flash of an apple orchard and thought out loud, "Aren't apple trees supposed to be fairly sparse in branches?" Rob grinned and chuckled as he jumped out of the tree and answered me, "Yep. Apple trees are generally sparse -- we've got a lot of cutting to do," and he handed me the clippers.

For the trees to bear good fruit they need partial sun and partial shade, so the branches need to be spaced in a way that allows the sun to shine through, yet at the same time provides some coverage from too much heat. This is why typically the structure of an apple tree is shaped like a pyramid/triangle. The tree we were standing under was shaped like a big sphere. It took me a little while to figure out "what branches would get to live or die," as Rob so eloquently put it. At first I was timid and thought I was going to screw up the tree if I cut the wrong branch, but after my first few cuts I started seeing and understanding the process a bit more. As I looked up from the ground and surveyed the direction the branches were growing in, I was able to recognize what branches were good and what one's were deterring healthy growth.

"This is why we can be thankful that Jesus is gentle and only prunes us a little bit at a time." Rob's one sentence sermon ended as he finished sawing through a large branch with a 3.5-4" diameter. I should say it was more like the top of a limb he was cutting off. It was full of leaves and looked healthy, it had many smaller branches sprouting from its thick trunk. The limb fell to the ground with a thud. The leaves rustled and shook from the impact, then rested peacefully. "Yea, it's a good thing Jesus is gentle," I thought as I witnessed what looked like harsh treatment of a perfectly fine living structure, "..because the chopping off of a limb that size on my own body would really hurt."

I think it's hard for us to recognize pruning because all it really feels like is suffering. We may have a branch that is bearing good fruit of love and joy, but because of the great abundance of goodness there begins to sprout a lot of branches. So many, in fact that the weight of the branches become overbearing and because of the coverage, the limb begins to die from lack of warm sunlight. This may look like weariness, bitterness, resentment or frustration. This is a good branch that the Father needs to prune. Pruning may be Jesus asking you to step back from leadership for a while, or it may be needing to ask your son or daughter to choose only one sport per season. It may be making the decision to commit to only two nights out a week and the other three you stay home or it may be resolving some conflict between you and someone. Whatever it is, it is usually uncomfortable, hard and possibly hurts a little bit depending on the situation.

Well, I have now turned Rob's one sentence sermon into a six paragraph thought. I'm going to bring it to a close by saying, I'm really glad that I have Jesus to stand under me, look up and see the branches that are deterring good fruit from growing. And I'm really glad that He doesn't just walk away and leave me to grow into something that the Father did not create me to be. He only asks me to trust and obey.

Over-growth and bad fruit is self produced.