Month: February 2018

Prayer for our Gatherings

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Colossians 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

Prayer changes things. It changes the world around us, and it changes us. Various kinds of prayer are part of our regular practices here at the Vineyard. Prayer Ministry, Intercession and Prophecy are three of our Core Practices that relate to prayer. Like we often say, “can I pray for you?” and “will you pray for me?” are two questions we want to hear often in our community.

Pre-Service Prayer is a meeting before our gatherings for our gatherings. It is an intentional time of prayer that we all benefit from. The prayers that are prayed and the things Gods speaks in that prayer time directly impact our gathered times together. Prayer really makes a difference.

Pre-service prayer is a time we all benefit from.

We’re going to change this time up a bit to make it a more accessible, visible and focussed – we invite you to participate!

Every Sunday morning, at 9:45am a group will gather on the stage to pray for everything related to the gatherings that morning. This will be led by the Prayer Captain for the morning who will ensure the meeting starts on time and stays focussed. It’s ok to request prayer for something unrelated to the service that morning… just not at the Pre-service prayer. We’re going to keep it focussed on our gatherings. We pray – which means both speaking and listening. Often God gives nuggets that have significant impact on the ministry times during the service. It is one simple way we can devote ourselves to prayer that we will all benefit from!

 

>> Pre-Service Prayer – Every Sunday, 9:45am on the stage.

 

Hot Button Evening Recording on LGBTQ

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For those people who are part of WCV and who were not able to attend our Hot Button evening on Feb 11, we want you to know you missed a beautiful thing. People deeply listening to each other from opposing perspectives is a sacred thing. If you missed, no problem – you can still listen in. However, due to the sensitive nature of the material, and to protect those who shared, we won’t be posting the audio in a public forum (like this website). If you would like to access the recording, please contact Vanessa and request a link to the audio file. We only ask that you use this for your own personal use and do not share or post it anywhere else. If you’re not part of WCV we’re sure you’ll understand that this is part of a long process we’ve been on as a community – this was kind of like very personal family business that we’re only sharing with other WCVers. Thanks for understanding!

Invitations to Lent

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Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith. I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer. ~ 1978 Book of Common Prayer

Today is Ash Wednesday. Today, we begin the season of Lent – a 40-day preparation for and pilgrimage towards the Holy Triduum (the three days of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday) – where we celebrate Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

During Lent, we are especially reminded of the divisive and destructive nature of sin – of the ways in which it dilutes, distracts, and outright opposes loving relationship with God, our neighbours, and creation. Through the illumination and power of the Spirit, we are invited to a vigorous time of struggle against temptation and sin – reminiscent of the Israelites’ 40 days in the wilderness and Jesus’ 40 days in the desert – that we may be led more fully into the life and joy set before us.

This life and joy is the real theme of the season. The English word “Lent” comes from the Old English word lencten, which means “lengthen,” and refers to the time in spring when daylight begins to lengthen. We consider, struggle with, and repent of our sin because God is making all things – including us – new. The glorious daylight of his kingdom is coming and Lent is a way for us to respond to and participate in this exciting renewal.

Christians throughout history have taken on several practices during Lent in order to facilitate this renewal. I commend the following to you as concrete rhythms through which you may more fully enter the heart of the season. May the Father’s love, Jesus’ truth and grace, and the Spirit’s conviction and comfort be with you.

  • Examination and Repentance
    • With his help, ask God where have you sinned against him in thought, word, and deed, by what you have done, and by what you have left undone? Where have you not loved him with your whole heart? Where have you not loved your neighbour as yourself?
    • Trusting in his immeasurable kindness and unquestionable grace, ask God for forgiveness and mercy.
    • Ask God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to strengthen you in all goodnesss that you may be led in the way of life everlasting.
  • Prayer, Fasting, and Generosity
    • Fasting is a form of self-denial whereby we voluntarily set aside something for a time in order to intensify attention to and awareness of God (this attention and awareness is prayer). The things we are most reluctant to set aside are the very things that probably get in the way our life with God.
    • Fasting is a helpful, practical way to focus prayer and realize that God – not food, Facebook, friends, or what have you – is the real source of all pleasure, goodness, and satisfaction.
    • In tandem with fasting, Christians have often given special attention to generosity (“almsgiving”) during Lent as a way to avoid self-absorption and to inspire self-giving in love and service to others (e.g. fasting from food might give you more money to share with those who don’t have as much food).

“Beating Through the Wall” – A poem by Sherry Ansloos

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The following piece was written in response to the call for artistic submissions about the Hot Button Topics.

I thought we were together, but after some clumsy words about an assumed similarity,

I found that we were not as together as I had originally thought

I was “here” and you were “there”

I said “this”

Then you said “that”

Then I said “this” again but louder so you would listen

Then you said “that” even louder to me, as if it would somehow make me understand

 

Instead of agreement

I felt an invisible wall slam down between us

As though there were some cosmic line drawn in the shifting sand of relationship

that would stop us from ever being together again

 

On my side of the wall

I felt alone yelling my truth

Pounding my fists in futility

Feeling my cheeks flush hot with indignation

You not listening

 

You kicked hard on the other side

Defending your truth

Spitting words with an equal ferocity

Oblivious to my assertions

 

This fire of division burned for a while,

But like the promise of a calm after a storm

The fire and brimstone we threw at each other

Became flickering embers at our feet

 

I leaned against that wall in exhaustion

You did the same

Our backs to each other

 

I was still and so were you.

In the quiet we listened to the silence

 

Then suddenly

I felt a subtle tapping against the wall

My irritation bristled,

I thought you were at it again with your reasoning and contentions

Your pointing and kicking

So I climbed up that wall in anger to let you have it

 

Little did I know, you felt it too, that tapping on your back

Assuming it was me, you jumped to give me a piece of your mind

Up that wall you clamored ready to go at it again with renewed conviction

 

Our eyes met at the top of the wall.

I yelled for you to stop kicking

And you screamed at me to stop pounding

 

I said in confusion, but I didn’t pound

You said in bewilderment that, you didn’t kick

And there we were

Eye to eye

Chest to chest

Hanging on our sides of the wall

 

Out of breath from the exertion, we stared at each other

In that moment, I saw my friend

And you saw me too

I remembered the time we laughed so hard until we cried about some silly joke between us

You remembered the days when we were inseparable and we had each other’s back

Then once again, we both felt that rhythmic tapping

Steady and strong

 

Sometimes revelation comes in silence

Like a gift left at the door

It surprises and delights at the same time

And leaves you indebted by love

 

When we stopped the noise

We could feel each other’s heart

It was our hearts beating through the wall

 

Then a wave of remorse came over me

And regret overtook you

A swell of connection, in spite of our differences

 

And in this face to face

The dividing wall seemed to shift and disappear

There we stood

Connected by our humanity

 

I thought we were divided, but after some clumsy words about an assumed difference,

I found that we were not as divided as I had originally thought

I was “here” and you were “there”

But we were in it together

I said “this”

Then you said “that”

And we listened to each other with our hearts

Then I said, “I love you friend”

And you said, “I love you too”

Sherry Ansloos

Vineyard Canada National Gathering – “Portage: when the church seeks first the Kingdom”

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Make your plans! The quadrennial Vineyard Canada National Gathering is this summer in Montréal. July 23-26. We’re calling this time together “Portage – When the Church seeks first the Kingdom”. In this video, National Director David Ruis unpacks this for us. Register here.