What an amazing weekend. Our Good Friday service engagement with the Stations of the Cross was “the best ever” (many of you said this to us) and Easter Sunday was a joyful celebration of resurrection and life. In between these times, many of you were engaging in a time of prayer and fasting. It isn’t always the point of fasting to “get something” from God… but just in case some of you did, and just in case that “something” might be for the whole church, we’d like to know about it. Please let us know! You can simply email the office and it will be processed appropriately amongst the leadership.
Month: April 2019
A Community Update: including AGM2, Prayer & Fasting
Hey folks,
We want to say thanks, again for hanging in there during this season. God is shaking things… but we know that times of shaking are inevitably both difficult and clarifying… Let’s keep pressing into Jesus, into community, into vulnerability, humility, grace and love, and we will continue to emerge from this Winter into Spring (despite the snow we see today!).
Speaking of community, there are many good conversations being had. The Pastoral and Lay Elders had a great meeting last Monday discussing both where we’re at as a church and next steps moving forward. The BOD is engaged in a number of initiatives that will bring organizational, structural and financial health to WCV (more on that at our AGM Part 2). Many of you are engaged in dialogue and input via the Talking Circles, our community Survey, within House Groups, meetings with various leaders, etc. We are deeply appreciative of all the dialogue that helps us move in a positive and healing direction.
In the interest of keeping communication flowing, we want to let you know of a few plans on the horizon as we look forward:
April 19, 7pm: Good Friday Service & Stations of the Cross
This year we’ve acquired an amazing art exhibit that showcases the Stations of the Cross and creates an interactive atmosphere to engage with Jesus on his journey to the cross through scripture and art. Read more about it here. Fully engaging in Good Friday makes our celebration on Easter Sunday all the more amazing…
April 19 – 21: Prayer & Fasting
We are calling the community to a fast from Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday. Andy will be teaching on it this coming Sunday to help us prepare.
April 28 (Sunday morning): AGM Part 2
At our previous AGM we weren’t able to cover everything we needed to. In order to give maximum opportunity for our church family to attend and be involved we are going to have this AGM Part 2 on a Sunday morning during our regular gathering (after worship and kid’s are released).
May 11 – 12: David Ruis
David (Vineyard Canada National Director) will be sharing on the Sunday morning (May 12), as well as on the Saturday before (May 11). He will be speaking on recapturing the heart of the Kingdom. Mark your calendars.
Drop-in:
There has been a recent initiative that is designed to hear from people directly in the Street Parish. We’ve been asking questions like “What do you want?”, “What do you feel is necessary in this part of WCV”, “What do you feel God is doing?” and other such questions. Watch for more on this.
Good Friday Stations – Fasting & Prayer – Resurrection Sunday
The events celebrated during Holy Week are epic. Jesus’ passion, crucifixion, burial and resurrection are not only central to the Christian calendar, they are the central events of all of history. However, most of us skip over the discomfort and pain of Good Friday preferring to jump straight to Easter Sunday – joyfully imbibing all the excitement and energy of the resurrection. We are right to be excited and energized by Jesus’ resurrection (and our eventual resurrection too, by the way!). However, in our excitement for Sunday, we miss the gifts offered in Good Friday and Holy Saturday. If we resist the urge to short-circuit, and if we linger in the way of the cross on Good Friday, and the nothingness of Holy Saturday, our celebration on Sunday will take on a whole other quality. Light is most brilliant when juxtaposed with darkness.
Here’s what’s up this Easter at the Vineyard:
Palm Sunday (April 14, 10am):
Andy will be teaching about Fasting in order to prepare us for our community fast from Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday.
Good Friday (April 19, 7pm)
Stations of the Cross Service & Exhibit
This year we will be worshipping together, and considering the Stations of the Cross through the eyes of one particular artist along with meditations from Scripture. Here’s what he writes about the images like the one above:
“The Stations of the Cross began as a practice of pilgrims going to Jerusalem who would retrace the final journey of Jesus to the hill where He was crucified. For the many who wanted to pass along the same route, but couldn’t make the trip to Jerusalem, a practice developed that eventually took the form of the Stations of the Cross that you can find in many churches today.
This journey to the cross is not only a meditation of Jesus accomplishing what He came to do – the redemption of humanity through His own willful sacrifice – but its also a contemplation of Jesus silently participating in some of the worst aspects of being human. Being tempted. Being betrayed by a friend. Being convicted in an unjust system. Physical pain. Mockery. Broken family relationships. Public humiliation. And a lot of our greatest fears… having to die. These are all aspects of human life that he was not insulated from. In fact on the cross he quotes King David saying “My God My God, Why have you forsaken me?”… as if to say ”Why is it like this?” He was one who was not separate from our own pain.
I don’t think our deepest question is “Is there a God?”
I think our deepest question is “Is there a God that’s with us in all this?”
These stations are a cross-section of elements, ideas, and objects from Jesus’ journey of being with us. As you work through these stations, may you see the that we are not troubled guests in this world… that we are not forgotten… and that the good news of this season was expressed best by Jesus when he said “in this world you’ll experience many trials. But take heart…. I have overcome the world.”
Fasting & Prayer: Friday – Sunday
Our Fasting will begin on Friday continue through Holy Saturday, a day of apparent nothingness, and be broken on Sunday. The seed placed in the ground. Waiting. Our fasting echoes this “giving up” that Jesus did. This discipline isn’t to earn favour, nor is it an attempt to twist God’s arm into getting something you want. Rather, it’s a physical act of solidarity with Jesus. It’s a discipline and it’s a pain. Every time your stomach reminds you that you’re hungry you can recall what Jesus did and is doing, and you can offer a prayer – you can be reminded that ultimately we rely on Jesus for sustenance. When we break the fast on Sunday morning, we are rising with him – emerging from darkness to the glorious light of his resurrection – feasting on the new life He has for us and the whole world!
Resurrection Sunday (April 21, 10am)
Of course, this brings us to Easter Sunday. We will party, worship and celebrate God’s accomplishment all morning. Emerging from the shadows of the weekend, and blinking from the dazzling, blinding light of the resurrection, we will celebrate the first stunning glimmers of the new creation – and we’ll invite more (and He’ll show up)!
You are encouraged to contribute to the festive atmosphere in any number of the following ways:
>>Bring an acoustic instrument (drums, rattles, guitars, etc) or any other tool of worship.
>>Bring plants or flowers to decorate the space with signs of life.
>>Bring your Dancing Shoes (literally and figuratively).