Bethany-Newton United Church
14853 60th Ave. V3S 1R8 Surrey, BC, Canada

On thé All Saints Day

https://youtu.be/PfftHt2P4oY All Saints Day Come, you saints of God, who has gathered us together today. Our hearts are ready to give God praise.... Come, you saints of God, who are ‘set apart’ to carry out God’s work in the world. We are ready to do God’s will. Come, you saints of God, let’s remember all who have gone before, the faithful who have carried the torch of faith and lit the way. We remember those who have helped us on our journey and accompany us still. In the communion of saints, let us worship God. Amen. See more

It is said that before entering the sea a river trembles with fear. She looks back at the path she has traveled, from the peaks of the mountains, the long windi...ng road crossing forests and villages. And in front of her, she sees an ocean so vast, that to enter there seems nothing more than to disappear forever. But there is no other way. The river cannot go back. Nobody can go back. To go back is impossible in existence. The river needs to take the risk of entering the ocean because only then will fear disappear, because that’s where the river will know it’s not about disappearing into the ocean, but of becoming the ocean. ~ Khalil Gibran Image: 'Pincer Tree' by Jerry Lake www.earthschoolharmony.com

Denominations THERE ARE BAPTISTS, Methodists, Episcopalians. There are Presbyterians, Lutherans, Congregationalists. There are Disciples of Christ. There are Se...venth-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. There are Moravians. There are Quakers. And that's only for starters. New denominations spring up. Old denominations split up and form new branches. The question is not, Are you a Baptist? but, What kind of a Baptist? It is not, Are you a member of the Presbyterian church? but Which Presbyterian church? A town with a population of less than five hundred may have churches of three or four denominations and none of them more than a quarter full on a good Sunday. There are some genuine differences between them, of course. The methods of church government differ. They tend to worship in different forms all the way from chanting, incense, and saints' days to a service that is virtually indistinguishable from a New England town meeting with musical interludes. Some read the Bible more literally than others. If you examine the fine print, you may even come across some relatively minor theological differences among them, some stressing one aspect of the faith, some stressing others. But if you were to ask the average member of any congregation to explain those differences, you would be apt to be met with a long, unpregnant silence. By and large they all believe pretty much the same things and are confused about the same things and keep their fingers crossed during the same parts of the Nicene Creed. However, it is not so much differences like these that keep the denominations apart as it is something more nearly approaching team spirit. Somebody from a long line of Congregationalists would no more consider crossing over to the Methodists than a Red Sox fan would consider rooting for the Mets. And even bricks and mortar have a lot to do with it. Your mother was married in this church building and so were you, and so was your oldest son. Your grandparents are buried in the cemetery just beyond the Sunday School wing. What on earth would ever persuade you to leave all that and join forces with the Lutherans in their building down the street? So what if neither of you can pay the minister more than a pittance and both of you have as hard a time getting more than thirty to fill the sanctuary built for two hundred as you do raising money to cover the annual heating bill. All the duplication of effort and waste of human resources. All the confusion about what the Church is, both within the ranks and without. All the counterproductive competition. All the unnecessarily empty pews and unnecessary expense. Then add to that picture the Roman Catholic Church, still more divided from the Protestant denominations than they are from each other, and by the time you're through, you don't know whether to burst into laughter or into tears. When Jesus took the bread and said, "This is my body which is broken for you" (1 Corinthians 11:24), it's hard to believe that even in his wildest dreams he foresaw the tragic and ludicrous brokenness of the Church as his body. There's no reason why everyone should be Christian in the same way and every reason to leave room for differences, but if all the competing factions of Christendom were to give as much of themselves to the high calling and holy hope that unites them as they do now to the relative inconsequentialities that divide them, the Church would look more like the Kingdom of God for a change and less like an ungodly mess. -Originally published in Whistling in the Dark

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/92895531718 Meeting ID: 928 9553 1718 Passcode: 802125 ... Lisa Moore Featured Artist at The Grind Coffeehouse and Open Mic Night Friday, November 27, 2020 7:00-9:00pm LIVE ONLINE

Watch it all! Incredible! From Colombia 'José Salgado' & 'Valery Coneo Salgado' two absolutely awesome vocalists, No microphone, sound engineers, autotune. 'Th...e Prayer' in Spanish! Sheer talent! Check them out: https://facebook.com/JoseAngelmusic2020/ For more great videos go to: https://themusicman.uk/vocalists-sing-the-prayer/ See more

Special thanks to Craig Perry, Chair of BNUC Council, for providing the reflection on this week’s scripture passage on’ whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do also to me. The location site for this week’s filming was chosen to reflect how vulnerable our elders are during this pandemic. In many cases, they are ‘least’ able to protect themselves and require our love and care, our support and commitment to keeping everyone safe. A couple of weeks ago, the scripture p...assage was The Beatitudes (The Blessings). Earlier this week, a good friend and colleague shared this prayer with me. It originates out of the USA - and reflects that in one line of the prayerbut the rest fits our context well. Blessed are you, Sacred Child of God. Rev. Juanita Prayer for the Week In this season of illness, distancing and death we bless those who bear light, healing and hope: Blessed are the joy finders, the joy sharers, the joy tenders; Blessed are the mask makers, the mask wearers; Blessed are those forgoing convenience and excess for someone else’s survival; Blessed are the governors, and mayors, and legislators laboring for public health over profit, ego, and the deadly demands of gun-toting, fear-mongers. Blessed are the essential workers, the healthcare workers, sanitation workers, grocery store workers, mail carriers, farm workersand also, blessed are these essential workersthe poets still feeling, dreamers still imagining, teachers still sparking curiosity, students still soaking up and sharing wisdom, caregivers still caring, journalists still investigating and reporting. Blessed are the music makers, art makers, word makers, meaning makers; Blessed are the imams, the rabbis, the pastors, the chaplains, the spirit seekers ministering and tending and holding. Blessed are the letter writers, the card senders. Blessed are you in your tears, your prayers, your fears; Blessed are you every moment you choose tenderness, softness, gentleness, care, Blessed are you in your living, your loving. Blessed are you in your fearing, your dying. Blessed are you, Sacred Child of God. God is with you always. You are never alone. Amen. https://youtu.be/YIdAk_RyL0M

Sacrament A SACRAMENT IS WHEN something holy happens. It is transparent time, time you can see through to something deep inside time. Generally speaking, Protes...tants have two official sacraments (the Lord's Supper, Baptism) and Roman Catholics have these two plus five others (Confirmation, Penance, Extreme Unction, Ordination, and Matrimony). In other words, at such milestone moments as seeing a baby baptized or being baptized yourself, confessing your sins, getting married, dying, you are apt to catch a glimpse of the almost unbearable preciousness and mystery of life. Needless to say, church isn't the only place where the holy happens. Sacramental moments can occur at any moment, at any place, and to anybody. Watching something get born. Making love. A walk on the beach. Somebody coming to see you when you're sick. A meal with people you love. Looking into a stranger's eyes and finding out they are not a stranger's. If we weren't blind as bats, we might see that life itself is sacramental. -Originally published in Wishful Thinking and later in Beyond Words

The Scripture reading is from the Book of Judges about Judge Deborah. During the reflection, I mention four modern day Deborah's, I could also have included the Notorious RBG (Ruth Bader Ginsberg). I'm sure we all have a Judge Deborah (or two or more!) in our lives. I'm keenly interested in hearing which women you would've chosen to uphold.... With numbers continuing to rise, I gently remind you all to take good care of yourself and those you love. Please continue to stay safe and... Blessed be! https://youtu.be/JQQfzZYWREo

We will remember them. Let’s do this, on Wednesday November 11, 2020

Ruth RUTH WAS A MOABITE GIRL who married into a family of Israelite transplants living in Moab because there was a famine going on at home. When her young husba...nd died, her mother-in-law, Naomi, decided to pull up stakes and head back for Israel where she belonged. The famine was over by then, and there was no longer anything to hold her where she was, her own husband having died about the same time that Ruth's had. She advised Ruth to stay put right there in Moab and to try to snag herself another man from among her own people. She was a strong-willed old party, and when Ruth said she wanted to go to Israel with her, she tried to talk her out of it. Even if by some gynecological fluke she managed to produce another son for Ruth to marry, she said, by the time he was old enough, Ruth would be ready for the geriatric ward. But Ruth had a mind of her own too, besides which they'd been through a lot together, what with one thing and another, and home to her was wherever Naomi was. "Where you go, I go, and where you live, I live," Ruth told her, "and if your God is Yahweh, then my God is Yahweh too" (Ruth 2:10-17). So Naomi gave in, and when the two of them pulled in to Bethlehem, Naomi's hometown, there was a brass band to meet them at the station. Ruth had a spring in her step and a fascinating Moabite accent, and it wasn't long before she caught the eye of a prosperous farmer named Boaz. He was a little long in the tooth, but he still knew a pretty girl when he saw one, and before long, in a fatherly kind of way, he took her under his wing. He told the hired hands not to give her any trouble. He helped her in the fields. He had her over for a meal. And when she asked him one day in her disarming Moabite way why he was being so nice to her, he said he'd heard how good she'd been to Naomi, who happened to be a distant cousin of his, and as far as he was concerned, she deserved nothing but the best. Naomi was nobody's fool and saw which way the wind was blowing long before Ruth did. She was dead set on Ruth's making a good catch for herself, and since it was obvious she'd already hooked old Boaz whether she realized it or not, all she had to do was find the right way to reel him in. Naomi gave her instructions. As soon as Boaz had a good supper under his belt and had polished off a nightcap or two, he'd go to the barn and hit the sack. Around midnight, she said, Ruth should slip out to the barn and hit the sack too. If Boaz's feet just happened to be uncovered somehow, and if she just happened to be close enough to keep them warm, that probably wouldn't be the worst thing in the world either (Ruth 3:1-5). But she wasn't to go too far. Back in Jericho, Boaz's mother, Rahab, had had a rather seamy reputation for going too far professionally, and anything that reminded him of that might scare him off permanently. Ruth followed her mother-in-law's advice to the letter, and it worked like a charm. Boaz was so overwhelmed that she'd pay attention to an old crock like him when there were so many young bucks running around in tight-fitting jeans that he fell for her hook, line, and sinker and, after a few legal matters were taken care of, made her his lawful wedded wife. They had a son named Obed after a while, and Naomi came to take care of him and stayed on for the rest of her life. Then in time Obed had a son of his own named Jesse, and Jesse in turn had seven sons, the seventh of whom was named David and ended up as the greatest king Israel ever had. With Ruth for his great-grandmother and Naomi for his grandfather's nurse, it was hardly a wonder. -Originally published in Peculiar Treasures and later in Beyond Words

Spirit of the living God, fill the spaces in-between, I pray; the ones that we would have bridged with a handshake or a hug,... the ones where we would feel the warmth of presence, simply sitting side by side, in prayer, in praise, in tears or celebration. Spirit of the loving God, be that which connects the rhythm of our hearts, the pulse of our compassion, the strength of our work for justice, justice and peace. Spirit of the healing God, move within, as well as between, to those places deep inside of us, the hidden spaces, the ones that are hurting and lonely and unsure about what's going to happen next. O, Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. I pray. In Jesus' name. By the Creator's love. In the Holy Spirit's breath. I pray. Amen. (Image: "roots" by aini (flickr: Creative Commons BY))

This is so good!

Special thanks to Westham Island Herb Farm, 4690 Kirkland Road, Delta, BC for allowing us to film today’s worship I their U-Pick,Pumpkin Patch. If you’re still in need of pumpkins for pie or Jack-o-lanterns, stop by and be sure to say hello to Sharon in the store/barn and let her know you’re from BNUC and how you know about their farm.

22 years ago today (10/6), Matthew Shepard was beaten and left for dead tied to a fence in Wyoming. The only part of his face not covered in blood was two whi...te lines running down his cheeks from where his tears ran dry. His death ignited a fight for equality. You don't have to be gay to be a supporter. You just have to be human.#bekind. Shared from a friend. National Coming Out Day is October 11. See more

Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.... She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words: Dear God, Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her. Love, Meredith We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letterbox at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had. Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page were the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note: Dear Meredith, Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away. Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by. Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love. Love, God Don't say you're too busy to Share this. Just go ahead and do it Suspended Coffees You will all be happy to know this wonderful story is 100% true, please don't take offense to the reference of God, it's part of the story. Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind, and the third is to be kind. #WhenDogsGoToHeaven #WhatsYourStory #PrayingDogs

Hi friends! Here’s a beautiful piece of music sung by our virtual choir. During this pandemic, continue to seek ways to stretch out your hands to serve. This could mean something as simple as checking up on how someone is doing. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Excellent article by Miriam Spies. Thankful for her call to self examination as congregation consider reopening