Greetings!
This Sunday
Which of your gifts and qualities could be revealed and claimed for God’s work in this time and place?
Here are the readings we’ll hear in this week’s service:
• The Letter from James 5:13-20
The Letter from James is generally attributed to James, the brother of Jesus, and the first Bishop of Jerusalem. The letter uses the classical style of diatribe, or instructional teaching. In this passage, the audience is reminded of the importance of the community of faith for the health and well-being of its members.
• The Gospel of Mark 9:38-50
The Gospel reading takes place as Jesus and the disciples head through Galilee towards Jerusalem. The disciples learn more about the cost of following Jesus.
Author Jim Taylor of Wood Lake Books wrote about this passage:
Jesus is indulging in wild exaggeration. If we took his instructions literally, we’d all be hobbling around on one leg, squinting with one eye, and shaking hands left-handed. Despite my jaundiced views, surgery is a valid analogy for Jesus’ message. I’m better off without an inflamed appendix. Others have lost a gall bladder, kidney, uterus, lump, tonsils, brain tumours...
But this is not really about body parts. I think it’s more about breaking bad habits. When you realize that smoking or drinking, sugar or caffeine, are not good for you, how do you quit? What kind of self-discipline does quitting demand? Where do you get the strength to swim against the cultural stream, to be different, to resist social pressures?
As Jesus assures us, life becomes fuller when we excise anything that causes our innate goodness, our godliness, to shrivel within us.
Looking Ahead
Next Sunday is World Communion Sunday. Try something new for Communion! Look for bread recipes from around the world! If you don’t bake, you could pick up something different, like pita, naan, bannock or tortilla.
Stuart
THERE WILL BE A ZOOM COFFEE HOUR (this is the link for September and October)
Join Zoom Coffee on Sunday at 11:30
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84737199288?pwd=aWNNSjhBWGlFY1RaVTFIbkdrdzBjQT09
Meeting ID: 847 3719 9288
Passcode: 189072
The plan is that this is a no-host gathering. Anyone with the meeting ID and Passcode can join. If there are any problems, please let Norma know on Monday.
ReOpening – It’s coming but not right now:
As was communicated by email earlier this week, the re-opening committee has made the very difficult decision to postpone our in-person worship. We will NOT be opening for in-person worship on September 12. The main reason for this decision is for the safety of all. The committee continues to monitor the situation and will make new recommendations as warranted.
SPIRIT WEST CRABAPPLE JELLY
Spirit West Crabapple Jelly 2021 is now available at the church (during office hours). As in past years, the cost of the jelly is a donation of $5 per jar to Spirit West United Church. (If you have empty jars from previous years, could you return them to the church for reuse)
FROM THE PASTORAL SEARCH COMMITTEE
The Pastoral Search Committee has worked diligently to complete all the required documentation for Spirit West on Church Hub. Church Hub is the central information sharing site for the United Church of Canada, and access is restricted. But now with the approval of the Northern Spirit Regional Council Executive, the position for minister at Spirit West United Church is now being advertised on Church Hub. This information is available to any minister who is looking, and the names of ministers who are looking are now available to the Spirit West Search Committee. The search is on!
SPIRIT WEST WORSHIP VIDEOS
Scripture Readers
Using the list of those who have volunteered to be Scripture readers, I have sent out a schedule of readers for July 18 to September 26. If you have read scripture for one of the worship videos, you will be on the schedule and will have received a copy. Readings can be done during the worship service on Sundays, once we are back to in-person worship. Readings can also be recorded well in advance of the date required. Your reading can also be recorded at the church between 3:30 and 4:30 on Thursday afternoons.
Sharing our Celebrations
In this time when it is important for us to look for signs of hope and joy, opportunity is being given for you to share your celebrations (birthdays, anniversaries, new grandchildren etc.) with the wider community. If you have a celebration you want to share please email spiritw@telus.net or phone the church. (must be sent in before noon on Wednesday for inclusion on the Sunday) During the opening section or our Worship Video, we will announce celebrations that have been shared with us.
SPIRIT WEST PRAYER CHAIN
Prayer is important. We know that people still face challenges and difficulties not related to Covid-19, and we cannot forget them. Our Prayer Chain will continue to be active. Dave S has agreed to send out the request for prayers to the Prayer Chain group. He will do this as his schedule permits which may not be every Tuesday as in the past.
If you have a prayer request, please send it to spiritwest.prayerchain@gmail.com. These requests will be shared regularly with the prayer chain and will form part of the Prayers of the People in our Sunday Worship videos.
Please remember to have people removed from the prayer chain if the prayers are no longer needed. Our chain is quite lengthy at present so we will cleanse the list in a month’s time and start to repopulate it from scratch
YOUR BOTTLES FOR THE CHURCH
You may have bottles piling up for recycling. You can bring them to the church (or you can call for pick up). If you want to bring your bottles (and any other recyclable beverage containers) in during our office hours and put them directly in the Bottle Shed (by the garage), give us a call, and we can have the shed open for you. All money raised from the return of bottles goes towards paying down the principal and interest on our mortgage.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
We can now accept donations by eTransfer. The contact name for the eTransfer is Spirit West United Church, and the email address is spiritw@telus.net . If you include a security question with your eTransfer, please notify Norma at the church office by phone or email. And remember that if you are not on PAR(Pre-Authorized Remittance), you can also mail in cheques to the church office (Spirit West United Church, 7003 – 199 St. Edmonton, AB T5T 3A8, include your envelope number if you have one.) The church office is open and you can drop off your offering/donation in the offering plate just inside the front doors. You can also donate online, see below…
ANOTHER WAY TO CONTRIBUTE FINANCIALLY TO SPIRIT WEST DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
You are stuck home, Spirit West is not holding services, you are not on PAR, but you want to make a financial contribution to the work of Spirit West, because the church has bills to pay even when we are not gathering on Sunday. Check out the online donation option on our website spiritwest.org and click on the Donate tab in the navigation bar.
SPIRIT WEST ONLINE!
Website: www.spiritwest.org
Facebook: Spirit West United Church and Friends of Spirit West Outreach
Instagram: spiritwestyeg
YouTube: Spirt West United Church, Edmonton
CHURCH OFFICE
The Spirit West Church office remains open.
Office hours
- Stuart => 9:30am to 2:30pm, Tuesday and Thursday – Stuart is now on vacation, returning to the office on September 21.
- Norma => Noon to 5:00pm, Monday to Thursday
Norma Balcombe
Office Administrator
Spirit West United Church
7003 - 199st.NW Edmonton, AB T5T 3A8
phone: (780) 481-1406
email: spiritw@telus.net
website: www.spiritwest.org
This Sunday
Which of your gifts and qualities could be revealed and claimed for God’s work in this time and place?
Here are the readings we’ll hear in this week’s service:
• The Letter from James 5:13-20
The Letter from James is generally attributed to James, the brother of Jesus, and the first Bishop of Jerusalem. The letter uses the classical style of diatribe, or instructional teaching. In this passage, the audience is reminded of the importance of the community of faith for the health and well-being of its members.
• The Gospel of Mark 9:38-50
The Gospel reading takes place as Jesus and the disciples head through Galilee towards Jerusalem. The disciples learn more about the cost of following Jesus.
Author Jim Taylor of Wood Lake Books wrote about this passage:
Jesus is indulging in wild exaggeration. If we took his instructions literally, we’d all be hobbling around on one leg, squinting with one eye, and shaking hands left-handed. Despite my jaundiced views, surgery is a valid analogy for Jesus’ message. I’m better off without an inflamed appendix. Others have lost a gall bladder, kidney, uterus, lump, tonsils, brain tumours...
But this is not really about body parts. I think it’s more about breaking bad habits. When you realize that smoking or drinking, sugar or caffeine, are not good for you, how do you quit? What kind of self-discipline does quitting demand? Where do you get the strength to swim against the cultural stream, to be different, to resist social pressures?
As Jesus assures us, life becomes fuller when we excise anything that causes our innate goodness, our godliness, to shrivel within us.
Looking Ahead
Next Sunday is World Communion Sunday. Try something new for Communion! Look for bread recipes from around the world! If you don’t bake, you could pick up something different, like pita, naan, bannock or tortilla.
Stuart
THERE WILL BE A ZOOM COFFEE HOUR (this is the link for September and October)
Join Zoom Coffee on Sunday at 11:30
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84737199288?pwd=aWNNSjhBWGlFY1RaVTFIbkdrdzBjQT09
Meeting ID: 847 3719 9288
Passcode: 189072
The plan is that this is a no-host gathering. Anyone with the meeting ID and Passcode can join. If there are any problems, please let Norma know on Monday.
ReOpening – It’s coming but not right now:
As was communicated by email earlier this week, the re-opening committee has made the very difficult decision to postpone our in-person worship. We will NOT be opening for in-person worship on September 12. The main reason for this decision is for the safety of all. The committee continues to monitor the situation and will make new recommendations as warranted.
SPIRIT WEST CRABAPPLE JELLY
Spirit West Crabapple Jelly 2021 is now available at the church (during office hours). As in past years, the cost of the jelly is a donation of $5 per jar to Spirit West United Church. (If you have empty jars from previous years, could you return them to the church for reuse)
FROM THE PASTORAL SEARCH COMMITTEE
The Pastoral Search Committee has worked diligently to complete all the required documentation for Spirit West on Church Hub. Church Hub is the central information sharing site for the United Church of Canada, and access is restricted. But now with the approval of the Northern Spirit Regional Council Executive, the position for minister at Spirit West United Church is now being advertised on Church Hub. This information is available to any minister who is looking, and the names of ministers who are looking are now available to the Spirit West Search Committee. The search is on!
SPIRIT WEST WORSHIP VIDEOS
Scripture Readers
Using the list of those who have volunteered to be Scripture readers, I have sent out a schedule of readers for July 18 to September 26. If you have read scripture for one of the worship videos, you will be on the schedule and will have received a copy. Readings can be done during the worship service on Sundays, once we are back to in-person worship. Readings can also be recorded well in advance of the date required. Your reading can also be recorded at the church between 3:30 and 4:30 on Thursday afternoons.
Sharing our Celebrations
In this time when it is important for us to look for signs of hope and joy, opportunity is being given for you to share your celebrations (birthdays, anniversaries, new grandchildren etc.) with the wider community. If you have a celebration you want to share please email spiritw@telus.net or phone the church. (must be sent in before noon on Wednesday for inclusion on the Sunday) During the opening section or our Worship Video, we will announce celebrations that have been shared with us.
SPIRIT WEST PRAYER CHAIN
Prayer is important. We know that people still face challenges and difficulties not related to Covid-19, and we cannot forget them. Our Prayer Chain will continue to be active. Dave S has agreed to send out the request for prayers to the Prayer Chain group. He will do this as his schedule permits which may not be every Tuesday as in the past.
If you have a prayer request, please send it to spiritwest.prayerchain@gmail.com. These requests will be shared regularly with the prayer chain and will form part of the Prayers of the People in our Sunday Worship videos.
Please remember to have people removed from the prayer chain if the prayers are no longer needed. Our chain is quite lengthy at present so we will cleanse the list in a month’s time and start to repopulate it from scratch
YOUR BOTTLES FOR THE CHURCH
You may have bottles piling up for recycling. You can bring them to the church (or you can call for pick up). If you want to bring your bottles (and any other recyclable beverage containers) in during our office hours and put them directly in the Bottle Shed (by the garage), give us a call, and we can have the shed open for you. All money raised from the return of bottles goes towards paying down the principal and interest on our mortgage.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
We can now accept donations by eTransfer. The contact name for the eTransfer is Spirit West United Church, and the email address is spiritw@telus.net . If you include a security question with your eTransfer, please notify Norma at the church office by phone or email. And remember that if you are not on PAR(Pre-Authorized Remittance), you can also mail in cheques to the church office (Spirit West United Church, 7003 – 199 St. Edmonton, AB T5T 3A8, include your envelope number if you have one.) The church office is open and you can drop off your offering/donation in the offering plate just inside the front doors. You can also donate online, see below…
ANOTHER WAY TO CONTRIBUTE FINANCIALLY TO SPIRIT WEST DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
You are stuck home, Spirit West is not holding services, you are not on PAR, but you want to make a financial contribution to the work of Spirit West, because the church has bills to pay even when we are not gathering on Sunday. Check out the online donation option on our website spiritwest.org and click on the Donate tab in the navigation bar.
SPIRIT WEST ONLINE!
Website: www.spiritwest.org
Facebook: Spirit West United Church and Friends of Spirit West Outreach
Instagram: spiritwestyeg
YouTube: Spirt West United Church, Edmonton
CHURCH OFFICE
The Spirit West Church office remains open.
Office hours
- Stuart => 9:30am to 2:30pm, Tuesday and Thursday – Stuart is now on vacation, returning to the office on September 21.
- Norma => Noon to 5:00pm, Monday to Thursday
Norma Balcombe
Office Administrator
Spirit West United Church
7003 - 199st.NW Edmonton, AB T5T 3A8
phone: (780) 481-1406
email: spiritw@telus.net
website: www.spiritwest.org
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