Good weather is such a blessing.
For the past 2 days here in Calgary it's been sunny and gorgeous.
We've had rain, snow and now sun.
I prefer sun.
I thought for the first 5 days that I had gone to Vancouver and not Calgary - but now the weather seems to have redeemed itself. For that I am thankful.
Well, ultimately I am thankful to God.
Today (on an entirely different note) Jamie and I went to UChurch here in Calgary. It's a church that is held at the University of Calgary.
At first I was a bit skeptical. They sang the first song over and over for about...7-10 minutes. It's hard to tell after awhile.
Anyway, but they went on to other songs which I knew and appreciated. And then came the speaker. For me this is always a biggie. I can't handle wishy-washy speakers or theology. So I waited. The speaker was from out of town (Florida?) and actually spoke on Parenting and how children are a blessing from God (Psalm 127). I appreciated his talk and actually enjoyed reading Psalm 127 in context. I had read many times the first part of it which talks about how unless the Lord builds the house, those who labour work in vain. So I was familiar with that portion of it, but didn't realize that the end part talks about children and how the man who fills his "quiver" full of children is blessed. The speaker went on to talk about how the children we raise up are arrows in God's hand to be used to fight the enemy. He spoke about Sarah & Jonathan Edwards' children and the legacy they left. (They had 11 children! Jamie and I looked at each other at that point...phew!) He talked about how God is a God of many generations (the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and how He intends to use not just one generation to accomplish His purposes but many generations.
It brought to mind how at work we say that we want to help fulfill the Great Commission in this generation. I thought about it - and continue to think about it - and I think that it is good for us to desire to help fulfill the Great Commission in this generation. We long to see the fulfillment of that. Now. It's a good thing that we want to see happen and be USED in the fulfillment of it.
I will continue to think upon that.
But at the end of the talk/sermon I was encouraged and inspired to think about what God is going to do, not just through my children, but my grand-children, great-grand children and so on.
I would like to post the list of the Edwards' legacy, but I can't find it anywhere online. I will try and find it and post it. It's inspiring.
To end off, after the speaker was done, another man from the church (a pastor? elder? things were a tad vague at this church) got up and shared for a bit. I was thankful that he spoke about couples and singles who couldn't or didn't have kids. He talked about the importance of having spiritual children and discipling and building into those younger in the church and the NEED for those older in the church to take part in raising up spiritual children.
I appreciated how he reached out to people in those situations. There is a place and a need for everyone in the church. Not everyone in the church is an elbow. Some are fingers, some are hips, some are stomachs.
Ok so this post is a bit rambly...but I appreciated the children talk this morning - it was good theology and a good reminder. I needed that.
the UChurch is an interesting place. it isn't really for university students anymore. when i was there, it seemed to be filled with people who went there when they were in university, and then continued going, but didn't have any new university people attending. but that was my perception
ReplyDeletei found Centre street church to be a great place to go, although difficult to get to without a car. the one closest to the apartment is Brentwood, and I enjoyed that church a lot.