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celebrating Easter in Havana, Cuba, as I did, was unusual to say the least. joining with other Christians last Saturday night, in a darkened Plaza de la Catedral around a flaming brazier, and then entering the Catedral with lighted candles, was a wonderfully dramatic way to commerate Jesus' rising from the dead.

wherever or however you celebrate it, the resurrection of Jesus is an amazing fact if history. the difficult thing is living in the ongoing reality of its happening. it was the event that transformed one hundred and twenty-odd scared and despairing disciples into a dynamic missional people. it potentially can do the same today.

sunday april 11th we gather at the Undercroft at 5.00pm to celebrate, to remember, and to examine how we are (or are not) living in the reality of Jesus' resurrection. food, drink, friends, scripture, worship, will all feature. see you there!

messymerge

family fun!

Remembering Jesus triumphant entrance to Jerusalem on Easter Sunday, making chocolate nests, finding easter eggs and painting crosses with the little ones.

The Story of Stuff at Emerge

On Sunday March 14th some of us gathered at the Undercroft for some tasty popcorn to watch an animated film that depicted our habits of buying stuff and the impact in our ecosystem.

It was a thoughtful evening with a good discussion, some of us got this impression of the evening:

"I found it useful in helping me to remember why cheap stuff is usually bad, and why I should (and how to) change some of my North American consumer habits." -Laurel

When we buy things we see the little picture, the intended image of what we want to buy, but we miss the whole scope and impact of our purchase. We damage the ecosystem by ignorance and we became part of the problem. Environment exploitation and human rights abuses are some of the consequences of buying "cheap goods". We go for the instant gratification and do not question why this product is cheaper here in our Country than the place is assembled or fabricated.

So many good words came up that evening like; Tend, keep, dominate (depending what version of the bible you read) regarding the creation of God, and the one that stuck on my brain personally was "stewardship". We have to have always present whom is the owner of the planet, read Psalm 24:1

Then if God retains ownership, what means mankind has a dominion on earth?

Jesus parable of talents in Matthew 25:14-28 describes a more clear picture of stewardship and how to take care and use what was entrusted to us.

Humankind was given a special mission on earth, it was ordained by God. He takes care not only to us but to every breathing thing on the planet: Psalm 104:10-13

Things to ponder:

We are forgetful of God's love for his creation, so we forget to take care of it. God love us dearly and He call us to love one another as well his creation.

readings:

Genesis 1:26-28

Psalm 8:6-8

Exodus 23:10-11

Leviticus 25:1-7

2 Peter 3:10-13

Revelations 21:1

There is multiple conclusion to take from watching The Story of Stuff and reading the Bible.

Perhaps one verse may help us understand the respect we owed to God's creation:

Colossians 1:16 "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him"

Joan Daniel

no sunday gathering...

...because this week we will be gathering on saturday march 20th, at Morin Heights in the Laurentians, at the rustic cabin of some members of the emerge community, to celebrate God's goodness and the approach of spring, in appropriate last-day-of-winter style!

interested in joining us?

email the address to the right and below the map.

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sunday march 14th
with popcorn in one hand and Bible in the other, we'll watch this provocative movie together, then discuss if and how the film's core message conflicts with, or compliments, Biblical themes.


come to watch.
come to talk.
come to think.

5.00 pm the Undercroft

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is following Jesus in 2010 an undertaking of Olympic proportions?

sometimes it certainly feels like it. how does the powerful images of Olympic achievement we have been exposed to for the past two weeks jive with Biblical motifs for living life Jesus' way?

sunday march 7th
let's get together over bread & soup, with friends and music to try and get things into a more Biblical proportion.
5.00 pm the Undercroft

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yes at last! an idea that surfaced on a sunday evening earlier this year is being implemented!
the idea was to gather in a more kid friendly way (on the floor?) and do stuff that will be accessible to our younger emergers. meeting at 4.00pm should make it easier for families with young children, doing hands-on stuff (making puppets, acting out a story with the puppets and videoing it!) some special songs, then ending by eating a pot-luck supper together.finishing by 6.00 pm so people can head off to put the kids to bed, or head off for a coffee or a beer, or head off to watch the hockey (or possibly all three!)

so let your friends know about this especially if they have young children, and don't forget to come yourself and bring food for the pot-luck!!!

see you sunday!

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while you were most probably sleeping we slipped gently into the season of Lent. some people love it, some loathe it , some just plain don't understand it! maybe one way to approach the season is to see it as an invitation to do some kind of reset on ourselves as whole life followers of Jesus. on Sunday we are going to play around with some possibilities, and see what we can cook up in terms of devising a recipe for a Lent reset.

so in the company of bread, soup, music, friends and worship you are invited to gather sunday february 21st at 5.00pm in the Undercroft. please don't forget to bring your imagination!

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sunday february 14th

I guess it comes as no surprise to learn that the word 'love', occurs 687 (but who's counting?) times in the Bible. so what could be more appropriate for our Valentine's Day gathering than to examine love from a variety angles. maybe you have your own favourite description of love,(a song, poem, photograph, etc.) if so, bring it along with you and share it with us. there will be soup, bread, coffee, tea, great people, live music, prayer, talk and worship. it all starts at 5.00 pm in the Undercroft. hope to see you there!

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spent last sunday evening at the Royal Vic having my cracked rib diagnosed. only took 2.5 hours, thanks to Canada's brilliant health care system!, so I missed all the fun in the Undercroft. so this sunday february 7th I intend to avoid patches of ice and make my way carefully down to the Undercroft for 5.00pm. we gather to celebrate the feast of God's victory, in bread & wine, with an accompanyment of coffee, tea, and music. all in the company of friends old and not so old! it was lonely sitting in Emergency last week, when I would rather have been sitting with the emerge community. missed you guys!