Are You Ready or Not?
It’s a new year. Christmas has come and gone. We’ve sung our carols, we’ve lit our candles, we’ve had our pageants. Are we ready for what comes next? Do we remember the sacrifice and promises made, not in his birth, but what comes after…
Jesus came for us. He lives for us.
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Thoughts For 2012
It’s the start of a new year. Some people make resolutions. I’m not that type of guy.
However, 2012 could be an interesting year.
Here are the things I’m looking forward to, in no particular order.
Cruxifusion – I am on the board of this fantastic new organization committed to lifting up Jesus Christ in the church as our focus and our head. We are planning on a new digital publication, a conference, and whatever else we feel the Lord is calling us to do. I have met some absolutely wonderful people through this and look forward to getting to know them more and working with them.
My Little Church – I love the church I serve. We’ve done a lot in the last two years and I look forward to seeing what happens this year. We are blessed with a great family atmosphere where all who walk through the doors are warmly welcomed and a wonderful base of dedicated volunteers. I wonder what 2012 will bring for us? I know 2011 was a pretty good year.
Wider Church Life – I can’t share too much about this at this moment, but soon will. If you live in my area, and are aware of the United Church at all, you know that things are going to have to change. We have too many churches, not enough clergy, not enough people in the pews, not enough money, old buildings, something has to give. 2012 could mark the start of some significant changes (long term, it is the church after all, it can’t happen fast) to the way we do church in this part of the world. Stay tuned, it’s going to be a wild ride.
Family – We continue to grow together. If you have a family, little more needs to be said. I look forward to what 2012 holds for our family. We have no specific plans for ourselves, just waiting to see what the year has in store for us.
The Community – I will continue to engage in the community and politicians in any way I can to help turn around the negativity we experience in this area. Politicians are increasingly frustrated and negative, in particular our mayor. The word from young university graduates are that they really want to stay here and work, but there is nothing here for them. I want to help them engage with the business community and politicians so their voices are heard. They have great ideas and passion, things this area needs desperately. To lose them would be a tragedy.
Top Posts of 2011
Seems people like to do this. So here are my most viewed posts of 2011. Not necessarily my favourite, but they are the most viewed.
10 – First up is a sermon from Boxing Day last year, “Prepare Yet The Way: What’s Next?”
9 – Then was a sermon from just two weeks later, “A River Runs Through It”
8 – “Helping Our Churches Survive” Some thoughts on the future of the church, and how it could be structured.
7 – “Please Pass The Salt” A sermon from February.
6 – Sermon I did on the story of the Prodigal Son comes in at #6. “Lavish Love: The Prodigal Father”
5 – “What’s Your Worth?” Another sermon from early in 2010. (an oldie but a goody?)
4 – Next is probably one of my favourites I’ve written. It’s a response to the progressive church movement which is gaining popularity as a church without Jesus or God. Read “Post-Theism and the Church” and you’ll see what I think of it.
3 – I get a lot of hits from search engines looking for Anniversary Sermons. This is the one getting the most hits. It’s not my favourite sermon, but search engines have ranked it high. “Keeping Watch”
2 – There’s a song I once quoted in a sermon title. It seems to have also gathered a high ranking in search engines. “What’s Love Got To Do, Got To Do With It?” This is another old one from early 2010, and was a fun one to preach.
1 – There is some debate (ok… it’s probably just me…) about the validity of this being the top post. It seems a lot of the traffic for this post is direct traffic, and from a small region. I’m guessing it has become someone’s bookmark for accessing my site, which is ok. I’m just glad they keep coming back. It’s not that I don’t like what I wrote, it’s something I found somewhere and thought was neat. So here I bring you a reflection on the role of the church, “Should We Stay or Should We Go?”
As mentioned, these are not necessarily my favourite posts on my site, but I do enjoy writing, preaching and sharing. One of my favourite series to write this year was my “Words To The Church” series. It generated some great discussion on Facebook and Twitter and I hope to find ways in which to continue this discussion.
That is the year of 2011 for Maritimers.ca. What comes in 2012? Well, I’m considering rebranding the site, even with a new domain name. I bought maritimers.ca for fun years ago, and as a generic domain, it’s great for email and so on. But I feel like I need a more faith-based name, so stay tuned, changes may be coming in 2012… as time permits.
Thanks for being a reader, thanks for engaging in discussions in various theaters. I look forward to more in 2012 and beyond.
God bless.
-nick
2011 Thanks
2011 has been a good year overall. Yes, it’s not all a field of roses, but there are many things for which I am thankful.
I met some wonderful people this year and made new friendships, developed others and continue to love the church and community in which I serve.
My new friends I have met have been a blessing for sure. I met many of them at the Cruxifusion conference in April. These people have continued to be a support and network for me as the year has progressed. I have also joined the board of this newly formed organization as we look forward to how God is calling us to act in the church. It’s been an exciting year for us, and we very much look forward to what 2012 has in store.
The church I serve continues to be a wonderful place to serve with many, many wonderful people. We have made some changes to our worship and our Sunday School, and look forward to seeing how this continues to progress in the new year. I continue to grow as a minister, as a leader, and as a disciple of Christ.
My family is great. We had a wonderful vacation this summer and our youngest started school in the fall. Both children are doing very well and love learning and making new friends.
So while this message is short, the year has been full of blessings for me and my family.
I hope it has been for your’s as well.
Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. And may God bless us all in 2012.
The Depth of Love – Christmas Eve
“The Depth of Love”
Luke 2:1-20
“Light looked down and beheld Darkness.
‘Thither will I go’, said Light.
Peace looked down and beheld War.
‘Thither will I go’, said Peace.
Love looked down and beheld Hatred.
‘Thither will I go’, said Love.
So came Light and shone.
So came Peace and gave rest.
So came Love and brought Life.”
Some of you heard me share this poem a month ago at a service in Florence, it’s called, “And the Word was Made Flesh” by Laurence Housman.
It speaks of God looking down over the earth and seeing it was in need. God saw darkness. God saw war. God saw hatred. This is not what God had in mind when He created the heavens and the earth. Something has gone wrong, what could it be? read more…