Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church

09/06/2026

𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄!

𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝟏𝟎:𝟎𝟎𝐚.𝐦. 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐔𝐒!
𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐛𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

24 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓—𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑯𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒔 10: 24-25

PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY AND GIVING TO GOD.

𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐄-𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐄𝐑 - 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞@𝐦𝐩𝐩𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡.𝐜𝐚

𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄: 715 Mt. Pleasant Rd. Mt. Pleasant, Ontario N0E 1K0

Today we are collecting food for the FOOD BANK.

𝑾𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒅'𝒔 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚!

09/03/2026

𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄
𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐘 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊
𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

Last Thursday afternoon I found myself standing in line paying a bill for my mother at City Hall. When I arrived, I went to the back of the line, but was told by the person in front of me that she was just waiting for a family member to finish dealing with the customer service representative. I thanked her for letting me know and found myself next standing behind a man a few years older than me, and who was a lot bigger than me too. In an attempt to make casual conversation with him I said, “𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐮𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝, “𝐍𝐨, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝.”

Then he went on to share with me why he has a strong punch at this moment. He told me that for the past 90 days he has been doing the “Tai Chi Chair exercise” routine that you may have seen advertised. These ads claim that any person who starts doing these exercises will notice changes in regards to their flexibility, their abdominal muscles, and overall strength in just a week. I asked the man if he had noticed any of these changes since he has been doing this. He replied, “No, I have not lost a single pound, I still have a big belly, but I can sure punch harder.” I found his testimony interesting because I had considered taking up this challenge of late. He went on to say that prior to this he had attended a local gym for the past 3 years in order to lose weight. He confessed that during those three years he had not lost weight but rather had added another 40 pounds to his waist line. I had been thinking about joining a gym too prior to this but after that testimony I am starting to have second thoughts. After I left City Hall, I thought to myself that neither this local gym nor the promotors of this “Tai-Chi chair” exercise program would want this man to give his testimony or review.

We see so many examples nowadays where we might be asked to give a review or testimony about our experience. I saw a sign last week at the bank where I could rate my experience dealing with the teller afterward. I will often see at the bottom of some of my sale receipts from places like Shoppers Drug Mart where I can go on-line afterward and do a quick survey about my experience shopping there. Even when I submit my medical receipts to my insurance provider on-line, they will ask me if I want to leave a review about my experience with the practitioner or chiropractor. If we happen to participate in giving a review, we will either give a positive or negative recommendation based on our perception of the experience. This got me thinking how we are called as believers to give our testimony about what our experiences with our Lord have been like. Jesus reminded His followers of this expectation and requirement just before He ascended back into heaven:

𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐞. (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝟐𝟖:𝟏𝟖-𝟐𝟎)

Witnessing is not something everybody is comfortable doing but it might be easier for us to give a positive recommendation about the Christian life when things are going well for us. As I reflected upon how we do not leave a positive recommendation when we have a bad experience say at a restaurant I wondered if we have this same tendency when it comes to God too? Do we not speak positively about having a relationship with Him to others when we feel life is not going as we hoped? Something that may help us to always give a positive witness about God even when life is not going as expected is to learn how Joseph was able to. When Joseph found himself in Egypt and thrown into prison as a result of a false accusation made against him, when he was asked to interpret a dream for Pharaoh’s cup bearer and baker, he offered this positive testimony about God:
𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. (𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝟒𝟎:𝟖)

Despite the unfavorable circumstances he found himself in, Joseph still witnessed positively for the Lord here. He did so again when he confronted his brothers all those years after they sold him into slavery. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐡-𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭. (𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝟒𝟓:𝟓,𝟖)

Despite all he had endured, Joseph was still able to give a positive recommendation about all God had done for him. Like Joseph we may not always understand why we may be going through some negative experiences in our lives. He was still able to see in these moments that God was with Him and working to turn these situations into something good and better for him and others. May we have this same perspective and understanding so that we are able to positively witness about having God in our lives no matter what.

𝓚𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝓼𝓪𝓯𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓖𝓸𝓭 𝓫𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼
𝓟𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻 𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓷
.ca
# [email protected]

09/01/2026

As the seasons begin to change, let this month be more than another page on the calendar. Let it be an invitation to slow down, seek God first, and trust that He is faithfully leading each step...even when you can't see the whole path.

One prayer, one act of kindness, one moment of stillness at a time....Look for God in all things, demonstrate and show God's love and kindness to all those around us. God is shaping something beautiful!

08/30/2026

𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄!

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐛𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

𝐈𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟎:𝟎𝟎𝐚.𝐦.

“𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈.” – 𝑯𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒔 10:25

PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY AND GIVING TO GOD. TITHES AND OFFERINGS CAN BE SENT TO

𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐄-𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐄𝐑 - 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞@𝐦𝐩𝐩𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡.𝐜𝐚
𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄: 715 Mt. Pleasant Rd. Mt. Pleasant, Ontario N0E 1K0

𝑾𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒅'𝒔 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚!

WELCOME TO MOUNT PLEASANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH http://www.mppchur...

08/26/2026

𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄
𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐀 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧
𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟖

My neighbor has decided to build a garage at the end of his driveway that will extend into his backyard. One of the first steps required for him to do this was to have a large maple tree cut down in the area where he wants the garage built. He called and let us know a few days ahead that the contractor he hired would be coming in on Saturday to do the job. I awoke early on Saturday and discovered it was already raining. I thought for sure seeing the weather the contractor would cancel. That was not the case however. I looked out my front window to see him pull up and begin unloading his equipment to cut down the tree. I had to do a few errands shortly after he arrived but came home about 90 minutes later to see him half way up this very large tree cutting away some of the branches. The sound of a chainsaw at work was a constant noise throughout the morning and afternoon. I found myself at times staring out my back window with interest watching how this contractor strategically made his way around this tree clearing away sections of it. There were times as he cut branches near my neighbor’s existing tool shed that I wondered if an errant falling branch would land on it. As he cut each branch away, I would hear a loud thud when it would hit the ground. Finally, around 3:30 in the afternoon he made his last cut with the chainsaw and the stump came down. With this large maple tree now down near my property line, I noticed right away how more of the afternoon sun was shining into my backyard. With this tree now down, I also began wondering if I would see quite a reduction in the amount of leaves I might have to rake in the fall. I usually rake up between 40-50 bags of leaves each fall just from my backyard. I am hoping this number may reduce by 20 per cent come fall. Of course, how could this cheap pastor not also think about how glad I was that I did not have to cover any of the cost of the tree coming down.

It really was interesting to watch the process unfold on Saturday seeing this tree being cut down. It got me thinking how Jesus spoke one time about some pruning and cutting back of branches that the Master Gardener wants to do in our lives. In the opening verses of John 15, Jesus said:

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞. (𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝟏𝟓:𝟏-𝟒)

Jesus described our relationship with Him in terms of a vine and its branches. As followers of Christ, we are connected to Jesus just like a branch is to its vine. He shared how believers who remain in a committed relationship with Him should be bearing “good” or “much” fruit for the Kingdom of God. It is interesting to note in Jesus’ analogy here the Father’s role in all of this as the “Gardener.” Just as a gardener may have to cut back fruitful branches at times in order to promote more growth, Jesus shared how our Heavenly Father may have to cut or prune back certain things in us so that we can get back to bearing more fruit for Him. A question that we might want to ponder this week is what exactly might our Heavenly Father be seeing in our lives that might be impacting our ability to bear more fruit? Some possibilities might be:

• 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑯𝒊𝒎?

• 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇-𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕?

• 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍?

• 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚?

Our Heavenly Father takes close notice of how well we are remaining attached to Jesus. If there is any aspect in our relationship that is hindering our ability to produce fruit let us allow our Heavenly Father to do whatever pruning is needed to get us back shining light for Him in this world.

With all of the rain we have had since Saturday I have not been able to enjoy looking at how much more sun is shining into our backyard now that the tree is down. Getting back to my cheap side, I did notice later on Saturday that my grocery store has on sale leaf bags at 50 per cent off their normal cost. I may celebrate the tree coming down by splurging and buying 20 per cent less bags than usual at a 50 percent cost reduction. I will be happy to prune back my total purchase in this manner.

𝓚𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝓼𝓪𝓯𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓖𝓸𝓭 𝓫𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼
𝓟𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻 𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓷
://mppchurch.ca/
# [email protected]

08/23/2026

𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄!
𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐛𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟑𝐫𝐝, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

𝐈𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟎:𝟎𝟎𝐚.𝐦. 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭! 715 Mount Pleasant Rd, N0E 1K0

At 9:45 our Carillon will begin playing throughout the village and as you enter with beautiful hymns and music for the glory of God.

“𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈.” – 𝑯𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒔 10:25

PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY AND GIVING TO GOD. TITHES AND OFFERINGS CAN BE SENT TO

𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐄-𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐄𝐑 - 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞@𝐦𝐩𝐩𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡.𝐜𝐚
𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄: 715 Mt. Pleasant Rd. Mt. Pleasant, Ontario N0E 1K0

𝑾𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒅'𝒔 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚!

08/19/2026

𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄
𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐨
𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟏𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

During this past week if you have happened to stop into a Tim Hortons like I have on many occasions, you may have seen some of the staff wearing colorful shirts advertising their promotion of Harry Potter themed donuts and drinks. Some of the shirts the staff are wearing are blue, others are green, some are yellow, and still others are red. During my first visit to Tims on Monday, I asked one of the staff if she had gotten a Harry Potter shirt for her 10-year-old daughter. She acknowledged she had not yet, but had put a request into her manager if there was a small sized shirt left over could she have it for her daughter. After hearing her response, I said to her, “I imagine your daughter gets a lot of your shirts from here once a promotion is done?” Throughout a year, I will see the staff wearing various themed shirts whether it is promoting the sale of “Smile Cookies,” their annual Camp Day, or other promotions. This lady smiled and said, “It’s not just my daughter who loves to wear my old shirts from these promotions, but my husband does as well! In fact, both of them will often use them as their sleep shirts.” Getting to wear these promotional shirts afterward is just one of the benefits these employees and their families receive from working at Tim Hortons.

More often than not I find my interactions with certain of the staff at Tim Hortons focusing on some of the sacrifices and unpleasant aspects they encounter during the course of a shift. I do not blame these employees for focusing at times on some of the sacrifices they have to make working there and how stressful some customers and shifts can be. Sometimes we do this as believers too when it comes to what we consider to be the sacrifices we make in order to follow Jesus. Peter brought up to Jesus one time about the sacrifices he and his fellow disciples made in order to follow Him. Peter had this conversation with His Lord right after he witnessed the rich young man’s refusal to sell what he had in order to follow Jesus. Peter reminded Jesus that he and his fellow disciples had left their homes as well as their careers in order to follow Him. Jesus did not dismiss the sacrifices these disciples had made, but He wanted to remind them too about the benefits that come with following Him:

𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞. (𝐋𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝟏𝟖:𝟐𝟗-𝟑𝟎)

Jesus was being very truthful here acknowledging there are sacrifices when it comes to fully living the Christian life, but 𝑯𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝑷𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑯𝒊𝒎. Jesus reminded Peter that any believer who gives something up like He did in order to follow Him will be repaid with blessings not just in this life, but also in the next. This was an important moment for Peter to be reminded of this truth. He had just witnessed the rich young man thinking that the sacrifices required to follow Jesus was too much. He chose to focus on these sacrifices and the temporary benefits of holding onto his wealth as opposed to the everlasting benefits and blessings that come with discipleship. Jesus did not want Peter to become so focused on the sacrifices involved in following Him, to give up pursuit of the eternal blessings that come from the life choice of discipleship. It is equally important for us as followers today to keep our focus on the benefits that come with a relationship with Jesus. Some of these benefits include:
• 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓.
• 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒖𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒅𝒐𝒎, 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆.
• 𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉.
• 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.

It would be easy for us at times to think we are giving up more than receiving back when it comes to following Jesus. We may think we are missing out on so many temporary pleasures others are experiencing in the here and now. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔, 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔. By so doing we will find ourselves no longer focusing on the sacrifices but instead finding ourselves giving thanks for the many blessings we experience from the hand of Lord each and every day.

This journey in our thought process will also help remind us that no lifestyle can ever provide us with more benefits than what Jesus gives to us.

From time to time, I see this employee’s daughter from Tim Hortons sitting at a table waiting for her mom’s shift to end. I hope one of these times I will see her there wearing one of the Harry Potter shirts being currently worn by the staff. Seeing her wearing it will be a benefit she experiences from having a mom who works there. Seeing this transpire and the smile it will bring to me is a benefit I will experience seeing God at work.

𝓚𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝓼𝓪𝓯𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓖𝓸𝓭 𝓫𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼
𝓟𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻 𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓷
.ca
# [email protected]

08/16/2026

𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄!

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐛𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

𝐈𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟎:𝟎𝟎𝐚.𝐦.

“𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈.” – 𝑯𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒔 10:25

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𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄: 715 Mt. Pleasant Rd. Mt. Pleasant, Ontario N0E 1K0

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WELCOME TO OUR CHURCH – http://www.mppchurch.caAddress: 715 Mount...

08/13/2026

𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄
"𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝"
𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

I am beginning to wonder if I just have one of those faces. I can imagine some of you right now are thinking, “𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.” .” It is true that my mother loves my face, but she has to because I look a lot like her. What is making me wonder if there is something certain people see in my facial expressions is the fact recently two complete strangers opened up to me and started sharing what was frustrating them at that moment. I was not wearing my clerical collar in either of these occasions nor dressed in any way that would suggest I am a pastor. The first time this happened to me last week was when I was at the grocery store. I was over in the produce area looking for any great deals on marked down salads, and an employee working in that section moved over so I could examine the prices more closely. Whatever he saw in me it compelled him to begin sharing with me some of his frustrations with the wastages he sees happening on a daily basis in the grocery business. He continued on telling me about some of his frustrations working at the store and dealing with certain of his coworkers. He vented to me for a few moments and then stopped and said, “𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫!” I shared with him that it was okay because I am used to listening to people’s frustrations in the kind of work I am in. A few days later I happened to stop in for a large double-double at you know where. I have seen this one employee many times but we have never really engaged in any kind of deep conversations prior to this day. Maybe she saw a smile or glow on my face when I was handed my coffee, because before I knew it, she started sharing with me some of her frustrations at that moment. Just like the employee at the grocery store, she too shared with me some of her frustrations at how things operate at times in the store. She also vented about staff not showing up for shifts at times causing her to have to work longer, and kept going on with other frustrations too. Thankfully I was not one of the people she was frustrated with at that moment. I don’t know for sure what led these two employees that I have never had deep conversations with before to open up to me about what was bothering them. I was glad that I was put in a position at that moment by God to be a listening ear.

Everyone of us needs to have a person we can share our frustrations with when it seems like our feelings are coming to a boil. Hopefully we all have such a person in our life we can go to in these moments. We see in many instances in the Psalms that David wrote that the person he could be most open with was God. In 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝟓𝟗, David described in grim detail his frustrations with once trusted friends and mentors in his life having now turned against him out of jealousy. What frustrated David most was seeing their jealousy start turning into a desire to harm him. David then expressed his own feelings of desperation and despair seeing this change in attitude toward him. David decided to turn to God in this moment and open up to Him about his feelings:
𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓. 𝑬𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒈𝒆, 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑶 𝒎𝒚 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒐 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑰 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒀𝒐𝒖, 𝑶 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒈𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. (𝑷𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒎 59:16-17)

David understood that God’s love for him was constant and unfailing. We see here by turning toward God and sharing with Him his frustrations, David was able to change his negative feelings into more positive ones as a result of being reminded of God’s faithful presence and love.

Just like David, we all have stresses going on in our everyday lives that may be causing us a lot of frustration and negative thinking. Our strategy in these moments should be to follow David’s example and turn to God quickly and share these feelings with Him. It is safe for us to do so, and as David acknowledged we will find refuge and comfort in so doing. Before we know it, we too will find ourselves praising God by the end, because of His faithful presence and love.

It was one of those weeks when I was surprised to say the least that these employees opened up to me so they could vent their frustrations. I hope my presence helped their feelings in those moments. My feelings were uplifted in both situations too because I walked out of the grocery store having saved $10.00 off my bill, and from Tim Hortons with a large double-double in hand.

𝓚𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝓼𝓪𝓯𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓖𝓸𝓭 𝓫𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼
𝓟𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻 𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓷
.ca
.ca

08/09/2026

𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄!

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐛𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

𝐈𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟎:𝟎𝟎𝐚.𝐦.

“𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈.” – 𝑯𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒔 10:25

𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐄. 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐔𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏

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