I think – I hope – we are all learning that enough is enough and that we need to develop a theology of enough. We are learning that we need to respect the planet and not to be so consumerist and extravagant. In 1972, nearly fifty years ago, John Taylor wrote
“our Western way of life is marked by excess whichever aspect of our situation one looks at – our consumption of food and our accumulation of goods, our wage claims and price rises, our waste and pollution, the concentration and congestion of our cities, our destruction of living creatures and our plunder of fuels and minerals, our expenditure on armaments and the wanton disproportion of the way we use them – excess is the word that comes continually to mind. Ruthless, unbridled, unthinking excess.”
I pray that we learn to respect the planet, to live simply so that others may simply live and to take delight and joy in simple pleasures.
and we are told to keep on keeping physical distance,
and we are to wear masks,
and we can’t eat in restaurants,
and the list of restrictions seem to increase weekly,
there are many who are beginning to feel those feelings:
anxiety
depression
loneliness
anger
fear
hopelessness
So what do we do? What can we do?
Paul writes to the church in Rome. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.Romans 12:12
Hope.
It’s something we long for.
But our hope is not simply wishful thinking that this COVID-19 pandemic will come to an end,
that things will get back to whatever we think of as “normal“,
that a vaccine will fix everything.
Hope has a name, and His name is Jesus!
Jesus said:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light ~Matthew 11:28-30.
My prayer for all of us is that we will remind ourselves of Romans 8:37-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers,
nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
That we will use this time
to set our eyes forward,
to focus on what God is doing and wants to do in and through us
You can also register for OCCKids in Theatre 1 (K-Grade 5) at the same link
Right now, because of COVID-19, everything is different at OCC. To help us adhere to the 30% maximum capacity requirement, we ask those who are coming to our in-person service to register either online through the link below, or by calling OCC.
Registration will close Friday morning at 9 am, to give us time to set up properly. If we reach capacity, we will have a waiting list. Those on the waiting list will be given first chance at registering for the next Sunday (and will be contacted if there are any cancellations). Please plan to come a bit early to facilitate the seating process.
The doors will open on Sundays, at 9:30 am for our 10am service.
We trust and pray that as you read and listen that you will be blessed.
Today we are continuing in our series looking at Faithful Practices
last month we focused on the Table of the Lord | Communion | Eucharist
last week we looked at Reconciliation.
We encourage you to take a few minutes as you prepare to watch the video
sit still,
breathe in, breath out a couple of times
invite the Lord to make himself present with you as you watch – he is with you – it’s just that sometimes we are not aware that he is.
prepare your heart to listen and receive
Read Romans 5:1-5 as you enter into our time together.
giving
In this new way of being the church, we don’t practice giving by placing our offering in a basket as it is passed.
OCCers are generous people. Thank you for your gifts.
Some of you give when you attend a service (there is an offering box)
We are partnering with the Lighthouse to host the distribution of winter clothing. We are looking for donations of clothing, especially children and youth sizes. There is also an opportunity to greet and help people find what they need. Distribution will be on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Contact Judi Page for all the details.
worship & teaching
AGM
OCCs Annual General Meeting will be held tonight, Sunday, 15 November @ 4pm
We will be meeting both in person at OCC and via zoom. You can find the details here.
prayer
There is NO Zoom Prayer tonight
OCCKids & Youth
OCCkids are meeting in Theatre 1 @ 10am (during our morning service). Additional resources for those who cannot be present are available from pastor Brent.
OCCYouth are meeting every 2nd Friday nights (6:30-8:00pm)They are meeting next week: November 20
Jr High meets every 2nd Thursday night (6:30-8:00pm). They are meeting nextweek, November 26.
One of the best ways to learn how to live out the text is to be part of a LIFEGroup.
Over the next few weeks, our LIFEGroups are going to be unpacking these practices we are exploring on Sunday morning.
It’s not too late to get connected. You can get all the information to get connected here.
Discussion questions, the PowerPoint show and other resources are posted on the sermon page.
reading the Gospel of John
During the month of November, we want to read through the Gospel of John together. We have designed this reading plan so that we have a couple of days to catch up each week – i.e. we will read 21 chapters in 30 days.
We encourage you to share what stands out to you, what God’s Spirit makes come alive to you as you read. Share what you are learning or being reminded of in the comments on the post on this page.
You can download a copy of the reading plan here. It’s never too late to start.
Here is the link to register for the in-person AGM
OCC partners are encouraged to attend in order to accept the 2021 Budget and look at the financials for 2019 and 2020.
here is the link to register for the in-person AGM
OCC partners are encouraged to attend in order to accept the 2021 Budget and look at the financials for 2019 and 2020.
But right now, because of COVID-19, everything is different at OCC. To help us adhere to the 30% maximum capacity requirement, we ask those who want to be part of our in-person service to register either online through the link below, or by calling OCC.
Registration will close Friday morning at 9 am, to give us time to set up properly. If we reach capacity, we will have a waiting list. Those on the waiting list will be given first chance at registering for the next Sunday (and will be contacted if there are any cancellations). Please plan to come a bit early to facilitate the seating process.
The doors will open on Sundays, at 9:30 am for our 10am service.
You can also register for OCCKids in Theatre 1 (K-Grade 5) at the same link
In this new way of being the church, we don’t practice giving by placing our offering in a basket as it is passed.
OCCers are generous people. Thank you for your gifts.
Some of you give when you attend a service (there is an offering box)
We are partnering with the Lighthouse to host the distribution of winter clothing. We are looking for donations of clothing, especially children and youth sizes. There is also an opportunity to greet and help people find what they need. Distribution will be on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, starting November 9. Contact Judi Page for all the details.
worship & teaching
OCCKids are meeting in-person (physically distanced) in Theatre 1 at 10am.
prayer
Zoom Prayer @ 6:30pm Sunday evening
Here is the link.
Join us as we meet to pray for one another, for OCC, for our city and for our country and our world.
You don’t think you know how to pray? Join us and learn.
OCCKids & Youth
OCCkids are meeting in Theatre 1 @ 10am (during our morning service). Additional resources for those who cannot be present are available from pastor Brent.
OCCYouth are meeting Friday nights (7-8:30pm)
Jr High meets every 2nd Thursday night (7-8:30pm). They are meeting this week, November 12.
One of the best ways to learn how to live out the text is to be part of a LIFEGroup.
Over the next few weeks, our LIFEGroups are going to be unpacking these practices we are exploring on Sunday morning.
It’s not too late to get connected. You can get all the information to get connected here.
Discussion questions, the PowerPoint show and other resources are posted on the sermon page.
reading the Gospel of John
During the month of November, we want to read through the Gospel of John together. We have designed this reading plan so that we have a couple of days to catch up each week – i.e. we will read 21 chapters in 30 days.
We encourage you to share what stands out to you, what God’s Spirit makes come alive to you as you read. Share what you are learning or being reminded of in the comments on the post on this page.
You can download a copy of the reading plan here. It’s never too late to start.
AGM
OCCs Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday, 15 November @ 4pm
We will be meeting both in person at OCC and it will be available as a zoom meeting.
