Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Swift Current Salvation Army Centennial Dinner

Saturday, June 8th at 5:30
At the Salvation Army Corps


Reserve your tickets today.

We only have room for 150 and tickets are selling fast.

There is a musical performance by The Saskatoon Temple Band. If you have never heard a Salvation Army brass band before, you are in for a real treat. Almost one hundred years ago it wouldn’t have been an uncommon event to see the Salvation Army Band marching down the streets of our community here.

There is a musical performance by Larry Jaster. Larry, a local celebrity, is an accomplished musician specializing in gospel music, who has performed in many locations over many years. He has also been a regular feature around the Swift Current Army here for many years.

The Guest Speaker is Major Stephen Court. He and his wife, Major Danielle Strickland, founded The Salvation Army's 614 Urban Ministries on Vancouver's notorious downtown east side. They started the War College (an evangelism training college) in that same neighbourhood. Major Court was principal of a Salvation Army Training College (seminary) in Australia. He has authored more than a dozen books and he and Danielle are currently serving in Edmonton Alberta.

Suggested donation $13

Please RSVP to 306.778.0515 or reception@swiftcurrentarmy.com

More information: www.sheepspeak.com

Praise the Lord for 100+ Years in Swift Current

Please join us at our events.

 

June 7th
  • 6pm Registration at The Salvation Army Corps
    • Guest Book for signing
    • Old Fashion Timbrels routine by the youth
    • Tours of ministry unit
    • Games for children
    • Musical performance by Larry Jaster

June 8th
  • 10am Pancake breakfast with musical entertainment

  • 2pm Open Air
    • Parade to Memorial Park
    • Saskatoon Temple Band performance
    • Major Stephen Court (Edmonton) Speaking
    • Activities for the children

  • 5:30pm Dinner at the Salvation Army
    • Greeting from local and Salvation Army dignitaries
    • Major Stephen Court speaking
    • Musical performances by the Saskatoon Temple Band & Larry Jaster

June 9th
  • 10:30am Centennial Army Meeting (church service)
    • Traditional Salvation Army Celebrations
      • Major Stephen Court preaching
      • Musical worship led by the Saskatoon Temple Band & Larry Jaster
    • Cake and coffee afterwards

Sunday, May 05, 2013

Rejoice in the Lord Always!

Philippians 4:4: Rejoice in the Lord Always.  Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 05 May 2013 by Captain Michael Ramsay
 
Philippians 4:4: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice



Philippians 4:4: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice

A good question to ask here –of course- would be what does Paul mean when he says to rejoice always? In the ancient Roman world “joy is rarely mentioned, except as an illusion. This is true for the philosopher and the elites. It is much more so for the vast populace that had no opportunity for philosophical or scientific reflection.”[1] For the vast majority of the people in the world of the Roman Empire the old adage would apply that ‘life’s hard and then you die’ and on top of that people didn’t live very long to begin with then and there. And some of the pagan religions of that region stated that in some circumstances that your suffering in this life didn’t even end with your life; it continued on after death.

Philippians 4:4: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice

There is not a lot of joy, as we would represent it today on commercials for early retirement, travel, entertainment, etc. in the ancient Roman world. Remember that even the Roman Emperor, the most powerful man in his world; he didn’t have any indoor plumbing; he didn’t have any central heating; he didn’t have any air conditioning. Neither he nor the other rich and powerful people of this time and place flossed or even brushed their teeth – toothpaste was not even conceived of - and no one ever took a shower. People didn’t live that long and there wasn’t much joy, as we would portray joy today in our contemporary advertising.[2]

Philippians 4:4: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice

Even if there were a lot of things that we would consider joyful, it certainly would not be in and around the situation in which Paul found himself.
 

Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift! (Hurricane Ike)

2 Corinthians 9:12-15: Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift! (Hurricane Ike relief) Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 12 October 2008 and Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 28 April 2013 by Captain Michael Ramsay.

Hurricane Ike struck Galveston TX a few weeks ago. More than 1 million people were evacuated from Texas and to date more than 72 people have been found dead as a result of Hurricane Ike. Bodies were still being found when I left a couple of days ago.

Homes are destroyed. Businesses are destroyed. The sewers, the water, and the phones are still not working. People are housed in shelters both on and away from Galveston Island. Many still have no place to go. Power is still out in some of the parts where we were posted. The power outage means that even for families that did not lose their stoves and refrigerators – and most did; there were many refrigerators destroyed and lying on the side of the road for pick up – they were unable to keep or cook any food. They don’t have food and they don’t have water.

Food and water: this is a big part of The Salvation Army mission down there. We have around 30 food trucks (called canteens) from which we help to serve around 75 000 hot meals every day and give the people water and ice. Ice is very important. It was around 900 F during our time there. And the food: many people told me that without The Salvation Army they wouldn’t have eaten at all. They wouldn’t have survived. We thank the Lord for the service that the volunteers are providing to God and this community. We pray for them that as they continue to serve down there, the Lord will continue to bless greatly the volunteers and the populace alike.

2 Corinthians 9:12-15: This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2008/10/2-corinthians-912-15-thanks-be-to-god.html

Green Grenade

Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 4:27-32, Philippians 2:14-16: Green Grenade.Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 21 April 2013 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Tim told me this story the other week. I am sure he will forgive me if I have any of the details wrong. For more information, I invite you to chat with him about this after the meeting (service) today.

Early on a Sunday morning – it may even have been Easter morning – there was a knock on the door of Tim’s new place. He had just moved in, I believe. He gets up, answers the door; it is a police officer. She asks, “Are you Tim?”

“Yes...”

“I need you to come with me.”

“Why?”

She tells him what it is that he has supposedly done. Tim doesn’t think that this applies to him at all. As far as he knows he has never been involved in this thing but “Okay.”

“Go get dressed”, she tells him. He does.

The whole time he is wondering, of course, ‘what is going on?’ As he is getting dressed, of course, he is thinking that there is something not right here; so as he comes out of his room, fully clothed, of course, he asks her again, “Who are you looking for?”

As they walk out the door, “Tim”, she says.

As they head out to the car, “Tim who?” he says. “What is the last name of the Tim you’re looking for?”

“You tell me your last name first”, she says. He does. “Show me your ID, please”, she says. He does. “Have a nice day, Tim”, she says. He does.

Apparently some other Tim – in whom the police were interested - used to live here before him; or the new landlord thought he was some other Tim who needed to be questioned by the RCMP; or someone thought they saw some other Tim moving into that place; or something else.

But anyway this was Tim’s excuse for missing church that day. I thought that was a good excuse. Mind you I didn’t check it out with the RCMP yet… (-:

This was a case of mistaken identity. In our texts today – especially the one from Galatians – we may have cases of mistaken identity as well. The pericopes that we read this morning are all passages from letters that the Apostle Paul has written to the Saints (a.k.a. Christians) in various communities that he knows well. He is writing these letters to some churches that he has planted himself. He is writing these letters – in the cases of Philippians and Ephesians – to people he loves and respects. And to the Galatians, he writes of their common problem, Galatians 5:19-21:
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

People who indulge in hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy, and the like will not inherit the kingdom of God.[1] This is pretty serious stuff. He is not talking about those who have not claimed that Jesus is Lord (See Matthew 7:15-27; see also Matthew 25:31ff.); Paul is writing this letter to and for people in the churches. Matthew 7:21, Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
 

We're Back!

John 21:15-23: We’re Back! Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 07 April 2013. Presented to Nipawin Corps, 21 February 2009 and Weston Corps, May 2006 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Have you ever walked into a room and known that you are in trouble right away. You come home: “honey, I’m home….” and there is no answer. You walk into the livingroom and there she is just sitting on the couch, arms crossed, looking straight into your eyes and she starts asking questions…Not me…

I can remember one Friday night when I am sixteen, I need to borrow my parents car and I am allowed on one condition – that I bring my along little sister, Lorinda – she is fifteen. If I can be trusted with the car then I can take my sister with me. This is bad enough but what makes this even worse is that she has a curfew, which I don’t, so I have to stop whatever I am doing and bring her home by 10:00.

I take her down to the local hangout where I meet all my friends and tell her to just to find something to do and not bother me until it is time to go. This works well because, believe it or not, she didn’t really want to spend all Friday night with her big brother either – go figure- so this thing might just work out after all. Now as the evening progresses, things are turning out rather nicely for me actually. You see, tonight my friends and I meet some new friends… We start to get know each other. There is a party later that night that the group of us are planning to attend – there is just one problem – we have to get my sister home by 10. Now as my friends and I are behind the building my sister shows up and says, “it’s time to go” and - she is not alone. She has gone off and found herself a boyfriend! And this boyfriend is actually a friend of mine – so I have an idea…

He can bring Lorinda home! There are, however, a couple of hmmm…details to overcome: 1) my sister isn’t really allowed to date just yet and 2) this boy, Tony, will be bringing her home on his motorcycle (actually I think it was probably more like a motorized scooter!). These won’t go over so well with my mom, so I come up with a plan: I tell Tony that he can take her home but to make sure that he parks around the corner from our house so my that mom won’t see them when she looks out the window and I tell Lorinda to tell mom that she got a ride home from Melody – a nice girl from the church group – which was, um, actually where we were both supposed to be tonight, now that I think about it; so…

Tony gets her home all right but rather than around the corner like I told him to he parks down the street, in plain view, and under a streetlight and he decides to give her a good night kiss. And then Lorinda has a cigarette as she walks the rest of the way home where my mom is watching this whole scene from the window. Lorinda walks in the door and mom asks, “How did you get home?”

“Melody…” up oh…

Fast forward a couple of hours - I come home...
 
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/02/john-2115-23-were-back.html