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How will you stop, talk, and help?

Challenge Central: a CBC devotional

By: Pastor Lars Janssen

A woman asked for prayer for her homeless daughter.

A confused young man wandered up to the door looking for something—but his addled mind couldn’t express what it was.

A malnourished teenager held up a sign asking for money.

A young girl wondered if anyone cared about her at all.

A dishevelled man called out for help from the side of the street.

A chronically ill woman didn’t know where to turn as her disease devoured her body and her savings.

The father of a terminally ill child begged for help in his desperate search for hope.

A young couple with no place to go had to sleep in a barn with their newborn.

Are these images familiar to you? Take a moment and read them over again. Have you seen these people, or people like them, in Brantford? The first four have been a part of my experience over the last few months here in Brantford. The last four were a part of Jesus’ experience during his time on earth.

The dishevelled man in Mark 11:47-52 called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped, talked to him, and helped him.

The chronically ill woman in Mark 5:25-34 snuck up on Jesus and touched him without permission. Jesus’ response was to stop and turn around so that he could talk to her and help her.

The sick child’s father in Mark 5:21-43 begged on his knees for Jesus’ help. Jesus went with him immediately, talked to him, and helped his daughter.

The young couple with the newborn in Luke 2:6-7 were Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. Jesus stopped what he had been doing in Heaven to be born as a human, to grow into a man who would talk to us and help us.

This makes me ask myself, Do I stop what I’m doing to talk and help?

Several people once asked Jesus if they could finish up what they were doing before they followed him. Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head … No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:58,62). These may seem like hard words, but they are simply acknowledging reality. If I love Jesus more than anything else, service in his kingdom is my highest prize. Why would I put it off?

Let me remind you, Central family, of some of the things we’ve agreed on together.

In our Church Covenant, we “most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another…to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expense of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.”

In our Statement of Faith, we say that our church family ought to be “exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His word” (Article 13 “The Church”).

What does it look like to contribute and exercise your gifts in your context?

May we find joy this Christmas season in the way Jesus stopped as a baby in Bethlehem, talked to us through his life’s teaching, and helped by his saving work on the cross. It’s often uncomfortable for us to stop, talk, and help like Jesus. It was uncomfortable for him too, but Jesus did just that for us.

How will you stop, talk, and help like Jesus this week?

Mourning Faith Somerville

We mourn with Ross, Don & Leslie, Diane & Lee and all their children and grandchildren in the passing of Faith this past week.

The Visitation and Celebration of Life will take place at Toll Funeral Home.

Visitation: Monday, November 28, 6-8pm

Celebration of Life: Tuesday, November 29, 1pm

The service will also be live-streamed, visit dennistoll.ca for the link

“Honesty is the best policy…” (Ain’t that the truth!)

Challenge Central: a CBC devotional

By: Alicia Clarke

I find myself trying to teach my kids that it is better to confess their sin and tell the truth, as without doing that, most times, they will find themselves needing to further lie to conceal the misdeed, which makes the original sin so much bigger!

Most of us complicate our lives with dishonesty. Consider that whenever we are not truthful, we create an alternate reality. And subsequently, we are forced to live a life in both worlds: the true one and the one we’ve created. On the other hand, when we choose honesty in all aspects of life, including our marriage, our business, and our relationships, we live the same life wherever we are. Honesty leads to simplicity, but dishonesty leads to duplicity – the exact opposite. Proverbs 10:9 speaks to this: “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.”

Consider the other benefits of an honest lifestyle:

  • Closer friendships. Honesty and integrity pave the way for greater intimacy. Your friends love the “true you,” not the one you’ve artificially created.
  • Higher quality friends. Honesty attracts honesty. People who are trustworthy and honest attract trustworthy and honest friends. And those are the best friends to have.
  • Trust. Honest people are trusted by others.
  • Less stress – Dishonesty needs to be maintained. Pretending to be something you are not requires constant attention to detail, even for the most experienced. Honest people are better able to relax because they are just being themselves and, naturally, feel better about themselves and less overwhelmed. Unfortunately, early in life, we learn that dishonesty can have incredible short-term benefits. It can get us out of trouble. It can get us what we want. It can make it easier to please the people around us. But dishonesty requires a lot of mental effort to keep up the façade, to hide the sin and ultimately, more deception must be committed to conceal the truth.

Living an honest life takes effort – it is easy to sin, and it takes great discipline to do what is right. It requires a decision to pursue it and some action steps to get it started. 2 Timothy 2:22 states we are to “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

To get started, consider some of these essential truths to living an honest life:

  • Christ-like character and integrity in your life make honesty easier. When you choose to live a life with Christ-like character, you will soon realize that you have nothing to hide… and honesty is a much easier path if you don’t have anything to hide. There are countless aspects to this point that pertain to our spouses, our children, our bosses, and friends. Pursue honesty in all of them. 
  • Consider the long-term consequences of a short-term gain. As I mentioned, one of the reasons that we begin living dishonestly in the first place is that the short-term gains seem obvious. Unfortunately, these short-term gains have long-term consequences. We would be wise to consider them and count the real cost of our decisions.
  • Living an honest life on the outside requires you to live an honest life on the inside. If you are going to be completely honest with others, you’ve got to be completely honest with yourself. If we have sins in our lives that we have been denying, we need to acknowledge them, repent of them, and address them.

Honesty is the best policy, and it requires the effort of us enacting Paul’s advice in Ephesians 4:22-24 to put off our old self that has been corrupted by its deceitful desires and to put on the new self, rooted in God’s truth. And that’s the truth!

Where Is The Joy This Season?

Challenge Central: a CBC devotional

By: Shannon Green

If you know me, you know how much I enjoy the Christmas season. My friends often mock me for how early I get my tree and decorations up in my home. I love to enjoy the warm glow of the tree lights and hear Christmas songs for as long as possible. Songs such as “Joy To the World” fill my home for a good two months. But what does that joy mean, especially when sometimes we do not feel so joyful? It can be extra difficult to watch others in excitement when we are not feeling all that joy-filled. Is this joy not supposed to give us strength? What happens when that strength is waning?

The verse in the Bible that says the “joy of the Lord is your strength” comes from Nehemiah 8:10. In this passage, the children of Israel have come out of exile and returned to Jerusalem. They were listening to the law being read and were overcome with the gravity of their sin and were weeping about how they had been living against God’s law. However, instead of being condemned, they were told by Nehemiah to celebrate because of the “joy of the Lord.” The children of Israel are God’s people; He loved them, and now they were out of exile. Focusing on God’s joy and love for them should be the strength they need to be in a right relationship with Him.

Other passages about joy in the New Testament are Romans 15:13, where it says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” This is the source of our joy, the hope we have in Christ that He has conquered the world and He is coming again. He has also given us the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and lives and direct us to a right relationship with Him. Romans 14:17 reminds us, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Finally, our instructions in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say rejoice.” This joy of the Lord is given when we accept His provision of righteousness by grace. This is something to rejoice in!

The well-known Christmas song “Joy to the World” is often sung during the Christmas season, but it is not just a Christmas song. It directs us to the hope of Jesus’ return.

“Joy to the world! The Lord is come;

Let Earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And heaven and nature sing.”

Philippians 2:9-10 says that on that day, all of heaven and earth will sing and repeat the song of joy for all eternity. We are not there yet. Many are not rejoicing in the Lord, and in fact, many are on the attack. God promises to return, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.

“No more let sin and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found.”

This is not the case in our world today. There is so much sorrow, sin, and strife. This makes finding joy difficult. If we look at the state of the world today, it is no wonder we can be filled with a sense of hopelessness. God says that the story is not done, and we have hope that needs to be shared with the world. This is not our home! We have a future with Christ, and this song’s truths point us to that promise.

“He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove,

The glories of His righteousness

And wonders of His love.”

We are promised that this is not how things will be forever. He will wipe away every tear, and death will be no more (Rev. 21:4). This should give us hope and rejoicing in our hearts regardless of the situation around us.

The challenge this Christmas season and beyond is to not just look at the circumstances around us but to hope in Christ. This gives new eyes for the future and a joy to share with others. There is an urgency to spread the gospel’s joy and good news in a world that desperately needs the strength and joy only found in Jesus. May we look beyond this world with a newfound joy and celebrate the grace bestowed on us through the unending love of God. Now that is something we can be joyful about! “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”

Safe Families Brantford Fundraising Concert: Handel’s Messiah

You are invited to a special fundraising event. Safe Families Brantford welcomes Ensemble Cantate Iterum, choir and orchestra, with special guest soloists, led by artistic director Johann VanIttersum, in presenting Handel’s Messiah on

Friday, December 2, 2022 at 8:00 pm.

22 Holiday Drive, Brantford Ontario (Living Water Reformed Church)

Tickets available from Eventbrite.

$35 in advance or

$40 at the door.

Seating is limited.

Register on Eventbrite