Tag Archives: Easter

Easter Greetings from the Synod of CNOB

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Great is Thy faithfulness; great is Thy faithfulness;
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. 

                  Thomas Chisholm 1923, 1996 BoP 324

This is one of my very favourite hymns, one that I regularly find myself humming or singing under my breath. In many ways it sums up, not just my experience of God, but the fullness of that experience. The key line, “All I have needed thy hand hath provided,” reminds me of the nature of God’s providence. 

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A Devotion Booklet for Lent: Reading Through the Book of Mark

Are you thinking of adding something new to your daily life this Lent?

Lent is a wonderful season to begin a new faith practice; the practice of reading an entire book of the bible, day-by-day, is one members of your church might like to participate in.

This year, if your congregation follows the lectionary, the Gospel of Mark will be featured most weeks of our year. Journeying through this very readable gospel as a individual or a congregation early in the season offers all ages the opportunity to hear this gospel first as a complete story before they return to its individual texts through the year in worship, study and Sunday school.

To help everyone with this faith practice, here is a free, downloadable devotional booklet for individual or churches to use this Lent.

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Easter Greetings

Friends and colleagues in the synod,

A week or so ago we had an email from a colleague who jokingly said he never thought he would give up church for Lent. Likewise, yesterday a friend said that after all the years of feeling that going to the Good Friday service was hard, she realized that not going was going to be even harder. It is difficult to know how to respond in these days. 

When everything else has been stripped away, even going to church itself, we are still left with the enormity and wonder of the resurrection. Recall that the resurrection did not happen in a church building and that the first witnesses were three frightened women. In many ways our story this year is their story, or the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus; Jesus revealing himself by walking alongside us and identifying himself in the breaking of bread. 

This Easter season we are grateful for you. We are grateful that in the midst of uncertainty and fear that you continue to lead with courage and faith. We are thankful for church leaders, ordained and lay, who are serving their communities in countless ways. We are praying for you and for your churches, for health and safety, but especially for a profound sense of wonder at the love that enfolds us in the resurrection of Jesus.

May you and yours be touched profoundly this Easter by the simple and wonderful truth of our faith,

Christ has died

Christ is risen

Christ will come again.

May our risen Lord bless and sustain you,

With gratitude,

John-Peter & Tori Smit

Thoughts, Especially Around Holy Week Worship and Communion

Greetings in the Lord’s name. We trust you are keeping well and safe in these strange, uncharted days. As we think about our Holy Week and Easter services of worship, we wonder, “How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:4) We hope we can be of help with a few thoughts, especially around communion.

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