July 1, 2018: "Whenever I Feel Afraid"

June 24, 2018: "Facing Your Giants"

June 17, 2018: "How Do I Build a Great Life"

June 10, 2018: "The Church and Your Value"

June 3, 2018: "When God Whispers Your Name"

May 27, 2018: "Hearing The Call"

LOLA CRAWFORD ~ HEARING GOD’S CALL

Of all the commandments in the Bible, the commandment to love is the most important. In her 99 years, Lola Crawford was able to show us how that commandment could be lived. Lola (Grady) Crawford was born in 1918. Her dad was a lumberman and her mother worked at home to care for the family. When she was just young her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Due to her mother`s illness she`d remain home to care for her mother and look after the household duties.


In 1938 Lola married Richard Crawford and moved to Nashwaaksis. Her faith was always at the forefront of her life and she sought to live the gospel both in and out of church. On moving to Nashwaaksis she quickly became part of the church and community where she taught Sunday School, Girl Guides, and sewing. She soon became active in UCW and, at the time of her passing, had been a member for more than 55 years. Lola was the first president when UCW became a Committee of Presbytery in 1980.  Every month she went door-to-door canvassing to raise funds for groups including the Red Cross and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Some people would just leave an envelope in the door marked "Lola" because they knew she would be around some time collecting for a worthwhile cause. When Nashwaaksis United Church was first built Lola and her husband took out a mortgage to help fund its building. Money was tight in those days and they did not have a lot to spare but the church needed to be built. When asked why she did that she would say “Because the church is the soul of the community. The soul teaches us how to love. I don’t want to live in a community that doesn’t know how to love. I don’t know if anyone can.”


On Dec. 8, 1982, Lola Crawford began volunteering at Fredericton’s community kitchen shortly following its opening. When she wasn`t busy feeding people coming to her she delivered meals to shut-ins as part of the Meals–on-Wheels program. In 2012 Lola received the Thanksgiving Food Bank Hero award … a title that came with donation of 1000 jars of Kraft peanut butter. During an interview about it, while she was very thankful for the award, when asked about the prize she simply said ``we`re now stocked up with peanut butter, we`d certainly welcome some jam and bread to go with it.” Lola was recognized for volunteer and community service with such organizations as City of Fredericton Unsung Hero Award, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Nashwaaksis and Marysville Y’s Men’s Clubs and York Manor. Within the church she visited shut-ins during the Christmas season, bringing them cookies and treats, hosted the John Howard Society`s Christmas party, helped organize the delivery of Christmas Hampers to families in need, organized and oversaw our Back to School program, was our M&S Enthusiast, and every Tuesday could be seen offering friendly care, support, and conversation to single parents in our neighbourhood drop in.  At the age of 99 Lola Crawford passed from this life and into the hands of God leaving behind her a community and church transformed by her loving service.


May 20, 2018 - Pentecost Sunday: "Called to be the Church"

May 13, 2018: “Honouring Your Mother”

May 7, 2018: “We too have been chosen”  In our scripture reading, Jesus says, “You did not choose me.  Instead I chose you.”  If this is the case, what have we been chosen for?

April 29, 2018: “The Vine and the Branches”  Throughout His ministry, wherever He went, Jesus told everyone who would listen who He is, who we are, the life giving values and power He offers us, and then leaves us with a decision.

6 Part Sermon Series: How to let go of grudges and bitterness

Everybody has been hurt by the actions or words of another. Your mother may have criticized your parenting skills. Your friends may have gossiped about you. Your partner may have had an affair. These wounds caused by these actions can leave us with lasting feelings of anger, bitterness, and even vengeance. To have these feelings is a natural response but when we allow these feelings to rule our lives, we are the ones who pay most dearly. Join us for a 6-week series as we learn how to let go of resentments, feelings of hurt, and thoughts of revenge. Join us as we learn how to forgive others and free ourselves.


Part Six: LIMITS OF FORGIVENESS -- As we seek forgiveness, we also need to become aware of what it does not do.

Part Five: DETERMINE IF YOU WANT TO REPAIR THE RELATIONSHIP AND BE CANDID ABOUT THE PROBLEM -- A lot of people don’t want to forgive, because they think if they forgive then they’ve got to trust them again. No. That’s a whole different issue! Forgiving a person does not mean you have to trust them. The answer to “Will you forgive me?” may be yes, but the answer to “Can we go back to the way it was?” can be “no.” Forgiveness is based on grace. Trust is built on works. You earn trust. You don’t earn forgiveness.

Part Four: Choose Happiness Over Righteousness: Real resentment over real damage by a real person produces a justifiable resentment. No one doubts you have been hard done by but hanging on to that grudge will change you … so Choose Happiness Over Righteousness.

Part Three:  Bring our Hurts to God and be filled with the Holy Spirit: When your heart is breaking or when you’re confused and feeling worthless or down on yourself because of the way someone treated you, don’t turn away from God, turn towards Him.

Part Two: Releasing the Hurt: When we are hurt, something is taken away from us … our reputation, our trust, a friendship. This hurt diminishes us. Before we can truly forgive we have to face what has happened and grieve what we have lost.

Part One:  Revenge vs Forgiveness: When we are hurt, it is instinctive to lash back at that someone who hurt us. Yet if we take “an eye for an eye” the pain of that hurt is immediately doubled. What does that do to society? What does that do to us? How do we recover from the loss the hurt has caused?