CAPTIVATED BY GOD’S PASSION FOR PLACEMAKING

Passage: Jeremiah 29:4-11

The first time we encounter the word ‘placemaking’ is in 1562, when the second edition of the Geneva Bible (aka “The Placemakers’ Bible”) was printed. In it, the gospel of Matthew, chapter five verse nine reads: “Blessed are the placemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Oops! I do think God loves placemaking, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what Jesus actually meant in the Beatitudes.

In any case, the terms’ current usage can be traced back to the 1970s when architects and planners used the word ‘placemaking’ to describe the act of designing spaces that were pleasurable or interesting. Forty years later, the term is now understood more as a transformative communal process that seeks to build resilient and dynamic neighbourhoods and public spaces.

This morning, as we continue in the series “Captivated by God’s Passion”, we consider Jeremiah 29: 4-11 which gives us a vivid picture of what it might look like to care passionately about where you live and, together with others, to make it a safer, friendlier, better place.
(Kim Pierrot)

Come…Come…Come…

Here at Cap we believe that God invites us into a present and active relationship with Him. Our aim is not simply to know more about God but to know God more. Since we cannot see God, it is common to relate to Him similarly to how we would act in a long distance relationship. However this morning Brian Dean will be sharing from Isaiah 55, where God invites His people to come, be with Him, and listen. To do this, communication is vital and in Christianity this is often called prayer.

Henri Nouwen says that “Prayer helps us stand in the presence of God with all we have and are: our fears and our anxieties; our guilt and shame; our sexual fantasies; our greed and anger; our joys, successes, aspirations, and hopes; our reflections, dreams and mental wandering; and most of all our family, friends, and enemies—in short all that makes us who we are. With all this we have to listen to God’s voice and allow God to speak to us in every corner of our being.”

(Brian Dean)

This event has been organized by Cappers and non-Cappers involved in a book group that read ‘Half the Sky – Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide’. They could not merely read and forget the stories of these voiceless women, so they have partnered with 16 NGO’s and charities to put on this awareness event. There will be a raffle with gifts and prizes, choirs, kids crafts and handmade crafts from women in the developing world for Mothers’ Day. Go to www.halfthesky.ca for more information.

Justice Sunday

Today is Justice Sunday at CapChurch. The Justice Hub@Cap has a four pronged mandate around advocacy for the marginalized: to celebrate God’s justice; to educate the community; to support Cappers doing justice; to call justice “passions” out of the community. Today is about advocacy on behalf of the sexually victimized. This “justice passion” arose from a book group comprised of Cappers and non-Cappers which read Half the Sky. This group is planning a Half the Sky awareness day at Park Royal South for Sat May 12th 10am – 5pm to call people to act on behalf of the victims of sexual trafficking.

Half the Sky presents stories of the worldwide abuse and exploitation of women and how these women are and can be empowered to overcome adversity. Newscaster Tom Brokaw says, “Half the Sky is a passionate…plea to all of us to rise up and say ‘No more!’ to…abuses to girls and women… This is a book that will pierce your heart and arouse your conscience…. [around] one of the most shameful conditions of our time.”

To speak to the issue of Doing Justice And Giving Mercy To The Sexually Victimized we’ve asked Gwen McVicker and Sue Todd from Linwood House. Linwood House ministries beckon the tired, the broken and the lonely; particularly women living in the Downtown Eastside to rest and hear the message of Jesus: you are loved, you are worthy, you are beautiful.

(Mike Nichols)

Good Seed Sunday

Today is Good Seed Sunday at Cap. We believe that the earth is the Lord’s and everything and everyone who lives on the planet belongs to him. Because we believe this, self-care; care of one another in community and care of creation are important values for us. We want to love and tend to the earth and all of God’s creatures [including us!]. We’ve invited our own Luke Wilson who works with the Christian conservation ministry A Rocha to remind us of the great gift God has given us to tend and what it means in our day to lovingly tend the earth and not abuse it.

Did you know that A Rocha is fighting poverty through conservation? They even have a work in Uganda. A Rocha is working with slum dwellers on the edge of Kampala protect the wetland on which they depend for water, food and building materials so that they and the wildlife can thrive together. This is includes providing clean drinking water and finding new ways to dispose of sewage and rubbish. Doing conservation here is bringing health and dignity to people as the pollution of the swamp is being reduced. Sounds like kingdom work to me.

(Mike Nichols)