Salvogesis

Romans 8:24 “…Hope that is seen is no hope at all; who hopes for what they already have?” We have just had Christmas. Many children (and adults) hope for gifts. Many of us hope that family will be able to visit us over the holidays or that we will be able to visit them. Officers often hope for a day or two off on boxing day or shortly thereafter. We also hope that we will raise enough funds on the kettles; we hope that we will be able to provide for the communities for which we are responsible. In the myriad things we do at Christmas time and all year long we hope that we are able to provide comfort and support for those in need. Hope is what drives us. Hope is what helps us continue. Hope is what gives us strength. I know there were a few days during the Christmas campaign where I myself was very down. I was not all that hopeful. First I was sick, then life and circumstances arose and I was so down that people could tell just from my body language and my voice as I spoke in normal c...

Tonight, Last night, every night we have people working 9pm to 9am – overnight - at the Emergency Weather Response shelter. I don’t know if everyone here is aware that as well as all of the things that we do here at Christmas time and year-round and all the things that we do down at the Bread of Life and Kuu-us, The Salvation Army also runs the EWR shelter attached to the Bread of Life building. We have just been authorized to turn it into a permanent shelter too; so, in the next few months we will be doing renovations and adding bunk beds, hiring new staff and all kinds of fun stuff… And last night and tonight we will have staff, employees working there overnight.   Has anyone ever worked an overnight shift? In my experience, they are not a lot of fun. In my experience, they are not the shifts that people normally clamour for. In my experience, anyone with any experience and education usually tries to be ‘promoted’ off the night shift. Sometimes you get some great workers for the ...

A Christmas Eve Message:   This evening is Christmas Eve. This is when we celebrate the eve of the birth of our Saviour in a manger in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago. There are many things closed tonight and more tomorrow. We hope and we think that we are all prepared for that. Christmas Eve is a time when we hope and think that everything is prepared for tomorrow: stockings are stuffed or ready to be stuffed, presents are made or bought, wrapped and placed under the tree or ready to be placed under the tree, meal plans and/or travel plans are made. Christmas Eve is a time of anticipation. 2000+ years ago, the evening before Jesus was born (whatever evening that was) it must have been a time of great anticipation – at least for Mary and Joseph and whomever happened to be with them. Mary was very pregnant and about to give birth to her first child. Any moms (and even dads) who can remember the birth of their first child, think of your own anticipation and the plans you had mad...

The second candle of Advent is faith. The four candles are (according to the source I am using): Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace. Advent is about waiting. It is about people waiting for the Messiah, the Christ to come the first time (as we now know He did, as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem) and it is about us waiting for Him to return, as we are now. When people began waiting for Christ to come the first time, they did not know when He would come; they did not know how He would come; they did not know exactly where He would come (similar to us now waiting for His return) – but when the signs of His pending arrival started to appear, people started to notice and as people started to notice they started to tell others and as they told others more people began to notice the signs. (aside: all the miracles recorded in the Gospels are just recorded signs themselves that point people to the Advent of Christ). The more people notice the signs, the more they share the good news of Jesus’ arrival,...