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CIRMC Weekly

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 [11-20] [21-23]


Get Ready for Jesus, Our Soon Coming Hope by Rev. Donovan Myers Wednesday Nov 23, 2022
	Please read Matthew 25:1-13 We tend to think of Advent (coming) as a time of preparation for Christmas (the coming of Jesus into the world as a baby), and it is indeed. Advent is, however, also a reminder of the promise of Christ that He will come again. His second coming is a time of great anticipation for most believers. It is what we live for. The second coming of Christ, [also called the Parousia], is a taught fact in the Bible. It is a complex reality that is told in simple terms and, therefore, can cause significant confusion. Paul wrote this little section in his first letter to the Thessalonians so that his readers would not be ignorant of the state of those who have died. In verse 13 he indicates, “Brothers and sisters, we want you to know what happens to those who die. We do not want you to mourn, as other people do. They mourn because they do not have any hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13 NIRV) please click here for more information (PDF file)

The Official Renaming of the Prospect Youth Centre to Olive Miller Memorial Building Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
	Close to eighty people gathered on Monday, November 14, 2022, at the Prospect Youth Centre to celebrate its renaming to ‘Olive Miller Memorial Building’. The initiative came from the Cayman Islands Girls Brigade to honor its founder, former President, and Patron. Those present included Girls’ Brigade Companies from every corner of the Island, family members of the late Ms. Olive, members of the clergy and the Cayman United Church Corporation, and others. please click here for more information (PDF file)

Sing A Song of Hope in God’s Victory by Mr. Denver Bloomfield Wednesday Nov 09, 2022
	Throughout the centuries, humanity has been wrought by disaster and conflict, including the threat of nuclear war, problems related to biological and chemical weapons, climate change, famine, monetary failure, overpopulation, asteroid strikes, and disease epidemics. The recent bout with the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine are stark reminders of the unsettling moments of life’s journey. Periods of turbulence also attend us in our local communities, places of work, neighborhoods, schools, churches, families, and personal relationships. As the Church, ecclesia, the called-out people of God, we are commissioned to comprehend the complexity of human life and proclaim the doctrine of salvation. The Book of Psalms is referenced as a description of the basic spiritual conduct, occasional movements, and thoughts of human life, where nothing to be found in this human life is omitted. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Life Together, p. 44) posits that “nothing is wanting which relates to the knowledge of eternal salvation.” The Psalter, Book of Songs, “might well be called a little Bible”, as Martin Luther (Luther’s Works, 35:254) describes it. please click here for more information (PDF file)

From Former to Future Glory by Mr. Herman Wilson Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
	Every believer in Christ Jesus has been sealed with the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption, and lives in the hope of the future glory of God. Through the life and times of Israel, God by God’s providence, invariably demonstrates that the choices of humanity apart from God, will, result in hopelessness. This is because we have all fallen short of God’s glory. Because of the disobedience of the Israelites, the Babylonians in 597 B.C., destroyed first temple built by King Solomon This temple was glorious because the Ark of the Covenant was there. However, that glory eventually faded, and the Israelites were exiles in Babylon for seventy years as punishment for their hardheartedness. Upon their return to the Promised Land, the Israelites undertook the rebuilding the temple. However, due to objections from the people who had occupied the land during their absence, they ceased from the work and became complacent. please click here for more information (PDF file)

Lessons from Habakkuk Rev. Norbert Stephens – General Secretary (UCJCI) Wednesday Oct 26, 2022
	Please read Habakkuk 1:1-4 At some time or the other all of us have engaged in sightseeing. Some of us in faraway places others of us within these shores. Indeed, some of us are seasoned tourists who have seen and experienced many, some or a few of the great sights and wonders of this world. Often for every visit we tend to ask two pertinent questions, “why?” and “how long?” You see there are basically two ways to engage in sightseeing, the first is as a tourist, the second is with a mission in mind. When you are a tourist, your sightseeing has intent without long-term investment. Your interest is to be informed and or inspired but the sight is merely one on your bucket list and while you might ask the questions of why and how long, once done, you are moving on to another sight. Intent without long-term investment. When you sightsee with a missional focus in mind you have intent with long-term investment. This is not merely a place or issue on your bucket list; indeed, it is the bucket on your list. You are no longer a tourist, you become vested. For the location or issue requires both your ongoing presence and participation. Intent with long-term investment. Truth be told, you cannot truly engage in mission without sightseeing. One enables the other… it’s the act of sightseeing, which generates the mission, which in turn seeks to address the why and how long questions. please click here for more information (PDF file)

Abundant Hope by Rev. Louis-Herard Sully Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
	Please read Luke 18:9-14 Being hopeful is a confident expectancy. Many of us hope for things and are waiting for them to come or to happen. It is a wonderful thing to have hope. The Bible teaches that hope stands for both the act of hoping and the things hope for. In 1Cor. 9:10, when the plowman plows and the thresher, threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. In 1Peter 1:3, Peter writes to the elect stating, “Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Considering God's word, hope does not arise from an individual desires or wishes, but from God, who is the believer's hope. Genuine hope is not wishful thinking, but a firm assurance. The parable in St. Luke 18, speaks of the Pharisees who trust in their own righteousness. Such confidence in one's inherent righteousness is a foolish hope. The Pharisees fall short of the Divine standard. The word of God constantly teaches us that sinners are justified when God's perfect righteousness is imputed to their account, and it was only on that basis that the tax collector and anyone else could be saved. The Pharisee by exalting his own works revealed that his entire hope lay in his not being as bad as someone else, and therefore, lacked any sense of his own unworthiness and sin. please click here for more information (PDF file)

Cayman Prep and High School Celebrations! Wednesday Oct 12, 2022
	The Annual Service of Appreciation for the Staff of the Cayman Prep and High School (CPHS) was held on Sunday, October 9, 2022, at the Savannah United Church at 9:00 am. In addition to the congregants, over 100 staff members (administrative, academic, and ancillary) and their families attended the event. During Rev Forrester’s Greetings as the Chair of Council, he invited congregants to observe a moment of silence in remembrance of Mrs. M. Janilee Clifford, who passed away at the age of 90 on Thursday, October 6, 2022. Mrs. Clifford was an educator at CPHS for 31 years and an Elder of the Robert Young Memorial Church (George Town). By her unselfish and dedicated service in several ecclesiastical and civic organizations Mrs. Clifford made an indelible impact on our Church and the wider community. please click here for more information (PDF file)

Radical Hope in the Face of Suffering by Rev. Dr. Yvette Noble-Bloomfield and Dr. Elizabeth McLaughlin Wednesday Oct 05, 2022
	Please read Luke 17:11-19 Jesus throughout His ministry encountered and healed people who were suffering from various diseases. Sickness and ill health had not only physical realities for the body but engaged the mind and the spirit. In the context of the 1st century, there were also cultural and sociological implications when someone was diagnosed with a particular disease. The sick were often criticized, condemned, isolated, and ostracized by the healthy in society. Financial instability, loss of livelihood, impoverished living conditions and being labelled as an outcast, accompanied the sick and less abled in society. The life of the sick was one of trauma as the expected support systems were non-existent. The support expected from one’s religious and theological base was insufficient at best and in most cases, blatantly absent. To be ill was very often linked to ancestral sin and personal sin and the need for forgiveness. The issue of the cause of the particular illness was the theme of the theological enquiry and the social gossip. Blame would be distributed without consideration of the pain being inflicted on those who were already suffering from the physical reality of the illness. please click here for more information (PDF file)

UCJCI October – December 2022 Focus Jesus Christ: Our Living Hope Wednesday Sep 28, 2022
	In this final quarter of the year, much of our readings come from the prophets, as they seek to foster Hope in the lives of God’s people in trying times. We have cause to reflect on their unwavering Hope as the world faces so many things that challenge our own Hope in God. If Faith is Hope in action, what is Hope? Some of us see Hope as prayerful anticipation, as that which sustains and keeps. It is also the beginning of a concrete reality, not yet come to pass. Of course, Hope is neither incidental nor accidental. It comes from a vision (not always clear to others), nurtured by action and plans. Within the context of Scripture, two Hebrew words qawa and batah speak to Hope, rooted in trust. As we move through Heritage Week, Reformation Sunday, Pirates’ Week and into Advent and Christmas, our focus shifts to Jesus and His role in our lives of Faith. We seek to understand our Hope in Jesus Christ, unmoving and very much alive, through the lens of Health, Opportunities, Peace, and Evangelism and in the realities of our countries in this season. May we find Jesus to be our Living Hope in good and bad times. please click here for more information (PDF file)

Giving is a Grace from God by Rev Donovan Myers Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
	Please read 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 For many people, giving represents an appeal to altruistic feelings. We give because it’s the human thing to do. If others are in need, our duty is to ‘help out’ where we can. But also, many see giving as a necessary outpouring of their excess. I have more than I need, so I should share. While those two motivations might be reasonable, the letter from Paul to the Corinthians speaks about giving in a way that challenges some commonly held assumptions. On the one hand, for him, giving fundamentally challenges the concept of ownership, the right we have to possess ‘stuff’. It asserts that what we think is ours, is only ours on loan. We are not really owners but rightly managers. Giving, then is an outworking of the responsibility of our management of those resources. We don’t lay claim to things in a way that ties us to them and them to us. On the other hand, when Paul wrote in the way that he did about the giving of the Macedonian Christians, he was challenging the Greco Roman worldview that wealth was the result or sign of divine approval. That somehow, it is in having a lot of stuff that we demonstrate out strong connection to God or that God likes us. Both people who have a lot and people who have a little are blessed by God. please click here for more information (PDF file)