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Hi everyone! I trust your week is going well, that you’re keeping cozy and dry, and enjoying our beautiful fall colors, which seem to be hanging in there so far. I love all the green that we enjoy here in the Lower Mainland, but I also really appreciate the many different, sometimes striking colors that come out to meet us this time of year. It’s a great reminder of just how creative our Lord is!

On a quite different note, this week I’ve found myself thinking about the catholic church.

Wait, what?! Why is our Baptist pastor thinking about the catholic church? Please don’t panic. You’ll notice that I’ve spelled catholic with a small “c,” not with the capital letter that normally signals the Roman Catholic church, which operates under the leadership of the Pope and that has a congregation just down the street from my home.

I think this was triggered by our reading of the Apostles’ Creed a couple of Sundays ago. For most of you who are familiar with the creed, its mention of believing in “the holy catholic church” is just routine and you hardly notice. Perhaps some in our community who are newer to Christian faith wondered about it. For their sake, it’s worth mentioning that the word “catholic” simply means “universal.” The Apostles’ Creed and other related faith statements were using this language centuries before what we call the Roman Catholic Church emerged in its current form, and the point of the creed was always to recognize that in addition to our local church and the other local churches dotted here and there around town, there is this thing we call the “Universal Church,” the sum total of all men and women who follow Jesus from all places in the world and all times in history.

God loves our local church. He is present with us and meets us when we gather. But God’s plan of salvation involves creating a Bride for Jesus, a community of faith from every nation and tribe and language group and era, all united by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, being readied to worship and commune with our Lord forever. That’s the “catholic church” in its truest sense. And that’s what we celebrate as we recite the creed. God’s Church, like the beautiful fall leaves around us, is a rich tapestry of many colors that invite us to praise Him for His creativity.

As we’ve worked our way into the book of Colossians in recent weeks, I’ve commented that our New Testament books Colossians and Ephesians are a kind of complementary pair. Both were written by Paul at about the same time; both were sent to the same region in the hands of the same courier; and there are many similarities in their content. This means there is some value in reading the 2 books together and comparing what we find. The similarities are informative, as are the differences.

One of the interesting points of comparison between these letters is the way they speak about the church. Colossians uses the word 4 times. In chapter 1, which lays a theological foundation for the epistle, Paul talks about the universal Church as Christ’s body and the focus of his ministry (1:18, 24). The other times his reference is to local churches: in the house of a lady named Nympha and in the nearby town of Laodicea (4:15-16). In Ephesians, Paul speaks about the church 9 times, and in every case, he focuses on the universal Church and its place in God’s plan for history.

This comparison is one of the reasons Christians have always talked about the church as being both universal (or “catholic”) and local. God is at work through Christ to save a world-wide body of believers, the universal Church. But in this world, that body exists in local groups who live and worship together, small enough that we can have real relationships with each other and serve one another and our neighbors in meaningful ways. Both are important, and each is related to the other.

One of the other reasons I’ve been thinking about the “catholic” church is that lately our larger denomination, the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada (CBWC) has been on my mind. In the next few weeks, I have a couple of presentations to make in other CBWC circles. I’ll be attending a retreat of CBWC pastors. I regularly attend prayer meetings with local CBWC pastors. We’ve recently had a representative from Canadian Baptist Ministries pay us a visit. And all these things have reminded me of the reality that the Church (universal) is larger than our local congregation, and of just how important that larger body is. I benefit personally from my connections within the CBWC and beyond. Our church, likewise, is enriched, and our ability to minister is enhanced because we live in partnership with other churches, both in our denomination and across denominational lines in our North Shore communities.

We’re going to get another reminder of this reality this coming Sunday. This week, our new CBWC District Minister, Brian Louw, will be visiting and bringing the morning message. Many of you will remember Larry Schram, who served for quite a few years in this capacity and visited often. Larry retired last fall, and the mantle of leadership passed over to Brian. This will be the first time Brian visits us in his new role. So, it will be a good chance for our community to meet him. I know you’ll also appreciate and benefit from Brian’s message; he’s a lively and stimulating preacher and I’m always enriched by what he has to share. (Oh, and just now I got an email from Brian saying he’s preaching on the Church from Ephesians 1!)

As you think of it, please pray for Brian as he prepares to minister to us. And if you haven’t added Brian and the rest of our denominational leadership team to your prayer list, you might consider it on an ongoing basis. They carry many responsibilities as they seek to serve us and all the other CBWC churches well.

Hmm. I seem to have gone long again this week. So, I’ll close off. I look forward to seeing you again on Sunday. Meanwhile, have a wonderful week!

—Pastor Ken