St. David's Presbyterian Church Kelowna

Address: 271 Glenmore Road
Date & Service Attended: Sunday July 9th 2006, 10AM
Pastor/Priest/Leader: Pastor Richard Moffat

Sermon: Streams of Living Water - Holy Spirit Adventure - Part 5 (A contemplation mostly of Ephesians 5:18-25)
Pastor Richard Moffat, a Scotsman (I think) with a moderate accent - occasionally, a little tough for me to understand, delivered the sermon with modest amounts of humour.

The lead thought was that unlike a glass of sugar and water which can become saturated and the water thus refuses any more sugar, one can never become too saturated with the holy spirit. There are four consequences of being filled with the spirit:

1. I will speak in a new way;
2. I will have a melodious heart;
3. I will be a thankful person;
4. I am willing to submit to others, even when in leadership (servant leadership).

Speaking in a new way was said to include sharing with one another; Christian fellowship. I understood it to be saying the right thing, in the right way.

Having a melodious heart comes from being happy within the lord, and then song spontaneously wants to come up through us. If our heart is melodious, we are almost certainly filled with spirit.

Being a thankful person was stated to be a matter of obedience, recognizing that we are right where God wants us to be at the time. It is impossible to be filled with the spirit, and to be cranky or grumbling at the same time.

Finally, submitting to others is also a sign of being filled with the spirit. Wives must submit to husbands, and husbands must submit to wives, by placing them in the primary decision-making role, by respecting their opinion, and by not trying to control them. When wives are placed in this position of respect, they do not have any problem yielding to husbands.

For those in leadership positions, this means turning to a model of servant leadership, which will enhance your effectiveness, increase your enjoyment and reduce your stress, compared to a bullying type of leadership.

Pastor Moffat further added a few more thoughts:

• Walk in conscious dependence on the lord;
• Be gracious and tolerant of others - the lord uses other people too for his purposes - perhaps even ones you don't particularly like;
• Don't force your own experiences on others as being absolutely correct and the only way forward - being tolerant is a sign of growing wisdom.

Other parts of the service: Typical hymns (four singers/musicians) leaning towards more traditional; a soloist; prayers.

My feelings/thoughts:
I enjoyed the sermon, and the balance of the service was satisfactory to me. I will try to incorporate the things he talked about this week into my life, particularly the first one, which is probably where I am weakest of the four items.

I particularly liked the part about being thankful - I often muse that we in Canada, in this society, are so unbelievably lucky, compared to so many others around the world, or just looking back into the very recent past. I hope others recognize our good fortune too.

I also liked very much the fact of the prayer - when I've been to these prayers before, and we are praying for this or that, it seems more like the pastors lengthy prayer alone. Too often, there is no time to muster any energy towards the "stream of consciousness" prayer. This time, it was different - while the prayer was as long as it often is, Pastor Moffat allowed a brief pause of a couple of seconds before moving onto the next item in the prayer.

While the pastor often says "Let us pray", it more often feels like "Let me pray, and you ... well ... you can listen". Not in this case: I felt that I was personally able to effect a brief prayer/meditation on each particular item. In brief, I felt involved, and that I was actually praying too! Thanks Pastor Moffat.

Other things: (occasional comments on church goings on, or musings about the service, situation, etc.) Mission trip to Uganda, Spring 2007. Various fund-raisings.

My own very personal ranking on the service and sermon overall: [It felt "Average" to Me]

Religion: Christian
Denomination: Presbyterian
Size of Congregation: [Small]
Primary demographic appearance: [Older (mostly >40 years old)]
Was greeted/welcomed, made to feel welcome: [About three to eight times]
Service Started: 10:05AM
Service Finished: 11:17AM

Contact this church:
Phone: 762-0624
email: stdavidschurch@uniserve.com
Web-links: Main church [nil/unknown], youth, other [nil/unknown], blog.

Faiths Faces Kelowna