We practice the ancient faith in the present day, looking to God’s future for us. We are part of the Diocese of Saskatchewan and the Anglican Church of Canada. As such we are members of the Church of God. We welcome everyone to worship in these sanctuaries. All are welcome to join our events.

We believe that all people are made in the image of God, and therefore we are called to love others and serve them just as Jesus did. We strive to do outreach and help those in our community as best we can.

Ministry Team Tisdale St. Matthews Anglican Church 1304 98th St. Tisdale, SK S0E 1T0 (306) 873 4675

Ray Derksen of Tisdale (Rectors Warden) - Reflections on Patience The bible has a great deal to say about patience. Patience or as the bible often refers to it “forbearance” is identified as one of the fruits of the spirit. Patience with one another is one of the identifying characteristics of the followers of Jesus. Jesus gives us numerous examples of the need to exercise forbearance or patience with one another. In Mathew chapter 18 Peter poses a question to Jesus centering around patience and forgiveness. Peter thought he had figured it out. It was likely he had been taught: “If a man transgresses one time, forgive him. If a man transgresses two times, forgive him. If a man transgresses three times, forgive him. If a man transgresses four times, do not forgive him.” Peter was standing tall showing Jesus the length he was prepared to go in forgiving someone. Figuring he was on solid ground he took the excepted norms of the day on forgiveness and doubled it, and not only did he double it he added an extra time just for good measure. He approaches Jesus and poses the question. How often should I forgive a brother who sins against me? Seven times?” To Peter’s surprise Jesus says to Peter the way of the kingdom of heaven is to forgive 70 x 7. Who in their right mind would forgive someone 490 times? On what grounds would we ever show such patience to those who have done us wrong? To establish the foundation for this extreme demand for forgiveness Jesus has his followers sit down and listen to a parable or story. He begins: 23 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.[c]25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. 26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. 28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.[d] He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded.30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. 31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. 35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters[e] from your heart.” Jesus is laying the foundation, providing the rationale for demanding such a radical teaching on patient forgiveness. At the heart of it all Jesus reminds us on how much we have been forgiven. In response to God’s patience and forgiveness extended to us we are called upon to pay it forward. When peter says how many times shall I forgive 7 times? This means he is keeping track and counting the slights and injustices done to him by others. Jesus says forget about your score sheet, Get rid of it, don’t even think of keeping count. I would hazard a guess that it is not uncommon for us as individuals to keep a mental score sheet. It is also possible that we may treasure the record of slights and insults we have encountered waiting for the appropriate time to even the score. Jesus is not saying keep a tally and once you hit 491 you can be justified in raining down vengeance on those who have wronged us. Jesus is calling us to a new way, a way where we patiently forgive those who wrong us, not once, not twice, not even 7 times as Peter suggests. Jesus is saying get rid of the score sheet and extend forgiveness without limit. And why should I practice this kind of forgiveness? Because as Jesus points out in the parable the amount I have been forgiven is monumental and the only possible response to such love is to turn around and demonstrate a spirit of patience and forgiveness to those around me, those closest to me, those who are in position to hurt me the most. And how many times must I forgive? Jesus’s answer is don’t even bother keeping track of the wrongs done you. Jesus’s call is for each of us as individuals to get rid of our score sheets, tear them up, throw them away and our life will be the better for it.