February 2024 Newsletter

February is a month where many express their love to the special people in their lives. It is also a month that centers around heart health. This got us thinking about how often as humans we are prone to feel heartache. Thankfully, if it is physical pain you are experiencing, we have an excellent Heart Institute right here in the city of Ottawa. Medical professionals are ready to assist when something goes wrong. But when it comes to the emotions of hurt, loneliness or abandonment – there is a deeper heart issue, and these feelings can affect how we love ourselves and love others. This edition of our newsletter will speak about how ‘HESED’ – the unfailing love of God – can permeate our lives and allow us to love others and ourselves well. CCO exists to assist those dealing with life’s challenges. Our team is trained and ready to help clients discover what is hurting their hearts.

Following this theme, we are launching our ‘Heart to Heart’ campaign.

CCO was born from Roger Moyer’s heart in compassion and empathy and a call to support other’s needs. As our founder, Roger realized the need to merge spiritual and professional counselling, despite many times being told that therapy had no place in a spiritual life. He recognized that Jesus does not give up on people, rather Jesus is called Counsellor (Isaiah 7), preaches good news to the poor, binds up the broken-hearted, and comforts those who mourn (Isaiah 61). In the way we care for people, we must make it our aim to reflect that spirit. Roger believed that the distress of another person is serious and real. CCO became a place where it is safe to be open and honest, where clients are met in their distress and heard. Roger lived his life putting other people ahead of himself, and we strive to continue his legacy in doing the same. Our goal has always been to provide professional, confidential, and accessible services to anyone who needs compassion, peace, and guidance. As a charity, we would love if you could partner with us in this mission.

Starting, February 14 (Valentine’s Day) and running until March 13 (Roger’s birthday) we are looking for 30 monthly donors who can give at least $25/month. We cannot do this work alone and rely on donors such as yourself to help us meet the Intake demand. The latest statistics say that 1 in 5 Canadians will experience mental illness in their lifetime. Others may not have something so severe but will have times of needing someone to talk to. These are our children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, parents, coworkers, and friends. Many suffer in silence as they try to manage the stresses and challenges of life. We have a goal to raise $50,000 and finding these 30 monthly donors will help us on our way to meet that total. Consider signing up now. Every dollar makes a difference, and you will be helping people in your community in a significant way.

Click the button below to start the easy process to make a donation or become a monthly donor today!

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In Micah 7:20 the writer ends the prophecy on a high note by saying, “You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago.” (NLT) This ‘unfailing Love’ is the word ‘chesed’ (transliteration spelling) and is one of two primary words used for love in the Old Testament. It speaks of God’s “kindness (or) loving kindness condescending to the needs of his creatures” (BDB 339). God shows this love, amongst other things, “in keeping the covenants with Abraham… Moses and Israel…David and his dynasty…” (BDB 339). Therefore, Hesed is “in relation of God to people or individuals (showing his) faithfulness, kindness (and) grace” (CHALOT 111).

The Usage in the Old Testament, “denotes an attitude of man or God, which arises out of a mutual relationship” (TDNT II, 479). God’s love in this covenantal way, “is not primarily a disposition, but a helpful act corresponding to a relationship of trust and faithfulness as the appropriate attitude” (TDNT II, 479). This type of love is something we “cannot claim… (but) certainly expect it” (TDNT II, 480) because of God’s mercy towards us. We can find assurance although we are, “unfaithful, the (Hesed) for which (we hope) takes on the character of pardoning grace” (TDNT II, 480). We can take comfort in the fact that, “God keeps to the covenant and promises in spite of (our) unfaithfulness” (TDNT II 480).  The bottom line is that God keeps up his end of the deal when we do not, and he still love and pardons us when we do not deserve it. To this we should be very thankful for us as believers and pray that others will find such grace through Jesus our Saviour.

(The New Brown Driver Briggs Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon, Hendrickson, Peabody, Mass. 1979.; A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Holliday, William L. Ed., Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Mich., 1988.; Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. II, Kittel, Gerard, ed., trans. by Bromiley, Geoffrey W., Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Mich., 1964.)

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Hesed is a Hebrew word that attempts to relay the deepness, fullness, richness and infinite nature of God’s Love. And God is Love. Jesus is the ultimate incarnation of hesed, revealing God’s Love for us not because we merit it or are “good people”, but because of God’s Grace, Faithfulness, Mercy, and Kindness no matter where we are in Life. God so loved us that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to infinitely shower us with His Love, a precept we can grasp but never fully understand. By being both fully God and fully man, Jesus Christ is our example when it comes to living out God’s Love. But how do we follow such an awesome expression of God’s Love towards each other?

First and foremost, we are to anchor ourselves on God, and in our minds, hearts, spirits and bodies love Him with everything we have. Search your mind and your heart: are there thoughts and emotions that are pulling you away from loving God? Where did they come from and what healing needs to be done? Second, in showing love towards each other, we are called to show love that goes beyond simple warm, fuzzy, and happy feelings about someone. In marriages and intimate relationships, many are familiar with the Five Love languages of Gary Chapman. Learning how to show your partner love in their love language is a step towards expressing hesed. While we may each have a preferred love language, taking it one step further and showing your partner love in all five languages more closely resembles true hesed. With family and friends, hesed is about showing love in thoughts, words, actions, and feelings to everyone, not just those in your close circle of friends, those who are in the same clubs as you, “good” people, or in the same religious body as you.  Additionally, being that we are each a wonderful creation of God, we are to love ourselves. Not in a narcissistic way, but in a God-honouring way that nourishes all aspects of who we are so that we can honour others. Jesus shared that we are to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” How will you show hesed today?

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The Other Half of Church – a Book Review

By Rosanne Wall

Have you ever felt like you weren’t growing as a Christian but you had no idea why?  In ‘The Other Half of Church’ Jim Wilder & Michel Hendricks (Moody Publishers) discuss the Christian community, brain science and overcoming spiritual stagnation.  

We often view discipleship and Christian growth as a left brain event – Bible study, learning doctrine, emphasizing beliefs, using our willpower to ‘be better’ but research has shown that character formation, identity and joy is a right brain event.  A definition of discipleship is to ‘become more like Jesus’ and in order to be more like Jesus our character and hearts need to change.  

As the authors state in chapter 1, ‘Ignoring right-brain relational development creates Christians who believe in God’s love but have difficulty experiencing it in daily life, especially during distress.  We need our whole brains to mature as a Christian – the right side of the brain that understands the relational love of God and the left side that understands Truth.  The error, according to the authors, is believing that thinking (by itself) forms character.  

So what is the key to Christian growth?  The authors write about 4 elements that are needed for Christian growth within the church: joy, group identity, loving correction and hesed,   

Joy is that feeling we get when we are with someone who is happy to be with us.  It is transmitted face to face and is crucial for emotional and relational development.  We get joy from relationships.  (Psalm 16:11, Psalm 21). Our brains are fueled by that joy. 

Part of growing as a disciple is growing in community.  When we become disciples of Jesus we become new creations; we are to develop the character of Christ into our identity.  The purpose of being in community is so we can pray for one another, encourage another and remind each other of the truths of God and who we are in Christ. We were never meant to live this life alone.  It is important to give trusted people around us permission to remind us who we are when we forget.  This is called correction and it is to be done with grace and love (never leaving anyone isolated).  

Hesed is the inclination of the heart to show “amazing grace” to the one who is loved. Hesed runs deeper than social expectations, responsibilities, fluctuating emotions, or what is deserved or earned by the recipient. Hesed finds its home in committed, familial love, and it comes to life in actions (https://www.gotquestions.org/meaning-of-hesed.html).  It is like a relational glue; it is a shared love but does not need to have shared interests (although it can).  “This Hebrew word carries the sense of an enduring connection that brings life and all good things into a relationship.”  

Without love we can not belong to Jesus.  And it is this love that the world will see in us and know that we are Christ’s disciples (John 18:35).   Hesed is a strong attachment that is necessary to grow in community.   This community is the ideal zone to develop into mature disciples of Christ.  The Bible is full of verses that speak about this agape-love that is shown towards God and our brothers & sisters within the church.  Our model of hesed is from God himself, who has shown mercy and faithfulness  to us in so many ways.

Looking at the early church we see hesed in these communities;  they were family.  Paul writes to the Galatians that they are to stick by people and help restore them to the community; we are to bear each other’s burdens.  1 Thes 5:11 tells us to encourage one another. 

We were designed to feel God’s presence but if we do not feel His presence then we will not trust that God is with us.  Building joy and feeling God’s presence is a right-brained activity – it involves improving our relational skills, training our brain and getting involved in a tightly bonded community.  Becoming a disciple of Jesus is a full brain activity and one that is needed if we are to complete the Great Commission – introducing people to Jesus and the making of disciples – as Jesus intended.   

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LOOKING FOR:

People to serve on the Board of Directors. If you have time, expertise and sense God leading you to serve in this role, please contact Carmen at [email protected]

Prayer Partners.  If you would like to partner with us to pray for CCO, our Prayer Team will send you monthly emails with specific prayer requests. Connect with us at [email protected]