Author: StAndrewsHespeler

May 14, 2017 is, of course, Mother's Day and Christian Family Sunday. That alone makes the day a very special celebration at St. Andrew's Hespeler but there are a number of other things that will make this coming Sunday a great day to share together as one Christian Family.

• Our amazing Youth Band will be honouring God's presence and the people they love with Supermarket Flowers (by Ed Sheeran, John McDaid, and Benjamin Levin) and In You There is a Refuge (by Keri K. Wehlander)
• We will celebrate all the women among us with a special surprise gift

• After worship we will be planting potatoes outside as we kick off our campaign to do two fun and worthwhile things:
• See who can grow the biggest potato
• Grow food for this fall's Thursday Night Supper and Social
• Last Sunday, the minister gave a mystery box to one of the children in our congregation. That child has been challenged to find something (almost anything - there are only a few rules) to put in the box and bring back to church this Sunday. During the children's time, the minister will open the box and will be required to make a lesson out of whatever he finds inside. Can you bear the tension? What will be in the box? What will the minister do with it? Come Sunday morning and all will be revealed!
•  And last (but certainly not least) our Minister, Scott McAndless, will take us back to the origins of our North American celebration of Mother's Day and lead us to ask the question, will we be reunited with the ones we love (such as our mothers) in the afterlife?
  

Sunday May 7, the fourth Sunday of Easter will see us gather for a celebration of God's presence among us at 10 am in the morning at St. Andrew's Hespeler Presbyterian Church. There are so many aspects of the service that will make it very special.

First of all, the music at this service will be a wonderful celebration of God's presence among us will include the following:

• A prelude and a postlude by the very gifted organist Martin Bohl
• The adult choir will sing Jubilate, everybody – By F Dunn. They will be accompanied by Zoé McAndless on the violin.
• A congregational favourite trio made up of David Kruger, Randy Vermaas and Corey Cotter-Linforth will sing Your Grace Amazes Me – By Christy Nokels, Daniel Carson, and Jason Ingram. Here's a picture of the trio:

We have been focusing on the question what comes after life in this post-Easter season. This week we will turn to the dark side of the afterlife by asking the question, "What about that other place?"


Here is a short video to get you curiosity piqued:

Palm Sunday is a very important day in the Christian year. On this day we remember the entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem and how he was greeted by the people. We also look forward to the suffering and death that awaits him within the week. We will mark this Sunday in several special ways at St. Andrew's Hespeler this year:

• We will begin our celebration of the day with a very special procession led by the children in our congregation. Anyone is invited to come, shake a palm and celebrate the day.

• Our very talented Youth Band have been working very hard to lead the congregation in worship and to offer their praise to God through music. They will do this in various ways and will even play (at least) two versions of Hosanna.

• Our minister, the Reverend Scott McAndless will turn our thoughts to the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and what the events that transpired there teach us about an idea that we often take for granted but that might just destroy us. The following video offers an introduction to this idea:

In recent times it has become all too common, it seems, for people who have recently arrived in Canada as immigrants or as refugees -- especially from certain parts of this world -- to be targeted with behaviour that is less than welcoming and loving.

At St Andrew's we wanted to do something to counteract this disturbing trend. We read this passage of scripture on Sunday:

When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:33,34)

This passage reminds us that God cares how we treat people who are outsiders or marginalized for any reason. When we go through a time when there is a large number of immigrants or refugees, it will inevitably create some stresses and strains but that should never make us forget the need to treat our neighbours with love and respect, no matter where they come from.

To affirm this important and Biblical truth, the Session of St. Andrews decided to erect a sign that proclaims it in three languages: French, English and Arabic. The third language is Arabic because speakers of that language make up a group that is often targeted in subtle and not-so-subtle ways these days. Before we put up the sign we took a picture to demonstrate our solidarity with our neighbours.


And here is the sign later this morning installed in front of the church building:


If you would like to find out more about these signs and their history in nearby communities, follow this link:

CBC News article about the signs.

On the second Sunday of Lent (March 12), we will be celebrating the presence of our God together at St. Andrew's Hespeler. Join us and you will be part of some things that matter:

• A few weeks ago, we did a bit of an excercise on selecting worship music according to a blended worship approach. As a result of this, one congregational member "won" the opportunity to choose a hymn to sing at a future service. We will sing that hymn this week and you have to come if you want to find out what it is.

• It is a blessing to have Heather Robertson share her musical gifts with us this week. She will sing "Wade in the Water" and also help us to learn our "Hymn of the Month." Here is an online version of "Wade in the Water" to give you an idea of what to look forward to.

• We will be doing something together to stand in solidarity with our neighbours who have come from other nations and places. Won't give you any more details right now, but you are going to want to be part of it! 

• Rev. Scott McAndless continues to teach us about the sins we struggle with and the victory Christ offers. This week: Fear.

This Sunday, the congregation of St. Andrew's Hespeler Presbyterian will come together to celebrate communion, our most important sacrament and a sign of the living presence of the risen Christ among us and within us. Join us for this and for other special parts of our community life:

• Rev. Scott McAndless will continue his series of sermons by focusing on the story of Zacchaeus and what it teaches us about the lure of greed and the work of transformation that Jesus would seek to perform in us.
  
• David, Randy and Corey will be celebrating the grace of God as they sing "All Because of God’s Amazing Grace" by Stephen R. Adams
• Our adult choir will sing "Prayer of St. Francis" by Peter A. Togni
• Please help us give a warm welcome Paul Tavares. Paul is in the middle of his “90 Nights in the Cold” campaign. The purpose of this campaign is to raise awareness to and eliminate homelessness. Paul has generously donated some of the items donated to him to our site of the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank and Hope Clothing. Paul will be available to talk with at coffee. This is a great time to offer him encouragement and find out how you can help out, too!

• The "Holy Sherlocks" will share with us the results of their fund raising and bake sale for mission
• This is also the first Sunday in Lent, the season when we begin our thoughtful and reflective journey towards the cross and all that it represents. The Sunday School will begin their special Lenten focus on the gardens of the Bible and will share some of what they are doing with us.

A meeting of the Clerks

One of our chefs!

The best servers!

Our kitchen staff!

Some of our youth and leaders.

Our great hostesses!

Some of our guests ...

and more guests!

On Sunday, February 26, the people of St. Andrews Hespeler will gather, as we always do to worship, praise and celebrate God's presence among us. This week is special, however, for a number of reasons.

On this coming Sunday please join us for:

• The continuation of Rev. Scott McAndless' series looking at how Jesus invites us as individuals on the journey towards wholeness. This week's sermon will be "Joseph: A Journey from Envy to Balance."