Can we fill the carts?

Posted by StAndrewsHespeler on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014 in News

World Food Day - Thursday, October 16th!

This Sunday, October 19th, can you help our Sunday School children, Sunday School assistants and Youth Group members fill up 2 carts of groceries?

In honour of World Food Day, our food collection will be given to the

Thursday Night Supper & Social program to help fill their cupboards.

If you are wondering what might be needed here check out our "Shopping List":

Hot Chocolate

Coffee

Tea

White Sugar

Brown Sugar

Salt, Pepper

Oatmeal

Canned Tomatoes

Canned Fruit

Canned Soup

Spaghetti Sauce, Elbow or Spiral Pasta

Jello Powders

Spices: Dill, Parsley, Garlic, Celery Seed, Italian Spice, Dry Mustard

Salsa

Cooking Oil & Cooking spray

Margarine or butter

Cheddar Cheese blocks

Apples

Onions

Turnip

Cabbage

Carrots

Thursday Night Supper & Social opens their doors once again this Thursday, October 16th. Doors open at 5:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to come for dinner, shopping at the Community Clothing Closet and for some fellowship and good company!

Book Discussion Series

Posted by Scott McAndless on Monday, October 6th, 2014 in Minister

I am very excited to offer a book discussion series on my book Caesar's Census, God's Jubilee.

The Gospel of Luke alone tells the story of the birth of Jesus set against the background of a census taken on the orders of Caesar Augustus. This historical setting has always raised serious questions: Was there ever really such a census? Why does Luke describe the census as being carried out in a manner that does not fit with what we know of Roman practices and policies?

This book struggles with questions like those in a creative way which leads to some surprising new ways to understand Luke's timeless story of Mary and Joseph and their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Part investigation, part exercise in creative imagination, this book will help you to see the Christmas story in a whole new way.

The discussion will be held on Wednesday evenings from Wednesday, October 15 through to Wednesday December 3, 2014

We will meet at 7:30 pm in the Foyer at St. Andrew's Hespeler Presbyterian Church, 73 Queen St. E., Cambridge, ON

These are the planned sessions:

October 15:            The Journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem
October 22:            Should the Two Birth Accounts be Harmonized?
October 29:            When is Luke Saying that Jesus was Born?
November 5:          The Old Testament Ideal of Jubilee
November 12:        The Jubilee in the Gospel of Luke
November 19:       Two Nonviolent Insurgencies
November 26 :       The Call to Jubilee
December 3:   What is Truth? and Jesus’s Coin Trick
Provided you have read the book, you should be able to join in the discussion at any point

Participation in this group is free of charge but participants will need to have read the book to participate. The book is available in print at Amazon.ca and at select local book stores. You may also purchase a copy at St. Andrew's Hespeler. The e-book is available through many online e-book sellers including Amazon, iBooks and Kobo. Please call the church at 519-658-2652 or contact [email protected] if you need any assistance finding the book or if you have any questions. The print edition sells for $11.95. The price of the e-book varies accord to the vendor, but should be approximately $4.

In addition I will be leading a parallel discussion in a Facebook group called Caesar's Census, God's Jubilee Discussion Group.

I will be posting discussion starters on the chapters at around the same time that I am preparing for the discussion group at the church. The group is public (I hope that doesn't get me into any trouble!) and everyone is invited to join in.

It’s a Love Story

Posted by Scott McAndless on Saturday, October 4th, 2014 in Minister

True story:

Today I had the great honour and privilege of presiding at a marriage. As we prepared, I asked the couple, as one will often do, how they met.

They told me the story of how they had come to know each other while they were both working in different departments at the local Rona store. He worked in plumbing and she was in the flooring department. It was just a nice little story and they were a very nice couple who obviously loved each other very much and so their story put me in mind of the greatest love story every written.

That was why I started my sermon today like this:

"If you are at all like me, you found that to be a beautiful story - a classic love tale. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more it reminded me of the greatest love story of all times. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when William Shakespeare took up his pen to write what many consider his best play and what was certainly his best romantic play, didn't he open it with these words:

"Two sections, both alike in dignity

In the fair Rona, where we lay our scene,

She toils in the flooring dispensary,

He, with the pipes among the porceline.

From forth these various store departaments.

A pair of star-cross'd lovers share their lives;

And join together with excitement

To be the best of all husbands and wives."