Hey there,
If you are looking for some good ideas for summer fun with the family check out these 2 sites:
http://www.childaction.org/families/publications/docs/guidance/Handout13-The_Importance_of_Play.pdf
http://www.helpguide.org/life/creative_play_fun_games.htm
Red Carpet!
The Red Carpet has been delivered for our Annual Gala Awards Event for our STARS! You won't want to miss this amazing event on June 23rd at 11:10 am (in the sanctuary).
Wonderful Youth …
This young member of our church recently had a garage sale and donated all of the proceeds to the KidsAbility Foundation. She got up in front of the congregation a couple of weeks before the sale and told us all about KidsAbility and asked us to drop by to purchase a new treasure. Our Sunday School children helped out by donating some pop can collection money, too. Over $600.00 was raised. Thank you to all of our wonderful young people for inspiring us to make a difference!
Continue reading »
I will bless her…
Genesis 17:15 - 16 (NRSV)
This morning I did a Lectio Divina (a meditative reading) on the above passage. When you read in a meditative fashion, God will often make certain words or phrases jump out at you because there is a personal message that you need to hear.
Today the word that jumped out at me was bless. I wondered if God might be seeking to bless me in some particular way -- if God knows that i need a blessing.
Of course, the particular blessing that God wanted to give to Sarah was a son -- and with the son a new identity as signified by the name change. I don't think God wants to give me that particular blessing (though the invitation to embrace a new identity in Christ is always something that God is working on for us).
But my thoughts particularly focussed on why God wanted to bless Sarah -- it was so that she might "give rise to nations and kings." The blessing was not merely an end in itself but a way to spread God's blessing out into the wider world.
Why does God want to bless me? Not merely because I need it (though I do). God wants to bless me so that others (kings, princesses (Sarai means princess), leaders etc.) may arise and do good in this world.
I had a brief vision of the congregation as a vast pool of potential. There are people within the congregation who have incredible skills and abilities, who are natural leaders and who have much to share. God may want to bless me but I suspect that it is because God wants to use me to inspire others, enable others, sometimes to get out of the way of others and let them lead or act or participate in such a way as to bring greater blessing on our community and beyond that to the world.
All things summer ….
Are you looking for Day Camps for your children? St. Andrew's is excited to be hosting 2 great day camps this year.
Please check out the link for GO! Camping at this facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/GrandOutboundCamping
or you can check out our facebook page, too:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Andrews-Hespeler-Presbyterian-Church/317711668306174
Continue reading »
Please check out the link for GO! Camping at this facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/GrandOutboundCamping
or you can check out our facebook page, too:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Andrews-Hespeler-Presbyterian-Church/317711668306174
Are you looking for Day Camps for your children?
Continue reading »
Planning for Summer!
Music Day Camp
|
The Deadline to Register is May 8th
The deadline to register is May 8th!
A weekend to renew mind, body and spirit for women 19 and older.
June 7 - 9, 2013
An event planned with every woman in mind with lots of fun surprises!
The $200.00 cost is all inclusive.
Hosted by St. Andrew's Fellowship Committee
Which of the two did the will of his Father?
.... based on a recent email discussion with some colleagues.
Continue reading »
An interpretation of Matthew 21:28 - 32
Two sons went to a Sunday worship service where their father, a minister, was preaching. The sermon that day was on the topic of the good news about Jesus Christ and how we ought to be willing to share that good news whenever an appropriate opportunity arises.
The first son came into the service and sat quietly and respectfully while he listened to every word. Afterwards he never mentioned where he had been that morning or what had been said.
The second son arrived at the service just after it began. As soon as he arrived, he took out his phone and checked in on foursquare (earning a few dirty looks from the people around him). A little bit later in the service, he took a picture of the worship band and tweeted it to his followers. During the sermon, he posted something his father said as his status on Facebook.
Which of the two do you suppose respected the words of his Father?
Looking for a good book to read?
The Book Room recommends "I Shall Not Hate", by Izzeldin Abuelaish
A Palestinian doctor who was born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, Izzeldin Abuelaish is an infertility specialist who lives in Gaza but works in Israel. The Gaza doctor has been crossing the lines in the sand that
divide Israelis and Palestinians for most of his life--as a physician who treats patients on both sides of the line, as a humanitarian who sees the need for improved health and education for women as the way forward in the Middle East. And, most recently, as the father whose daughters were killed by Israeli soldiers on January 16, 2009, during Israel''s incursion into the Gaza Strip.
It was Izzeldin''s response to this tragedy that made news and won him humanitarian awards around the world. Instead of seeking revenge or sinking into hatred, he called for the people in the region to start talking to each other. His deepest hope is that his daughters will be "the last sacrifice on the road to peace between Palestinians and Israelis."
