Category Archives: Uncategorized

 

Le Penseur (The Thinker). Auguste Rodin. 1904

Béatrice and I were married at Eglise Réformé Pentemont, in central Paris, close to the home of her parents. It is an arrondissement close to our heart. And one of its corners closest to our hearts is the Musée Rodin. In the courtyard as one enters, it is this statute that predominates.

It was given its name ‘The Thinker’ by foundry workers involved in its casting. Later Rodin wrote “What makes my Thinker think is that he thinks not only with his brain, with his knitted brow, his distended nostrils and compressed lips, but with every muscle of his arms, back and legs, with his clenched fists and gripping toes.”

The ‘all-in’ exercise and imperative of ‘thinking’ we understand well as Christians, particularly in our Reformed branch of the Church of Christ. As we continue through the twelfth chapter of his letter to the Romans, Paul uses forms of the verb ‘to think’ four times in one verse. And he applies the mind not just to Christian faith in general, but to Christian life as a community in particular. 

Have a look at the Order of Service below, and join us either in the sanctuary or by live-stream Sunday morning at    https://youtu.be/V13cHqaPKlU . Organ preludes will begin around 10:25 a.m. and the service will commence at 10:30 a.m. Previous services can be found on the St. Andrew’s Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/StAndrewsPresbyterianChurchKingston

The Order of Service and announcements are found below, with the hymns printed out further down the page. 

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At the centre of the sanctuary the ‘pandemic pulpit fall’ continues to hang. Members of the congregation stitched together material left over from making face masks, and included the design of a fish at the centre … the ancient symbol for Jesus. (The letters of the Greek word for ‘fish’ could each stand for ‘Jesus, anointed, of God, Son, Saviour’.) 

But this Sunday our eyes will be drawn to the harvest display arranged by other members of the congregation. It is a feast for the eyes, but also for the soul. We will be reminded of the farmers and grocers and so many others who are at work for our good. And further and deeper, we will rejoice in the continuing providence of God, faithful season upon season.

We will begin a series on Paul’s letter to the Romans, and will hear him exhort them and us to ‘be transformed by the renewing of your minds’ (Romans 12:2). Might thanksgiving be the way of renewal and transformation? ‘If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘Thank You’ that will be enough’ (Meister Eckhart, 1260-1328).

Have a look at the Order of Service below, and join us either in the sanctuary or by live-stream Sunday morning at https://youtu.be/RsWV479gyhg. Organ preludes will begin around 10:25 a.m. and the service will commence at 10:30 a.m. Previous services can be found on the St. Andrew’s Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/StAndrewsPresbyterianChurchKingston

The Order of Service and announcements are found below, with the hymns printed out further down the page. 

Download (PDF, 383KB)

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National Arts Centre, Ottawa

Notice the turtle added to the bottom left of this post highlighting a wonderful lighted display of indigenous design at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa? In the Seven Grandfather Teachings, the Turtle represents Truth. This was particularly appropriate as an invitation into preparation for the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

What is Truth for us? As Christians we define Truth in terms of Jesus Christ. And in the last of a series of sermons, this morning we will explore how and why Sunday is our sabbath day.  Hint: Sunday is also called ‘the Lord’s Day’!

Have a look at the Order of Service below, and join us either in the sanctuary or by live-stream Sunday morning at https://youtu.be/KX7gdS1_86k . Organ preludes will begin around 10:25 a.m. and the service will commence at 10:30 a.m. Previous services can be found on the St. Andrew’s Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/StAndrewsPresbyterianChurchKingston

Being the first Sunday of the month, we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper. Whether you are worshipping in the sanctuary or at home, you are invited to prepare your own bread and wine/juice. Packaged units of juice and wafer will also be available as you enter sanctuary.

The Order of Service and announcements are found below (just keeping scrolling down the document), with the hymns printed out further down the page. 

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Marc Chagall. The Story of Exodus, 1966, colour lithograph

As some might know well by now, Chagall is one of my ‘faves’. I love the colours, the flowing and open lines, the warmth and the symbolism, and in particular of course the way he imagined many of the scenes of Scripture.

In this particular scene of God giving the Commandments through Moses, what strikes me is the emphasis upon the people. The Commandments given not to individuals only, but to a people, to become and remain a people who were distinctive in their relationship with and service of the Holy One. 

As we continue our look at the Fourth Commandment, we will explore the dimension of ‘community’ it implies, and demands.

Have a look at the Order of Service below, and join us either in the sanctuary or by live-stream Sunday morning at https://youtu.be/aSsRH3oJAOs. Organ preludes will begin around 10:25 a.m. and the service will commence at 10:30 a.m. Previous services can be found on the St. Andrew’s Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/StAndrewsPresbyterianChurchKingston

The Order of Service and announcements are found below (just keeping scrolling down the document), with the hymns printed out further down the page. 

Download (PDF, 387KB)

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Walking to the end of summer. Vita Kalmutska

During our service of worship this Sunday we will be reading Psalm 8. As I pondered the line ‘You (O God) have put all things under their (humanity’s) feet’, I was lead to some new understandings that I look forward to sharing … and that are intimated in this wonderful painting by Vita Kalmutska. We will continue looking at the gift that is called ‘the Sabbath’, and this morning the way the Sabbath is connected with creation … and re-connects us as God’s people with creation. 

The hour will include some wonderful hymns (including ‘All things bright and beautiful … the Lord God made them all’ to ‘When I in awesome wonder consider all thy hands have made … How great thou art!’), and music (including a passage from Haydn’s ‘Creation’).

Have a look at the Order of Service below, and join us either in the sanctuary or by live-stream at https://youtu.be/Rzfw5x6YKVA Sunday morning. Organ preludes will begin around 10:25 a.m. and the service will commence at 10:30 a.m. Previous services can be found on the St. Andrew’s Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/StAndrewsPresbyterianChurchKingston

The Order of Service and announcements are found below (just keeping scrolling down the document), with the hymns printed out further down the page. 

Download (PDF, 348KB)

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Uncredited internet image.

These first weeks of a new congregational year we are re-visiting the gift and experience of the Sabbath. And this morning we are focusing upon the dimension of ‘covenant’. It may all sound rather dry, but it is actually deep and intimate, filled with assurance and strength.

And something I came to appreciate for the first time in my sermon preparations, the Sabbath may have been engraved on the stone tablets as number four of ten commandments, but in our reading today from later in the day at Mount Sinai, the Holy One highlights the Sabbath as the most important of all the commandments (Exodus 31:12-18).  

It is a bit like this image above that can be found all over the internet, unfortunately unattributed but certainly evocative. How easy it is to think of the Ten Commandments as a legalistic requirement rather than the framework within which to know the love and care of God. How easy it is to think of the Sabbath as a context of enforced deprivation rather than as an opportunity for relationship.

Have a look at the Order of Service below, and join us either in the sanctuary or by live-stream at https://youtu.be/arByjZ_P-5E. Organ preludes will begin around 10:25 a.m. and the service will commence at 10:30 a.m. Previous services can be found on the St. Andrew’s Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/StAndrewsPresbyterianChurchKingston

The Order of Service and announcements are found below (just keeping scrolling down the document), with the hymns printed out further down the page. 

Download (PDF, 383KB)

Download (PDF, 301KB)

Blizzard. Jean-Paul Riopelle (1954)

Béatrice and I were able to take in the Jean-Paul Riopelle exhibition at the Musée des Beaux Arts in Montréal last month. Riopelle was one of the great Québecois and Canadian artists of the last century, and one of the few who gained significant international recognition.

What struck me in this exhibition was how it was during his lengthy sojourn in France that he came to truly appreciate the dynamics and dimensions of his homeland and its peoples. Take the canvas above which he painted in Paris – beyond the discomfort, disorientation and even distress often experienced in the blizzards of his homeland, Riopelle now ‘saw’ a beauty and movement in winter and its storms that this work clearly conveys.

This experience of understanding something from a distance, or when we break the routine, is an experience we know spiritually in the Sabbath. This morning our worship will include the first in a series of explorations of the spiritual discipline and delight known as ‘sabbath’.

Have a look at the Order of Service below, and join us either in the sanctuary or by live-stream at https://youtu.be/H_Zljfr5p4Y. Organ preludes will begin around 10:25 a.m. and the service will commence at 10:30 a.m. Previous services can be found on the St. Andrew’s Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/StAndrewsPresbyterianChurchKingston

Being the first Sunday of the month, we will be celebrating Holy Communion this Sunday morning. Individually wrapped, disposable Communion packages will be available as you enter the sanctuary, but please feel free to bring your own from home. If you are joining us online, perhaps take a moment before the service to prepare some bread and a cup and participate in the sacrament with us.

The Order of Service and announcements can be found below, with the hymns printed out further down the page. 

Download (PDF, 605KB)

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