The Spiritual Exercise of … Persevering – Sunday October 28, 10:30 a.m.

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Artist: eyafarev

This is Reformation Sunday. There are great hymns, including Martin Luther’s ‘A mighty fortress is our God’, Jean Calvin’s prayer ‘I greet thee whom my sure Redeemer art’, and the 17th century Scottish paraphrase of Psalm 46, ‘God is our refuge and our strength’. This is Reformation Sunday, when we hear and sing again the call to focus first and foremost upon the presence and promises of the Holy One, and to reform the Church so it is better shaped by the gospel known in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit speaking through the Scriptures.

I have chosen to deal this morning with what is considered by many to be the most reformed, most Presbyterian, of emphases … the doctrine of predestination. But not wanting to scare away any visitors or frighten a very forbearing congregation, you will notice in the Order of Service below that I selected the sermon title ‘persevering’. I do believe the two are intricately connected, however, and I pray you will join us in the journey from predestination to perseverance!

There is nursery offered for infants and a programme for children during the service. Ample free parking is found on the streets around (the time of day restrictions north of Queen are not in effect on Sunday) and in the civic surface lot just behind the church off Queen Street.

If you are in the area, we would warmly welcome you to join us, in Christ!

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God’s Living Active Word – Sunday October 21, 10:30 a.m.

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Ngudradrekai grandmothers want to read their new Bibles to share the Gospel, their language and culture with their children and grandchildren (Photo Credit: BSTWN, July 2017)

This Sunday we will hear from the Rev. Dr. Paul McLean, minister of the Presbyterian Church in Canada working with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan on translation of the Bible into indigenous languages. It is indeed a wonderful part of the story of ‘God’s Living Active Word’, thanks be to God!

The Canadian Presbyterian Church was formative to the beginnings of the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in the 19th century (just look up the Rev. George Leslie Mackay!), and from the start there was a real commitment to the peoples of the island, including the peoples. It has been a ministry that has strengthened the spiritual and social lives of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan to this day. As Canadian Presbyterians, we have a lot to learn from our Taiwanese brothers and sisters in Christ.

And after the service, there is a potluck congregational dinner, with Paul showing some slides between courses. Please join us! There is a nursery offered for infants, and a programme for children during the service, if desired. And parking is free on the streets around (note that the time-of-day restrictions posted north of Queen do not apply on Sunday) and in the civic surface lot just off Queen behind the church.

Have a look at the Order of Service below if you wish, and please consider each of the announcements as a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service.

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St. Andrew’s Autumn Study Series

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You are warmly invited to join in a series of Tuesday evenings that will offer a new look at the parables of Jesus. We will be using a DVD resource by the acclaimed Amy-Jill Levine, who teaches at a Christian seminary and highlights the original Jewish context of our Lord’s ministry and teaching – Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. No cost. No prior biblical knowledge needed.

Have a look at the promo link for the series –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLkEqKqTN-4

Location – St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, corner of Princess and Clergy: ample free parking after 5:30 along neighbouring streets and in the civic surface lot behind the church off Queen Street. Please enter by the doors at the top of the stairs by the canon (!) along Clergy Street.

Times: Tuesdays 7-8:30 p.m., October 23 to November 20.

Hosted by our Minister – The Rev. Dr. Andrew Johnston

Come for one, come for some, or come for all. St. Andrew’s Hall. Tea provided!

More Information

Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus’ stories ignore this disparity.

In this wise, entertaining, and educational book, Amy-Jill Levine offers a fresh, timely reinterpretation of Jesus’ narratives. In Short Stories by Jesus, she analyzes these “problems with parables,” taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. Levine reveals the parables’ connections to first-century economic and agricultural life, social customs and morality, Jewish scriptures and Roman culture. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.

Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School Nashville, Tennessee; and Affiliated Professor at the Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations at Cambridge.

The Spiritual Exercise of … Giving – Sunday October 14, 10:30 a.m.

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This coming Tuesday, October 16, is World Food Day. It is a day when we celebrate the incredible abundance of God’s creation. It is also a day that calls us to prayer … a prayer that we might be part of a more equitable sharing of God’s abundance towards God’s realm of peace and justice. I love this image and pray it might become an image of my life, and our lives as Christians, reaching out in love, serving others. (See a prayer at the bottom of this page.)

This Sunday we will reflect upon the spiritual discipline (and delight) of giving. Our focus will be upon a paragraph from Paul’s second letter to the Christians of Corinth, in which he combines over and over ‘grace’ with ‘giving’ – giving is a response to the grace we have received, but in giving we also grow in grace.

If you are in the area, we would warmly welcome you to join us in Christian worship. Have a look at the Order of Service below, and consider each of the announcements a personal invitation to grow with us in Christian faith, community and service.

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A Prayer for World Food Day

God of honey and harvest,
of grain and grape
of ocean and orchard:
This harvest time may we both praise and pray;
praise you for the abundance
and pray that this harvest is not just shared,
but shared justly.

God of beehives and breadbaskets
of living webs and the weaving of life
of ecosystems and economy:
This harvest time may we both praise and pray
praise you for the wealth of the harvest
and pray that this harvest is not just a promise
but is full of promise for all.

God of bumble bees and blue whales,
evolution and environment,
ice-field and star-field:
This harvest time may we both praise and pray:
praise you for the sheer wonder of the world
and pray that this harvest is not about our wealth
but the wealth of our generosity

(Prayer of Commitment written by Roddy Hamilton, and posted on Mucky Paws. http://www.nkchurch.org.uk/index.php/)

Thanksgiving! – Sunday October 7, 10:30 a.m.

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I heard the phrase once, and it has remained with me ever since – a gift is never truly received until … the giver is thanked.

At the very centre of this Thanksgiving Weekend, we pause to acknowledge the great gifts we have received and lift up our thanks to God, the giver of life … the life known in the beauty and abundance of creation, the life each of us knows in body and spirit, and the life known in Jesus Christ. We will be singing some of the great hymns of this festive season. We will be celebrating the ‘eucharist’, which is literally ‘thanksgiving’ in the original Greek of the New Testament.

And we would warmly welcome you! A nursery for infants and a programme for children is available during the service. Ample free parking is available on the streets about (note that the time of day restrictions on Clergy north of Queen are not in force on Sunday) and in the city surface lot just behind the church off Queen Street.

Have a look at the Order of Service. Consider each of the announcements a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service.

Download (PDF, 664KB)