Service Sheet and Info for January 10th - The Baptism of the Lord
This Sunday - January 10th - The Baptism of the Lord
I hope everyone has found their footing in this new year and we are all now well engaged. I hope you are well and safe including your family and friends as we continue with what is so much like living under siege with this coronavirus. We will get through this with God’s help and by a lot of hard work of many people particularly in the health care system but in so many aspects of our working together in community. There are teachers (and students), those who work in supermarkets, transit, restaurants for take out etc. There are many people who have to come into contact with one another and members of the public everyday who have to put themselves at risk. We give thanks for their willingness and for all the work that they do.
The Service Tomorrow - So tomorrow, at our 10am Livestream service, we are celebrating the Baptism of the Lord. We will listen to God’s Word, sing some great hymns, renew our baptism vows and pray for the needs of the world as well as ourselves. You can invite others to join us just by sending a link to our Facebook page. Everyone is welcome to join us. On the Facebook post for tomorrow’s service is a photo of our service from a few years ago, renewing our vows on this particular Sunday. It is a time to reflect on how we live out our faith as we walk in the light of Christ. We have certainly missed one another over all these months. Being baptized means being a part of a community even when we are far apart. This year, for us at St. Helen's, it has felt something like a long distance relationship. As we all know long distance relationships take a lot of work to keep them going. God's love amongst us all here at St. Helen's, and our love for one another, are the tie that has kept us bound to one another. Although we have not been able to catch up with one another face to face, that same love will continue to hold us, as we encourage each other, walking this particularly rough terrain of our journey. As we remember our baptism may we feel refreshed in our relationship with God and with one another. The service sheet is attached.
Readings from January 10th to February 14th – Many people like to have the opportunity to read the scripture lessons before the Sunday service. Please find attached the readings that will take us to the end of the Epiphany season just a few days before Lent begins.
Morning Prayer – Tuesday to Friday at 9:30am Please do join the livestream service each morning as we gather for a time of prayer to begin our day. Many people are taking advantage of sharing in prayer. It may be an easy way to connect yourself to God in this way each day as well. If you have any prayer requests, please do send them on to me. These requests can also be passed on to our St. Helen’s Prayer Circle.
The Wednesday Conversation – Please do join us for a great conversation on Wednesday mornings. We talk through quite a few things just to catch up in each other’s lives and stay connected. You can talk as much as you want or just listen in. This takes place after our livestreamed weekday morning prayer service so the gathering time is from 10am to 10:15 and then we are rough and running. So get a coffee or tea and join us. Everyone is welcome to do so. Just click the link below on Wednesday at 10am. I will be at ‘the door’ to greet you.
Topic: The Wednesday Morning Conversation Time: Jan 13, 2021 10:00 AM Vancouver
Join Zoom Meeting Click Here to Join the January 13th Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 858 5667 8657 Passcode: 772761
Parish Council – Our parish council meets by Zoom this Tuesday evening, January 12th, at 7pm Members of council will have received their separate email notice with the Zoom coordinates and other documents for the meeting.
PWRDF Update – from our parish representative, Paulette Smith A big thanks to those who contributed to our Christmas 2020 fundraiser for PWRDF. The week after Christmas I sent a cheque off to PWRDF for $930.00. That, plus the fact that several people told me they sent in money directly I am proud to say we pushed past my goal of $1000.00 with about $1200 in donations. The $930.00 (plus the rest) will be matched six times by the federal government . It will go to Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Mozambique for a Mother-Child Covid program. Suddenly we are over $6,000.00 to that project. Thank you thank you!! I pray this year we can have an evening entered around this work so we can learn more. Happy New Year. Stay well. God Bless. Paulette Smith