Greetings!
Greeters – So far I do not have any for this Sunday
For our pre-recorded YouTube services, we have had, thanks to Bonnie C., people from the congregation offering greetings at the beginning of the videos. It is not possible for Bonnie to continue this. So, if you really liked the greetings you saw at the beginning of the videos, it’s now up to you. We would like at least one greeter for each video. You can record a greeting on your phone (as some of our families did) and send it to Paul, our video editor, at paulwright38d@gmail.com or you can come into the church and we will record your greeting. Video greetings can be sent in at any time, and we will include them in the worship videos, though if we get a number of greetings, you might have to wait a week or two to see yourself. If you have a greeting which you would like to send out for a particular date, call the church. Don’t wait for someone else to do it.
This Sunday – The Third Sunday after Epiphany - Call and Response
For each Sunday in the Church Year, the Lectionary provides four readings. There is a reading from the Hebrew Scriptures (often called the Old Testament), there is a reading from the Psalms, and a reading from the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) that is not from one of the Gospels. And there is a Gospel reading. Normally I pick just two of the readings to be read on a Sunday. (If you are interested in checking out all the readings for any Sunday for the next three years go to Revised Common Lectionary .) This Sunday we will hear three readings, the first from the book of Jonah, the second from Psalm 62, and the Gospel from Mark. The Gospel reading usually sets the “tone” for the Sunday, and this week that seems to be about call and response. In the passage from Mark we have backtracked a little from last week as we hear Mark’s version of the start of Jesus’ ministry and the calling of the first disciples. The reading from Jonah is not about “Jonah and the Whale.” That seems to be the part of the story of Jonah that everybody knows. But there is more to the story. The reason Jonah was in the whale (or big fish) was that he had attempted to run away from God’s call to him. Jonah had been called by God to go to the great city of Nineveh and call the people of that city to repentance for their wickedness. Jonah did not want to go. Then comes the incident with the big fish. Eventually Jonah does get to Nineveh, and after being reminded of the reason for being there, does call the people of Nineveh to repentance. His call worked, “… the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small put on sackcloth.” Now the reading from Psalm 62 is a bit different. The passage we will hear on Sunday contains two lines that I will focus on. The first is “For God alone my soul waits in silence,” and the other, “Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balance they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.” I am going to reflect on how our attitude toward God and to ourselves affects our response to Gods call.
The Scripture readings for this Sunday are Jonah 3: 1-5, 10, Psalm 62: 5-12 and Mark 1: 14-20. In the Time for All Ages, I am going to say “Shhh.” The title of my sermon is ““Of low and high estate.”
ZOOM COFFEE HOUR CONTINUES THIS SUNDAY
Join Zoom Coffee on Sunday at 11:30
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84188872465?pwd=UlhoYktNRFh6a054M01IMG1jbjFGQT09
Meeting ID: 841 8887 2465
Passcode: 864041
2021 OFFERING ENVELOPES
If you have been regularly using Offering Envelopes for your offering, either mailed in to the church or dropped off, your 2021 Envelopes are now available at the Church. We would prefer if you could pick them up. Call Norma at the church, so that she can have your envelopes ready for you. If you would rather that they be delivered to you, you will also have to let Norma know.
SPIRIT WEST OUTREACH - Jasper Place Wellness Bagged Meal
Our first date to provide lunches for the Jasper Place Wellness Centre is Saturday, January 23rd. Due to Covid-19 restrictions they have asked for pre-packaged items to be provided (no sandwiches).
The suggested items for this bagged meal is: individual commercially wrapped muffins or banana bread, granola bars, fruit cups, puddings, cup of soup or noodles in a cup, cheese sticks, crackers, juice boxes and “peelable” fruit like bananas and oranges.
Lori, Bill and Adam will shop, put the bagged meals together and deliver them We have been asked to create 25 bags. Lori is budgeting approx. $ 125 to create these meals - $ 5.00 each. If you are able to sponsor a lunch or lunches, please make a donation to the church and designate the funds as “Outreach.”
The next date for our church to provide the bagged lunches in March 6.
MORE ON OUR SPIRIT WEST WORSHIP VIDEOS
Scripture Readers
Using the list of those who have volunteered to be Scripture readers, Norma has drawn up and sent out a schedule of readers for the next couple of months. If you have read scripture for one of the worship videos, you will be on the schedule and will have received a copy. Please confirm with Norma as soon as possible that you are available to do your reading. Readings can be recorded well in advance of the date required.
Sharing our Celebrations (note the submission deadline)
In this time when it is important for us to look for signs of hope and joy, opportunity is being given for you to share your celebrations (birthdays, anniversaries, new grandchildren etc) with the wider community. If you have a celebration you want to share please email swm@telus.net or phone the church. (must be sent in before noon on Thursday for inclusion on the Sunday) During the opening section or our Worship Video, I will announce celebrations that have been shared with me.
Prayer Requests If you have a prayer request that you would like included in the Prayers of the People that are part of our worship videos, your request needs to be into the church by Thursday at noon for inclusion on Sunday. The best way to send in your request is to email spiritwest.prayerchain@gmail.com. During the Prayers of the People, only the first name of individuals will be mentioned, and the specifics of the request will not be shared. The prayer requests are also forwarded to the Prayer Chain.
Feedback
I appreciate all the positive feedback that we have received about the Worship Videos. We (Margaret, Bonnie, Glenn, Paul W. and I) are trying our best to provide you with something that will assist you in your faith journey during this “crazy” time. We would also like to hear from you if you have suggestions on how we could make the videos better or more helpful (like Scripture readers, Greeters, music with the hymns …). Email your comments to me swm@telus.net or post them on our Facebook page.
YOUR BOTTLES FOR THE CHURCH
You may have bottles piling up for recycling. You can bring them to the church (or you can call for pick up). If you want to bring your bottles (and any other recyclable beverage containers) in during our office hours and put them directly in the Bottle Shed (by the garage), give us a call, and we can have the shed open for you. All money raised from the return of bottles goes towards paying down the principal on our mortgage.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
We can now accept donations by eTransfer. The contact name for the eTransfer is Spirit West United Church, and the email address is spiritw@telus.net . If you include a security question with your eTransfer, please notify Norma at the church office by phone or email. And remember that if you are not on PAR(Pre-Authorized Remittance), you can also mail in cheques to the church office (Spirit West United Church, 7003 – 199 St. Edmonton, AB T5T 3A8, include your envelope number if you have one.) The church office is open and you can drop off your offering/donation in the offering plate just inside the front doors. You can also donate online, see below…
ANOTHER WAY TO CONTRIBUTE FINANCIALLY TO SPIRIT WEST DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
You are stuck home, Spirit West is not holding services, you are not on PAR, but you want to make a financial contribution to the work of Spirit West, because the church has bills to pay even when we are not gathering on Sunday. Check out the online donation option on our website spiritwest.org and click on the Donate tab in the navigation bar.
Spirit West Prayer Chain
Prayer is important. We know that people still face challenges and difficulties not related to Covid-19, and we cannot forget them. Our Prayer Chain will continue to be active. If you have a prayer request, please send it to spiritwest.prayerchain@gmail.com. These requests will be shared regularly with the prayer chain and will form part of the Prayers of the People in our Sunday Worship.
SPIRIT WEST ONLINE!
Website: www.spiritwest.org
Facebook: Spirit West United Church and Friends of Spirit West Outreach
Instagram: spiritwestyeg
YouTube: Spirt West United Church, Edmonton
CHURCH OFFICE
The Spirit West Church office remains open.
Office hours
- Norma => Noon to 5:00 pm, Monday to Thursday
- Larry => 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Tuesday to Friday
Larry
(Rev.) Larry K. Wright, CD, BA, MDiv
Minister
Spirit West United Church
780-481-1406
Spiritwest.minister@telus.net
Spiritwest.org
Greeters – So far I do not have any for this Sunday
For our pre-recorded YouTube services, we have had, thanks to Bonnie C., people from the congregation offering greetings at the beginning of the videos. It is not possible for Bonnie to continue this. So, if you really liked the greetings you saw at the beginning of the videos, it’s now up to you. We would like at least one greeter for each video. You can record a greeting on your phone (as some of our families did) and send it to Paul, our video editor, at paulwright38d@gmail.com or you can come into the church and we will record your greeting. Video greetings can be sent in at any time, and we will include them in the worship videos, though if we get a number of greetings, you might have to wait a week or two to see yourself. If you have a greeting which you would like to send out for a particular date, call the church. Don’t wait for someone else to do it.
This Sunday – The Third Sunday after Epiphany - Call and Response
For each Sunday in the Church Year, the Lectionary provides four readings. There is a reading from the Hebrew Scriptures (often called the Old Testament), there is a reading from the Psalms, and a reading from the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) that is not from one of the Gospels. And there is a Gospel reading. Normally I pick just two of the readings to be read on a Sunday. (If you are interested in checking out all the readings for any Sunday for the next three years go to Revised Common Lectionary .) This Sunday we will hear three readings, the first from the book of Jonah, the second from Psalm 62, and the Gospel from Mark. The Gospel reading usually sets the “tone” for the Sunday, and this week that seems to be about call and response. In the passage from Mark we have backtracked a little from last week as we hear Mark’s version of the start of Jesus’ ministry and the calling of the first disciples. The reading from Jonah is not about “Jonah and the Whale.” That seems to be the part of the story of Jonah that everybody knows. But there is more to the story. The reason Jonah was in the whale (or big fish) was that he had attempted to run away from God’s call to him. Jonah had been called by God to go to the great city of Nineveh and call the people of that city to repentance for their wickedness. Jonah did not want to go. Then comes the incident with the big fish. Eventually Jonah does get to Nineveh, and after being reminded of the reason for being there, does call the people of Nineveh to repentance. His call worked, “… the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small put on sackcloth.” Now the reading from Psalm 62 is a bit different. The passage we will hear on Sunday contains two lines that I will focus on. The first is “For God alone my soul waits in silence,” and the other, “Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balance they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.” I am going to reflect on how our attitude toward God and to ourselves affects our response to Gods call.
The Scripture readings for this Sunday are Jonah 3: 1-5, 10, Psalm 62: 5-12 and Mark 1: 14-20. In the Time for All Ages, I am going to say “Shhh.” The title of my sermon is ““Of low and high estate.”
ZOOM COFFEE HOUR CONTINUES THIS SUNDAY
Join Zoom Coffee on Sunday at 11:30
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84188872465?pwd=UlhoYktNRFh6a054M01IMG1jbjFGQT09
Meeting ID: 841 8887 2465
Passcode: 864041
2021 OFFERING ENVELOPES
If you have been regularly using Offering Envelopes for your offering, either mailed in to the church or dropped off, your 2021 Envelopes are now available at the Church. We would prefer if you could pick them up. Call Norma at the church, so that she can have your envelopes ready for you. If you would rather that they be delivered to you, you will also have to let Norma know.
SPIRIT WEST OUTREACH - Jasper Place Wellness Bagged Meal
Our first date to provide lunches for the Jasper Place Wellness Centre is Saturday, January 23rd. Due to Covid-19 restrictions they have asked for pre-packaged items to be provided (no sandwiches).
The suggested items for this bagged meal is: individual commercially wrapped muffins or banana bread, granola bars, fruit cups, puddings, cup of soup or noodles in a cup, cheese sticks, crackers, juice boxes and “peelable” fruit like bananas and oranges.
Lori, Bill and Adam will shop, put the bagged meals together and deliver them We have been asked to create 25 bags. Lori is budgeting approx. $ 125 to create these meals - $ 5.00 each. If you are able to sponsor a lunch or lunches, please make a donation to the church and designate the funds as “Outreach.”
The next date for our church to provide the bagged lunches in March 6.
MORE ON OUR SPIRIT WEST WORSHIP VIDEOS
Scripture Readers
Using the list of those who have volunteered to be Scripture readers, Norma has drawn up and sent out a schedule of readers for the next couple of months. If you have read scripture for one of the worship videos, you will be on the schedule and will have received a copy. Please confirm with Norma as soon as possible that you are available to do your reading. Readings can be recorded well in advance of the date required.
Sharing our Celebrations (note the submission deadline)
In this time when it is important for us to look for signs of hope and joy, opportunity is being given for you to share your celebrations (birthdays, anniversaries, new grandchildren etc) with the wider community. If you have a celebration you want to share please email swm@telus.net or phone the church. (must be sent in before noon on Thursday for inclusion on the Sunday) During the opening section or our Worship Video, I will announce celebrations that have been shared with me.
Prayer Requests If you have a prayer request that you would like included in the Prayers of the People that are part of our worship videos, your request needs to be into the church by Thursday at noon for inclusion on Sunday. The best way to send in your request is to email spiritwest.prayerchain@gmail.com. During the Prayers of the People, only the first name of individuals will be mentioned, and the specifics of the request will not be shared. The prayer requests are also forwarded to the Prayer Chain.
Feedback
I appreciate all the positive feedback that we have received about the Worship Videos. We (Margaret, Bonnie, Glenn, Paul W. and I) are trying our best to provide you with something that will assist you in your faith journey during this “crazy” time. We would also like to hear from you if you have suggestions on how we could make the videos better or more helpful (like Scripture readers, Greeters, music with the hymns …). Email your comments to me swm@telus.net or post them on our Facebook page.
YOUR BOTTLES FOR THE CHURCH
You may have bottles piling up for recycling. You can bring them to the church (or you can call for pick up). If you want to bring your bottles (and any other recyclable beverage containers) in during our office hours and put them directly in the Bottle Shed (by the garage), give us a call, and we can have the shed open for you. All money raised from the return of bottles goes towards paying down the principal on our mortgage.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
We can now accept donations by eTransfer. The contact name for the eTransfer is Spirit West United Church, and the email address is spiritw@telus.net . If you include a security question with your eTransfer, please notify Norma at the church office by phone or email. And remember that if you are not on PAR(Pre-Authorized Remittance), you can also mail in cheques to the church office (Spirit West United Church, 7003 – 199 St. Edmonton, AB T5T 3A8, include your envelope number if you have one.) The church office is open and you can drop off your offering/donation in the offering plate just inside the front doors. You can also donate online, see below…
ANOTHER WAY TO CONTRIBUTE FINANCIALLY TO SPIRIT WEST DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
You are stuck home, Spirit West is not holding services, you are not on PAR, but you want to make a financial contribution to the work of Spirit West, because the church has bills to pay even when we are not gathering on Sunday. Check out the online donation option on our website spiritwest.org and click on the Donate tab in the navigation bar.
Spirit West Prayer Chain
Prayer is important. We know that people still face challenges and difficulties not related to Covid-19, and we cannot forget them. Our Prayer Chain will continue to be active. If you have a prayer request, please send it to spiritwest.prayerchain@gmail.com. These requests will be shared regularly with the prayer chain and will form part of the Prayers of the People in our Sunday Worship.
SPIRIT WEST ONLINE!
Website: www.spiritwest.org
Facebook: Spirit West United Church and Friends of Spirit West Outreach
Instagram: spiritwestyeg
YouTube: Spirt West United Church, Edmonton
CHURCH OFFICE
The Spirit West Church office remains open.
Office hours
- Norma => Noon to 5:00 pm, Monday to Thursday
- Larry => 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Tuesday to Friday
Larry
(Rev.) Larry K. Wright, CD, BA, MDiv
Minister
Spirit West United Church
780-481-1406
Spiritwest.minister@telus.net
Spiritwest.org
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