Pentecost! – Sunday June 9, 10:30 A.M.

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Joel Schoon-Tanis

I recently came across the art of Joel Schoon-Tanis. On his website Joel writes ‘My goal is to help others unlock a sense of child-like wonder about God’s world.’ This painting is entitled ‘Pentecost’ and I love the way he tells the story of that experience, filled with wonder and colour. I see the Spirit descending in the form of a dove, the tongues of fire dancing over the heads of the gathered disciples, the sound like a violent wind overhead … and then I also see the door opened (adorned with what looks like a series of St. Andrew’s crosses!), and members of the newly formed ‘living body of the Living Lord’ going out by that same Spirit alive with the gospel into the city. http://www.joelschoontanisart.com

This Sunday we will be singing some of the great hymns of praise of this ‘birthday of the Church’, reading the wonder-ful events of the first Pentecost (Acts 2), and reflecting upon how we might allow the Spirit to move us anew in the Church today. If you are in the area, we warmly welcome you to join in the worship of God.

During the service there is offered a nursery for infants and a programme for young children if desired. There is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street. There is a wheel chair lift available in the doors of the church closest to the manse (the courtyard is entered from the driveway half way along the St. Andrew’s block of Clergy Street) and a wheelchair ramp is available by ramp and door along Princess Street.

If you have any questions, please call the church office Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, or email anne@standrewskingston.org

Have a look at the Order of Service and bulletin below, and consider each hymn and prayer and announcement a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service.

Download (PDF, 354KB)

The Days of June

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Joel School-Tanis

As the tulips and forsythia give way to the iris and peonies, one month of grace is followed by another. Have a look at this overview of the opportunities for worship, community and service this month of June, and join in as you are able!

p.s. this is a pdf of a print document, so the formatting on your screen may not be ideal

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Ascension! – SUNDAY June 2, 10:30 A.M.

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From a French Bible (St. Omer, Abbey of St. Bertin), c.1190-1200. Now at Koninklijk Bibliotheek, The Hague

 

‘While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven’ (Luke 24:52). This morning we celebrate the conclusion of Jesus’ earthly ministry, but it is also a whole new beginning for humanity  …

The ascension is so central [to Christianity] because it assures us that the Incarnation continues. Christ didn’t just come among us for thirty-three years, slumming, as it were, and then when his work was done, say, “Phew! I’m glad that’s over! I’m going to unzip this skin suit and get back to heavenly living,” leaving us here on our own. He went into heaven with a pledge of all that we are going to become … The Spirit is the pledge of Christ’s presence in us, but Christ’s continuing body is the pledge of what we’re going to have in heaven. So the ascension tells us that Christ has not let go of our humanity. He truly wants to take human beings where we’ve never gone before: into the very life of the triune God.
—Gerrit Scott Dawson, author of Jesus Ascended: The Meaning of Christ’s Continuing Incarnation, from Art and Theology by Victoria Emily Jones

Ascension offers us the assurance that these bodies, these days, are of eternal import. And from this assurance spring lives filled with strength this side of the grave. Most appropriately we conclude our brief overview of Reformed theology with the ‘P’ of ‘TULIP’ – the perseverance of the saints! 

If you are in the area, we warmly welcome you to join us this Sunday.

During the service there is offered a nursery for infants and a programme for young children if desired. There is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street. There is a wheel chair lift available in the doors of the church closest to the manse (the courtyard is entered from the driveway half way along the St. Andrew’s block of Clergy Street) and a wheelchair ramp is available by ramp and door along Princess Street.

If you have any questions, please call the church office Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, or email anne@standrewskingston.org

Have a look at the Order of Service and bulletin below, and consider each hymn and prayer and announcement a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service.

Download (PDF, 239KB)

THE TULIP AND GOD’S GRACE (4) SUNDAY MAY 26, 10:30 A.M.

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Tulips painted by Karine Gabrini,
sent to Anne-Marie for Mother’s Day

This is a season of grace in so many ways, and it is the tulip on which my sermon thoughts focus this month of May. Last century there arose a brief overview of a classic Reformed understanding of God’s grace known by the acronym TULIP – and this week I continue with an exploration of ‘I’, representing ‘irresistible grace’.

The ‘grace’ part refers to God’s initiative in offering salvation, the ‘irresistible’ part refers to the assurance that God overcomes all human resistance to living this salvation – it is a perspective that can relieve Christians of any doubts about their salvation and allow us to live with the joy and strength born of assurance.

If you are in the area, we warmly welcome you to join us this Sunday.

During the service there is offered a nursery for infants and a programme for young children if desired. There is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street. There is a wheel chair lift available in the doors of the church closest to the manse (the courtyard is entered from the driveway half way along the St. Andrew’s block of Clergy Street) and a wheelchair ramp is available by ramp and door along Princess Street.

If you have any questions, please call the church office Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, or email anne@standrewskingston.org Have a look at the Order of Service and bulletin below – the formatting is a bit off on screen, but I hope it is still helpful.

Download (DOCX, 130KB)

 

The Tulip and God’s Grace (3) Sunday May 19, 10:30 a.m.

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This is a distinctly Canadian holiday weekend, and one I have always enjoyed.

It has called the ‘Victoria Day’ weekend since 1845, a time to recognize the birthday of our sovereign (originally Victoria and today Elizabeth) and give thanks for the integrity and security of governance we enjoy as Canadians, beyond party and politics.

This is also the weekend on which many of us return to work our gardens. With fear of frost past in most southern communities, there is an excitement as hands delve again into the friable soil and we look forward to seasons of colour and growth.

Already, however, we enjoy the perennials – the snowdrops and bluebells have given way to forsythia and magnolia, daffodils and tulips. The photo above shows tulips in front of the limestone walls of the heritage 1841 St. Andrew’s manse.

This is a season of grace in so many ways, and it is the tulip on which my sermon thoughts focus this month of May. Last century there arose a brief overview of a Reformed understanding of God’s grace known by the acronym TULIP – and this week I continue with an exploration of ‘L’, representing ‘limited atonement’. If you are in the area, we warmly welcome you to join us this Sunday.

During the service there is offered a nursery for infants and a programme for young children if desired. There is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street. There is a wheel chair lift available in the doors of the church closest to the manse (the courtyard is entered from the driveway half way along the St. Andrew’s block of Clergy Street) and a wheelchair ramp is available by ramp and door along Princess Street.

If you have any questions, please call the church office Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, or email anne@standrewskingston.org

The Tulip and God’s Grace – Sunday May 5, 10:30 a.m.

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Kingston,

As the season of spring arrives, slowly but surely, we delight in the green and the colours that emerge from the good earth around us. This is a season of grace in so many ways, and I thought the tulip might provide us with an opportunity to explore God’s grace this month of May.

TULIP is an acronym that has been used to articulate five particular dimensions of God’s grace. We will begin this Sunday with the ‘T’. Curious? If you are in the area, we warmly invite you to join in the worship of God. Another dimension of God’s grace will be communicated with the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, to which are invited ‘all who love the Lord a little and yearn to love him more’. Have a look at the Order of Service below (and also the announcements – please consider each a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service).

During the service there is offered a nursery for infants and a programme for young children if desired. There is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street. There is a wheel chair lift available in the doors of the church closest to the manse (the courtyard is entered from the driveway half way along the St. Andrew’s block of Clergy Street) and a wheelchair ramp is available by ramp and door along Princess Street.

If you have any questions, please call the church office Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, or email anne@standrewskingston.org

‘So do I send you’ – Sunday April 28, 10:30 a.m.

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Last week many of us saw this photo of a statue from a church of Sri Lanka: it was carved to represent the Risen Lord. But the Jesus of this statue now carries the blood splattered after the explosion of a bomb during the most sacred and joyous hour of Christian worship.

As members of the Kingston InterFaith Group (including Buddhist, Christian, Indigenous, Jewish, Muslim representatives), we gathered mid-week for a time of solemn solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka, and of commitment to mutual respect and common pursuit of peace.

This statue reminds me how injustice and violence continue to wreck havoc in our world. But as a Christian it also reminds me how Jesus, greeting the disciples shut up in fear in that room of Jerusalem after the crucifixion, carried still the holes in his hands from the cross. That blood, those holes, acknowledge that death is real, and, for too many of our world, unjust and violent. But those holes, that blood, also declare the good news, the amazing news, that by the grace of God known in Jesus, fear of death need not be what defines life, in Jesus death has been defeated and life can be lived strong and free.

On this first Sunday after Easter, the Christian life is defined as being full and free, but also a life for others. This morning we will hear anew the words of the Risen Lord to those fearful disciples of old, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you’ (John 20:21).

If you are in the area, we warmly invite you to join in the worship of God. Have a look at the Order of Service below (and also the announcements – please consider each a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service). Note in particular, a pot-luck lunch after the service!

During the service there is offered a nursery for infants and a programme for young children if desired. There is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street. There is a wheel chair lift available in the doors of the church closest to the manse (the courtyard is entered from the driveway half way along the St. Andrew’s block of Clergy Street) and a wheelchair ramp is available by ramp and door along Princess Street.

If you have any questions, please call the church office Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, or email anne@standrewskingston.org