Sunday May 10, 10:30 a.m.

"Bach with His Family at Morning Devotion" by Toby Edward Rosenthal (1870)

“Bach with His Family at Morning Devotion”
by Toby Edward Rosenthal (1870)

Every Sunday our wonderful Director of Music John Hall provides notes on the music that he has selected to enrich our worship of God. He describes the context of the composers and their compositions, but also adds personal perspectives on the spiritual and social dimensions of the music. This Sunday John even provided a painting along with his notes!

This is Christian Family Sunday.

We read from the contemporary statement of faith of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Living Faith, that ‘All Christians are members both of a human family and of the church, the household of God.’ And the words of the final hymn will bring together the prayers and reflections of the hour –  ‘Now thank we all our God … who from our mother’s arms has blessed us on our way’.

In between, the sermon will explore how our homes can be a realm where human and divine love intersect. There is a poem that begins ‘Happy the home when God is there’ (Henry Ware the younger, 1794-1843) – I believe the issue is not whether God is present or absent from our homes, but rather whether we acknowledge the presence and promises of God in our homes, whatever our family constellation.

And so we come to the painting contributed for Sunday’s service by John Hall (be sure to read his notes in the Order of Service that follows – yes that is one family!). Amidst all the activity of the scene, a mother is helping a child read the Bible and hear a holy word for life … Helping another (whether spouse, child, grandchild, or even neighbour or friend) know some dimension of God’s love is what ‘home’ is all about.

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