This Sunday, October 30, the congregation of St. Andrew's Hespeler will gather to celebrate our 161st Anniversary. There will be many things to make this gathering special:
Our very special anniversary preacher will be the Rev. Linda Ashfield. Linda is minister at Knox Waterloo Presbyterian Church where she is in a team ministry together with her husband, Brooke. In fact, Brooke and Linda have the distinction of being the first couple in the Presbyterian Church in Canada to be ordained together.
Linda has a ministry that inspires and instructs many. Over the years, Linda served the church on the Board of Ministry, Board of Congregational Life and the Board of World Mission. She helped create Youth in Mission and worked as YIM’s National Co-ordinator. Linda was the Canadian National Co-ordinator for the Presbyterian Church in Canada for Youth Triennium (86), working on the Design Team and organizing the Canadian delegation as well as Internationals from 12 countries. In 1992 she was the Canadian preacher at Triennium. She gave leadership at four Youth Trienniums held at Purdue University as well as four Canada Youth events, preaching the closing service at Canada Youth 2012. We look forward to what Linda has to share with us as she preaches about "What's essential?"
Our special Musical Guest will be Dan Amorim, a talented and gifted organist. His presence with us will enhance our worship in too many ways to count!
Our own musical groups will be putting out their very best for us. That includes our Senior Choir, Youth Choir, Youth Band and Joyful Sound (Men's Chorus).
Following worship our fellowship time will include a tasting of meat pies from our fundraiser.
Fellowship time will also include the dramatic conclusion of our exciting pie in the face contest! Would anyone like to know what it takes to get the honour of throwing a pie in the minister's face?
If you have any items you would like to donate to the auction please contact Joni Smith, jsmith@standrewshespeler.ca
Suggested items, but not limited to, might be: a painting (we know there are a few very talented artists in our midst), a service that you could provide (we have a donation of 3 separate lawn aerations with a $40 value for each one), any item that you have handcrafted (we have a beautiful quilted wall hanging and warm winter sweaters donated). Be creative, have fun!
f you are going to understand the two stories that we read from the Book of Genesis this morning, you need to learn the meaning of one Hebrew word. If you do not know this word, you totally miss the point of both of the stories. The word is yitschaq and it is the Hebrew word for laughing. It has been suggested that it might be an onomatopoetic word – that is, a word that sounds like the thing that it describes (you know, like the word quack sounds like the noise a duck makes and the word bark, like the noise of a dog). Apparently, to an ancient Hebrew ear, laughter sounded a little bit like somebody going “yitschaq, yitschaq, yitschaq.” I guess that some ancient Hebrews just had weird laughs.
That Hebrew word is important because laughter is an important theme in both stories we read this morning. In one, Sarah laughs in her tent when she hears an angel promise her husband that she will have a child even though she is far too old to do so. She laughs because the promise is so impossible as to be ridiculous and later she denies having laughed. In the second story, when the promised child is actually born, Sarah laughs again for the absurdity of her having a child in her old age but she is also laughing for joy.
Why is laughter so important in these stories? It is important because of the name of the child who is born. His name, in Hebrew, is Yitschaq; his name islaughter. The English form of that name, that we are a little more familiar with, is Isaac. So what we basically have in these two stories are two different accounts of how Isaac got his name.
You get this kind of thing a lot in ancient books like the Bible. Ancient people really loved to tell stories about how people, places and things got their names and the punchlines of these stories were often amusing puns and wordplays. Sometimes people loved these kinds of stories so much that there would even be competing stories about where the name came from like we have here.
The really fun things about these stories is that they were usually created long after the actual naming took place and may have had little connection with what people were actually thinking at the time. Ancient people really didn’t have a clear idea of how words and names are invented. But that was fine because the stories were not really about how something got named. The stories were about deeper truths than that.
Take, for example, these two different stories about how Isaac got his name. One takes place just before the child is conceived and, in it, the laughter is there because the very idea that a woman as old as Sarah could have a child is too ridiculous. The second story takes place after the child has been born. The two stories, it seems to me, help us focus in on different aspects about what it means to bring a child into this world.
But since it is a little bit difficult for us to relate to a child named Yitschaq who was born thousands of years ago to an aged couple named Abraham and Sarah, it might be helpful to relate them to a child who we can actually see and hold and relate to. Let us think of these passages in relation to another child named Isaac born about six weeks ago. A lot of things may have changed in the world since the days of the original Yitschaq, but one thing that hasn’t changed is that, when children come into this world, they bring with them many challenges and problems, but also many blessings and a whole lot of laughter.
In the first story, Sarah, hiding in the tent and listening to God’s promise, laughs. We are told that her laughter springs from what she says to herself: “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” She laughs because, though she greatly desires a child and long has done so, it is just not supposed to happen at this point in her life.
Perhaps she laughs because she realizes that having a child at this point in her life would also bring with it some very particular challenges. How are you supposed to take care of a baby if you are dealing with the typical challenges of old age for example: arthritis? reduced stamina? Heart conditions? How do you deal with the long sleepless nights when you have all of that going on? How is she supposed to even feed her child if, as it says in Genesis, it has “ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.” Would a mother even be able to produce milk in such a state? The real challenges of parenthood are only amplified when a child arrives unexpectedly and at a time that is not considered normal according to the culture.
Well, little Isaac who we welcomed into the life of this congregation this morning, was not born to a mother well past the age of childbearing, of course. But, at the same time, he didn’t necessarily come at the usual time for a child, at least according to our modern western culture.
Older cultures had very different ideas about when the ideal time was to have children, of course, but the expectation of modern society seems to be that children should ideally enter into the picture only after the parents’ lives have settled down and they have found a certain economic stability. The modern ideal is that this is only after the mother has had time to establish herself in some career or work. I don’t really know if that modern notion is as ideal as we all seem to think it is – for one thing, it tends to mean that women delay childbearing until other problems, such as infertility, begin to be an issue – but that seems to be how we have decided that it is supposed to be done.
And, no, the arrival of Isaac doesn’t really fit that cultural ideal. That is not to suggest, for one moment that he was not wanted. There are people here who looked forward to his arrival with all the love and expectations that have been there for any child ever born. It is certainly not to suggest that he isn’t loved. But the birth of any child always brings with it certain challenges and that is all the more true when it does not come with that culturally ideal timing and circumstance. I know that Isaac’s arrival will make it more difficult, for example, for his mother to complete all of her education and to set out on a path in her life that will build her own economic security. I mean, it is hard enough for any young person today to start out and to figure out what sort of work is going to still be there for them to do and get paid for even just a few years down the road. That can be a much more difficult road to travel down with a child. The struggles of life are real and we ought not to pretend they aren’t there.
But, and this is the beautiful part, in the story, Sarah doesn’t despair in the tent, she laughs. The laughter may be nervous about possible futures and it may reflect some uncertainty about what that future holds, but it is still laughter, which is a cousin to joy. There are times to worry about and especially to prepare for an uncertain future, but at the same time, it is important to see that God doesn’t just send us those challenges alone. They come mixed with blessing and laughter and I know that so much of that has already come with Isaac and that so much more is yet to come.
God also doesn’t send challenges to us in isolation. One of the greatest blessings that God gives to us is community and, honestly, how could any of us deal with the very real challenges of raising children in the modern world without a community to fall back on. One of the things that makes this event so joyful today is the tremendous amount of support that Isaac and his mother have from their family and their friends, including three godparents (which is perhaps a record here at St. Andrews) who have joyfully and lovingly stepped forward to make their own promises to support and love Isaac and to see that he comes to know the Gospel and finds his own path to live in it. This tremendous level of support means that any challenges will be more than overcome with laughter.
On top of that, of course, is the community of this congregation. We also have stepped forward in this sacrament of baptism to promise to give to Isaac every support that we can to help him grow into a man who can someday chose for himself how he serves God and lives according to God’s will in this world. That is, as far as I am concerned, the most important aspect of our celebration of baptism today and I hope it is something that we never lose sight of. Because of our commitment and our joining together with Isaac, his mother, his family and his friends, the joy and the laughter is only magnified because we all get to join in it together.
In the Book of Genesis, Sarah’s laughter after her son has been born seems a little bit different than in the first story. “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me,” She says. “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” This seems more of a laughter of pure joy than anything else. It still seems a bit ridiculous to her that she should have a child in this season of her life, of course, but any apprehension seems to have dissolved away into pure joy.
I do rather feel that we are much more in the frame of mind of the second story here today. I can sense the laughter, the love and joy that surrounds Isaac and his family today. Perhaps some of Sarah’s joy in the Genesis story comes because she is now more focussed on the future than on the past or the present. She looks at this little child that she cradles to her breast and sees, not the troubles and complications that will come with raising him, but the sheer potential that is in him. In the Biblical Yitschaq’s case, that potential is huge because God has promised that, in this little baby’s skin lies, not only the future of one life but of an entire nation. Sarah can already imagine the nation that Yitschaq will become and that will inherit all of the promises that God has already given to Abraham and Sarah themselves.
And potential is absolutely something that we can celebrate in little Isaac here today. I’m not necessarily expecting that he is going to grow up to found an entirely new nation. I think that age for that has passed. But just look at him. Who knows what he might grow up to do or be? He is going to live in a world of wonders and of change that we can scarcely even imagine. I don’t know what new goodness will come into the world because of him, but it is something that I absolutely expect because this Isaac, like the Yitschaq of old, is a child of promise.
Those promises have been repeated here today. He is a child of God. He is beloved of the Most High. He has been claimed by all of his friends and extended family as a part of their family now. He has been claimed by this congregation as a child of this congregation with all of the promises that go with that.
Isaac, you named your child – Yitzchaq in Hebrew. How fitting that you called your child laughter. May he bring much laughter and joy to you, to your family, to this, your church, and to all who meet him. Laughter is a gift of God and any of us are fools if we fail to receive that gift with much thanksgiving.
#140CharacterSermon The story of Isaac teaches us children bring many challenges that become laughter, joy & blessings when we work together
Exciting news - the Wednesday Family Night group on October 19th, declared the meat pie tasting as hand-made. " They are very good, and the pastry tasted homemade" declared one of the participants. "Lots of good gravy" said another. Others in attendance agreed that the quality was top notch.
We are about to launch a creative competition and tasting challenge after worship on the 30th. That day, I invite you to join the congregation, not only for our anniversary but to taste test meat pies from Nutritious and Delicious. AKA, Kerri Prong andNancy Holbrook, who have been making pies for more than 20 years in Forest, Ontario. Additionally, someone will be the recipient of a pie in the face courtesy of the "small change ministry" recently started. The highlight of the day, in my humble opinion, will be the taste testing of meat pies, in assorted flavours. These pies are currently for sale by a St. Andrew's Session Fundraiser. We hope to revitalize a tradition that will lead to sustainable funding of this Church.
If you have been missing meat pies like we used to make, I'd like to say these like homemade pies are the answer. Be here on the 30th for pies in the face and pies yummy in your tummy. Please share the news about this fundraiser - a lot of people, not just Presbyterians ate a lot of meat pies, back in the day!
Wednesday night is always a fun night at St. Andrew's Hespeler as families and people of all ages come together to enjoy the fellowship of a tasty pot luck supper.
This past Wednesday night especially special - and not just because we had the opportunity to console ourselves over the impending loss of the Blue Jays:
Rob had brought us all a special treat - some samples of the meat pies that are now on sale as a part of a fund-raiser for the church. He brought turkey, beef, ground beef and shepherds' pie pies.
So what was the verdict? What did people think of the pies?
Yummy!
Where do I order?
Lots of thumbs up!
Order forms for the pies are now available at the church. They will be available for pickup on November 26 to 28, 2016.
Sundays are always special at St. Andrew's, but we've got a lot of people looking forward to this coming Sunday with anticipation. Here is what you'll get to be part of when you come:
We get to be part of the celebration of the new life and the baptism of Isaac - a very special boy who we can surround with our love and care.
The Youth Choir will be singing a traditional spiritual called, "Chariot's Coming'"
The Youth Band will be playing with us as we sing.
The Senior choir will also sing a spiritual called, "Who Will Be a Witness?"
Our sermon will look at the stories about the naming of Isaac in the Old Testament:
Looking forward to seeing you and your friends on Sunday!
As shown above, the communion schedule is December 4 standard communion (new format), December 20 intinction @ 7:30 pm (time approx. needs to be confirmed) and December 21 intinction @ 8:00 pm (time approx. needs to be confirmed). As noted above, Dec. 21- 4 servers are needed and Dec. 24 - 6 servers are required. A sign-up sheet will be circulated asap. Thank you all for your service in 2016 - you were amazing.
You have heard by now that the Sustainable Finances Task Group has identified four Session sanctioned Fund-Raising adventures at St. Andrews. The impetus to change our standard budgeting and financial methods was driven by the Congregation at the Annual General Meeting. Today I’d like to tell you about the revival of the famous Meat Pie campaign.
In the recent past, Karen Nixon along with the Beth McIntosh Groups’ oversight led this magnificent legacy and literally "thousands" of meat pies were sold in short order. Karen’s skills at St. Andrews are both legendary and earned through years of dedicated hard work. Karen created a standard of performance that saw her lead numerous groups over many years. Karen had the vision to use her personal missions to be a game changer. The Beth Macintosh Group reaches farther into our past and created a heritage record of financing so many projects that it is truly amazing. Throughout the years these dedicated women invented ways to keep us functioning through their charitable work. The sum result of all these efforts was people using personal missions to change the way we do business here at St Andrews.
I would like to grasp the opportunity to congratulate us on launching these outstanding fundraising campaigns in which you can make a difference in the future of our church. Your donations, in any, amount can be the game changer we need to get ahead for years, maybe forever. The monies raised by selling meat pies, soups and tapas will go directly to offset the budget shortfall. I am honored to thank all: volunteers, sponsors, organizers and private persons, who see the need for St Andrews to endure. In short Karen Kincaid and her helpers have created a sustainable heritage at New Hope Clothing and need us to sustain the building that lets her move her mission forward. The Thursday night supper group depend on a place to feed a group of friends we see every week. The residents of Hespeler now rely on how we take care of them. In uncertain times some remarkable people have taken the chance to make a difference.
OK so here’s the details – you will have received a package outlining the program and products today or we will make sure you get a package. In early October I met two women who run Delicious and Nutritious a small business that makes meat pies, soups, tapas as well as sweet pies. Kerri Prong and Nancy Holbrook have a personal mission too; they make hand-made meat pies in Forest Ontario. Almost exclusively they create their meals to supply fundraisers throughout Ontario. They have a fair history of an enduring mission of their own. The offerings are many and multiple sizes are available as you see fit. So you’re saying “wonder what the pies are like?” Right? To answer this question two dates have been reserved to try the product and make up your own mind. Wednesday, October 19 at the Family dinner downstairs in the hall I will present a selection of pies for your tasting pleasure. On October 30 at the anniversary celebration after, worship my lovely wife Debbie and I will again present the meat pies and some soups for your evaluation.
Orders must be in by November 13th. You decide the pickup date for your meat pies either November 26, 27 or 28. Other arrangements can be made if you add comments to the order form in the box provided.Oh wait there are also discounts for bulk purchases – buy six 5” pies and save OR buy 6 soups and save more. I’m sure you have questions and so I will be downstairs today to try and answer if I can. Volunteers will be downstairs every Sunday from today until November 13 to help expedite your orders. You may leave your orders: with the church office during office hours, drop them on the collection plate, email them to me, or bring them to fellowship after worship. Payment will be accepted when you pick up your order – cash (exact change would help greatly) or cheques made payable to St Andrews Hespeler. It was my intention to recreate the meat pies you all know and cherish but reality is we cannot reproduce what Karen Nixon and the Beth Macintosh group created all those years ago. Roadblocks like: the costs to make pies, box, label and bag the pies, labeling requirements, allergy issues, Health and Safety concerns with surprise food inspections, the volume of volunteers required for 3 – 4 full days and the idea of doing this multiple times.
Keri and Nancy in Forest can deliver some flexibility to sell meat pies whenever we want and to scale the fundraiser in ways that are unavailable onsite in Hespeler. Relationships like this are rare and far between. I like to think that the pies are like homemade but you will be the judges.
In closing, I wish to thank all of you, our sponsors and donors, for your donations. Let’s go on building the bonds of friendship and goodness through cooperation and mutual respect. Thank you all for being with us, joining us, and supporting our beginnings.
To quote an anonymous writer; “when courage, genius, and generosity hold hands, all things are possible.”
n Saturday, May 28 at 7:56 am, I did something that I had never imagined that I would do in all my life of my own free will. I stepped out of my front door and started to run and didn’t stop running until I had travelled about four kilometers. I ran through the arena parking lot down the streets, down the long path through woods to Queen St, I ran along Queen St. right in front of the church here, on through Forbes Park and up the trails that run through Woodland Park. And there, after about 4 kilometers as I said, and half way up what has to be one of the steepest hills in all Hespeler (that I foolishly took at a run), I stopped. My breath was ragged, I was carrying a great weight upon my chest and my legs and even (much to my surprise) my arms felt like lead. The muscles in my limbs would continue to be sore for a couple of days.
Why did I put myself through that? When I describe it like that, it really doesn’t sound like a very fun way to spend your Saturday morning. Well, I probably don’t need to tell most of you why I did it because you have already heard me say that I had made a decision that I wanted to run in the Jeff-a-thon and had set as a goal to run the full 10 km distance and do it in an hour. I’m not going to go over the reasons here today for why I felt that the Jeff-a-thon was a good enough reason for me to change what had been, up until that point, a very successful strict no running policy. You’ll have lots of chances to hear about that when you come out to Crieff Hills this afternoon.
But the process of getting from that morning back at the end of May to the place where I am now – ready and confident that I can do what I set out to do this very afternoon – has been an interesting journey to say the least and I believe that there are some spiritual lessons in that journey for all of us today.
I don’t pretend to be an amazing athlete. I don’t pretend to have a better grasp of training to run than lots of other people who could probably give you much better advice than me. But I can say that, over the last few months, I have learned how to run. I would even say that I have changed my identity from being a non-runner to being a runner because I know that this afternoon will not be my last run. I don’t know how I am going to do it through the coming winter, but I do know that I am going to continue running, that it is now a necessary part of my life. And it is something that actually gives me a new way of looking at parts of the New Testament.
As you may have noticed, there is a long tradition in Christian preaching of preachers and teachers seeking to bring out spiritual truths with analogies and metaphors related to sports. In fact, you are Canadians, I’ll bet that you have heard hundreds – maybe thousands – of sermons that are built around hockey metaphors. So many, in fact, that it might surprise you to learn that the Bible doesn’t actually say anything about hockey at all. I mean, it’s incredible – almost as if no one had ever heard of Canada’s favourite sport when the Bible was being written. So no hockey at all, but would it surprise you to learn that there is one sport that is used as an analogy of the Christian life in the New Testament not once but four times?
That sport is running. It is a metaphor used once in the Letter to Hebrews and three separate times in the writings of the Apostle Paul. I find it quite amazing that on three different occasions, Paul was looking for some image that would illustrate the kind of life that he was calling his disciples to live and each time Paul chose to write about running. It actually makes me suspect that either Paul was a runner himself or that he was a big fan of what actually was the most popular sport in the ancient Greek-speaking world.
So I thought that maybe it was about time that someone preached a sermon on the sport of running and what might have to teach us about the Christian life. I would like to think that, over the past few months, I have learned a little bit about running. What lessons are there in what I have learned that we could all apply to how we live out our lives as Christians in the modern world?
Of all the things that the Apostle Paul says about running, the one idea that he keeps coming back to is the idea of having a goal or aim in your running. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes, “Then I laid before them… the gospel… in order to make sure that I was not running, or had not run, in vain.” To the Philippians he writes, “I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain.” And finally, in the passage we read this morning, he says, “I do not run aimlessly.”
Now, I think that it is very fair to say that, if you are running in a race and you do not have the slightest idea of where the finish line is, you are not going to win that race. That much is obvious when you are running. But Paul is not talking about winning a foot race in this passage but about how to conduct your life as a Christian. So what, about that, can we apply to the life of Christian faith? I think it is true that many of us (and I will readily include myself in this) do often seek to live out our Christian life without thinking too much about our aims and goals in it. It is so easy to just develop certain habits of prayer and devotion, church attendance and activities and think that to do these things is what it means to be a Christian. And it is not that these are bad activities. These are very good habits to be in, but it can be so easy for us to lose sight of why we do these things. And when that happens, we begin to make the activities themselves the goal.
Have you ever heard people in church, when challenged to explain why they do certain things in certain ways, respond like this: “Well, that’s how we have always done it”? No, I’ve never heard that in a church either! Well, if, by chance, you ever do hear it, it might just be a sign that you are not as aware of the purpose of being a church as you need to be. The purpose of the Christian life is clear (even if the question of how we achieve that purpose may adapt and change). We are here to build up the kingdom of God. We are here to proclaim good news to the world in word and in deed. Paul uses the image of the runner to remind us that we must ever keep that aim in view in everything that we do.
The second thing that Paul talks about in the sport of running is dedication. “Athletes exercise self-control in all things,” he says. After that he lays out in practical terms exactly what that sort of self-control looks like: “I punish my body and enslave it,”he says.
Again, this is not something that I can really say that I understood until I seriously started to train to run 10 kilometres. I have learned that it is one thing to run 3, 4 and even 5 kilometers, but that it is quite another to run 7, 8, 9 and 10. At some point you are going to hit that place where your body is going to be crying out that it can go no further and do no more and you are only going to get more out of yourself if you push beyond what your body wants, effectively making your body a slave to your will.
That level of dedication seems to be difficult for many people to find these days. One of the reasons why we find it so hard, I believe, is because of the way we turn everything into an opportunity to shop. Do you realize that there is an unprecedented interest in fitness in our society and much of it is driven by the growth of activity trackers like Fitbits, Apple Watches and other similar devices? People are collectively spending millions of dollars these days on these sorts of devices.
And the growth in the use of these devices has gotten to a point where researchers are able to study the impact that they are having on our overall health and fitness. And do you know what they are finding? They are finding that there really isn’t much correlation between the sales of fitbits and health and weight loss. It is not helping very much.
And you know why that is? It because we have fallen into this habit of thinking that the way we solve all of our problems is by buying things. And so when you want to lose weight or get healthier, you just go out and buy a gym membership or a fitbit and you’re done and everything has been taken care of. Oh it is not as if I have to actually go to the gym or walk more than a few feet is it? Haven’t I already done enough by spending my money to get healthier? Shouldn’t what I bought do all the rest?
Can you see the problem with this approach? These devices are terrific and they certainly can help you in your quest for better health, but the device itself doesn’t solve anything for you. Without some commitment and dedication, it is actually totally useless.
And we actually have the same problem with the Christian life as well. We are often tempted to replace dedication with consumerism. Here’s an example for you: did you realize that the Bible has long been one of the best selling books in the world and Bible sales have remained strong despite many other changes in society. The book sells like hotcakes. But here is another statistic: while the Bible still sells like crazy, knowledge of what the Bible actually says and contains continues to drop like a stone. It turns out that the world’s best selling book just happens to be one of the world’s least read books.
What is going on? Isn’t it obvious? People are treating Bibles like fitbits and gym memberships. When they want to get a little bit of spirituality or religion, what do they do? They go out and buy a Bible – a nice one, a special version that promises to make all kinds of applications to their life for them. They buy the Bible, bring it home and throw it on the shelf and they are done. Read it? Why would I bother reading it? Isn’t it enough that I spent so much money to get it? Once again, the Bible is a terrific tool and a great help, but without a bit of commitment and dedication it really cannot ever amount to anything.
There is one other connection that Paul makes between the sport of running and the Christian life: the reward. Runners do it, he says, “to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.” He is referring, of course, to the kinds of prizes that were commonly handed out to winners of races in the ancient world which were wreathes woven out of various kinds of foliage. The wreathes themselves had little value and were only prized because they represented the glory that came to the victor. Paul seizes on the perishability of these wreathes in order to contrast them to the prize that comes with the Christian life that we do receive here and now but that also is able to endure far beyond the confines of this world.
The rewards of physical running (even if you never win an important race like at the Olympics) are real. They can change your life in so many positive ways. How much more the rewards of a Christian life well lived, especially when those rewards endure long after an Olympic gold medal has turned to dust.
So, yes, think of your Christian life as a race. Keep the goals of that life – the finish line – ever in view. Let commitment and dedication to those goals ever keep you moving towards them. Remember the prize that is yours today but that will endure for you forever. Run the race with endurance.
#140CharacterSermon Christian life is like a race: keep goals ever clear b4 you, practice discipline and commitment, claim an eternal prize.
