January 11, 2015 - Baptism of Jesus

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I figure I can say that as the year is only a week old, and this is the first eMessage of 2015

Sunday Worship

This Sunday is called Baptism of the Lord Sunday.  There is not very much in the Bible about Jesus as a boy growing up. (exactly one story, Luke 2: 41-52) and in this year’s lectionary we don’t get that one.  So this Sunday we make the rapid leap from the Magi visiting the baby to Jesus’ baptism as an adult by John.  We have jumped about thirty years.  But this Sunday, I am going to take a look at John the Baptist.  All the gospels see John as the forerunner of the Messiah fulfilling a passage in Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3): “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”(Matt. 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4 and John 1:23)  To see that unanimity among all four gospels is unusual.  Not only is he mentioned in the Gospels, he is also mentioned by the first century Jewish/Roman historian Flavius Josephus.  So, who was John?  I will explore who John was, and his impact and influence on the followers of Jesus, then and now.

The readings for Sunday are Acts 19: 1-7 and Mark 1: 4-11.  The Time for All Ages is called “Wash before you...”* and the Sermon is titled “John the Baptizer appeared.”

*this discussion is going to centre on Baptism, and I would ask that if you can bring in photos of your/your child’s baptism, that would be great.

MESSY CHURCH

We hope to hold a Messy Church based on the story of Jonah within the next month or so.  Watch this space for more details.  If you are interested in helping with it please let me know as soon as possible. 

MEN’S BREAKFAST

The men of Spirit West will be joining for breakfast on Saturday, Jan 17 at 8:00 am in the lower hall.

SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CONGREGATION

An exciting new rental! The Seventh Day Adventists are starting a new worship group in our area.  We have successfully negotiated with them to start renting our church every Saturday for 1 year beginning on January 24^th.  The group will use the sanctuary and lounge from 9 am to 12:30 pm, then move downstairs for lunch and meetings until 3:00 pm.  This rental will contribute greatly to our church finances.

Spirit West Prayer Chain
Spirit West has a Prayer Chain, a group of people who have committed to continue our prayers of concern from Sunday through the week.  To be part of this ministry, email your request to spiritwest.prayerchain@gmail.com .  You may also email a request for prayer to the same email address.  If you would prefer to talk to someone, you can call Marian T. at 780-487-2851 or Bonnie C. at 780-444-2230.

Office hours

-  Monday to Friday 9:30 – 2:30
-  Norma => 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, Monday to Thursday
-  Larry => 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, Tuesday to Friday

  Remember to check us out on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/SpirtWestUnitedChurch

See you on Sunday!

 Larry

(Rev.) Larry K. Wright, CD, BA, MDiv

Minister
Spirit West United Church
780-481-1406
Spiritwest.minister@telus.net
Spiritwest.org