Dec 8, 7:30 pm: Expecting Emmanuel
– A Special Advent Prayer Service
Are you already feeling wearied by the thought of the Christmas season? Is there too much to do, and very little of it connected to the birth of Jesus? Is there pain or loss in your life that makes it hard to think about celebrating this year? Do you long to spend a time of quiet prayer and meet Emmanuel, our God, who is truly with us? Then come to this special Advent service tomorrow. Please feel free to invite friends and neighbours.
Dec 8, 12:00-1:15 pm: Lunchtime Bible Study
A lunchtime Bible study at the church will be meeting this Tuesday in Room 100, led by Olav Slaymaker. This is the last study in the series entitled God’s Creation. All are welcome to come and bring a bag lunch if you wish. For more information call or email Jan at the church at 604.731.4966 ext 28 or Jan@sjvan.org
Nominating Committee.
Nominations are invited from Members of St. John’s for 2009 vacancies on Church Committee and Trustees, and for Synod Lay Delegates and Alternate Lay Delegates. Please submit a nomination of an existing St. John’s Member in writing to David Ley, Chair of the Nominating Committee. Nominations must be received by Dec 31, will be reviewed by the Nominating Committee, and will be voted on at Vestry.
Dec 16, 7:30 pm: Brass and Organ Concert
Mark your calendars for Dec 16, 7:30 pm for this St. John’s tradition. Come and hear the VSO Brass Quintet and Terry Fullerton on the organ. Tickets are available at the door only and are $20 for adults and $15 for Seniors and Students, Children 12 and under are free.
St. John’s Richmond
Advent greetings from St. John’s Richmond. We continue to pray for you in your leadership and stand for the gospel. Please pray for us as we invite friends and neighbours to hear the story of the incarnate Jesus, in Biblical context, on Sunday Dec 14. This is our second annual Family Christmas Pageant prepared jointly with Broadmoor Baptist Church. Thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers, and support of SJR as we move into our third year of local ministry in Richmond.
The Anglican Church of North America
On Dec 3, 2008, following the recommendation of the Primates attending the Global Anglican Future Conference in June 2008, a new Anglican Province called The Anglican Church of North America was formed by the Common Cause Partners. The new entity comprises 656 congregations, 800 clergy, 30 bishops, and 100,000 people in regular worship. They represent the evangelical, charismatic, and Anglo-Catholic traditions within Anglicanism and include the Anglican Network in Canada and the Anglican Coalition in Canada. If you would like to read the provisional constitution, it is available on the Narthex and North Chapel tables or you can find it at: http://www.united-anglicans.org/about/provisional-constitution.html.
Dec 13, 9:00 am: Christmas Decorating
Volunteers are needed to help decorate the Church on Dec 13 between 9:00 am and noon. There will be coffee and snacks provided. If you have greenery to donate please leave it outside the south chapel door.
Library
Over the last few years many titles have been added to the library. Due to the kindness of one of our dear ministers we have been able to shelve many more books than we would have otherwise and for this we are most grateful.
Among the latest additions are books by Marva Dawn, James Houston, Eugene Peterson, R. Paul Stevens and David Stoop. A particularly inspiring story is the personal testimony of Amber Nicole Metz entitled “Breathtaking.” Come and take a look. All these books are on display.
And thanks for all the returned books. Keep them coming in!
Parking – Please be considerate!
Recently one of our neighbours reported that his driveway had been blocked on a Sunday two weeks running and he couldn’t get out. They are considering asking the City to make their block “For Residents Only”. This would make life very difficult for all of us on Sundays and during the week.
Please park legally:
- Corner Clearance: 6 meters or 20 feet from the inside edge of the intersecting sidewalk
- Lane or Driveway Clearance: 1.5 meters or 5 feet from an intersecting lane. This is the minimum. A car parked directly across from a lane or driveway must be at least 5.5 meters or 18 feet from the street entrance to the lane or driveway
- Fire Hydrant: 5 meters or 16 ½ feet.
Parish Announcements
Volunteers needed! We are looking for volunteer receptionists and bulletin stuffers. If you have a few hours a week to volunteer please contact Nancy Williams or Joanne McKinnon in the office.
|
|
Luke 8:24-25 “…[Jesus] said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?’”
Dear Friends,
It is a great delight to journey with you in our studies in Luke and to hear, “read, mark, learn and inwardly digest” the gospel of Jesus as revealed to us in Holy Scripture. Here at St. John’s we are so extremely privileged to receive the faithful teaching of God’s word week by week, and for the many opportunities provided to us daily/weekly to grow in our faith and maturity in the knowledge and love of our Lord Jesus - Emmanuel, God with us. We, the trustees, give praise to God and ask for His continued blessings on all of the ministries, on our staff, and on you, our fellow servants of God, who give so freely of your time, talent and finances for the sake of the gospel and for the spread of God’s kingdom here in Vancouver and beyond.
Like the disciples, may we trust Jesus more and fear the world around us less, so that our faith may continue to grow as we live in obedience to God’s word. So often, it is in the reality of hardship that the Lord Jesus draws us near and unveils the true source of our faith.
Now regarding our finances and the large deficit we are facing during these current economic times, let us pray that we may all deepen our dependence on God and ask Him to help us to be very generous. (Note: In order to break even at the end of 2008, we need to receive $322,000 this month, which is 27% [or $70,000] more than we received in December 2007 [$253,000]). Let us claim God’s promise to do ”more than we can ask or imagine?” (Ephesians 3:20), for we know that His power is at work in us by the gift of His Holy Spirit.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Christine Klukas
Treasurer
|
