welcome to church online
april 5, 2020
call to worship
family news
Greetings from Sam & Victoria Lalonde
prayer
scripture readings
Psalm 118, Matthew 21:1-11, John 13:5-17
Psalm 118
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever!
Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
With the Lord on my side I do not fear.
What can mortals do to me?
The Lord is on my side to help me;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in mortals.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in princes.
All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me like bees;
they blazed like a fire of thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
The Lord is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Matthew 21:1-11
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
“Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
John 13:5-17
Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
sermon
communion thoughts
from Ian S.
Over
the past 2-3 weeks I have experienced anxiety, fear, depression, and lament, –
the whole gamut of emotions, as you can imagine and I know that many of you are
experiencing the same. It’s part of the
Human condition to feel these things. To
go from what was normal a few weeks ago to what we are experiencing right now
is just incredibly hard.
I very much miss meeting together at Shelbourne Street, and so when it was announced that this would be the norm for a while, I went out and bought Grape Juice and a box of unleavened crackers so that we could take the Lord’s Supper at home. In Matthew 18:20, it says “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them”. So for the last few Sundays, it’s been Shannon, Brandon and myself as a family, taking it together after listening to or viewing Church online. Jordan is back from Edmonton with us here now as well, and we hope he will be upstairs this Sunday morning to share with us as well. I dearly love the time of communion, as it gives us the chance to contemplate and re-focus on our relationship with Christ. The Bread – his Body, given for us as a ransom. The Wine- his blood, shed for each one of us for the forgiveness of sin. His love endures forever, despite what may happen here on Earth, and whatever happens in this world is only a temporal thing compared to Eternity. Even so, it’s difficult these days, and at times like this we just need to stop and pour out our grief, our feelings. We need to lament, as Travis pointed out this past week. We also need to remember the Lord’s Prayer – “May Your Kingdom come and may your Will be done on the Earth as it is in Heaven”. One day we will rejoice when that statement is completely fulfilled – when God re-creates Heaven and Earth, as is promised in Rev: 21 and we will experience creation the way it was meant to be, and we will then be in full communion with Christ.
In the meantime, Church, and I say this even as “Mr. Introvert”, - I love you all and miss meeting with you all and sharing the Lord’s Supper together. I hope, if possible, that you are all taking it at home, and I hope that it is sooner rather than later when we can all meet and share it together again. God Bless you all, and Blest be the name of the Lord, Our God, our rock, fortress and redeemer.
This past week an old hymn has been on my mind, which I would like to share with you today. I think it is very apt for the time we are living in presently.
A
mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing:
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work his woe;
His craft and power are great, And armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right One on our side, The Man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth is his name, From age to
age the same,
And He must win the battle.
And though this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,—We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, For lo! His doom is sure,—
One little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly powers—No thanks to them—abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours Through him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also:
The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
want to share communion live?
Use email or social media to invite others to join you
at a virtual meeting via facetime / zoom / skype / google hangouts
and work through the elders' guide together (see here).
Some of the elders will also be hosting virtual Communion gatherings
at various times on Sunday.
To find out more, contact them here.
offering
One of the ways we worship God is through giving.
If you usually give via cash or cheques, you may want to switch to digital methods at this time.
To make an electronic donation, send an e-transfer to donations@shelbournestreet.com
Let us pray:
Lord, we thank you for all your blessings and for the joy of being able to give.
We are mindful that so many are facing financial hardships and uncertainty and lift them up to You.
We pray for wisdom to use this offering well, in ways that bless those in need and further Your kingdom.
Amen.
parting blessing
