From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai
First Sunday of Advent Sunday 2013.
Dear Friends,
We have an exciting and busy week ahead. As well as our Wednesday night bible study, many of us will be at JJ Market on Saturday to staff the All Saints’ stall at the City Life Garden Fair. The fair lasts from 10am to 5pm, and last year over 3,000 people, mostly expats, attended. It is a great place to make our presence known. Many people had asked what we could give out on the stall. We have flyers advertising our Advent and Christmas events, but somehow that did not seem enough. Some people suggested that we give out free cup-cakes or mince pies. However, that is not really what All Saints is primarily about.
Instead, on Saturday, we will be giving out Jesus. That is what we are about as a church. Our table will be set up as an altar, and every hour we will have a short five minute act of Communion. Anyone who wishes to receive the bread and wine – and so receive Jesus – will be welcome. I hope this will show, in a significant way, both who we are as a church, and that we truly seek to share Jesus with all people. With this in mind, we could do with a few more volunteers to staff the stall, especially in the morning. If there are two or three of us, then people can have a break and wander around the other stalls. We would particularly value someone with a car to help carry stuff from the church at 9am. Let me know if you can help!
This Sunday we will have our last Eucharist of the Church year, and then on 30th November we will celebrate the First Sunday in Advent. Our service will include the usual Advent hymns, and the lighting of the first candle on our Advent Crown. It will be followed by a light festive pot-luck (please bring Christmas snacks) and then we will decorate the church and Christmas tree together.
This Sunday our readings are from Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24, Ephesians 1:15-23, and Matthew 25:31-46, and we will be singing the hymns All Creatures of our God and King, Whatever You Do, God We See What You have Given, and Called as Partners in Christ’s Service. You can find the readings via this link. Our sermon will be asking Are you a sheep or a goat?
Video and audio of our major services can be found on the Audio-Visual page of the All Saints website and as always, directions can be found on the Where and When page. Most people get to hear about us via the internet or by word of mouth, so please feel free to pass on this email to others.
All are welcome to join us as we share the presence of the risen Jesus in our lives! We hope to see you soon and that you will enjoy worshiping with us,
God bless,
Iain
All Saints' Chiang Mai 