From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

In its two years of existence, All Saints has grown from a membership of two to one of around forty!  It is exciting that our existing building is getting full!  With this in mind we will begin an additional Sunday service at 9:15am.  We will review how this is going after Christmas!  Initially the new service will have an identical format to the one at 11am, and people will therefore have a choice of time for worship.  For those who are happy with the existing 11am service there should be no change.

It is expected that the earlier service will have a smaller attendance and will be a quieter time to come before God together!  Of course, this will give more space in the 11am service too!

From Sunday 13th September, we will have two services: one at 9:15am and one at 11am!  The last combined 11am service will be on Sunday 6th September.  This will be followed by a potluck and we will take a group photo.

Other events coming up include the Chiang Mai Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven Double Five Concert at the Kad Suan Kaew Theatre.  This is this Saturday at 7:30pm.  Peter Nicholson, the oldest son of Harvey and Nancy, will be playing the double bass!

A little further ahead, Michael Aldman will be appearing inStories for Peace Day as part of the Miscast Players of Chiang Mai.  This will be on Friday 18th September at 7:30pm.

This week our readings will be from Songs of Solomon 2:8-13, James 1:17-27, and Mark 7:1-23, and we will be singing the hymns Awake my Soul, The Well-Loved Traditions, I am the Bread of Life, and Be Doers of the Word of God.  The readings can be found via this link!

This week’s sermon will be entitled That Old Devil Called Love.

If you would like to see the Songs of Praise episode from the refugee camp in Calais, which I mentioned in last week’s sermon, you can go to  http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b067862y/songs-of-praise-16082015.  You will need a program to unblock the link.

God bless,

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Elephant Camp Wedding Vows

Dear Friends,

Last Saturday I had the privileged of officiating a renewal of marriage vows at an Elephant Camp near Samoeng.  It can be a reminder to us that we don’t need a beautiful building, or indeed any building, to worship God. However, in this week’s Old Testament reading we see Solomon building The Temple, and we can also acknowledge that a sense of place is important, too. Our church building is not a wonderful piece of church architecture, but it is a place which we particularly set aside to worship God, and where we give of all our talents, musical, visual, and others, to create beauty which we hope is honouring to God’s name. This Sunday Nancy will be playing the organ, and it will be lovely to have live music as we sing!

Our readings this week are from 1 Kings 8, Ephesians 6:10-20, and John 6:56-69, and we will be singing the hymns Holy Holy Holy, You call us Lord to Worship, Let us Break Bread Together, and Christ is made the Sure Foundation.  The readings can be found via this link!  Our sermon will be entitled What is true Worship?

God bless,

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

Sometimes I think I need the wisdom of Solomon to be pastor of All Saints, Chiang Mai!!!  Not really, but “The Wisdom of Solomon” has come to mean a level of wisdom that is almost impossible.  If you are in a situation that seems beyond human solution, the wisdom of Solomon is what is needed! But how wise was Solomon?  Was the most successful King of Israel, really that wise?  And what is true wisdom?  That is what we will be looking at this Sunday at All Saints, Chiang Mai!

This week our readings will be 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14, Ephesians 5:15-20, and John 6:51-58, and we will be singing the hymns Immortal Invisible, Our God to Whom We Turn, Spirit of God Unseen as the Wind, and Tell Out My Soul!  The readings can be found via this link!

God bless,

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

Summer is over for the staff and students of Chiang Mai’s international schools, and it’s back to learning! But for all of us, learning never ceases.  This week we will look at the death of King David’s son, Absolom.  What can we learn from this episode? Perhaps primarily, that we should make peace when we can before it is too late, but also the importance of mourning when we lose those we love.

This week our readings will be 2 Samuel 18:5-9,15, 31-33, Ephesians 4:25-5:2, and John 6:35, 41-51, and we will be singing the hymns  All People that on Earth do Dwell, Abide with Me, What a Friend we have in Jesus,and All My Hope on God is Founded.  We will also be singing an arrangement of The Creed to the tune Abbot’s Leigh.  The readings can be found via this link!  Our sermon will be entitled: A time to rejoice, and a time to mourn!

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

Lay Ministers for August 2015
OT Reading:  Caitlyn
NT Reading:  Eric
Prayer of Intercession:  Alan
Usher: Open
Acolyte:  Michael
Eucharistic Minister: Open
Kitchen:  Tom and Alan
Music:   Joel