From Father Iain, All Saints Chiang Mai
CHURCH BEGINS AT 10:30 THIS SUNDAY!
Dear Friends,
This week our service will again begin at the new time of 10:30 a.m. Those who don’t wish to gather in person can join us on Zoom.
Use this link to join this Sunday on Zoom at 10:30 a.m.
Meeting ID: 548 801 501
In this week’s reading, Jesus proclaims himself the Bread of Life. That’s OK, we are familiar with it and we like metaphors. But Jesus took it further. He said:
‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.
These are challenging words, and they were for his first listeners for the text says “Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.”
This is part of where the church gets the idea of sacraments from. It is more than just a memorial – it is God in action commanding us to “take, eat”! Metaphors are good, but sacraments are more powerful, for God is with us and Christ is risen!
Our scripture readings for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity will be from 2 Samuel 18:5-33, Ephesians 4:25-5:2, and John 6:35, 41-51, and we will be singing the hymns For All the Saints, I am the Bread of Life, Thou Who at Thy First Eucharist, and King of Kings Majesty!
Last Sunday’s Sermon and Readings
Or the Full Worship Service can be viewed here!
Forgiveness for All!
10:30 a.m. start – this Sunday!
From August 1st our morning worship has begun at 10:30 a.m. (Don’t worry if you forget – you’ll just be there early!)
Email Prayer Group
“The prayer of a righteous one is powerful and effective.”
Would you like us to pray for you or something or someone you are concerned about? We are starting an email prayer group. Simply email your request to Helga at helgaspring9@gmail.com and it will be shared with the people on our praying list.
If you would like to be one of the pray-ers. Then also email the same address to be added to the list. You will then be forwarded prayer requests as they arrive.
Tuesday Morning Prayer Meeting
We had our first Tuesday Morning Prayer Meeting this week via Zoom. This will be a weekly event at 9 a.m. each Tuesday.
If you would like us to pray for something or would like your prayer request shared with the email prayer group, please email helgaspring9@gmail.com
Church Council Meeting
The Church Council met for three hours on Wednesday.
We discussed restarting the Gymkhana Club lunches, and other activities, and beginning the new prayer meeting. We then had a report from Mark and Hannah about the situation in Burma and voted to allocate another THB10,000 to relief there. We then had a good discussion about producing a new child protection policy and also about how we can further support the Youth Charity Foundation.
The meeting ended with a discussion about the idea of episcopal oversight and we agreed to invite Bishop Ron Langham to preach on All Saints Sunday, and then to give an explanation of the concept. We hope that the planned-for homegroups will start soon, but this depends on the Covid situation.
Wednesday Lunch – Restarts!
Although the pandemic is far from over, the number of cases in Chiang Mai seems fairly static and people are still allowed to eat in restaurants, both inside and outside. It is therefore relatively safe to eat outside at the Gymkhana Club. We will therefore be meeting again at midday next Wednesday.
Weekly Offering to All Saints
You can still donate in person or online. Thank you for your support and love for All Saints and all we are trying to do together. God has shown that he is mighty and we are in his hands!
God bless,
Father Iain
All Saints' Chiang Mai 