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From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

We had a very peaceful and moving service yesterday, as we marked Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent at All Saints.  Thanks to all who made it such a good time together.

This week will be the first Sunday in Lent and we will be looking at Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.  Mark Crawford will be preaching. This Sunday’s readings are Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Romans 10:8-13, and Luke 4:1-13, and we will be singing the hymns O Worship the King, Forty Days and Forty Nights, Take My Life and Let it Be, and What a Friend We Have in Jesus!  The readings can be found via this link!

There will be a church council meeting at 2pm this Sunday.

God bless,

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Just a few of the pancakes at Sunday’s potluck

Ash Wednesday Service – 7 p.m. Wednesday 10th February

Dear Friends,

Today is Shrove Tuesday – the day when we ask for our sins to be shriven – forgiven and absolved – before Lent begins.  It is also known as Pancake Day in the UK, and Mardi Gras in much of the rest of the world.  On Sunday, twenty-four of us shared in pancakes and lots of sweet toppings to mark this putting away of luxury before the traditional season of fasting.

Tomorrow we will have our Ash Wednesday service, beginning at 7 p.m.  The service will last around 45 minutes and will include the imposition of ashes.  I hope you can join us as we draw near to God in the knowledge of God’s love and care!

If you don’t know the way to All Saints, 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

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

Next week we will enter the season of Lent, and at All Saints we will mark this with our Ash Wednesday Service.  The service will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday 10th February. However, the British tradition is to have pancakes the day before – Shrove Tuesday is known as “Pancake Day!”  All Saints will mark this with a special pancake potluckfollowing the 11 a.m. service this Sunday.  Bring toppings or ready-made pancakes to microwave – see Caitlin for more details on camacongo@gmail.com or call 0873 750 317, or just come along with your food!

Also, for council members, advance notice that we will have our next church council meeting at 2 p.m. on Sunday 14th February.

This week our readings are Exodus 34:29-35, 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2, and Luke 9:28-43, and we will be singing the hymns All Creatures of our God and King, Swiftly Pass the Clouds of Glory, For the Bread Which You Have Broken, and Christ is made the Sure Foundation.  The readings can be found via this link!  Our sermon is entitled What is that?

Meanwhile, Gayle Avent, an American man who has recently started attending All Saints, along with his wife Kay, is hoping to start a discussion group.  He writes:

NEW GREAT DECISIONS GROUP IN CHIANG MAI
Great Decisions is an adult discussion series focused on challenges to America and produced each year by the US Foreign Policy Association. Each session includes a brief reading, a video & discussion.  Session 1 video is “The Middle East”.  I have led GD groups at Baylor and elsewhere.  If you are potentially interest in participating, send me an e-mail (Gayle_Avant@Baylor.edu) quickly.  No obligation.  A group may meet at All Saints.

If you don’t know the way to All Saints, 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

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

The words of 1 Corinthians 12:17 always remind me of this joke.

1 Corinthians 12 talks about us all being part of the body of Christ and verse 17 says:

If the whole body were an eye, how would we hear?
If the whole body were an ear, how would we smell?

Of course, its meaning is clear and we all have our parts to play: some to speak, some to listen, some to see, and perhaps even some to smell!

Our theme for 2016 at All Saints seems to be developing into “Being Lazy for Jesus”!  Not meaning that we do nothing, but that we stop rushing around “doing things” and take time to “be”.  But 1 Corinthians 12 reminds us that we all have our part to play.  If you have ever tried to walk when your leg has “gone to sleep” you will realise how difficult it is to function when one part of the body is not working properly.

“Being lazy” doesn’t work when one part does nothing, leaving others to rush around trying to do jobs that don’t rightly belong to them.  It may be possible to walk on your hands, but nobody can see with their ears!  As we seek to put God first this year, and to give time to simply “be”, we must seek out what our function, our calling, is as part of the body of Christ, and that is what we should be doing and fulfilling.

This  week  our  readings  are  from  Nehemiah 8:1-10,  1 Corinthians 12:12-31, and Luke 4:14-21, and we will be singing the hymns Praise my Soul the King of Heaven, There are Many Ways of Sharing, Called as Partners in Christ’s Service, and All my Hope on God is Founded.   The readings can be found via this link!  Our sermon is entitled What are you?

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

In last week’s sermon I shared my New Year’s resolution for 2016 – to try to be more lazy.  As I said then, it is not as easy as it sounds.  In our busy connected world we always seek to fill each moment with some activity, some useful task.  My phone has nine ways to get in touch with me: phone calls, Skype calls, Messenger calls, texts, school emails, private emails, Facebook messages, Facebook posts, and BBC News alerts!  No wonder we have no time to listen to God!

Through the noise God says to us Be still and know that I am God!  We are created as human beings, not humandoings, but so often we define ourselves by what we do, by what we achieve.  Perhaps that’s why we find heaven so difficult to imagine: what will we do there?

Our two services this week will include the Methodist Covenant Prayer where we commit ourselves to God for the coming year.  Let us remember that God cares much more about who we are than what we do!  Let us stop rushing around, and find time to listen to God!  This week our additional 9:15 a.m. service recommences after the Christmas break, and our readings for both services are Isaiah 62:1-5, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, and John 2:1-11.  We will be singing the hymns All People that on Earth do Dwell, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, Be Thou my Vision, and Guide me O Thou great Jehovah.   The readings can be found via this link!  Our sermon is entitled Be Still!

God bless,

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Wise Men seek Jesus!

Dear Friends,

Greetings from a grey, cold, and wet England!  I will be travelling back to Thailand tomorrow, and look forward to leading our worship at All Saints at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

An “epiphany” is a suddenly realisation of something, a sudden understanding!  The Epiphany is when we celebrate the revealing of Jesus to the Gentiles!  The Wise Men from the East come to worship Jesus, and God with us, Immanuel, is revealled to the whole world!

We all have our own ways of seeing God.  In some ways I worship the God of England, steeped as I unavoidably am in my own culture, music, and traditions, and even my understanding of right and wrong.  God is God, but God reveals God’s self in many ways to many people, for God is a God of incarnation, a God made flesh!  And God is with us!  And God loves us!

Perhaps our Epiphany must be that God is God, that we don’t have to earn God’s love, we don’t have to squeeze ourselves into any particular “right way” of being a Christian, or being a man, or being a woman.  Instead God calls us to worship God, to give thanks to God, and to join in God’s work of building God’s kingdom and loving our fellow human beings!  God is the God of, and for, the whole world and that is what we will look at in this week’s worship!

This Sunday our readings are Isaiah 43:1-7, Acts 8:14-17, and Luke 3:15-17, 21-22, and we will be singing the hymns We three Kings of Orient are, The first Nowell, As with Gladness Men of Old, and Hark the Herald Angels sing!    The readings can be found via this link!  Following the service we will take down the Christmas decorations for another year!

If you don’t know the way to All Saints, 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

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

I hope you had a good Christmas or, as Elena will explain in this week’s sermon, I hope you are Christmassing well!  We had some great services at All Saints and eleven people stayed for lunch on Christmas Day.  I am now enjoying my Christmas break with my parents and had a good meeting with Bishop Jonathan yesterday.  Elena will be leading the worship this Sunday at 11 am and using an exciting alternative liturgy!  I will be back on January 10th for our Epiphany service.

This week’s readings are from Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21 and John 1:1-18, and the hymns are Love Divine, Open my eyes that I may see, Beauty for Brokenness, and Mothering God.  Our sermon is entitled Mother Wisdom!

Video and audio of our major services, including our Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, 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 continue to celebrate the Christ of Christmas!  We hope to see you soon and that you will enjoy worshiping with us,

God bless,

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Our Wonderful Nine Lessons and Carols!

Services for Christmas at All Saints

Sunday 20th December
11 am Combined Eucharist – No 9:15 am service this week!

Thursday 24th December – Christmas Eve
11:30 pm Midnight Mass

Friday 25th December – Christmas Day
11 am Christmas Family Eucharist followed by pot-luck lunch!

Sunday 27th December
No Service

Sunday 3rd January
11 am Joint Worship

Sunday 10th January
11 am Combined Eucharist and Covenant Service

Dear Friends,

Our Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was more successful than we could have imagined with over two hundred people in attendance.  Video of the event can be seen via this link!   Thanks again to all who made it such a wonderful event!

Christmas is very nearly upon us and, as people travel for the Christmas vacation, we will have a combined 11 am service this Sunday!  Then we will meet again on Christmas Eve for Midnight Mass and again on Christmas Day.  (There will be no service on Sunday 27th December!)
On Christmas Day we will be sharing a special pot-luck lunch following the morning service.  All are welcome to attend, but if you know that you will be there let me know, so we can organise things a little!  Six people haveconfirmed so far!

For this Fourth Sunday in Advent, our readings are Isaiah 52:7-10, Romans 16:25-27, and Luke 2:1-20.  These are different from the set readings for this week as some people will be unable to attend on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.   We will be singing the hymns O Come All Ye Faithful, Let all Mortal Flesh keep Silent, O Little Town of Bethlehem, and Joy to the World!   Our sermon will be entitled Shepherds Pie, again?

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 celebrate the Christ of Christmas!  We hope to see you soon and that you will enjoy worshiping with us,

God bless,

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

A big thank you to all who made last night’s Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols such a great success.  We had over two hundred people gathered in the Chapel of the Prince Royal’s College to celebrate the coming of Christ through words and music.

Click here to watch the Video!

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Thank you especially to Harvey Nicholson who directed the choir and brass band, and to all the singers and musicians.  You were all amazing!

Choir Practice

Brass Rehearsal

And thanks to all who worked behind the scenes, setting up, tidying away, and providing refreshments.
It was worth all the effort and we also raised over THB10,000 for The McKean Rehabilitation Center!

Thank you so much.   Click here to watch the Video!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

God bless,

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Saturday, 7pm in the Prince Royal’s College Chapel!

Services for Christmas at All Saints

Saturday 12th December
7 pm  A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
at The Prince Royal’s College Chapel

Sunday 13th December
9:15 and 11 am Eucharists

Thursday 24th December – Christmas Eve
11:30 pm Midnight Mass

Friday 25th December – Christmas Day
11 am Christmas Family Eucharist

Sunday 27th December
No Service

Sunday 3rd January
11 am Joint Worship

Sunday 10th January
11 am Combined Eucharist and Covenant Service

Dear Friends,

Our Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is only two days away!  As you know, the service will begin at 7pm and is being held in The Prince Royal’s College Chapel. We really have no idea how many people will come but we expect between one hundred and two hundred to attend – we have printed 150 programs!

The schedule for those involved is below.  Non-singers are very welcome to come and help set up, and nobody needs to be there the whole day, unless they want to!

12:30 Meet at the Church to gather all we need for the performance

1:00 Arrive at PRC Chapel to set up.

2:30 Rehearsal, the Choir alone

• all Acapella

• all Anthems

3:00 Rehearse Choir and Brass Together

3:30 complete run through of music

• All Anthems

• Congregational singing

4:30 Supper and tidy up details

6:00 microphone warm up

6:30 Choir/Brass warm up

7:00 Start

Tickets are being sold for THB100 in aid of the McKean Rehabilitation Center and will be available on the door.

The service will be followed by refreshments at the Chapel.  Caitlin, who is coordinating this, requests that everyone bring cookies, desserts, etc, to share afterwards.

We again plan to share a Christmas lunch together on Christmas Day.  However, as nobody has yet signed up for the Christmas Lunch, we may instead make alternative arrangements so that nobody need be alone this Christmas Day.    Last Chance!  Please sign up this week if you would like to come!

There will be no service on Sunday 27th December as it is only two days after our Christmas services.  Worship will resume on 3rd January.

For this Third Sunday in Advent, our readings are Zephaniah 3:14-20, Philippians 4:4-7, and Luke 1:26-38, and we will be singing the hymns Once in Royal David’s City, The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and Angels from the Realms of Glory. 

Our sermon will be entitled Mary, did you know?

God bless,

Iain