Category Archives: Uncategorized

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Christmas and New Year is over and we have moved into a quiet time in the Church year.  There are no festivals of note until we mark Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of Lent, on 18th February.  However, on 25th January our liturgy will contain the Methodist Covenant Prayer as we commit ourselves to God and to one another for another year.  But… it is still good to praise God together!

This Sunday our readings are taken from 1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20),      1 Corinthians 6:12-20, and John 1:43-51, and we will be singing the hymns Jesus Shall Reign Wher’er the Sun, Spirit of God Descend Upon my Heart, Will You Come and Follow Me?, and Amazing Grace.  You can find the readings via this link.  Our sermon will ask the question: “Can anything good come out of All Saints, Chiang Mai?”

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

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

All Saints at Christmas – over for another year!

Dear Friends,

What a wonderful Christmas season we have had! Today is the Feast of Epiphany and Twelfth Night, and we took down all the church Christmas decorations after the service last Sunday.  Thanks to everybody who made Christmas such a great celebration!

.

Last Friday, Nancy, Harvey, and I, traveled up to Doi Saket and had a look at an organ that a friend of mine is building in his house.  It will be an exact electronic replica of the organ in Salisbury Cathedral – it already sounds amazing!  Hopefully we will be able to build something similar, but simpler, for All Saints!  It is good to worship God with music!  If anyone has an old MIDI compatible keyboard that they don’t want, please let me know.

 John’s Organ

Christmas is over, but we still have a Christ who we can worship!  This Sunday our readings are Genesis 1:1-5, Acts 19:1-7, and Mark 1:4-11, and we will be singing the hymns All People that on Earth do Dwell, Praise my Soul the King of Heaven, Immortal Invisible God only Wise, and Christ is made the Sure Foundation.  You can find the readings via this link.

The title of our sermon will be Don’t keep drinking Tequila!

God bless and Happy New Year!

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

 Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at All Saints

Dear Friends,

We had wonderful services over the Christmas period. The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, and highlights of the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, can be seen on our website’s Audio-Visual Page.  We also had a great service on Christmas morning and again last Sunday. Thirteen of us stayed to share lunch together on Christmas day!

It has been great to celebrate together this Christmas season, and we have one more service.  This Sunday, 4th January, we will mark the Feast of Epiphany, and then it will be time to take down our Christmas decorations for another year.

This week’s readings are from Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:1-12, and Matthew 2:1-12, and we will be singing We Three Kings of Orient Are, The First Nowell, As With Gladness Men of Old, and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!  You can find the readings via this link.

Our sermon will look at the visit of the Wise Men to Jesus!

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 finish our celebration of the coming of Christ at Christmas!  We hope to see you soon and that you will enjoy worshiping with us,

God bless, and Happy New Year!

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

 Christmas Services at All Saints:

Sunday 21st December
11 am Morning Eucharist for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

5 pm Carols by Candlelight – A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Wednesday 24th December – Christmas Eve 11:30 pm Midnight Mass
Thursday 25th December – Christmas Day  11 am Christmas Family Eucharist

Dear Friends,

Christmas is finally upon us.  This Sunday we have our, much anticipated, Carols by Candlelight, consisting of a traditional Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.  This form of service began at Kings College, Cambridge, in 1918, and has been broadcast by the BBC since 1928.

Our service is this Sunday at 5pm, while the Cambridge version can be heard in Thailand on Christmas Eve at 10pm via this link,  We may not be quite the standard of King’s College – they have had more practice – but you can join us live on Sunday as we celebrate the beginning of the Christmas Season.

The readings will tell the ancient story of Christmas, and we will be singing Once in Royal David’s City, Ding Dong Merrily on High, In the Bleak Midwinter, Away in a Manger, The First Nowell, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing!  The choir will also be singing Adam Lay Y Bounden, The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came, andThe Coventry Carol.  Light refreshments will follow the service.

We will gather again for Midnight Mass at 11:30 pm on Christmas Eve and then again on Christmas Day at 11 am. The Christmas Day service will be followed by a pot-luck and fun activities in the afternoon – nobody needs to be alone this Christmas.  There will be games, music, and a Christmas movie!  Our time together will end around 5pm.

For this Fourth Sunday in Advent, our morning readings are 2 Samuel 7:1-11, Romans 16:25-27, and Luke 1:26-38, and we will be singing the hymns O Come All Ye Faithful, Let all Mortal Flesh keep Silent, O Little Town of Bethlehem, andJoy to the World!  You can find the readings via this link.

Our sermon will be reflecting on Jesus’ incarnation among us!
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,
Merry Christmas,
God bless,

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

.
We are now in “Sweet December”, as many of my Burmese friends call it!  Christmas will soon be upon us.  Last Sunday we celebrated the First Sunday of Advent, with a congregation of twenty-six people, including nine children – our church is growing and changing.   After worship, we decorated the Church and put up our Christmas tree.  Mince pies and other delicious snacks were shared, as we hung swathes of greenery to the accompaniment of Christmas music.

.

Please put our Carols by Candlelight service in your diaries: at 5pm on Sunday 21st December we will gather for a traditional Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.  We will also have a Midnight Mass beginning at 11:30 on Christmas Eve, and a Christmas Morning Service at 11am on Christmas Day.

We need people to distribute posters advertising our Christmas Events.  Do you know somewhere that a poster could be  displayed?  You can pick them up from church on Sunday, or copy them from the Where and When page on the All Saints website.  Right click on the posters and choose “save as…”

.

.
Meanwhile, for the Second Sunday of Advent, our readings will be Isaiah 40:1-11, 2 Peter 3:8-15, and Mark 1:1-8, and we will be singing the hymns O Come O Come Emmanuel, Down by the Jordan, Jesus comes with Clouds Descending, and Come Thou  long expected Jesus. You can find the readings via this link.  Our sermon will be reflecting on the words of John the Baptist: Behold the Lamb of God!

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 and Happy Advent,

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Welcome to Advent at All Saints!

Dear Friends,

This Sunday, 30th November, will be the First Sunday of Advent.  We will gather for our usual 11am Eucharist, which will include the lighting of the first candle on our Advent Wreath. Following the service we will share festive snacks, as together we decorate the church and put up our Christmas tree.  All are welcome to share in this festive activity!

Thanks again to all who helped with the All Saints stall at the City Life Garden Fair last Saturday, the day went very well.  It was good to let people know that we are here and to invite them to our Christmas services.  Last week I received a telephone call from India.  A British man who lives there wanted to know if we will be having a service on Christmas Eve.  I told him that we will have Midnight Mass beginning at 11:30pm.  “That’s all I wanted to know,” he said, “I will be there!”  Our fame is spreading around the globe!

Choir practices for our candlelit Nine Lessons and Carols service, on the 21st December, begin this Wednesday.  If you’d like to be part of the choir, contact me or Harvey before Wednesday evening!  Our Wednesday Night Bible Study on women in the Bible also continues at the church at 7pm.

This Sunday our Advent readings are Isaiah 64:1-9, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, and Mark 13:24-37, and we will be singing the hymns O come O come Emmanuel, God You Alone Know, Sing we the King who is Coming to Reign, and Come Thou Long Expected Jesus!  You can find the readings via this link.  Our sermon will be reflecting on Christ’s coming.

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

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

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

Last week we had a very meaningful and moving Remembrance Sunday service.  Thanks are due to Harvey for playing the Last Post, and to Peter and Father Ian for our Remembrance reading. Father Ian was able to take our wreath and lay it, on behalf of the church, at the war memorial in the Foreign Cemetery as part of yesterday’s Remembrance Day observances.

The previous Sunday we celebrated All Saints Day, and last Thursday Elena and I took the cards which we had signed in the service with the names of loved ones, and launched them into the air and on to the water as part of the Loi Kratong celebrations.

Meanwhile, Christmas will soon be upon us.  The City Life Garden Fair is only a week on Saturday, on the 22nd November, and we will be celebrating the First Sunday of Advent on 30th November.  We are also planning a Carols by Candlelight service for 5pm on Sunday 21st December.  This will be a traditional service of Nine Lessons and Carols. Please see Harvey if you would like to be involved.

This Sunday our readings are from Judges 4:1-4, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, and Matthew 25:14-30, and we will be singing the hymns O for a Thousand Tongues, Beauty for Brokenness, For the Bread, and What a Friend we have in Jesus. You can find the readings via this link.  Our sermon is entitled “Seeing Both Sides!”

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

This coming Sunday, 9th November, is Remembrance Sunday.  At All Saints we will be remembering those who have been the victims of armed conflict throughout the world during the 20th and 21st centuries.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War,  the war which was suppose to have been the war to end all wars.  Sadly we still live in a world striven with conflict, often now occurring not between nation states, but between different ideological groups within and across borders. We will remember those who have died, and pray for peace.

For Remembrance Sunday our readings will be from Joshua 24, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and Matthew 25:1-13, and we will be singing the hymns O God our help in Ages Past, Abide with Me, All my Hope on God is Founded, and The Day Thou gavest Lord is Ended. You can find the readings via this link.  The service will include The Last Post and a two minutes silence.

Our sermon will be reflecting on war and the Christian hope.

Last week we celebrated All Saints’ Day and were reminded that we are part of the church universal.  A great service was followed by a short meeting and an excellent pot-luck lunch.  Thanks to our great musicians who played Oh When the Saints, and to all who contributed to the lunch.

Last night, Thursday, we met at the church at 6pm to join the Loi Kratong celebrations.  The cards, upon which were the names of loved ones on All Saints’ Day, were taken down to the river to launch them on the water and into the air.

God bless,

Iain

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

The Christian faith is all about life – Jesus said “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.”  [John 10:10]  But, there is also a time to remember those who have died.  This week we  will be looking at Jesus’ command to love our neighbour, but the following week, on 2nd November, we will celebrate All Saints’ Day.  A pot-luck will follow our service!  It is also All Souls’ Day when we remember all who have died.  The following week is Remembrance Sunday when we remember those who have died in war.

Remembrance Sunday is celebrated throughout the British Commonwealth and around the world.   November 11th is Remembrance Day commemorating the Armistice which ended the First World War on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.  Now we remember the victims of all wars, especially those who gave their lives in service.  Currently the world is riven with armed conflict, particularly in the Middle East, and some soldiers are now having to put their lives on the line to fight the disease of ebola.  On Remembrance Sunday, All Saints will have a special service where we remember those who have died through warfare and pray for a more peaceful world in the future. Hopefully we will be able to welcome some from outside the church who would like to mark the day with us.

This Sunday our readings are taken from Deuteronomy 34:1-12, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, and Matthew 22:34-46, and we will be singing the hymns Jesus shall reign where’er the Sun, Lord What a Cloud of Witnesses, When I needed a Neighbour, and Let us Build a House.  You can find the readings via this link.  Our sermon will be reflecting on how we can be neighbours to the people around us in Chiang Mai.

Video of last Sunday’s service, and 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