From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

Dear Friends,

We had two great services last week with the launch of our new 9:15 a.m. service, and all is now prepared for this coming Sunday!  Our Church Council Meeting followed the 11 a.m. service and lasted about two hours.

The meeting was told that things are going well at All Saints, and we see continued steady growth in members, and have a healthy financial situation.   The Council also appointed a sub-committee to produce a draft church constitution.  This will be brought to the next council meeting for consideration and will then be submitted to a general church meeting for approval.

Future events agreed upon include a Harvest Festival to be held at Thung Dong Farm, probably on the Sunday 19th October, a Thanksgiving Potluck on Sunday 29th November, and a Service of Nine Lessons and Carols on Saturday 12th December to be held in Prince Royal College Chapel at 7pm.  We will again have a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and a Christmas Morning Service followed by lunch.

Spending was agreed for the completion of the organ project, and the possible installation of an air-conditioning unit in the church office to provide a place for younger children during part of our worship.  Full minutes of the meeting will be available on request.

Finally, a reminder that tomorrow night Michael Aldman will be appearing in Stories for Peace Day as part of the Miscast Players of Chiang Mai.  It begins at 7:30pm in the AUA Auditorium. All are welcome to attend and tickets are not required.

This week’s bible readings encourage us to be united as the Body of Christ, putting others first, and our sermon will be entitled Bind us Together Lord!  The readings are Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22, James 3:13-4:3, 7-8, and Mark 9:30-37, and we will be singing the hymns Praise My Soul the King of Heaven, Jesu Jesu Fill us with your Love, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, and Let us build a house!   The readings can be found via this link!

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

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Dear Friends,

It was great to see thirty people gathered for our final combined 11 a.m. service and potluck last Sunday. Thanks to all who brought such delicious food to share!  This week we will have two services: our usual Eucharist at 11 a.m. and an identical 9:15 a.m. Eucharist.  You will now have a choice of worship times – but nobody needs to come twice, except me!

After the 11 a.m. service there will be a Church Council Meeting which should begin around 12:30 p.m.  Lunch will be provided.

This week our Bible readings look at God personified as Wisdom in the Old Testament and Apocrypha, and our Gospel reading includes Peter’s declaration to Jesus: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”   We will be looking at how we see God, as we are made in God’s image: male and female.  Our readings will be Wisdom of Solomon 7:26-81, James 3:1-12, and Mark 8:27-38, and we will be singing the hymns The King of Love my Shepherd is, Mothering God, Be Thou my Vision, and O God our Help in Ages Past.  The readings can be found via this link!

If you enjoy gardening and are free this Saturday from 10am to 4pm, then you can go down to the Foreign Cemetery on the Lamphun Road and help with their exciting renovation project.  Bring any tools you have. More details can be found on the Friends of the Foreign Cemetery Facebook page.

Also, next Friday, one of our church members, Michael Aldman will be appearing in Stories for Peace Day as part of the Miscast Players of Chiang Mai.  This will be on 18th September at 7:30pm in the AUA Auditorium. All are welcome to attend – see Michael for details!

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,

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God bless,

Iain

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

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

All are Welcome!

Dear Friends,

I am still in England, but Andy and I will be back on Sunday, ready for a new year!  Welcome back also to all those who have been away over the summer – we hope to see you worshipping with us soon!

Sometimes I wish I could travel business class!  It must be nice to be rich, famous, and powerful.  The grass always looks greener – not just on the other side of the fence – but in the fields which are higher up!  However, in this week’s Old Testament reading we have the story of David and Bathsheba.  As I have said in some recent sermons, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Perhaps being rich and famous is not so good after all.  We will look at the life of David – warts and all – this Sunday.

This week our readings will be 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13, Ephesians 4:1-16, and John 6:24-35, and we will be singing the hymns All Creatures of our God and King, Be Thou My Vision, For the Bread which You have Broken,and Amazing Grace.  The readings can be found via this link!

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

Elena Kelly will be preaching this week!

Dear Friends,

Greetings from “sunny” England.  I shall be away for the next two Sundays, but worship will continue at All Saints!  Elena will be preaching and Father Ian will celebrate communion!  Please contact Elena on 0932 916 590 in the event of any emergency!

Meanwhile, be prepared to rethink everything – the theme of Elena’s sermon this Sunday.  This week our readings will be 2 Samuel 7:1-14, Ephesians 2:11-22, and Mark 6:30-34, 53-56, and we will be singing the hymns Alleluia Sing to Jesus, Let us Build a House, Break thou the Bread of Life, and All for Jesus.  The readings can be found via this link!

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

 Evita!  “I don’t care what the bourgeoisie say.”

Dear Friends,

In 1979 the musical Evita took the London West End by storm.  In 1996 it was made into a film starring Madonna.  Eva Peron was a young actress whose liaison with an Argentinian general allowed her to propel him to power in a mixture of popular uprising and military coup.  One of the lines given to Evita is “I don’t care what the bourgeoisie say.”  Her power base comprised the workers, to her the views of the small middle-class was irrelevant.

In the same way, in this week’s Old Testament Reading we see King David dancing before the Lord and scandalizing his wife and many of the other well-to-do people.  He was only concerned with praising God and was unconcerned about the reaction of proper society.
Our Gospel reading tells of one with a similar disregard for pleasing people, but with a rather more serious outcome:  John the Baptist denounced those in power, and lost his head for his troubles!  What about us?  Do we care what “they” say?  That will be the theme of this Sunday’s sermon.

This week our readings will be 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12-19, Ephesians 1:3-14, and Mark 6:14-29, and we will be singing the hymns Praise my Soul the King of Heaven, Will you come and Follow Me, When I needed a Neighbour, and What a Friend we have in Jesus.  The readings can be found via this link!

God bless,

Iain

Lay Ministers for July 2015:
OT Reading: Elsie or Wim
NT Reading: William
Prayer of Intercession: Alan
Usher: Tarntip
Acolyte: Tarntip
Eucharistic Minister: open
Kitchen: Wim and Elsie
Music:  Michael

From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai

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I have two more Sundays at All Saints before Andy and I fly off to England.  Meanwhile we are all enjoying the cool summer here in Chiang Mai – while England basks in temperatures of more than 35 degrees Celsius!  (It may be hotter here, but at least we have air-conditioning!)  However, hot or cold, our joy in worshipping God together continues.  He is the one who sends the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the good and the bad alike.  We have much to praise God for!

This week our readings will be 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10, 2 Corinthians 12:2-10, and Mark 6:1-13, and we will be singing the hymns Christ whose Glory fills the Skies, In Christ alone my Hope is Found, Let us break bread together, and For All the Saints.  The readings can be found via this link!  Our sermon will be entitled What it is to be popular!

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 July 2015:
OT Reading: Elsie or Wim
NT Reading: William
Prayer of Intercession: Alan
Usher: Tarntip
Acolyte: Tarntip
Eucharistic Minister: open
Kitchen: Wim and Elsie
Music:  Michael