Hi folks,
I hope that you enjoyed
Sunday worship at Knox this past week. If
you weren’t there, I hope that the Lord blessed you wherever you were. I was out in Victoria Harbour and Port
McNicoll, leading worship with those two fine churches. I was privileged to welcome 5 new members
into St. Paul’s, and also celebrate the sacrament of baptism of a beautiful
little baby girl. Communion with both
congregations, and a little preaching too, rounded out a full morning! Much
thanks to P33 and our pastoral intern, Lisa Tisi, for leading worship while I
was away.
This week we continue the
series that Lisa started, called “Oh Come all Ye Faithless.” Clever title, right?! :D The
idea is that Jesus didn’t just call the faithful… He called the faithless
too. He called the tired, the broken,
the hurt, the lonely, and those who don’t have it all together. He came to heal a broken world. Christmas is a time when we celebrate the
advent of God. Theologians call this the
incarnation. I call it God’s greatest miracle. And this miracle is for all. Why do you think the first people He told
about it were humble shepherds?
Today in
the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a
baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host
appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Luke 2:11-14
So I hope that you will join
us this Sunday as we continue this special advent series. Oh, and it begins with a very special
brunch at 9:45! Ham, sausages, hash
browns, quiche, muffins and jam…. Have I got your attention yet?
We will start with brunch and
move right into our worship service at our normal time: 10:30 am. But we won’t be up in the sanctuary this
Sunday – we will do the whole thing down stairs in the newly painted Dorothy
Swallow Hall. Why? Because it is fun! And also because not only are we having
worship and brunch, but we are also going to show our appreciation to the hard
working volunteers of the Gift of Grace Soup Kitchen, and we’ve invited the
regular guests of the Soup Kitchen to join us!
Won’t that be great if they come?! So we want to do worship together in
a setting with which they are familiar, and perhaps that will make them feel
more comfortable.
After all, we want to reach
out to everyone this Christmas with the good news of Jesus’ birthday, including
those who attend the Soup Kitchen. This
fits in well with our new vision.
Our Vision: Knox is a growing community of disciples radically devoted to Christ, irrevocably committed to one another
and relentlessly dedicated to
sharing the hope that is within us.
So I hope that you will join
us for the entire experience this Sunday.
Please come for the brunch and stay for the worship. If you can’t make brunch, I understand, but
please please please try to make it. It
will just be more meaningful with you there.
And if you are tempted to skip the whole thing, because it is a bit out
of the norm, I encourage you to reconsider.
I promise that this will be a worthwhile time of fellowship and worship
that you won’t want to miss. Besides, we need your help in appreciating the
members of our congregation and community who work so hard to feed forty to
eighty people every week!
If you got through this whole
long email, congratulations, and thanks for the chat!
Advent Blessings,
Rev. Alton J. Ruff
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