announcements, recordings, Jan. 28, 2023

Announcements:

• Bible study is Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 at the parsonage in Barss Corner. 
• The next breakfast is February 11 at the hall in Maplewood. 

Recordings: Tomorrow’s sermon is about an end-times prophecy in Revelation 8:10-11, and its uncanny connections to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. I look forward to preaching it to you tomorrow in person, but if you can’t be there, you can hear it on Soundcloud here or on Dropbox here. The sermon notes are here.

I should put a plug in for our local public libraries. I was pleased to find ample books available through them about Chernobyl. If you have a library card, you can order the particular books online and pick them up at the Bookmobile in Barss Corner or New Germany on Tuesdays when they’re ready (you get an email notice when they’re ready for pickup). The three books I read are here, here, and here.

And someone was telling me that she read an excellent book about learning to live lives of thankfulness toward God, called “10000 Gifts” by Ann Voskamp. I read it and benefitted from it very much. It is also available through the library here, either as a book to borrow and read or an audiobook to download.

And (though I definitely don’t recommend this, it’s just too surprising not to mention), if you want to book a guided tour of the Chernobyl disaster zone, you can book a very affordable one through Tripadvisor here.

Recording, announcements, Jan. 21, 2023

Announcements:

• The next breakfast in Maplewood is Feb. 11 (this morning’s was cancelled due to weather)
• Tomorrow I will invite people in church to share verses (or songs or quotes or testimonies or most anything) about ways that we can do good with our words. There is lots of harm that we can do with our words, but let’s try to learn what good we can do.
• Bible study is Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:30 at the Parsonage (907 Barss Corner Rd.) This week we are studying about the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.

Recording:
   Tomorrow’s sermon is called “Words and Church in the Shadow of Love”. If you can’t come hear it in person, then you can hear it here, and the notes are here. (But you should come hear it in person. We would LOVE to see you.)

announcements, recording

• The forecast is giving a lot of freezing rain in the morning. We often go ahead and have a church service in Barss Corner for people who can get there safely (like I can, walking across the parking lot) trusting that if the weather’s dangerous, people will use their discretion.
• You can hear tomorrow’s sermon, titled “Holy God, Dirty Lips” here. The sermon notes are here.
• You should listen to this song by Fernando Ortega here, goes well with the sermon.
• I really enjoyed hearing people share verses in both churches last week about our use of words. One of the ones that blessed me the most was Proverbs 12:18, “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” May God make us wise.
• There is a breakfast at the hall in Maplewood next Saturday, Jan. 21, from 7 to 10:30 AM.
• Bible Study is Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 at the parsonage in Barss Corner.

announcements, recordings, Jan. 7, 2023

Announcements:

• Bible Study resumes Wednesday evening from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. We will try meeting in the parsonage and see how that works. We will be studying the middle section of Luke’s gospel.
• Tomorrow in church, and for 2 weeks following, I will be inviting people to share Bible verses (or quotes or songs or whatever) about the power of the tongue — how our words can do great good, how our words can do great harm, etc.
• Someone gave me a lot of potatoes this week. If you know someone who could use some, please let me know.

Recordings

• Last Sunday’s sermon on the temptation of Jesus is here. The notes are here.
• Tomorrow’s sermon about complaining is here. The notes are here.

announcements, recordings, Dec. 31, 2022

• Happy New Year. I was encouraged this week by reading Philippians 3:12-14, “ Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. “
• Lynnie Arenburg’s obituary is up now. It is here.
• Church offering envelopes are in the foyer for people to pick up. Let me know if you want some dropped off, or if you need help getting a number assigned, if you are new.
• Bible study will resume on January 11.
• Please come worship with us tomorrow morning at 11 AM (and every Sunday morning). Tomorrow’s sermon will be about Christ’ facing his temptations at the outset of his ministry.

Resources:

• The poem I read by Malcolm Guite on Christmas Eve is here, and the one I read on Christmas Day is here.
• New Year’s is a great time to make a plan for your Bible reading for the coming year(s). Here are some plans you might be interested in… let me know if you want me to print anything off for you.
  • The Navigators produced a New Testament reading plan, available here. The 5x5x5 New Testament Bible Reading Plan, where you can read through the entire New Testament in five days a week, five minutes a day, while giving you five ways to dig deeper into Scripture.
  • This past year I listened to a “Daily Audio Bible,” available in various languages, a good chance to practice Spanish without trying very hard. You can find it on your phone’s podcast player, or you can listen to it online at https://player.dailyaudiobible.com/
  • This coming year I aim to use the ESV McCheyne reading plan, which is available in audio as a podcast. Let me know if you want help accessing it.

Recordings:

• I think I have a CD burner working again, and some time to make discs. Sf you want recordings on CD of any of the following, or of services in the future, please let me know, whether for yourself or for a friend or neighbour.
• The sermon on Dec. 18, “The Challenge to Hold Onto Christmas,” from Colossians 1 is here. The sermon notes are here.
• The Christmas Eve service in Parkdale is here. Much of it is lovely flute and harp music.
• The sermon from Christmas Eve in Barss Corner is here, about how God himself reveals Christ and Christmas to people. The sermon notes are here.
• The sermon from Christmas Day is here, about Joseph naming Jesus. The sermon notes are here.

announcements, recording, Dec. 17, 2022

• I am sad to announce that Lynnie Arenburg died this week in Rosedale Home.
• And Brenda Joudrey of Maplewood died last week in hospital. Her obituary is here.
• Tomorrow after church we will have a social time with sandwiches and sweets.
• The last Bible Study of the season will be this Wednesday evening at 6:30. Stay tuned for when and what we will study in the new year.
• Our Christmas Eve service in Barss Corner will be at 7 PM.
• We will have a worship service at the church at 11 AM on Christmas Day.
• During the church service tomorrow I will invite people to share Bible verses about the “incarnation” of the Son of God (that he took on a human body, fully human).
• This year’s Christmas envelope offering will go toward supplies for the “free store” at New Germany Elementary School

Last week’s sermon was about how the book of Job relates to Christmas. You can hear it here, and read the sermon notes here.

announcements, recording, Dec. 10, 2022

• The BLA is seeking donations for the NG Food Bank. Please leave them at the front of the sanctuary tomorrow, and they will get dropped off to the food bank early in the week.
• Anyone wishing to donate a poinsettia to decorate the church please contact Sandy or Helene.
• On Dec. 18 we will have an after-church social of sandwiches and sweets. (It’s been a long time.)
• On Christmas Eve we we will have a worship service here in Barss Corner at 7 PM.
• Christmas Day is a Sunday and we will have a regular (though perhaps a bit shorter) worship service here at 11.
• The special Christmas offering envelope will go to support the Free Store at New Germany Elementary School, which provides needed clothes and supplies to children and their families.
• Please pray for the children who are learning about Jesus at the Messy Saints program (2nd and 3rd Fridays of each month).
• In these Sundays leading up to Christmas, I will invite people to share Bible verses about the Son of God taking on a body, becoming a full human being. 

Last week’s sermon was from John 1:14, called “A Big Change at Christmas”. You can hear a recording of it here, and the sermon notes are here.

Announcements, recordings, Dec. 3, 2022

• We will be celebrating the Lord’s supper tomorrow.
• The BLA is seeking donations for the NG Food Bank. Please leave them at the front of the church on Dec. 5 or 12.
• Anyone wishing to donate a poinsettia to decorate the church please contact Sandy or Helene.
• On Dec. 18 we will have an after-church social of sandwiches and sweets. (It’s been a long time.)
• On Christmas Eve we we will have a worship service here in Barss Corner at 7 PM.
• Christmas Day is a Sunday and we will have a regular (though perhaps a bit shorter) worship service here at 11.
• The special Christmas offering envelope will go to support the Free Store at New Germany Elementary School, which provides needed clothes and supplies to children and their families.
• The old (broken) fridge in the church kitchen has been replaced with a new one. Thank you Larry and the BLA for this.
• Someone has a plywood manger scene (the kind that goes on a lawn) to give away. Let me know if you are interested.
• Someone else (who is moving) has a kitchen stove to give away. Maytag, glass top, works well. Let me know if you are interested.
• Bible Study is Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:30 at the church. There are three more lessons in this series, then we will take a break for Christmas.

Last week’s sermon was about “Entertainment and the Christian Life.” The recording of it is here, and the notes are here.

announcements, recordings, Oct. 22, 2022

• Bible Study happens Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 at the church here in Barss Corner. This week we will work through “Lesson Three” from the notes here.
• During the church service tomorrow, we will have a time for people to share Bible verses about waiting for Christ’s return.
• I received an update on the Halifax hospital chaplaincy. You can read it here. If you or someone you know ends up in hospital in Halifax, the contact information may be very helpful.

This week’s sermon is about “Costumes: Good and Bad” from Romans 13:11-14. If you can’t come hear it in person (please come!) then you can listen to it on Soundcloud here, or on Dropbox here. The sermon notes are here.

announcements, recordings, Oct. 8, 2022

• Happy Thanksgiving
• I will give an opportunity during the church service for people to name things that they are thankful for.
• We will begin a new Bible Study on Wednesday evening, 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM at the Barss Corner church. We will be studying Jesus and how he fulfills the Old Testament Tabernacle in the Gospel of John. Some of the material I will be using is here, here, and here.
• There will be a breakfast Saturday, Sept. 15 at the hall in Maplewood, 7:00 to 10:30 AM.
• Our Lunenburg-Queens Baptist Association will have its annual meeting on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 22 in Liverpool. The nominating committee is currently seeking a vice-moderator, a treasurer, a council member, someone to serve on the examining council, and someone to serve on the licensing committee. Please let me know if you are interested.
• The WMS (Women’s Missionary Society) has sent invitations to the Baptist Women’s World Day of Prayer Service at Bridgewater Baptist Church on Nov. 7 at 10:30 AM. Aaron Kenny will be the guest speaker. Lunch to follow.
• Last Sunday we sang a hymn that was new to us (with old words and a new tune) called “Dear Refuge of my Weary Soul.” You can get the sheet music for it here, and you can hear a recording of a church singing it here. There is also another newish tune for it, which you can hear here.

Tomorrow’s scripture is Ephesians 4:28-32. The sermon is about how not to grieve the Holy Spirit. If you cannot come hear it in person, then you can hear on Soundcloud here or on Dropbox here. The sermon notes are here.