Good morning,

My hope is that you have had a good week and that you are well.

Today’s worship will once again continue along the theme of how God calls us and invites us to be part of God’s mission.    My hope is that the music I have selected enriches your worship experience.

Day By Day: Shirley Bassey:

I Will Follow:  Chris Tomlin

I am the church, we are the church       

Announcements:

Public worship:  As per public health directives, public worship has been suspended until further notice.  Session has taken the decision to revaluate when public worship will be reinstated at the monthly Session meeting: our next meeting is February 12th.

Annual Meeting: The date for the Annual Meeting has been set for March 14th.  As we do not know if we are going to be able to gather as a large group, we have begun to make plans to hold the meeting using Zoom.  I would invite anyone who is not familiar with the platform to reach out to me over the next few weeks so that we can assist you in learning how to use the technology.

Candles for Worship: Our weekly worship services are a time when we draw closer to God and to one another.  As you prepare to listen to the service, I invite you to have a candle ready to light that reminds us of God’s presence with us as well as the wooden Knox 16 candle that reminds us that we are all connected together.  I also invite you to pray out loud the Lord’s Prayer.

Will you come and follow me:  As part of last weeks worship, I invited everyone to participate in a time of reflection using the hymn Will you come and follow me.  If you engaged in this reflection, I would really love to hear about your experience.  Please reach out to me if you would like to share!

Preparing for Easter:   The traditional time of preparation for Easter is the 40 days of Lent.  To help us in our preparation and guide our contemplation, I have selected 2 books.  The first, Create in Me a Clean Heart: Ten Minutes a Day in the Penitential Psalms by Sarah Christmyer, will appeal to those who gravitate toward contemplation and prayer as a way of engaging with God.  The second Entering the Passion of Jesus: A beginners Guide to Holy Week by Amy-Jill,  will be interesting for those who come to God through study and understanding the history of the time of Jesus.

We will begin meeting together on Wednesday February 17^th, via Zoom and will continue to meet for the 6 weeks of Lent.  If you are interested, please reach out to let me know.  There is always room for one more – so consider inviting a friend.  Both books are available through Amazon.

Staying Connected: We are all connected, and we will be stronger & healthier when we are intentional in nurturing our relationships with one another. So I encourage you to connect to people for conversation and companionship.  Even a short conversation will lift the spirit of the person you call … and miraculously, it will lift your spirits as well!

Blessings,

Patrick