April 23, 2023 – 10:30AM | St. Andrew's Church, Ottawa

#StAndrewsOttawa #Presbyterianchurch #EasterSunday #MatthewLarkin

WORSHIPPING, CARING, GROWING, REACHING OUT, IN THE NAME OF CHRIST

St. Andrew’s is a community that gathers together from all across the city of Ottawa, and around the world.

We worship each week on Sundays at 10:30 am and our services can be joined online at https://www.standrewsottawa.ca.

ONLINE DONATIONS: https://www.standrewsottawa.ca/one-time-gifts

Your financial gift will help host worship services, offer people pastoral care, provide gathering places for community organizations, share God’s word and so much more. Your generosity is a blessing.

_________________

SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE

April 23, 2023 – 10:30AM

Sermon: Faith that Heals

Rev. Dr. Sarah Travis

Psalm Reading:

Psalm 126 Refrain 1

A Harvest of Joy

A Song of Ascents.
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
   we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
   and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
   ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
The Lord has done great things for us,
   and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
   like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
   reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
   bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
   carrying their sheaves.

Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 61:1-11

The Good News of Deliverance

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
   because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
   to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
   and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,
   and the day of vengeance of our God;
   to comfort all who mourn;
to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
   to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
   the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
   the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
They shall build up the ancient ruins,
   they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
   the devastations of many generations.


Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
   foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines;
but you shall be called priests of the Lord,
   you shall be named ministers of our God;
you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations,
   and in their riches you shall glory.
Because their shame was double,
   and dishonour was proclaimed as their lot,
therefore they shall possess a double portion;
   everlasting joy shall be theirs.


For I the Lord love justice,
   I hate robbery and wrongdoing;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
   and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their descendants shall be known among the nations,
   and their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge
   that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
   my whole being shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
   he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
   and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
   and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
   to spring up before all the nations.

Mark 5:24b-34

So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ He looked all round to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’

April 16, 2023 – 10:30AM | St. Andrew's Church, Ottawa

#StAndrewsOttawa #Presbyterianchurch #EasterSunday #MatthewLarkin

WORSHIPPING, CARING, GROWING, REACHING OUT, IN THE NAME OF CHRIST

St. Andrew’s is a community that gathers together from all across the city of Ottawa, and around the world.

We worship each week on Sundays at 10:30 am and our services can be joined online at https://www.standrewsottawa.ca.

ONLINE DONATIONS: https://www.standrewsottawa.ca/one-time-gifts

Your financial gift will help host worship services, offer people pastoral care, provide gathering places for community organizations, share God’s word and so much more. Your generosity is a blessing.

_________________

SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE

April 16, 2023 – 10:30AM

Meditation: Through closed doors!

Scripture Reading:

John 20:19-31

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

Jesus and Thomas

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

The Purpose of This Book

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

April 7, 2023 | St. Andrew's Church, Ottawa | John Stainer "The Crucifixion"

#StAndrewsOttawa #Presbyterianchurch #GoodFriday #JohnStainer

WORSHIPPING, CARING, GROWING, REACHING OUT, IN THE NAME OF CHRIST

St. Andrew’s is a community that gathers together from all across the city of Ottawa, and around the world.

We worship each week on Sundays at 10:30 am and our services can be joined online at https://www.standrewsottawa.ca.

ONLINE DONATIONS: https://www.standrewsottawa.ca/one-time-gifts

Your financial gift will help host worship services, offer people pastoral care, provide gathering places for community organizations, share God’s word and so much more. Your generosity is a blessing.

_________________

GOOD FRIDAY CONCERT

April 7, 2023 | 2 pm

John Stainer

THE CRUCIFIXION

Choir of St. Andrew’s Church

Michael Carty, Baritone

Nicholas Savage, Tenor

Matthew Larkin, Organ

Brad Barbeau, Guest Conductor

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LIVE-STREAMED | APRIL 7, 2023

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Ottawa

82 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA

CONNECT WITH OUR CHURCH

►► Web: https://www.standrewsottawa.ca

►► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StAndrewsPresbyterianOttawa

►► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StAndrewsOttawa

April 9, 2023 | St. Andrew's Church, Ottawa | Easter Sunday Service

#StAndrewsOttawa #Presbyterianchurch #EasterSunday #MatthewLarkin

WORSHIPPING, CARING, GROWING, REACHING OUT, IN THE NAME OF CHRIST

St. Andrew’s is a community that gathers together from all across the city of Ottawa, and around the world.

We worship each week on Sundays at 10:30 am and our services can be joined online at https://www.standrewsottawa.ca.

ONLINE DONATIONS: https://www.standrewsottawa.ca/one-time-gifts

Your financial gift will help host worship services, offer people pastoral care, provide gathering places for community organizations, share God’s word and so much more. Your generosity is a blessing.

_________________

EASTER SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE

April 9, 2023 – 10:30AM

Opening Voluntary: Toccata in E (BWV 566)

J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Matthew Larkin, Organist

GATHERING AROUND THE WORD

Choral Introit: Surrexit Dominus

Music: David Briggs (1962- )

Words: from the Liturgy of the Adoration of the Cross

Hymn 243: Jesus Christ is risen today

Tune: “Easter Hymn” Lyra Davidica, 1708

Words: from the Latin, translated in Tate and Brady's New Version (1698), and Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Entry of the Holy Scriptures

Call to Worship (Responsive): Rev. Dr. Karen Dimock

Prayers of Approach and Confession

The Lord's Prayer

Assurance of Forgiveness

WE HEAR GOD'S WORD

Children's Hymn: Now the green blade rises

Music: "Noël Nouvelet" Traditional French Carol Melody, adapted by Martin Shaw (1875-1958)

Words: from the Oxford Book of Carols, adapted by J. Crum (1872-1958)

Children’s Time — Rev. Heather Paton

Anthem: Haec dies

Music: William Byrd (c. 1540-1623)

Words: Psalm 118

Prayer of Illumination

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 65: 18-25, Matthew 28: 1-10

Hymn 255: Now let the vault of heaven resound

Music: "Lasst uns erfreuen" Geistliche Kirchengesänge, Cologne, 1623, adapted by R. Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958, and others

Words: P. Z. Strodach (1876-1947)

Sermon — Rev. Dr. Karen Dimock

Anthem: At the round earth's imagined corners

Music: Matthew Larkin

Words: John Donne (1572-1631)

Prayers of the People

Invitation to the Offering — Craig H

https://www.standrewsottawa.ca/one-time-gifts

Anthem: This joyful Eastertide

Music: Dutch Carol melody, arr. Charles Wood (1866-1926)

Words: Hymn 259

Hymn: The strife is o'er, the battle done

Music: Victory adapted from a motet by G. P. da Palestrina (c. 1525-1594) by W. H. Monk (1823-1889)

Words: from the Latin, translated by Francis Pott (1832-1909), and others

Benediction

Choral Amen

Closing Voluntary: Carillon-Sortie

Henri Mulet (1878-1967)

Matthew Larkin, Organist

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our Guest Musicians today:

Violins: Adam Nelson, Maria Nenoiu, Sara Mastrangelo, Galina Razaeipour

Violas: Kevin James, Renée Dahn

Cellos: Julian Armour, Gabriela Ruiz

Bass: Vincente Garcia

Trumpets: Nick Cochrane, William Laurin, Mike Verner

Trombones: Ricardo Nazario del Costello, Eric Prodger

Percussion and Timpani: Zak Pulak, Nate Mears

Organ: Maria Gajraj

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LIVE-STREAMED | APRIL 9, 2023

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Ottawa

82 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA

CONNECT WITH OUR CHURCH

►► Web: https://www.standrewsottawa.ca

►► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StAndrewsPresbyterianOttawa

►► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StAndrewsOttawa

April 6, 2023 | St. Andrew's Church, Ottawa | Maundy Thursday

#StAndrewsOttawa #Presbyterianchurch #Lent #MaundyThursday

WORSHIPPING, CARING, GROWING, REACHING OUT, IN THE NAME OF CHRIST

St. Andrew’s is a community that gathers together from all across the city of Ottawa, and around the world.

We worship each week on Sundays at 10:30 am and our services can be joined online at https://www.standrewsottawa.ca.

ONLINE DONATIONS: https://www.standrewsottawa.ca/one-time-gifts

Your financial gift will help host worship services, offer people pastoral care, provide gathering places for community organizations, share God’s word and so much more. Your generosity is a blessing.

_________________

MAUNDY THURSDAY

A Tennebrae Service of Shadows

April 6, 2023

’And you are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’”

John 13:10b-11

THE GATHERING

Greeting and Words of Welcome – Reverend Dr. Karen Dimock

Opening Voluntary: Le banquet céleste

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)

Call to Worship

Hymn 205: O Love how deep how broad how high

Music: “Puer nobis Nascitur” 15thC. Carol melody

Words: Latin, translation anonymous

Opening Prayer

Assurance of God’s Love

THE PASSION OF OUR LORD BEGINS

Jesus washes the Disciples Feet – Riley B

John 13: 1-20

Music: Ubi Caritas

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1984)

The Shadow of Betrayal – Heather P and Aisling B

John 13: 21-30

The New Commandment – Noral R

John 13: 31-35

Music: Beatitudes

Music: Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)

Words: from Matthew 5: 3-12

The Shadow of Denial

John 13: 36-38, 18: 1

The Shadow of Inner Agony

Luke 22: 40-44

The Shadow of Loneliness

Matthew 26: 40-45

Motet: Drop, drop, slow tears

Orlando Gibbons (1585-1623)

The Shadow of Desertion

Matthew 26: 47-50, 55-56

The Shadow of Accusation

John 18: 12-27

The Shadow of Death

John 18: 28-40

Hymn 221: O dearest Lord

Music: "Dunfermline" Scottish Psalter (1611)

Words: H. E. Hardy (1869-1946)

The Lord’s Prayer - Forgive us our sins

Psalm 51: Miserere mei

Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652)

Scripture John 1: 1-5

Closing Words

Closing Voluntary: Pari Intervallo

Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)

_________________

LIVE-STREAMED | APRIL 6, 2023

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Ottawa

82 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA

CONNECT WITH OUR CHURCH

►► Web: https://www.standrewsottawa.ca

►► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StAndrewsPresbyterianOttawa

►► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StAndrewsOttawa

Sunday April 02, 2023 – 10:30AM Palm and Passion Sunday

SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE

Palm and Passion Sunday

April 2, 2023 – 10:30AM

“A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” Matthew 21: 8-9

GATHERING AROUND THE WORD

Opening Voluntary: Chorale Prelude on All glory, laud, and honour

J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Matthew Larkin, Organist

Words of Welcome — Rev. Dr. Karen Dimock

Announcements — Riley B

Introit: Hosanna to the Son of David

Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623)

Call to Worship — Rev. Dr. Karen Dimock

Hymn 214: Palm Processional - All glory, laud and honour

Music: “St. Theodulph” Melchior Teschner (1584-1635)

Words: Latin, translated by John M. Neale (1818-1866)

Scripture Reading: Sunday — Allan M

Matthew 21: 1-11

Opening Litany: Who is this?

Zully A, Riley B, Maila A-G, Stacey H

Hymn 218: Hosanna, loud hosanna (verses 1-2)

Music: “Ellacombe” Mainz Song Book (1833)

Words: Jennette Threlfall (1821-1880)

WE HEAR GOD'S WORD

Children’s Time — Rev. Heather Paton

Hymn 218: Hosanna, loud hosanna (verse 3)

Music: “Ellacombe” Mainz Song Book (1833)

Words: Jennette Threlfall (1821-1880)

Scripture Reading: Tables Turned — Katy P

Matthew 21: 12-13

Dramatic Reading: Monday — Stacey H

The Woman in the Temple

Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Forgiveness

Scripture Reading: Authority Questioned — Katie B

Matthew 21: 15-18a, 23-27

Dramatic Reading: Tuesday — Riley B

A Pharisee

Scripture Reading: Anointed — Zully A

Matthew 26: 6-13

Dramatic Reading: Wednesday — Maila A-G

The Woman with the Alabaster Jar

WE RESPOND TO GOD'S WORD

Invitation to the Offering

https://www.standrewsottawa.ca/one-time-gifts

Offertory Hymn 220: My song is love unknown

Music: “Love unknown” John Ireland (1879-1962)

Words: Samuel Crossman (c.1624-1683)

Copyright © The John Ireland Trust

Used with permission under ONE LICENSE #737520-A. All rights reserved

Prayer of Dedication for the Offering

Meditation — Rev. Dr. Karen Dimock

Choir Anthem: A Litany (Drop, drop, slow tears)

Music: Orlando Gibbons (1585-1623)

Words: Phineas Fletcher (1582-1650)

Scripture Reading: Betrayal — Mattea D

Matthew 26: 14-16

Dramatic Reading: Wednesday – Jen C

Judas

Prayers of The People

THE SENDING: WE GO OUT INTO GOD’S WORLD

Closing Litany

Hymn 231: When I survey the wondrous cross

Music: ”Rockingham” Psalmody in Miniature c. 1780

Words: Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

Benediction

Closing Voluntary: Chorale Prelude on O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig / Behold, the Lamb of God

Matthew Larkin, Organist

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

"Power Play" by Lisle Gwynn Garrity

Inspired by Matthew 21: 1-11. Silk painting with digital drawing and collage.

Seeking Lenten @ A Sanctified Art LLC. All rights reserved.

Liturgy and Dramatic Readings adapted from “The Wilderness Journey from Palms to Passion”

Sunday March 26, 2023 – 10:30AM Fifth Sunday in Lent

Meditation: questions?

Rev. Dr. Karen Dimock

Psalm Readings

Psalm 130 (Refrain 1)

Waiting for Divine Redemption

A Song of Ascents.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
   Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
   to the voice of my supplications!


If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
   Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
   so that you may be revered.


I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
   and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
   more than those who watch for the morning,
   more than those who watch for the morning.


O Israel, hope in the Lord!
   For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
   and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
   from all its iniquities.

Scripture Readings

John 11:1-45

The Death of Lazarus

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’

Jesus Weeps

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’

Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’

The Plot to Kill Jesus

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Sunday March 19, 2023 – 10:30AM Fourth Sunday in Lent

Meditation: Do we need to ask better questions?

Rev. Dr. Karen Dimock

Psalm Readings

Psalm 23 (sung by the choir)

The Divine Shepherd

A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
   He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
   he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
   for his name’s sake.


Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
   I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
   your rod and your staff—
   they comfort me.


You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
   my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
   my whole life long.

Scripture Readings

John 9:1-12

A Man Born Blind Receives Sight

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’

Sunday March 12, 2023 – 10:30AM Third Sunday in Lent

Sermon: Would you offer me a drink?

Rev. Dr. Karen Dimock

Psalm Readings

Psalm 95 Refrain 2, Tone 2

A Call to Worship and Obedience

O come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
   let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
   the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
   and the dry land, which his hands have formed.


O come, let us worship and bow down,
   let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
   and we are the people of his pasture,
   and the sheep of his hand.


O that today you would listen to his voice!
   Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
   as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your ancestors tested me,
   and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation
   and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
   and they do not regard my ways.’
Therefore in my anger I swore,
   ‘They shall not enter my rest.’

Scripture Readings

John 4:5-42

So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’

Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking with her?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city and were on their way to him.

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’

March 5, 2023 – 10:30AM Second Sunday in Lent The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

Sermon: Beginning Again?!

Rev. Dr. Karen Dimock

Scripture Readings

Genesis 12:1-4a

The Call of Abram

Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

John 3:1-17

Nicodemus Visits Jesus

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.