Today, we come together to celebrate Pentecost, the arrival of the Holy Spirit upon those early disciples. In prayerful anticipation, we await the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our church. Many thanks to Brian Todd for reading our scriptures, Bob Wilson for writing and Alan James for leading our intercessions and to Pastora Krista for leading and recording our service.

Today is Ascension Sunday, a day to reflect on the awesome power of God, the challenges of transitions and the pilgrim lives of Christ-followers. Whenever someone leaves us, leaves our church, leaves our community, we plead for them to reconsider, we worry about what will happen to us when they leave, we curse the transitory nature of the church and wonder why we make friends with people who will just eventually get up and move. “Do not leave. Stay here.”

This is the strange dynamic in which we live – between the leaving and the left behind; between those whose call is away and those whose call is to stay. God is calling us all to a new way of living, a way that values others more than ourselves, a way that values relationships over things, a way that cares for those who are with us today. Jesus is calling us to discipleship and to follow him where he is leading, and it may not be to another country, or another location, but it may be into a new experience. Today, let us cast off our fears, our doubts and all that prevents us from following where Jesus is leading. And let us remember that God is with us on this pilgrim journey.

Thank You to Alan James for reading our scriptures, and Pastora Jeanie for the intercessions, Pastora Krista for the sermon on Ascension Sunday, and José Cueto for recording the service.

Today, we come together to sing the praises of God, to pray for guidance and to prepare for our journeys ahead. We conclude the sermon series called “Our Favourite Hymns” with a song that is both the US Navy Hymn and the Royal Navy Hymn: “Eternal Father, Strong to Save.” The hymn was written in 1860 by William Whiting, an Anglican churchman from Winchester, United Kingdom. Whiting grew up near the ocean on the coasts of England and at the age of thirty-five, he had an experience that would change his life. When a violent storm nearly claimed the ship on which he was travelling, Whiting felt his life was spared by God and this experience instilled a belief in “God's command over the rage and calm of the sea.” Stress is not something we can just drop. Anxiety is something we live with - in varying degrees - throughout our lives, but we can work each day, each moment to set down our burdens so that we can take up new lives in Christ. This is a joyous day: a day as we welcome new members into our community, we welcome Wendy Foster, Gregory Gabka, Jeremy Brayshaw, David Brayshaw, Dulsine Engelhart, and Janice Seyman . Thank You to Dot Colling for reading our scriptures, to Rick Boyle for the intercessions, to Pastora Krista for the enlightening sermon on “Eternal Father, Strong to Save”, and to José Cueto for recording the service.