[0:00] God's judgment when we as sinners stand before him and to the provision that God makes for us in all the circumstances of our human life in the whole of his creation. So in the psalm you have the cameo of evil, you have the character of God and you foresee in that the particularization. Do you remember that lovely verse in the Old Testament reading in which God promised to take Jerusalem and make it as a diadem in his hand?
[0:48] So in the hand of God is revealed the diadem of his purpose in Jesus Christ. Amen.
[1:08] Our offertory hymn 382. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[1:19] Amen. Amen.
[1:33] Amen. Amen. Thank you.
[2:07] Thank you.
[2:37] Thank you.
[3:07] Thank you. Thank you.
[4:07] Thank you. Thank you.
[5:07] Thank you. Thank you.
[6:07] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let us pray.
[6:40] Jesus, Lord, we offer you this new day because we believe in you. Love you. Hope all things in you.
[6:52] And thank you for your blessings. We are sorry for having offended you and forgive everyone who has offended us. Lord, look on us and leave in us peace and courage and your humble wisdom.
[7:10] That we may serve others with joy and be pleasing to you all day. Amen. Amen. Let us pray for the church throughout the world.
[7:26] For all who work in it. Its staff. Those who serve on committees. The missionary work of the church.
[7:36] And remember especially a week-long mission in Victoria on the 21st to the 29th of January.
[7:47] The campus crusade for Christ with an upcoming mission at UBC. The church committee meeting this Wednesday evening.
[8:01] And our annual vestry meeting on the 31st of January. Most gracious God. Thank you. Most gracious God.
[8:12] We humbly beseech thee for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth. In all truth. In all truth. In all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt.
[8:24] Purify it. Where it is in error. Direct it. Where anything is amiss. Where it is amiss. Reform it. Where it is right.
[8:35] Strengthen and confirm it. Where it is in want. Furnish it. Where it is divided and rent asunder. Make it whole again.
[8:46] Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. We beseech thee good Lord. To keep and strengthen in the true worshipping of thee thy servant Elizabeth our Queen.
[9:01] And all the royal families. The prime ministers of Canada. And all the others elected to the various levels of governments throughout the land.
[9:11] To give to all bishops, priests, and deacons. True knowledge and understanding of your word. That they might with your help minister to the various needs of your people.
[9:28] We ask you good Lord to bless and comfort all who are dying. All sick persons. Remembering especially Nelson Britt who is in hospital.
[9:41] All elderly people living alone and in senior citizens homes.
[9:54] And all young children. Fulfill now O Lord the desires and petitions of thy servants as may be most expedient for them.
[10:05] Granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth. And in the world to come life everlasting. Amen. Lord Jesus. Make each of us an instrument of your peace.
[10:20] Where there is hatred. Let us sow love. Where there is injury. Pardon. Where there is doubt. Faith.
[10:32] Where there is despair. Hope. Where there is darkness. Light. And where there is sadness. Joy. Joy.
[10:42] O divine master. O divine master. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand.
[10:56] To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
[11:07] And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Lord Jesus Christ. Be our guide and companion.
[11:18] Now and forever. Amen. Please be seated for the announcement. Thank you. Thank you.
[11:32] Good morning everyone. And a very warm welcome to St. John's this morning. As you know, it never snows in Vancouver. We assured the Jameses that it never snows in Vancouver, and it has snowed twice since they came last Saturday.
[11:48] So I'm not quite sure what to do about that, but perhaps we'll give you a shovel to help you. I'd like to welcome today not only the Jameses family who we're going to introduce formally in a few moments, but also Kathy Nichol, who is back from Calgary.
[12:03] Glad to have you back with us, Kathy. She will be starting her Thursday noon hour Bible studies. Again, as usual. Jack and Jean McLeod, I believe, are here this morning. Would they like to wave a hand wherever they are?
[12:16] Way at the back. They have been in New Caledonia for a couple of years and are returning, I believe it's tonight, to those sunny climes. So this is your one opportunity to say hello and goodbye.
[12:29] And I believe Brian and Sue Salter are here. Are they? Yes, they are. So some more people for us to welcome at coffee hour and find out what they have been doing in Zimbabwe.
[12:43] And also, finally, the Fonseca family has joined us this morning. Mr. Fonseca is the General Secretary of InterVarsity in Chile and has come to study at Regent College, and they will be here for a year, and I believe praying with us at St. John's.
[13:01] And I think they're right here at the front. So please make a point of getting to know them, too, this morning. Yesterday, a team of volunteers descended on St. John's to form a work party organized by Art Rendell.
[13:15] I understand that a lot of work was accomplished, and we would like to thank them for doing these chores. Other volunteers came and made lunch for them and were much appreciative for all that they were able to do for us.
[13:31] Thank you, Ron, for arranging that. There are a number of announcements in the leaflet concerning Kathy Study's Bible study and giving the time, the junior and adult confirmation classes, a course called Christianity Explained, which starts at 8.45 on Sunday mornings for those of you who are up early and like to start the day right.
[13:54] If you're interested, please read the details in the leaflet. A very small notice in the leaflet says that your 1988 fourth quarter statements are at the back of the church.
[14:08] So would you mind picking those up on the way out if you have not already done so? I was also informed this morning that the newsletter deadline was Friday, January the 13th.
[14:21] I think this is just a gentle reminder to any of those of you who may have an item to go in the newsletter and have forgotten it. I think if you get it in very early next week, it will still be in time to go into the next newsletter.
[14:35] It's already been mentioned that January 31st is our vestry meeting, a very important event for us all so that we're aware of what will be going on in the church in the coming year.
[14:48] And last week, Merv announced that we needed 24 pies, a magical number that was made up by Harry. Seven pies have already been promised.
[14:58] So if any of the rest of you have great skills in pie making or in going to the local bakery, would you offer a pie, please, for the vestry meeting and either phone the office or let someone at the information desk know this morning so that we will have our pies for our dessert and coffee before the business of the vestry meeting.
[15:20] In your leaflet is an excellent bulletin about Parksville. This is the 10th such weekend, the 10th annual weekend for St. John's.
[15:33] So it's a special year because it's our 10th anniversary. Harry will be our speaker. The location is Island Hall, Parksville, Vancouver Island, and it's a lovely resort right on the beach.
[15:47] Some years we've had a little snow. Some years we've had glorious sunshine. There have been even the odd brave members who have gone in swimming in the ocean.
[15:59] Not many, but I can remember standing and taking pictures of them while I was bundled up to the nine. There are six workshops being offered, and they look very interesting.
[16:09] You can see they've chosen the theme of Voyage of Discovery. So all the workshops have that voyage type of heading, flying your colors, charting a course for urban ministries, handling heavy weather, navigating tools in search of treasure, sailing against the wind.
[16:30] Do read about it. It sounds like it's going to be an excellent weekend. Those who are putting it together are listed on the back, and there will be a desk in the Trendle Lounge at coffee hour today for you to pick up your registration forms.
[16:47] This is a not-to-be-missed event. I'd now like to ask Merv Hanson to join me and Stephen and Rachel James, who have very cunningly sent their children to the appropriate places.
[17:01] Jonathan, I believe, is in grade one and will be with the grade one Sunday school class. Bethan, who is a girl, by the way, and not related to our Beethan, felt differently, going on five, and we're hoping to get her into kindergarten somewhere.
[17:18] And Claire, who is how old? Fifteen months. Rachel and Stephen, on behalf of St. John's, we welcome you here for the first month of your three years here.
[17:33] We know that a week is hardly imaginable to feel settled, and of course your things aren't here yet. So as soon as they do arrive from England and you can start settling in your home, I'm sure you're going to feel more comfortable.
[17:46] But the trustees decided we'd get you a little welcoming gift that would, on behalf of the congregation, that will help you get settled here in Vancouver. So if I can just not fumble my way through here.
[18:03] Firstly, this is the book of Vancouver. Lots of pictures for young families to kind of look through on days like today what you might see on better days when the spring arrives.
[18:20] You might like to see there's a blue sky here. You probably have never seen blue. We've never seen this. That's terrific. Well, if you've never seen it, you'll see it here in Vancouver.
[18:38] The second book, and Rachel, I'm going to give you this one. This one is entitled Kids, Kids, Kids in Vancouver. It's new and updated. Over a thousand fun things to do for kids.
[18:49] Lots for free. So this also will give you a chance to figure out what to do on your days off. And thirdly, and thirdly, when mom and dad occasionally get a chance to get a little time together on your own, and we locate a babysitting cord to look after your kids, this book is called Vancouver Gastronomique, which is a menu guide to the finer restaurants in Vancouver.
[19:19] You can plot out where you might like to go when you get a quiet evening. So welcome again. We're delighted to have you. We've been anticipating your arrival, and we're anxious that you feel welcome.
[19:31] So thank you again. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You may now retire.
[19:44] We decided not to give them lots of details about their background. We thought it would be much more fun for you to find out for yourselves. It can be very embarrassing to stand up here and have everyone give your past history.
[19:58] So it's much more fun for you to seek them out and find out what they have been doing, where their last church was, what firm Stephen used to work for, which a member of our congregation referred to as a toy factory.
[20:17] Do find out what this toy factory is. It all depends on your point of view. Finally, I'd like to invite you to coffee hour to meet the James family and all those who have returned to the fold or are new and visitors this morning.
[20:33] If we haven't mentioned you by name, please tell the person you're sitting next to who you are, and we will make you welcome. Thank you. Our recessional hymn is number 26.
[20:45] Thank you. for the love of God.
[21:16] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We thank you for that.
[21:28] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The King of Me Oh Thank you.
[23:05] Thank you.
[23:35] Thank you.
[24:05] Thank you.
[24:35] Thank you.