Author Archive: Laura
Wildfires: Holding Australia in Our Prayers
While it is difficult to wait for a response, our sister church the Uniting Church in Australia is best placed to know what will be needed. The United Church of Canada is horrified, as is the rest of the world, by the scenes of utter destruction from Australia. As we witness what is happening […]
Continue ReadingNotes on the Notes – January 12, 2020
Baptism of Jesus Living in God’s Light This week’s scripture readings: Isaiah 42:1-9 Matthew 3:13-17 On the first Sunday after Epiphany, we focus on the Baptism of Jesus. This event marks the start of Jesus’ public ministry – His emergence from a life of seeming obscurity into a life of growing popularity due to […]
Continue ReadingPrayer for the People, Animals, and Land of Australia
We pray for gentle rains, and no wind; we pray for cooling skies, and water in abundance; we pray for the burning land, we pray for the four legged, and the winged, for the koala and the kangaroo, and all of their neighbours; we pray for the people who are trapped, for the people who […]
Continue ReadingNotes on the Notes – January 5, 2020
Epiphany This week’s scripture readings: Isaiah 60:1-6 Matthew 2:1-12 This week’s music: “The First Nowell” (VU #91) “The first Nowell the angel did say Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay; In fields where they lay a-keeping their sheep On a cold winter’s night […]
Continue ReadingA Time Called…Epiphany
After Christmas and New Year’s, Epiphany could seem like a bit of an anticlimax. But think about a time when you received some wonderful news, so wonderful that you could scarcely believe it. Did you take it all in at once, or did you find that the full meaning was revealed over time? Epiphany is […]
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Special Year-End Appeal
God has a plan for everyone and everything. That includes you, and it includes Windsor Park United Church. None of us can fully know God’s plan – the best we can do is pray and listen for clarity. For the past 60 years, you, the members of Windsor Park United Church, have felt God’s call […]
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A Time Called…Christmas Season
God has come among us. After centuries of looking up to find God, people looked down into a mother’s arms to see the face of God. In becoming human, God shows absolute commitment to humanity and creation. Things can never be the same again. What can this event mean to me? Historical Roots of the […]
Continue ReadingNotes on the Notes – December 29, 2019
First Sunday after Christmas To Live in Exile This week’s Scripture Readings: Isaiah 63:7-9 Matthew 2:13-23 This week’s music: “Unto Us a Boy is Born” (VU #54) “Unto us a boy is born! King of all creation, Came he to a world forlorn, the Lord of every nation, The Lord of every nation. Christ from […]
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A Time Called…Christmas Day
For many, this is a truly wonderful day. It’s a day of family, of special and traditional food, sharing of gifts, conversation, and laughter. It is a day (unless you have little children in the house!) when time seems to run more slowly. The day has a drowsy, gentle pace. It is a day to […]
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Meditation Blue Christmas/Longest Night Service – December 23, 2019
This has been a difficult season for many of us. Illness; unemployment; separation from loved ones; broken relationships; unmet hopes and expectations; events that have divided our homes, families, communities and country; loneliness and isolation; the death of a friend or family member; the hustle and bustle and ongoing frantic joy at this time of […]
Continue ReadingA Time Called…Christmas Eve
The stores are closed. There are only a few things left to do. The children have to wait for just one more sleep. At last, we can give ourselves over to the mystery of it all and let the carols, the church, and the story speak to us again. What is the meaning of Christmas […]
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Notes on the Notes – December 24, 2019
Christmas Eve Tonight’s music: “O Come, All Ye Faithful” (VU #60) The original four verses of “O Come All Ye Faithful” were discovered in an eighteenth century Jacobean manuscript with John Francis Wade’s signature. At one time historians believed that Wade had simply discovered an ancient hymn by an unknown author, possibly St. Bonaventura, a […]
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Notes on the Notes – Monday, December 23, 2019 at 7 p.m.
Longest Night Blue Christmas Service Tonight’s music: “Just as I Am” (VU #508) “Just as I am, without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bidd’st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind; Sight, riches, healing […]
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Notes on the Notes – December 22, 2019
Advent 4 – Christmas Sunday To Dream of Something New Isaiah 7:10-16 Matthew 1:18-25 “Angels from the Realms of Glory” (VU #36) “Angels, from the realms of glory, Wing your flight o’er all the earth; Ye who sang creation’s story, Now proclaim Messiah’s birth: Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, […]
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Notes on the Notes – December 15, 2019
Advent 3 To See God’s Glory Isaiah 35:1-10 Luke 1:47-55 “There Was A Child in Galilee (Dreaming Mary)” (MV #134) “There was a child in Galilee who wandered wild along the sea. A holy child, alone was she, and they called her Dreaming Mary. And she dreamed, rejoicing in her saviour; She dreamed of justice […]
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