During the month of December I have been collecting Sermon suggestions and questions from the people of St. Andrew's Hespeler Presbyterian Church. During January I will be putting all of the suggestions up on a big board so that the congregation may vote on them and I will preach the top four starting on February 9.

Here are the suggestions so far in the order received:

1. Sex Education (I assume that the expectation is not that I sexually educate the congregation but rather talk about the place of sex ed. in society).
2. One can deal with love or hate; but how does one deal with indifference?
3. The origin and history of the Apostle's Creed.
4. Why do good things happen to bad people?
5. How do you encourage your adult children who've left home to continue going to church and to teach their children the faith?
6. Why don't we hear about Jesus from his birth to when he was an adult? There is about a 30 year gap. What kind of teenager do you think he was?
7. Do we welcome the Gay community to the church?
8. Strong Women of the Bible

This could be very interesting!

The window for suggestions is closing soon (Dec 31) and I would be very happy to receive more. People of St. Andrew's can make suggestions by responding to this post, by dropping of a suggestion in the box at the church tomorrow or in whatever way is most convenient for you! Don't delay!!

Scott

Family Winter Fun!

Feeding the birds and having fun skating!

Sharing the Blessings of Christmas! (photos included)

At St. Andrew's we are so blessed to be able to "Share the Warmth" with our church community and the community of Hespeler and Cambridge.

Indeed this year we were able to bring together 3 different groups from the Cambridge Community to provide a wonderful Christmas experience & celebration for many families and children who are in need of a little extra help, especially during the holidays.

With many, many thanks to all those who helped with the Thursday Night Supper & Social Christmas celebrations these past 2 Thursdays.  Thank you to all who donated "gift basket" items, and toys for the children, who donated food for the Christmas dinner; and to all those who helped set-up, clean-up, plan, wrap, prepare and participate!  May you be blessed with His peace and joy this Christmas time.

Thank you, especially to Target for providing several gift cards; a local book club for providing basket "goodies"; and The Cambridge Pee Wee Lions for purchasing the gifts for the children 

(this is a Champion team, in more ways than one! pictured below)

Cambridge Pee Wee Lions (above and below)

Santa arriving

Santa all ready to talk with the children and hand out some wonderful gifts!

Checking the List

Even the big "kids" wanted to talk with Santa!

Winter photos are starting to come in!

Who loves winter?

It's Winter!

Okay Shutterbugs.  There's lots of opportunities for winter photos now!  Please send me your favourite winter photos; snowmen making, nature, family playing in the snow, sitting by the fire!  Or whatever your favourite part of winter is (maybe even Florida!)

Please send photos to me by e-mail; jsmith@standrewshespeler.ca or lend me a hard copy.  The photos will be used in various areas throughout the church and on our website and facebook page.

Thanks,

Joni

A look at our Family Advent Service, December 15, 2013

We had a wonderful service on Sunday; 

followed by a celebration lunch (thank you, Soulidified, for organizing the lunch!); Cake Sunday (to celebrate October - December birthdays), cookie decorating and a special visitor!

The St. Andrew's Stars did an amazing job with the Christmas Pageant. Her is the full movie:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?feature=edit_ok&list=PLT4jGp_hivC2H_AKUEqUZGgQCBh_SEkPy

Gift Cards?

Hello Everyone,

Your Share the Warmth Committee has been busy planning events and fundraising ideas so that we are able to raise the funds needed for our new heating system.  We have tried to be very careful that we aren't always asking you for your hard earned money.  We think we may have found a great fundraising idea that really won't cost you anything other than your participation and support.

We are going to launch a new program, using the company FundScrip. Basically this means that we will ask that you buy gift cards.  Do you buy gas and groceries?  Perhaps you could purchase gift cards and use them at the grocery store? There are several of the most popular companies offering gift cards.  We were disappointed that we couldn't get this program up and running in time for Christmas.  Early in the new year we will be offering information sessions and will start to take orders for the gift cards.  In the mean time, if you would like to purchase gift cards on line, for Christmas, as a supporter of St. Andrew's, you have time to do so.  Please be aware that if you use credit cards to pay for your purchase St. Andrew's will be charged a 1.99% fee.

Here is the link:  https://www.fundscrip.com/Sign-Up.aspx?IID=NBMRV3

If you need any help, I would be happy to help out.

On behalf of the Share the Warmth Committee; Donald, Cynthia, Carol, Matt, Scott, Steve and Nancy,

Joni

A look at our float in the Hespeler Santa Claus Parade!

Thank you, everyone, for all of your help!

Come cheer for our float!

Wow!  It has been a beehive of activity creating the float this year!  How many people do you think have helped or are about to help with this year's entry in the Hespeler Santa Claus parade?  I estimate upwards of 50, maybe even more.  Thank you to EVERYONE who has made it possible, especially Family Night people who dedicated their annual Christmas Dinner to building the float.

Here's a few pictures, but to really see the finished product come out to cheer us on.  

We're number 34 and the parade starts at noon, tomorrow, December 7th!

A Message from the Minister:

Once again next year I would like to preach a series of sermons in response to the question, themes and ideas put forward by the people in the congregation. During the month of December I am collecting your suggestions for what I should preach on. Once these suggestions have been collected, I will put them to a vote by the congregation during the month of January. The sermons will be preached during the four weeks before the beginning of Lent in 2014. Please give me your ideas for a sermon by responding to this post, by putting it in a box at the church or by email. (Please only one suggestion per person.)