A Noble Theme

Hespeler, 18 November, 2016 © Scott McAndless Luke 1:46-55, Luke 12:13-21       “Ghost of the Future! I fear you more than any spectre I have seen.” It is with those words that Ebenezer Scrooge greets the arrival of the Ghost who is called, “The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.” Scrooge is not alone in this. Nothing frightens us more than the dark unknown of the future.       Nevert heless, though his trembling legs can barely hold him up, Scrooge promises to brave the Ghost’s company and to pay heed to whatever it may show him. In this he lies, as we all probably would in his situation.       The ghost doesn’t speak but it shows him people reacting in various ways to the death of some wealthy person. There are some men of business for whom the death barely registers. Then Scrooge goes to see two women and a man who have pilfered various objects from t...

Hespeler, 11 December, 2016 © Scott McAndless Isaiah 7:1-4, 10-16, Matthew 1:18-25 Sunday, December 11, 2016 was a very special day at St. Andrew’s Hespeler. We celebrated a baptism (that had, as you will see, an interesting back-story) and had our children present to us their version of the Christmas story. This all came together in an unusual message that offered a unique perspective on ancient Biblical passages. As this message was integrated throughout the service, I present more of the service, particularly the Baptism, than I usually would. Note that the names of the parents and child have been change to preserve their privacy on the internet. Reflections on Isaiah 7:1-4, 10-16 K ing Ahaz of Jerusalem was in a bit of a bad spot. Two powerful kingdoms, the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Aram had entered into an alliance against him and they were coming to attack. Things looked bad. The heart of Ahaz and the heart of all his people were shak...

Hespeler, 4 December, 2016 © Scott McAndless – Communion Luke 6:37-45, Psalm 72:1-7, 18,19, Deuteronomy 15:7-11 W hat was the best Christmas dinner that you ever had? How would you describe it to me? I bet that if we were to put that question out as a general survey, we would get a great variety of answers. Some would speak of dinners from long ago, even from when they were small. Others would speak of one from recent memory. You would hear of menus and guest lists and decorations.       But if you really pressed people to say what made it truly special, they would go beyond speaking of those things. They would start to speak of something very hard to describe: a warmth, a sparkle, a glow that somehow made the gathering that special – the kind of thing that is hard to pin down but that makes all the difference.       It would be much the same thing if I were to ask you to describe to me your very best memory of...