It's the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, in which we celebrate the creative power of God to bring life out of chaos, and how we receive this within ourselves as we say “Yes” in our Baptisms to sharing the life of the One who in his Baptism said "Yes" to sharing ours. Throughout the Service, in word and song, we’re basking in the Lord’s light, which shines forth and overcomes the darkness, and allowing it to penetrate into our souls. Our Virtual Choir is leading us in 5 congregational Hymns with the themes of light, water, and our Lord’s love for us. They’re also singing a Hymn about Baptism as our Offertory Anthem. We have 2 Readers on video sharing God’s Word with us; and Deacon Bob in-person to open the Scriptures up to us, shining light on them, to help us see through them. Following the Sermon, we have the opportunity to renew our Baptismal Covenant, saying “Yes” to the One who has said “Yes” to us. After this, the Prayers of the People are being led virtually. These Prayers consist in a special Litany for the Baptism of the Lord penned by Canadian Rick Pryce, and a Prayer in Response to COVID-19 penned by the President of the Methodist Church in Great Britain. We then have the awesome privilege of receiving our Lord, the Light of the world, into our hearts with thanksgiving, as we share Communion physically or spiritually together. Last, our Liturgy ends, and the service begins, as we go forth to spread the light wherever there is darkness, through what we say and what we do.
Today’s Service of Holy Eucharist will be livestreamed on our main Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/stpaulscalgary) at 9:30 am. Following the service, the video will be posted on our YouTube Channel, and a link to the service will be added here. To watch this service in full screen mode, please click on the “Watch on YouTube” button in the lower left-hand corner of the video. Please download the Order of Service in the Sermon Notes above if you would like to follow along. If you are sharing this Service online and don’t have Reserved Sacrament, you are invited to say the Prayer for Communion for those receiving Spiritual Communion also available above.
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from:
(a) ONE LICENSE with license # A-713985, and/or
(b) CCLI with Streaming License # 20351479.
All rights reserved.