It’s Thanksgiving weekend, when we pause throughout the land to give thanks with a grateful heart for the harvest safely gathered in, and all God’s good gifts to us. At St. Paul’s, our Sunday morning Worship are always “thanksgiving” Services (the word “Eucharist,” after all, means “thanksgiving”), but the Thanksgiving Sunday Service is always one of the most special in the year. We invite everyone to bring food for the hungry in our city, and place it in front of the Altar as a reminder that God’s good gifts are meant to be shared. We have Thanksgiving Readings from Holy Scripture and Prayers; great Thanksgiving Hymns, such as “We Plough the Fields,” “Now Thank We All Our God,” and “For the Fruit of All Creation; a Children’s Time and Homily given by Deacon Bob; and as part of our grateful response to God’s goodness to us, a special video to begin our Fall Stewardship initiative. I’m officiating, and, along with Bob, Cyril is also assisting.
As it's a Holy Eucharist, we’re most blessed to share Holy Communion together, physically or spiritually, feeding by faith with thanksgiving on the One who laid down his life for us, so that we may have his life within us always. When our Liturgy ends, the service begins, with a “Sending” forth into the world to share, in word and in deed, the love of God with joy, in the power of the Holy Spirit, in word and in deed.
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.