22 May
Dear Friends,
Greetings to you all and I hope this finds you well.
This coming Sunday is Pentecost, when we recall how shortly after Jesus' ascension the wind of the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, transforming them and sending them out on their mission to the world. The Holy Spirit is spoken of in John's Gospel as the Comforter - one who brings strength to the vulnerable and I do pray that you will know something of that Spirit strength in these difficult times.
A few things...
This Sunday, May 23rd, we will be having our second Summer Prom concert in aid of the Mulanje Mission Hospital in Malawi with organ music from Bach, Walther, Vaughan Williams and Cesar Franck, played by our Music Director, Richard Zook. It will be on our website from 13.00 on Sunday. A great concert is guaranteed!
Also, please be aware that this week the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland meets for its annual deliberations. For the second year running this is taking place on Zoom and Heleen, our scriba, and I are commissioners so will be attending. Please remember the Assembly in your prayers. The Church of Scotland - to which, of course, we belong - is facing critical times, made worse by Covid and decisions may affect us.
Lastly, a word from our Website Managers:
It's come to our attention that some of you have had difficulty receiving email messages from the new @erc.amsterdam email addresses that are now in use by the church. Specifically, we know that Hotmail users are having consistent trouble but there may be more of you out there. We have made corrections to the @erc.amsterdam network to make sure messages sent from our addresses reach you. To help things along, please check your spam or junk folder and manually mark any email you receive from @erc.amsterdam as 'not spam' or 'not junk'. This will help ensure messages from @erc.amsterdam arrive properly in your inbox where they belong. Thanks for your patience and cooperation!
Keep well, and all best wishes to you,
Lance
THIS WEEK:
Sunday, 10.30 hrs:
Morning Worship
Live-streamed service. You can access this just before 10.30 am:
· On YouTube: https://youtu.be/TyYRDnXbG30
· Direct through the ERC website: https://www.erc.amsterdam/calendar/worship-service-23-may-2021
Our readings for this Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, are Acts 2:1-4 and Romans 8:14-17 & 22-27.
Sunday, 21.00 hrs:
Compline (short evening prayers): Join at: https://zoom.us/j/91386497205?pwd=YUN5dnRLOWlybHDSV250aHdJcnhiQT09
Tuesday, 08.45 hrs:
Psalm Reciting (this week Psalms 38-46). We will not meet at the church for this, but you might like to participate from your own home at 8.45 or some other time.
Thursday, 21.00hrs.
Compline (short evening prayer): join at: https://zoom.us/j/91386497205?pwd=YUN5dnRLOWlybHDSV250aHdJcnhiQT09
Prayer:
In this time there may be people who feel especially in need of prayer either for themselves or for someone else. In 'normal' times there was a small group of people in the congregation who used to take it in turns on Sundays to be available after the service to pray for anyone in need - so, if you would like prayer or have a particular prayer request please contact Margaret Richards on margaretanne_richards@hotmail.com and she and the others will pray accordingly.
A word about finance….
Please note that in this period when we are not meeting together there is a way of giving to the church on the website, https://www.erc.amsterdam.