Service Times
We are now holding 2 identical services (at 9 am and 11 am) in order to be able to accommodate everyone who would like to attend in person.
We will be live streaming the 11 am service.
Please email Sharon at admin@hespelerbaptist.ca so that we can prepare for your arrival or if you have any questions.
We will be live streaming the 11 am service.
Please email Sharon at admin@hespelerbaptist.ca so that we can prepare for your arrival or if you have any questions.
Service A
Sunday Mornings
9 am
9 am
Service B
Sunday Mornings
11 am
11 am
Upcoming Events
Reopening Information
Hey Church Family,
It is appropriate for us be thankful for our reopening. First, to the Lord for how He has helped us as a church thus far. Our initial re-opening went extremely well. We can thank the Lord for the advisory committee’s efforts and Kris, Sharon, Ashley, Katrina, and Cynthia for their excellent work. We thank the Lord for all who have contributed videos to our recordings, especially Zac and Meredith, who have provided a vital service to us through online platforms, and Pastor Nate, who has been spearheading the musical side (we’re going to miss him!). We can thank the Lord for our elders and our elders for their shepherding. Along with interacting often, we continue to meet online weekly, which is much more frequent than normal. Much thought, time, prayer and labour has happened behind the scenes of late. Thanks be to God for rich unity through all of this.
I also want you to know how thankful I am for you and to you, our church family. Thanks for putting up with the flow of communication, the details, the parameters etc. You have also been incredibly supportive, gracious, generous, patient, kind, encouraging, understanding, creative, flexible, and most of all, prayerful. One expression of this: last Saturday evening one of our church members took time to fast and prayer walk around our building in anticipation of the re-opening the next morning. That’s both stirring and humbling. Let’s spur one another on to greater heights of love, faith, and good deeds such as these!
Livestream
A livestream of the 11am will be available for everyone unable to meet in person. Lots of wheels are in motion to continue improving our stream, including using the 9am service as a dry run each week for our team as they stretch new muscles of moving from recordings to live. We do ask your continued patience as that happens. There is definitely a pressing need for more church members to join the team with Zac, Keith, and Josh. If you are interested in serving and supporting in this way, please let us know. There would be opportunity to investigate to see if this is something that you could do, and there would of course be training and support. If you’re curious, give Zac a shout and he’ll take it from there. He’s about to be a first time dad, so we want to free him up soon!
The Joy
The joy of meeting was definitely experienced by those who were able to gather in person this past Sunday. There is no doubt joy anticipated with more being able to do so this coming Sunday. Someone even expressed they were glad to watch the livestream knowing that others were present, even if they couldn’t be. Beautiful.
The Sorrow
That joy is still mingled with sorrow though. For those who were able to gather, we lamented the lack of singing. We missed the lack of interaction after the service. Things are not what they used to be. For those who are unable to gather, this past Sunday may have been accompanied with even more pain. We should acknowledge that anguish, and help one another in bearing that burden (more on this below). This past week, FEB Central arranged a call for pastors with Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary. He reminded us of a truth from 1 Peter that we studied as a church not so long ago: we are exiles. There is a sense in which we are not home anywhere in this world, and we feel that keenly at the moment. We are not yet where we wish to be: with the Lord and the full gathering of the church from all places and all times. And yet, we have been swept up into the sovereign, saving redemption of God in Jesus Christ. That day will come, and in our sorrow and longing we can trust the Spirit to sanctify us, especially through the valley. Obviously, this entails waiting. In an age of instant gratification, we will do well to heed the oft repeated exhortation to wait upon the Lord. We’re not accustomed to this, and we’re no doubt being stretched to do so.
Overcoming Obstacles
How can we help one another, and work to overcome our present lack of collective worship and fellowship as a church? This is the question Jonathan posed to the rest of us last night in our elders meeting. As we continue to think and pray through this pressing issue, we’re going to keep pivoting back to the simple yet profound command to practice hospitality. We’re accustomed to much of our interaction happening in our church building, which is not possible right now. I believe there is a tremendous opportunity for us to reorient ourselves to make hospitality a greater part of our DNA, of our culture, as a congregation. Capitalizing on our front lawns and backyards, especially during these warmer months, is going to be key. We never think about decks and chairs and patios as being vital tools to be used for kingdom purposes, but when filled with men and women who will pray for and help one another follow Jesus better, they very much are. May God help us use them in a way that Satan would shudder at the thought.
So we ask you to be intentional to that end. As we hit a rhythm of gathering on Sundays, why not invite people ahead of time to come back to your house if you can, or to a spot in a park if you don’t have a space at home? If you’re not ready to gather with a larger group in a service - which is understandable - why not gather in a smaller number to worship and fellowship this way? Two simple questions can get the conversation flowing, even with people we don’t know so well: 1) What was a high point and a low point of the past week? 2) How can I pray for you this coming week?
Brothers and sisters, if we truly make this effort, I believe we’d be amazed at the fruit that would come.
May the grace of the Lord be with us all as we seek to walk worthy of the gospel.
Yours in Christ,
Sean
It is appropriate for us be thankful for our reopening. First, to the Lord for how He has helped us as a church thus far. Our initial re-opening went extremely well. We can thank the Lord for the advisory committee’s efforts and Kris, Sharon, Ashley, Katrina, and Cynthia for their excellent work. We thank the Lord for all who have contributed videos to our recordings, especially Zac and Meredith, who have provided a vital service to us through online platforms, and Pastor Nate, who has been spearheading the musical side (we’re going to miss him!). We can thank the Lord for our elders and our elders for their shepherding. Along with interacting often, we continue to meet online weekly, which is much more frequent than normal. Much thought, time, prayer and labour has happened behind the scenes of late. Thanks be to God for rich unity through all of this.
I also want you to know how thankful I am for you and to you, our church family. Thanks for putting up with the flow of communication, the details, the parameters etc. You have also been incredibly supportive, gracious, generous, patient, kind, encouraging, understanding, creative, flexible, and most of all, prayerful. One expression of this: last Saturday evening one of our church members took time to fast and prayer walk around our building in anticipation of the re-opening the next morning. That’s both stirring and humbling. Let’s spur one another on to greater heights of love, faith, and good deeds such as these!
Livestream
A livestream of the 11am will be available for everyone unable to meet in person. Lots of wheels are in motion to continue improving our stream, including using the 9am service as a dry run each week for our team as they stretch new muscles of moving from recordings to live. We do ask your continued patience as that happens. There is definitely a pressing need for more church members to join the team with Zac, Keith, and Josh. If you are interested in serving and supporting in this way, please let us know. There would be opportunity to investigate to see if this is something that you could do, and there would of course be training and support. If you’re curious, give Zac a shout and he’ll take it from there. He’s about to be a first time dad, so we want to free him up soon!
The Joy
The joy of meeting was definitely experienced by those who were able to gather in person this past Sunday. There is no doubt joy anticipated with more being able to do so this coming Sunday. Someone even expressed they were glad to watch the livestream knowing that others were present, even if they couldn’t be. Beautiful.
The Sorrow
That joy is still mingled with sorrow though. For those who were able to gather, we lamented the lack of singing. We missed the lack of interaction after the service. Things are not what they used to be. For those who are unable to gather, this past Sunday may have been accompanied with even more pain. We should acknowledge that anguish, and help one another in bearing that burden (more on this below). This past week, FEB Central arranged a call for pastors with Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary. He reminded us of a truth from 1 Peter that we studied as a church not so long ago: we are exiles. There is a sense in which we are not home anywhere in this world, and we feel that keenly at the moment. We are not yet where we wish to be: with the Lord and the full gathering of the church from all places and all times. And yet, we have been swept up into the sovereign, saving redemption of God in Jesus Christ. That day will come, and in our sorrow and longing we can trust the Spirit to sanctify us, especially through the valley. Obviously, this entails waiting. In an age of instant gratification, we will do well to heed the oft repeated exhortation to wait upon the Lord. We’re not accustomed to this, and we’re no doubt being stretched to do so.
Overcoming Obstacles
How can we help one another, and work to overcome our present lack of collective worship and fellowship as a church? This is the question Jonathan posed to the rest of us last night in our elders meeting. As we continue to think and pray through this pressing issue, we’re going to keep pivoting back to the simple yet profound command to practice hospitality. We’re accustomed to much of our interaction happening in our church building, which is not possible right now. I believe there is a tremendous opportunity for us to reorient ourselves to make hospitality a greater part of our DNA, of our culture, as a congregation. Capitalizing on our front lawns and backyards, especially during these warmer months, is going to be key. We never think about decks and chairs and patios as being vital tools to be used for kingdom purposes, but when filled with men and women who will pray for and help one another follow Jesus better, they very much are. May God help us use them in a way that Satan would shudder at the thought.
So we ask you to be intentional to that end. As we hit a rhythm of gathering on Sundays, why not invite people ahead of time to come back to your house if you can, or to a spot in a park if you don’t have a space at home? If you’re not ready to gather with a larger group in a service - which is understandable - why not gather in a smaller number to worship and fellowship this way? Two simple questions can get the conversation flowing, even with people we don’t know so well: 1) What was a high point and a low point of the past week? 2) How can I pray for you this coming week?
Brothers and sisters, if we truly make this effort, I believe we’d be amazed at the fruit that would come.
May the grace of the Lord be with us all as we seek to walk worthy of the gospel.
Yours in Christ,
Sean