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March 23, 2025
Life streaming Worship services
For our 10:30am service click the following link: https://youtube.com/live/xiyTwUk7uYM?feature=share
​For our 1:30pm service click the following link: https://youtube.com/live/7cbKPr6fOms?feature=share

10:30 am Service  
Welcome and Announcements
Preservice Song- Lord I Lift Your Name on High-SB9
Silent Prayer
Song - Hear Our prayer, O Lord, hear our prayer, O Lord, Incline thine ear to us, and grant us thy peace, Amen
Opening Reading – Psalm 117
Opening Blessing
Pastor: “Where do you find your help?”
Congregation: “Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth”
Pastor: Blessing from our God 
Song - O Praise the LORD - 135 stanzas 1,3,4
Our Need – Matthew 22:37-40
Prayer (silent time for confessing personal sins)
Assurance of Pardon – Colossians 1:13-14
Song - Not What My Hands Have Done - 435
Prayer
Bible reading - Exodus 3:13-15 (p.91)
Confessional Reading - Lords Day 36
Message: Hallowing God’s Name
Prayer
Song - Lord, Our Lord, Thy Glorious Name - 8C
Offering – church
Congregational Prayer
Closing Song - Gloria Patri - 571
Closing Blessing - Three-fold Amen

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1:30pm Service
Welcome and Announcements
Preservice Song song selections (2)
Silent Prayer
Song - Hear Our prayer, O Lord, hear our prayer, O Lord, Incline thine ear to us, and grant us thy peace, Amen
Opening Reading - Romans 8:15-16                       
Opening Blessing 
Pastor:Where do you find your help?
Congregation: Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth”
Pastor: Blessing from our God
Song - And Can it Be - 431 
Prayer
Bible Reading- 1 John 3:1-3 (p.1898)                                                Message: You Are The Children of God
Prayer
Song - How Firm a Foundation - 243
Offering - Word and Deed 
Congregational Prayer
Confessing Our Faith - Nicene Creed
Closing song - Praise the Lord - SB 4  
Closing Blessing - Three-fold Amen

Announcements

Have you ever stoped to think about how impressive God’s steadfast love is for His people. Have you taken the time to recount His benefits to you?  The depth of the LORD’s commitment is really beyond human comprehension.  You cannot measure it in any human standards. Psalm 103:11 tell us that, “for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him”.  The love of the LORD is completely awesome and amazing.  What God did for us in His merciful, gracious and abounding love should overwhelm us.  But notice that this steadfast love is for those who fear Him.  This fear is not being afraid of God in seeking to get away from Him.  This fear is having a great awe of Him and wanting to please Him for who He is and what He has done for us in His Son.  It is having such an amazing awe of His greatness and love toward us, that it makes us want to please Him and live for Him and His Kingdom above all other desires.  In this way it is being always aware of one’s absolute dependence on God for our existence while growing in our understanding of His undeserving mercy and love toward us.  In growing in this fear of God we will less and less have a fear of man and what they and what the devil and his demons can do to us, while more clearly seeing what we deserve apart from God’s love and grace.  What we deserve is eternal hell, but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ we have eternal life.  This fear causes us to cling to God while at the same time growing in our devotion to honour His name, live for His kingdom and do His will.  May God’s Word and Spirit cause each of us to grow in a proper fear of our God and Saviour.  
Andrew, Tom and Pat’s nephew is not doing well. They fear that the infection might spread to his brain. He is supposed to get another MRI. Hopefully this will tell them something. Please keep Andrew, his wife Tina and the family in your prayer. 
This past Thursday, Rachel went again to see her doctor at the Hamilton General hospital to see how the healing in her neck is going.  She received good news in that the healing is still going well.  Although she needs to continue to wear her neck-brace, she can have it off with discretion and can now receive physiotherapy to strengthen the muscles in her neck and upper body. The doctor in Hamilton would like one more positive MRI result before Rachel has the green light to get rid of the neck brace altogether.  We pray that will happen soon.  
This Sunday we have a guest preacher in Eric Heida.  He and his family were with us for summer a couple of years ago.  At that time Eric often preached here and helped out with Bible studies and visits.  At present he is serving a year’s internship in the Hope United Reformed church in Brampton.  While he is at the River of Life this coming Sunday, I will be preaching at the Hope United Reformed church in Brampton.  I will be giving Christian greetings to them from us as the River of Life church.  May Eric once again be a blessing to us as He brings God’s Word to us this Sunday.   I pray that he will be well received by us as a church family. In our Sunday morning worship service, Eric will be going over the third commandment.  He will be going over what we confess about this in Lord’s Day 36 and what God’s Word says about this in Exodus 3:13-15 under the theme, Hallowing God’s Name.  In our Sunday afternoon worship service, Eric will be going over 1 John 3:1-3 under the theme, You Are The Children of God.    
May we each have a blessed Sunday as we worship our Lord together.
Pastor Richard

Offerings
Morning – The Church
Afternoon – Word and Deed.  Word and Deed is a ministry that seeks to bring physical aid to places in the world where there is special needs.  They seek to do this with church in the areas where the aid is given so the Word of God accompanies the acts of charity.     

Lord’s Supper – Our next celebration of the Lord’s supper, the Lord willing, will be on April 13 in our morning worship service.  The Lord willing we will also be celebrating the Lord’s supper on June 8, August 10, October 12 and December 14 in the morning worship services. 

Birthdays and Anniversaries:
March 27 - Rick McCrae’s birthday
March 28 - Pat Walters’ birthday

Men’s breakfast and Bible study -  Each Friday morning at 9:30 we as men get together to socialize over a breakfast and then have a Bible study.  For those who are able to, we ask that you contribute $3.00 to help pay for the supplies for the breakfast.  All men are welcome.  

Wednesday’s Open House  Each Wednesday from 1:00 – 3:00 PM. All are welcome

Women’s Bible study – We usually meet each Wednesdays at 10:30, accept the last Wednesday of each month.  All women are welcome. 

Hoop Fest basketball tournament -  It scheduled to be on March 29 starting at 10:00 at the Heritage Christian School.  If you are able to come out to play, that would be great.  But if you are able to play, we hope you will think about coming out to encouraging those who will be playing and be a positive Christian influence as a witness for Christ. 

Service Day on Saturday April 12 from 9 - 12 - this is a morning in which we as a church family pick up garbage in the neighbourhoods around the church building and go door to door handing out flowers and introducing who we are as a church community.  May each of this think how we can help out in this special outreach event. 

​Shepherd’s Heart Food Hamper - this is a food hamper for those who are short on food in our community. It is run by the BIC church on Drummond near Mcleod.  There is a container near the front door of the church for non-perishable food items that bring there.