Coming Up at All Saints'

Tomorrow June 1st there is the Ecumenical Prayer meeting at the Near East School of Theology in Ras Beirut at 7pm. Next Sunday 7th June Paul Sanders will be preaching on the Mission of Messiah: Treasures in Jars of Clay. After the service there will be a farewell for the Naylor family and the Sanders family and we will share a pot luck lunch together.

Dedication of Saoirse Dieter

It was with great joy today that we celebrated with the Dieter family in the dedication of their daughter Saoirse.

Sunday June 7th

Sunday June 7th FAREWELL TO THE SANDERS AND NAYLORS! Come and give them your vote of thanks Paul Sanders preaching on Mission of Messiah. POT LUCK LUNCH AFTER THE SERVICE -bring your favourite dish!

Women's Conference at All Saints'

Saturday MAY 30th Our First Women’s Conference: PEACE IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS! Identifying and dealing with stress in our lives. St Luke’s Centre, Beit Meri, 9:30 – 4:30 (Bus from NEST at 8:30am) A special one-day conference to launch our Diocesan Women’s Ministry. organised jointly with our sister Arabic congregation. Interactive seminars by an international group of experts on stress. LL20,000 per person, includes lunch and all refreshments. Limited numbers – book early! Contact Sarah for details and booking sarahshehadi@hotmail.com; 03 136 371; 01 750 694

CHANGE OF TIME!!! SUNDAY 26TH

To allow our sister Arabic congregation more time after the marathon, we will push our service back to 11:30am for this Sunday only. Please note there will also be a Used Clothes Sale after the service in the hall downstairs, come and find a bargain whilst helping support our Community Relief Fund!

Regular Service Times

Just a reminder that we are now back to our regular service time of 11:00am. The service tomorrow, April 19th is Worship & Word, worship focussed mainly through song and music with the reading and teaching of the word of God. Rev Daniel Chetti will be preaching on The Mission of Messiah: On The Road to Emmaus. Also, next Sunday 26th there is a marathon, but we have been assured by the organisers that the roads into church will be open well before 11:00am and that we should not have any problem getting in to the church building.

Easter Services and Events

Over the coming week there are a number of special services being held at All Saints' by the International Congregation: Maundy Thursday 9th: Passover Meal 6pm - sharing a meal as Jesus did with his disciples. Places are limited, so it is necessary to sign up if you intend to come. Good Friday 10th: Cross Making Craft Service 10am - for all ages. A chance to express yourself creatively by making different crosses. Held in the church hall. Good Friday 10th: Meditation Service 2pm to 3:30pm - a contemplative service on Christ's last words on the cross. Easter Sunday 12th: Holy Communion Service 11:30am - a Holy Communion service as wel celebrate our Risen Lord!

PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR PALM SUNDAY AND EASTER SUNDAY SERVICES START AT 11:30 AM (NOT OUR USUAL 11:00 AM)

AGM & Easter Services at All Saints'

Please note that the Annual General Meeting for All Saint's International Congregation will take place on March 29th following the morning service. All members are kindly asked to attend. Nominations for Church Council and Church Warden close at 11:00am on March 22nd! Also on Saturday 28th/Sunday 29th, the clocks go forward one hour as the start of Daylight Savings in Lebanon. Don't be late! Easter Service on Palm Sunday April 5th at 11:30am and Easter Sunday Service April 12th at 11:30am

Baptism of Tom Beathe

It was with great joy that we celebrated with Tom in his baptism last Sunday at All Saints'. We love you Tom and pray for God's continued blessings and presence in your life.

ASIC Update

Greetings, Just a few reminders from All Saints' International Congregation! Tomorrow 25th is Ash Wednesday. There will be a communion service in the church at 7:30pm, all are welcome. Next Sunday March 1st is Holy Communion at 11:00am. The Youth Group will start downstairs for Youth Praise and the other Young Church classes will begin in church, then go down for teaching time before all the Young Church join the congregation for communion. Also please be praying for Tom Beathe as he will be baptised during this service. Following the service we will be hosting a community meal in the church hall downstairs and all are invited to stay for that. Lunch will be provided, but anyone who would like to bring a salad, dessert or drinks are most welcome, it would be appreciated, thank you. Last notice: some forward planning for our Annual General Meeting. This will be held on Sunday March 29th after the Morning Praise service. If you are a member please book this date in your calendars and plan to be there. This is an important time for our church community, where we take time to look back at the past year as well as look to the future and elect our church council. If you attend All Saints' and are not a member but would like to become one, please email allsaints@terra.net.lb for more information.

New Facebook Group!

For those of you who may enjoy the world of Facebook, All Saints' now has a group there. Follow this link to come and join us! http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=605780000&ref=name#/group.php?gid=49209535508&ref=mf We would love to catch up with past members of All Saints' or just keep in contact with current ASIC friends.

Current Preaching Series

ALL SAINT’S INTERNATIONAL CONGREGATION Preaching series - Theme for 2009 GOD’S ELECTIONS! “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2: 9 CHOSEN FOR INTIMACY 2009 is the year of parliamentary elections in Lebanon (June) – crucial elections that will determine the future of Lebanon. We will be hearing a lot about this in the months to come. Let this be a reminder for us of God’s elections! God chose Jesus, and in Him he chooses us, to fulfill His good purposes for us and for the world. In our new preaching series we will look at this and ask the question: Chosen for what? To help us with this, as a post-Christmas series, we will also look at the big themes of the Old Testament (old covenant) and how they are re-defined in the coming of Jesus – “The Meaning of Messiah”. One of our themes is The Temple. In the OT, the temple was a symbol of God’s presence and holiness. How does it translate in New Testament terms, in the new covenant with God in Christ? Jesus is Emmanuel - God with us. He referred to his body as the temple, and through him we become a holy temple of God, individually and corporately - God in us, by the Holy Spirit. We are chosen for intimacy – the closest possible relationship with God. Other themes we will look at are: Priesthood, Sacrifice, People and Land. We will use the Gospel of John and the letter to the Hebrews as our main references.

Current Services at All Saints' Beirut

After the busy Christmas season, we are now back in our regular schedule of services for each month. 1st Sunday: 11:00am Holy Communion (More formal service) 2nd Sunday:11:00am Worship & Word (Informal service focussing on worship through music and the ministry of the word) 3rd Sunday: 11:00am All Age Holy Communion (Informal communion service) Last Sunday: 8:00am BCP 1662 Holy Communion Service (Book of Common Prayer formal service) Last Sunday: 11:00am Morning Praise (All age informal service, no Young Church)

Still coming for Christmas at All Saints' Beirut

We still have two more Christmas services happening at All Saints' Church :

Midnight Communion 11:30pm - 24th Dec

Christmas Day Celebration 11:30am - 25 Dec

with informal communion

Sunday 28th 11:00am is our informal Morning Praise service

All are welcome!

Crib & Christingle Service

Once again we enjoyed our tradition of having the children help put the crib together and making Christingles.

Carols by Candlelight Service 2008

For the first time, this year All Saints' International Congregation hosted two Carols by Candlelight services, one at 5pm and one at 8pm. This allowed us to include around 300 people at our services as well as enjoying the mulled wine and mince pies in-between. Many thanks to all who helped make these services such a success.

Preparing for the Christmas Fair!

It was great to have so many willing helpers to prepare craft items to sell at the Annual Christmas Fair. And they got to have fun too!

All Saints' Cheers For The Beirut Marathon

One our youth group members with friends....

a few of the cheer squad.......

Sarah being wonderfully supportive........

As always, a group from All Saints' were roadside to cheer on the runners/walkers in the Beirut Marathon, and to be a visible presence as people passed by the church. Many of our congregation were also involved in walking the marathon this year, including a number who joined the Youth For Christ group, as shown above!

Ecumenical Prayer Meeting

All Saints' International Congregation is very pleased to be hosting the Ecumenical Prayer Meeting this coming Monday 1st November, in the church at 7:00pm. All are welcome to join in. Please call Colin Conroy on 03 341 799 for more information.