St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Chesterville, Ontario

05/15/2026

Devotion for Life for May 15th, 2026

Let us pray

God of life, we thank you for the precious treasures that You entrust into our lives. Help us to truly appreciate these gifts and honour You. Grant us the eyes to see and the ears to hear how important these treasures are and how they enrich our souls. As You have blessed us help us to bless others. We thank you for the treasures of family and friends that help bring meaning and purpose into our lives. May we have the same willingness to give to them and love them as You have given to and loved us.

We pray this in the loving nam of Jesus, Amen.

05/14/2026

Devotion for Life for May 14th, 2026

Let us pray

God of strength and rest, it is by Your strength that we are able to accomplish all that we have been given to do. You are the one who grants us rest when we need it the most. Help us to trust You enough to receive Your strength when it is offered. Help us also to rest in You. To rest in the safety of Your presence and be renewed in Your peace.

We seek You so that we might be able to be and do more than we imagined apart from You. Help us to get past our pride to trust in You and not just in ourselves and our own ways. Help us to be reunited with You in Your gift of redemption and grace so that we might live in Your life.

We pray this all in the he eternal name of Jesus, Amen.

05/13/2026

Devotion for Life for May 13th, 2026

Faithful Living

Have you ever seen someone living their lives in tune to God. Their life is on the same wavelength as God’s, and you can see the difference from your own life. They aren’t as ruffled when problems come, they see God at work in the world around them, in the joys and the suffering. Their reactions, demeanour are different, they have a peace about them that is scary and alluring. It makes you ask the question, what is different about them. The answer is their walk with God has really turned into being in tune with God in all aspects of their lives. It is an example of what faithful living looks like.

Faithful living is allowing the gift of faith to fill every aspect of your life. It isn’t about picking and choosing what works for you it is about allowing God’s faithfulness to fill you and learning to truly be with God, not just the parts we like. It is then allowing others to see God’s faithfulness in us and us being faithful also. With faithful living it becomes impossible to hide your faith and God living in you.

05/12/2026

Devotion for Life for May 12th, 2026

The gift of faith

Sometimes we don’t realize how important the gift of faith really is. We live in a time when faith is ridiculed for a crutch, fake or even the reason for violence. Yet we don’t fully realize how important faith is to people and we struggle to articulate how it can strengthen and bring peace into our lives. Sharing faith isn’t about conversion it is should be about revealing a deeper picture of life. It is very much like the artist revealing the statue that was already present in the rock.

Living by faith is the work of revealing the pure life and working away at the things that really aren’t as important as we once thought.

You have a gift that has been given to you by God, continue to help others see this same gift in their own lives. Live by faith so others might see Jesus and see the life that Jesus is calling us all to.

05/11/2026

Devotion for Life for May 11th, 2026

Walking in Faith

We have been privileged of having many people in our lives who are further ahead on their faith journey to be able to help us come to faith and walk with them towards Jesus. Learning about living a life of faith takes time and perseverance. It takes changing our focus and learning how to follow Jesus instead of following all the other people and things we could focus on and follow. It means we start following others who following Jesus until we can follow Jesus on our own.
This also means we all have the responsibility to be able to help others learn to walk in faith. We are called to share all that we have learnt to help others walk in faith with Jesus so that hey too will be able to know the many blessings of living with Jesus in our lives. We do this because Jesus himself did this for the disciples so that they would be able to walk in a deeper faith that would just change people’s lives but change the world. Walking by faith helps to change the world around us.
Take time today to help change the world.

05/08/2026

Devotion for Life for May 8th, 2026

Let us pray

God of focus, help us finish the work that You have give us this week. Grant us the clarity of thought and the time that is needed to complete the tasks that need to be completed. We pray for the ministers completing worship services, may Your Holy Spirit lead them to inspire and challenge Your people to greater devotion. Help those who are struggling through difficult times to find the peace and rest they need for renewal. Help us all to truly connect with You on the soul level to be refreshed and strengthen to be able to thrive and shine to share and live out Your grace and mercy, helping others as we journey together in the sacredness of life.
We pray this all in loving name of Jesus, Amen.

05/07/2026

Devotion for Life for May 7th, 2026

Let us pray

God of special moments, we thank you for the treasures of togetherness, the love that is shared through time together, a calming voice, a gentle embrace, a hope filled conversation. We praise You for the beauty in instil in our lives through meaningful friendships that have helped us to be the people we are. These gifts will forever be part of who we are. Help us to be true friends who lift others up in times of encouragement and grace. Help us to share the blessings that you have given to us so others will be able to experience Your life-giving love that forever changes our hearts and souls. Help us to be a blessing as You have blessed us.

We pray this in the wonderful name of Jesus, Amen.

05/05/2026

Devotion for Life for May 5th, 2026
Aligning Life with Eternity
How many of us go through life trying to find our purpose? We focus on doing to give this life meaning, yet we fail to look beyond ourselves to the one who gives us meaning, we miss our deeper connection with God because we are so focused on ourselves. Throughout the Bible we see people who take their focus off of themselves and focus on God, more specifically their relationship to God, their lives take on the purpose that they have been looking for. Their lives become more meaningful and connected with those around them but more importantly With God.
Life changes from the day to day to eternity focused. The ups and downs of eternal life become balanced with seeing beyond ourselves and our current reality. We change from the small view to the bigger picture. This changes how we see the struggles and pains in our lives also; they become incredibly finite compared to the eternal reality that we are living with. Aligning our lives with eternity brings more peace into the chaotic world we live in because the small mindedness is pushed aside to make way for God’s peace, grace, snd love. We stop looking for Jesus and start living with Jesus. It changes our whole outlook on ourselves, each other, and life itself.

05/04/2026

Devotion for Life for May 4th, 2026

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life

In John chapter 10, we hear that Jesus is the gate, the gatekeeper, and the good shepherd. All of these describe a place of safety and care. But in John chapter 14 we hear that Jesus is also the way, the truth, and the life. This not just about safety anymore. It also isn’t just about copying Jesus. This is about how Jesus’ life is to bring us life. It isn’t just about going into a place for safety; it is about being with Jesus and allowing Jesus to change who we are. When we are with Jesus it isn’t just about Jesus keeping us safe but about Jesus giving us forgiveness, hope, love, and washing away our sins with His righteousness.
Jesus doesn’t just surround us with safety; He invites us to allow who He is and all that He has done to be part of who we are. Jesus talks about being in the Father and the Father is in Him, this is a reality of interconnectedness. It is a deep relationship that brings life. Jesus invites us to experience this life-giving relationship that not just changes who we are but also our relationships, and our eternal destiny. It changes who we are and whose we are. May we live in the life, in the truth, and the way of Jesus.

05/02/2026

Here is the video link from this past Sunday’s service.

Chesterville April 26th, 2026

05/01/2026

Devotion for Life for May 1st, 2026

Let us pray

God of life, lead us in the way of life. Help us to set aside the things we do not need and focus on what will bring true meaning into our lives. Grant us wisdom to navigate the many distractions that threat to tear us apart and lead us into the wholeness that helps build others up.

May we today choose to bless others as You have blessed us. Help us to see the natural beauty that is all around us and to be able to walk into the every situation with Your light of hope leading us forward.

You give us each day the strength we need to face the trials and temptations, the joys and the blessings. We thank you that You are always present even when we struggle to recognize that You are with us. Your promise to never leave us or forsake us comforts us and helps us move forward together.

We pray all this in the life-giving name of Jesus, Amen.