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Visitors

At the Canadian Reformed church of Coaldale you can expect to hear the faithful preaching of the Word of God and to enjoy encouragement and support from believers in Christ.

If you are an out-of-town guest or visiting for the first time, our host family will welcome you at the door and answer any questions you may have. They will also invite you to their homes for hospitality and fellowship after the worship service. 

Discover in this page some practical information when attending a worship service. Also available to you is access to the Holy Bible and some examples of prayer. 

What to Expect

Practical Information

Location & Service Times

Our church is located in Coaldale, a town you will find 10km east of Lethbridge on Hyw 3. You will easily spot our building as it is situated on the most west side of Coaldale right along the highway. There are two unique services every Sunday beginning at 10:00 am and at 3:00 pm. Additional services also take place on Good Friday, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Parking

A large parking at the front of the church building is available for anyone who attends our worship services.

Host Family

The Host Family will greet and welcome you to our church. Host families are there to answer questions, promote fellowship and to invite you to their home should you need a place to go.

Ushers

Ushers are located at the entrance to the sanctuary, They are in place to assist you with seating and provide you with a liturgy sheet to follow along with the worship service.

Childcare

Children are welcome in the worship service. If your children are unable to sit through the service, there is a nursery available with babysitters

Worship Service

What Is The Worship Service Like

n the worship service we participate in the covenantal relationship as we interact with God through Song & Prayer. We have two services every Sunday which follow the same pattern of singing, prayer, Bible reading, a sermon based on a Bible passage, and a collection. The pattern of a church service is called a liturgy or order of worship. A copy of the liturgy to follow along with will be available from the ushers. Our liturgy is generally as follows:

  • Pre-service Singing
  • Words of greeting from the minister
  • Votum (Declaration of faith.)
  • Salutation (The minister gives the congregation the Lord’s greeting)
  • Singing
  • Reading the 10 Commandments or Apostles’ Creed
  • Singing
  • Prayer
  • Bible reading
  • Sermon/Message
  • Singing
  • Prayer
  • Collection (Funds are collected for donation to various needy groups)
  • Singing
  • Benediction (The minister gives the congregation the Lord’s blessing).

 

Church services may also include the sacraments of Holy Baptism and Lord’s Supper. For more detailed information about our church services visit the Worship Service. 

Worship Service

Bible and Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom
and the power
and the glory, forever. Amen.

Thanksgiving After Meals

Lord God, our heavenly Father, we thank You for the food and drink which we have enjoyed in this meal, and for all Your gracious gifts, which we continually receive out of Your hand. We thank You especially for Your divine Word which we were allowed to read together. Through it You have caused us to be born anew to a living hope, which You have revealed in the holy gospel. Merciful God and Father, we pray, let our hearts not be weighed down by the cares of this life nor become too deeply attached to earthly and perishable things. Grant us Your grace, that in our daily tasks we may seek the things which are above, expecting our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is coming on the clouds for our deliverance. We give our thanks and submit our prayer in His Name. Amen.

A Prayer Before Meals

Almighty God, faithful Father, You have made the world and uphold it by Your powerful Word. You provided Israel in the desert with food from on high. Also bless us, Your humble servants, and renew our strength by these gifts, which, through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have received from Your bountiful, fatherly hand. Give that we may use them in moderation. Help us to put them to use in a life devoted to You and Your service, for we do acknowledge that You are our Father and the Source of all good things. Grant also that at all times we may long for the lasting food of Your Word. May we so be nourished to everlasting life, which You have prepared for us by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Saviour. In His Name we pray. Amen.

A Prayer for the Sick and Spiritually Distressed

Merciful God and Father, You give eternal hope and salvation to the living and eternal life to the dying. You alone have life and death in Your hands, and Christ alone has the keys of death and of the grave. All things are in Your power so that neither health nor sickness, good nor evil, life nor death can happen to us without Your will. We also know that by Your power and direction all things must serve our salvation. Gracious Father, we implore You to grant us the grace of Your Holy Spirit, that He may teach us truly to know our misery and to bear patiently with Your chastisements. If You, O Lord, kept a record of our sins these chastisements should have been ten thousand times more severe. We believe that they are not evidence of Your wrath but of Your fatherly love towards us, that we might not be condemned with the world.

Lord, strengthen our faith by Your Holy Spirit, so that we become more and more united with Christ our Head, since it is Your good pleasure to unite us to Him in both suffering and glory. Enable us to bear what is brought upon us by Your fatherly wisdom. We submit ourselves entirely to Your will, whether You leave us on earth or whether You take us home unto Yourself. We trust that with body and soul, both in life and in death, we belong to Christ, whose resurrection is the guarantee of our blessed resurrection.

Grant that we may experience the comfort of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. May His innocent blood wash away the dirt of our sins and may His righteousness cover our unrighteousness in Your sight. Arm us with faith and hope, so that we may overcome the assaults of Satan and not be put to shame by any fear of death. When our eyes grow dim, let Your eyes be open toward us. When You take away from us the ability to speak will You then hear the sighing of our hearts. When our hands have lost their strength, continue to support and carry us on Your everlasting arms. Father, we commit our spirit into Your hands. Deal with us according to Your promise. Never forsake us, but always be with us, even in the hour of death. Hear and answer us for the sake of Christ, our dear Saviour. Amen.

A Prayer for the Sick and Spiritually Distressed – II

Righteous God and merciful Father, You are the Almighty, without whose will nothing occurs in heaven or on earth. Life and death are also in Your hand. We are not worthy to call upon You and, if You were to keep a record of our sins we could not hope that You would hear us and answer us. We pray that You will look upon us according to Your mercy in Christ Jesus, who carried our sorrows and was pierced for our transgressions. We acknowledge that of ourselves we are incapable of doing any good and are inclined to all evil. Therefore we are justly chastised and disciplined by You and yet we do not nearly receive what we deserve.

Lord, You have made us Your people and You are our God. Your mercy, which You have never withheld from those who turn to You, is our only refuge. We pray, therefore, do not hold our sins against us but impute to us the satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, so that in Him we may stand before You. Graciously grant us recovery, take this suffering and sickness away from us, and bless the means of healing You have provided. If it pleases You to prolong our trial, give us patience and strength to bear it all according to Your will. You are wise and good. May whatever You decide serve the renewal of our life.

Lord, rather chastise us here than that we should perish with the world hereafter. Grant that we may forsake the world and crucify our old nature, and that we may more and more be renewed after the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us never be separated from Your love, but draw us closer to You from day to day. Grant that we with joy may fulfill our calling, which is to die with Christ, to rise with Him triumphantly, and to live with Him eternally. We believe that You will hear us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Morning Prayer

Merciful Father, we thank You that in Your great faithfulness You kept watch over us during this past night. Strengthen and guide us by Your Holy Spirit, that we may use this new day and all the days of our life in holiness and righteousness. Grant that we in all our undertakings may always have Your glory foremost in our minds. May we always work in such a manner that we expect all results and fruits of our work from Your generous hand alone.

We ask that You will graciously forgive all our sins according to Your promise, for the sake of the passion and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Your grace we are heartily sorry for all our transgressions. Illumine our hearts, that we may lay aside all works of darkness and as children of light may walk in the light and live a new life in all godliness.

Bless the proclamation of Your divine Word here and in the mission fields. Strengthen all faithful labourers in Your vineyard.

We pray for those whom You have set over us, that as servants of You, the King of kings and Lord of lords, they may rule according to the calling You give them. Give endurance to all who are persecuted because of their faith and deliver them from their enemies. Destroy all the works of the devil. Comfort the distressed. Show Your mercy and help to all who call upon Your holy Name in sickness and other trials of life. Deal with us and with all Your people according to Your grace in Christ Jesus our Lord, who assured us that You will do whatever we ask in His Name. Amen.

An Evening Prayer

Merciful God, in whom is no darkness at all, we come before You at the end of this day. We thank You that You have given us strength for our daily work, and have guided us safely through this day. Bless what was good in our labour and conduct.

Since You ordained that man should labour during the day and rest at night, we pray You to give us peaceful and undisturbed rest so that we may be able to take up our daily task again. Command Your angels to guard us and cause Your face to shine upon us. We cast all our anxieties on You, for You take care of us.
Control our sleep and rule our hearts, in order that we may not be defiled in any way but may glorify You even in our nightly rest. Defend and protect us against all assaults of the devil and take us into Your divine protection.

We confess that we did not spend this day without grievously sinning against You. In Your mercy please cover our sins as You cover the earth in the darkness of the night.
Grant comfort and rest to all who are ill, bowed down with grief, or afflicted with spiritual distress. Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not abandon the works of Your hands.

All this we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Copyright © 2024 Canadian Reformed Church of Coaldale

The Athanasian Creed

This creed is named after Athanasius (A.D. 293-373), the champion of orthodoxy over against Arian attacks on the doctrine of the Trinity. Although Athanasius did not write this creed and it is improperly called after him, the name persists because until the seventeenth century it was commonly ascribed to him. It is also called the Quicunque, this being its opening word in the Latin original. Apart from the opening and closing sentences, it consists of two sections, the first setting forth the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity (3-28), and the second dealing with the doctrine of Christ, especially concerning the two natures (29-41). The teachings of Augustine (A.D. 354-430) in particular form the background to the section on the Trinity, and the decision of the Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) forms the background to the Christological section. The creed itself appears for the first time in the first half of the sixth century, but the author is unknown. It is of Western origin, and is not recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

(1) Whoever desires to be saved must above all things hold to the catholic faith.

(2) Unless a man keeps it in its entirety inviolate, he will assuredly perish eternally.

(3) Now this is the catholic faith, that we worship one God in trinity and trinity in unity, (4) without either confusing the persons, or dividing the substance. (5) For the Father’s person is one, the Son’s another, the Holy Spirit’s another; (6) but the Godhead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is one, their glory is equal, their majesty is co-eternal.

(7) Such as the Father is, such is the Son, such is also the Holy Spirit. (8) The Father is uncreate, the Son uncreate, the Holy Spirit uncreate. (9) The Father is infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite. (10) The Father is eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal. (11) Yet there are not three eternals, but one eternal; (12) just as there are not three uncreates or three infinites, but one uncreate and one infinite. (13) In the same way the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the Holy Spirit almighty; (14) yet there are not three almighties, but one almighty.

(15) Thus the Father is God, the Son God, the Holy Spirit God; (16) and yet there are not three Gods, but there is one God. (17) Thus the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, the Holy Spirit Lord; (18) and yet there are not three Lords, but there is one Lord. (19) Because just as we are compelled by Christian truth to acknowledge each person separately to be both God and Lord, (20) so we are forbidden by the catholic religion to speak of three Gods or Lords.

(21) The Father is from none, not made nor created nor begotten. (22) The Son is from the Father alone, not made nor created but begotten. (23) The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son, not made nor created nor begotten but proceeding.

(24) So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. (25) And in this trinity there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less, (26) but all three persons are co-eternal with each other and co-equal. (27) Thus in all things, as has been stated above, both trinity in unity and unity in trinity must be worshipped. (28) So he who desires to be saved should think thus of the Trinity.

(29) It is necessary, however, to eternal salvation that he should also believe in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. (30) Now the right faith is that we should believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is equally both God and man.

(31) He is God from the Father’s substance, begotten before time; and he is man from his mother’s substance, born in time. (32) Perfect God, perfect man composed of a human soul and human flesh, (33) equal to the Father in respect of his divinity, less than the Father in respect of his humanity.

(34) Who, although he is God and man, is nevertheless not two, but one Christ.

(35) He is one, however, not by the transformation of his divinity into flesh, but by the taking up of his humanity into God; (36) one certainly not by confusion of substance, but by oneness of person. (37) For just as soul and flesh are one man, so God and man are one Christ.

(38) Who suffered for our salvation, descended to hell, rose from the dead, (39) ascended to heaven, sat down at the Father’s right hand, from where he will come to judge the living and the dead; (40) at whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies, and will render an account of their deeds; (41) and those who have done good will go to eternal life, those who have done evil to eternal fire.

(42) This is the catholic faith. Unless a man believes it faithfully and steadfastly, he cannot be saved. Amen.

Apostles' Creed

This creed is called the Apostles’ Creed, not because it was written by the apostles themselves, but because it contains a brief summary of their teachings. It sets forth their doctrine, as has been said, “in sublime simplicity, in unsurpassable brevity, in beautiful order, and with liturgical solemnity.” The Apostles’ Creed is based on the creed used in Rome around A.D. 400, which in turn goes back another two hundred years. It is typical of the creeds used in the western part of the Roman empire.

I.     1.  I believe in God the Father almighty,
               Creator of heaven and earth.
II.   2.  I believe in Jesus Christ,
               his only-begotten Son, our Lord;
        3.  he was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
               born of the virgin Mary;
        4.  suffered under Pontius Pilate,
               was crucified, dead, and buried;
               he descended into hell.
        5.  On the third day he arose from the dead;
        6.  he ascended into heaven,
               and sits at the right hand
               of God the Father almighty;
        7.  from there he will come to judge
               the living and the dead.
III.  8.  I believe in the Holy Spirit;
        9.  I believe a holy catholic Christian church,
                the communion of saints;
      10.  the forgiveness of sins;
      11.  the resurrection of the body;
      12.  and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed, also called the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is a statement of the orthodox faith of the early Christian church, in opposition to certain heresies, especially Arianism. These heresies concerned the doctrine of the Trinity and of the person of Christ and were refuted at the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325). Yet it was not this Council but the Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381) which adopted the Nicene Creed. This Council incorporated into its creed various formulations from the decisions of Nicea and expanded the confession concerning the Holy Spirit. The Nicene Creed is typical of the creeds used in the eastern part of the Roman empire. Both the Eastern and the Western church held it in honour, although with one important difference. The Western church included the phrase “and the Son” (known as the Filioque) in the article on the procession of the Holy Spirit, a phrase which to this day is repudiated by the Eastern church.

We believe in one God, the Father almighty,
        Maker of heaven and earth,
        of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
        begotten of the Father before all ages;
        God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God;
        begotten, not made,
        of one substance with the Father;
   through whom all things were made.
   Who, for us men and our salvation, came down from heaven
        and became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
        and was made man.
   He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
   he suffered and was buried;
           and the third day he arose, according to the Scriptures,
           and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father,
           and he will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead;
   whose kingdom shall have no end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life,
        who proceeds from the Father and the Son;
        who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified;
        who spoke through the prophets.
And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins;
and we look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.