Is Back to School on your mind this week?
If you are a parent or a caregiver, how will you manage the excitement and the stresses of Back to School in a pandemic? To reflect on this, and to care for each other in this time, we are hosting a special TMUC Back to School ZOOM for parents and caregivers. It is on Tuesday, August 25 at 8:00 pm. Here’s the link:
Topic: TMUC Back to School Zoom
Time: Aug 25, 2020
8:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7538449219
You are welcome to invite your friends and your family to join us.
There are so many gifts in the TMUC community and we are so grateful for everyone’s generosity of time and talent. This week, our special music gift is shared with us by Bonnie Scott and her brother, Greg.
They are singing You are My Sunshine – with a little bit of adaptation of the lyrics:
There is still room in the schedule for other special gifts. Please be in touch with Crystal Schau to make arrangements.
On Thursday, a letter from the Chair of Council, Audrey Lumsden was sent to the TMUC e-mail list and put onto the TMUC website. Please feel free to share this message with others who do not have Internet access.
Printable Version: A letter from Audrey Lumsden_summer 2020
We continue to be so grateful for those who continue to financially support the ministry of TMUC, through your donations on PAR, through www.canadahelps.org and in cheques mailed to the church. You are making a difference. Thank you.
Even though we cannot be together in one place, let’s continue to be a community at prayer together. On Sunday at 10:00, let’s think about the gifts we have in our lives, and needs of our world, and then let’s all pray the Lord’s prayer (you can pray silently, or out loud).
And, sometime, when you want to have a longer worship time, we are including some words and videos for your use.
Once each week, the Prayer List will arrive in the ‘Inbox’ of those who want to read the names of those we know need and want our prayers. If you want to add a name to the weekly Prayer List, please do – ask for a person’s permission if you are adding their last name – and let us know by sending a note to tmuc@shaw.ca And, if you want to receive the list, please be in touch with that request as well.
We are gathered for worship and work in Treaty One territory, which is the traditional land of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dené peoples and the homeland of the Metis Nation. For thousands of years Indigenous Peoples walked this land and knew it to be the centre of their lives and their spirituality. We respect the Treaties that were made on these territories, we acknowledge the harms and mistakes of the past, and we dedicate ourselves to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.
Worship for Sunday, August 23, 2020
We come to worship with ‘Spirit God, Be Our Breath’ (which is 150 in More Voices if you have a hymn book and want to sing along):
We gather together although we are apart.
We gather in community although we are alone.
We gather asking for God’s blessing on our lives, and on our world.
We gather knowing God is with us.
Our opening hymn is “Like a Rock”. It is played by Cheryl and sung by Mallory.
The Midweek mailing told a bit of the story of “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss.
Matthew 16:13-20
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Jeff offers a reflection:
Let us pray:
Our life journeys, God, take us around many corners and bends, along straight stretches, through flatland and mountain, into cul de sacs and along shorelines.
Our life journeys take us to many physical places, and to many emotional and spiritual places.
Joy dances with grief, hope dances with despair, trust dances with disillusionment and faith dances with certainty.
So we thank you, God, for the signs along our journeys – the signs that say “You are not alone!” Thank you for the signs that meet us in the form of words of support, acts of compassion, and of being heard by those who care.
Thank you, that in Jesus, we experience Your holy presence amongst us.
We are not alone. You are with us. We live in Your love, Your amazing grace, Your peace.
As we continue to live with a global pandemic, we pray for wisdom in our communal living, for compassion in our communal living, for respectful and health-promoting policies and practices in our communal living.
We pray God, for all facing times of conflict or situations of threat.
We pray for all those driven from their homes by fires in British Columbia, and for all those trying to control the blaze.
We pray for those who have had to evacuate their homes due to flooding in China.
We pray for countries in turmoil. We pray for the people of Belarus and the people of Mali.
We pray for the families and friends of the migrants and refugees who drowned off the coast of Libya this week.
We pray for all seeking welcoming places of safety and new beginnings.
We pray for human hearts to be changed, for an end to racism, for an honouring of all people, for economic systems that provide for all people.
We pray for all who feel trapped by poverty, by anxiety, by addiction, by grief, by loss of a relationship, by loss of a dream.
God, bring healing to this world. Bring peace to this world. Bring hope to this world. Bring compassion to this world.
May Your love experienced in Christ be expressed in our living.
In the spirit of Christ, we pray. AMEN
Our closing hymn is “May the God of Hope Go With Us”
May God bless you and keep you.
May God’s face shine upon you.
May God grant you peace and joy.
Be in the peace of Christ, this day and always. Amen
We keep you in our prayers,
Carol and Jeff