There is in-person worship on Sunday, please call Shelley to register if you wish to attend. 431-275-9169 (you must be fully vaccinated, there is limited seating as physical distancing is still required).
This week is World-Wide Communion Sunday – so, in addition to the in-person worship and these online resources, you are invited to ZOOM with us! We will gather at 11:15 for a ZOOM Communion. Here’s the link:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7538449219
Meeting ID: 753 844 9219
+12042727920
If you are joining us, please have some bread/cracker and juice/water at hand.
And, the Building and Property Team is hosting the Annual Scrap Metal Drive: Saturday, October 16th from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. So – please start saving your tin cans, pop cans, and all the scrap metal you can find and bring it to the back of the church on October 16th!
The Prayer List is distributed separately and allows us to remember specific people with our prayers. If you want to receive the Prayer List, or add a name (with their permission), please be in touch.
Thanks again to everyone for engaging with us on this COVID-19 journey. We are grateful to share ministry with you and really appreciate your efforts to stay in touch and to continue to care about TMUC with your prayers and your financial support. Donations on PAR (note: the PAR program now accepts monthly credit card donations as well as automatic monthly bank withdrawals), CanadaHelps through www.canadahelps.org , e-transfers to the church’s email address: tmuc@shaw.ca, and cheques mailed to the church 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, please think about the gifts we have in our lives, and needs of our world, and then 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.
As we share this week’s TMUC worship service, we are called again to listen to our faith community’s words of reconciliation:
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.
On September 30th, Canada observed our first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
We saw many people wearing orange shirts on Thursday, many of the shirts bearing the words “Every Child Matters.”
Truth, reconciliation and healing cannot be the work or practice of one day a year, but must become work and practice of our daily lives.
To encourage us to continue to reflect on this journey, we are sharing a prayer written by Sara Stratton, the Reconciliation and Indigenous Justice Animator of The United Church of Canada. Sara offered the prayer to the church in 2018, marking the 20th anniversary of the United Church Apology to Former Students of United Church Indian Residential Schools:
God of struggle, and of reconciliation,
Be with us as we remember
what we have been a part of:
Cruel and unjust systems
Efforts to say “sorry” … and to mean it
Remind us that our history as people is like a braid
We are wrapped together
And there is tension in that, and pain
But there is also strength
Remind us of the beauty and sacredness of braids
The beauty and sacredness of relationships Remind us to never again sever these braids
But to honour them in everything we do
God of struggle, and of reconciliation, Be with us as we recognize
what we must be a part of:
Loving and just relationships
Saying “sorry” … and actively meaning it.
Amen.
And, as another step in our journey of reconciliation, the Monthly Book Group (meeting on ZOOM) is reading The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King. If you have read this book and want to join the discussion, it is on Tuesday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m..
Worship for Sunday, October 3, 2021
Cheryl and Crystal sing the Introit: “Lord, Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary”
Come, Holy Spirit!
Come to awaken our faith,
to inspire our hope
to embolden our love
and to let Christ live in us!
Come, Holy Spirit!
Our opening hymn is shared by Cheryl: ”All Creatures of Our God and King”(please be patient, the first 30 seconds of the recording are blank…):
Esther and Emmett talk about living in God’s creation:
Printable Version:
Esther and Emmett – Oct 3
Scripture readings:
Psalm 8
O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them.
But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.
Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
Our second hymn is sung by Cheryl and Crystal: “How Majestic is Your Name”
Jeff offers a reflection:
Printable Version:
Jeff’s reflection – Oct 3
Let us pray:
God, how majestic is Your name;
How wondrous is Your creation;
How expansive is Your love!
You have given us life.
You have birthed galaxies that have birthed this planet Earth;
And this Earth has birthed such a diversity of creatures;
Has birthed human beings as one of those creatures.
Thank You, God.
Thank you for our humanity,
For creating us as beings who love, feel, think, relate, imagine, grow, dream, work and play.
We are thankful for all of Your creation, God.
Awaken us to Your Spirit that we might learn to live with respect and peace with all you have given being and life.
We pray, God, for this Earth. We pray for its health, well-being, and healing. We pray that humans embrace practices of sustainable and renewable living for all the world.
We pray for food for the hungry, for those in areas of drought with no access to food, for those without economic resources for purchasing food, for those who don’t have access to daily food.
We pray for a world in which all people can live in safety and with dignity; a world in which people are not oppressed and abused because of gender, ethnicity, culture, religion, sexual orientation, or economic status.
We pray for all who live in fear; who live with abusive relations, who live in places of political, social and religious persecution; we pray for those in places of conflict and war.
We pray for journalists and all who seek to expose corrupt and harmful actions, who seek truth.
We pray for a world disarmed of nuclear weapons, of all weapons designed to kill and destroy.
We pray for the global community as we continue to live in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We pray for patience and courage and compassion as we follow Health Regulations and Orders. We pray for physical and emotional well-being during these times.
We pray for all who are in hospital. We pray for all living with physical illness, with mental and emotional challenges. We pray for everyone to be accompanied by caring and supportive medical staff, family and friends.
We pray or all who grieve. We pray that in our times and experiences of loss and sorrow we may find Your grace accompanying us.
We pray that we may receive Your presence in the world, God, as children, expectant and hopeful and joyous.
We pray in the name and spirit of Jesus who embodies Your love in this world.
AMEN
Our closing hymn is shared by Cheryl, Crystal, Annette and Steve, “Called by Earth and Sky”:
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,
Jeff and Carol