Apparently it can’t be winter in Winnipeg without some days of temperatures in the -30° range!
It has been a cold beginning to 2022 across the Canadian prairies.
The cold might limit some outdoor activities, but this week the Building and Property Team has been making sure that the church building will offer us a warm welcome whenever we get to return to hosting more activities there. The basement floors have been stripped and waxed and the lights in Yale Hall are being converted to energy efficient LEDs.. The electrical in the kitchen is being upgraded in anticipation of new appliances. Thank you to everyone who organized and has been involved in this work.
TMUC begins 2022 with online worship. The Council will meet on January 10th to discuss when we might resume in-person worship. We all look forward to the time when we can return to Sunday morning worship in the sanctuary.
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.
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.
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.
Worship for Sunday, January 9, 2022
Introit: “Joy is now in Every Place”:
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!
Today’s opening hymn is “I Have Called You by Your Name”:
Esther and Emmett talk about ‘The Dove of God’:
Printable Version:
Scripture readings:
Isaiah 43:1-7
But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth– everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,
John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Anthem: O Holy Spirit by Fred Kaan and Ron Klusimeier sung by Crystal and Cheryl
Jeff offers a reflection:
Printable Version:
Reflection – Jan 9
Let us pray:
God, You have called each of us by name.
You have called each of us the Beloved.
You have created us as Your children.
God, You have blessed us;
blessed us with awareness of our belonging.
We belong to Your creation.
We belong as members of a universe that is over 13 billion years old.
We belong as inhabitants of this earth that is over 4 billion years old.
We belong to Your creation that has taken billions of years to birth us, to give us life.
We belong to Your love that has created, and that continues to create.
We are thankful that we are not alone, that we live in Your world.
As people who belong to Your love, to Your world, we bring our prayers, grounded in Your love, for Your world.
We pray for humanity as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the world. We pray for health. We pray for governments to make good decisions to keep people safe, to support health systems, education systems and the well-being of all. We pray for vaccines to be available to people throughout the world.
We pray for peace. We pray for nations to disarm of nuclear weapons, of missiles, of the means to mass destruction and death.
We pray for a world disarmed of all weapons. We pray for people to seek non-violent ways of resolving conflicts.
We pray for people who live in places of conflict. We pray for the people of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria; we pray for the people of Ukraine and Russia.
We pray for people to treat each other with respect, with dignity, with appreciation, with understanding and with compassion. We pray for all who experience verbal, physical and economic violence because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, political stance, religion, ethnicity, race, age or economic status.
We pray for a world in which food and resources are distributed and shared equitably, a world in which all are welcomed, all have shelter from the winter cold and the summer heat. We pray for all who find themselves struggling to survive day to day.
We pray for the healing of the earth, of Your world. We pray for the healing of rivers, lakes, oceans, and water tables. We pray for the healing of rainforests and soils, of the air. We pray for healing from the pollution and the toxins humans have introduced into Your world.
We pray for global changes in attitudes and practices in order to live with creation and to lessen humanity’s contribution to climate change.
We pray for all who are struggling with illnesses and diseases. We pray for all who are coping with stress and anxiety. We pray for all who are living through times of disappointment and disillusionment. We pray that all might know Your presence with them. That all might know that they are not alone. That all might be held in compassion, love and caring.
We pray that we continue to grow in Christ-likeness, to be people of courageous love, faith, hope and peace.
We pray in the name and spirit of Jesus the Christ. AMEN
Our closing hymn is “On Jordan’s Bank”
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