They are getting ready!
They are getting ready to travel.
We have seen them, and heard them, getting ready!
We have seen them flying in formation!
We have heard them ‘honking’!
We have seen them gathering along the lake for pre-travel seminars!
‘They’ are….of course…geese!
The geese are preparing for their annual migration, for a journey to another place.
Birds are migratory.
So are people.
Brian McLaren wrote a book about Christian faith entitled ‘The Great Spiritual Migration.’
In the Preface he writes: “I’ve come to see that what matter most is not our status but our trajectory, not where we are but where we’re going, not where we stand but where we’re headed. Christian faith for me is no longer a static location but a great spiritual journey.” (McLaren, ‘The Great Spiritual Migration, Convergent Books, New York, 2016, p. xi).
Jesus invited the first disciples with the words, “Follow me!”
For Christians, faith is about following, journeying, moving in a new direction with Jesus, migrating from a place and understanding to new community, to new understandings of the depth and breadth of God’s love, to new expressions of being God’s people, of being church, of being healers and hopeful people.
As you see and hear our migrating geese friends, we invite you to reflect upon ways your understanding of God has migrated through your life, and where you may now be headed in response to God’s Spirit.
And now for some church news and announcements:
TMUC will worship in-person this Sunday at 10 a.m., but the service will NOT be livestreamed or recorded this Sunday. There are Words for Worship at the end of this message for those who are not able to be in the Sanctuary on Sunday.
TMUC’s Time and Talent Auction is TONIGHT, beginning at 7 pm. Please join us for a fun and fund-raising time! The current list is available on the church’s website – and the live auction will feature even more things as deliveries keep surprising us! Thanks to everyone for your generosity!
Tuesdays are Choir rehearsals! The TMUC Singers – practice every Tuesday, starting at 7 p.m. and will sing at the end of the month and at special services.
Next Sundays you are invited to join Hymnotic – at 9 a.m. for a practice before the 10 a.m. church service. Everyone is welcome to participate to help lead the congregational hymn singing.
Dinner Theatre will be returning next year (April 20-23). We need one cast member to play a female character. Cast members commit to a rehearsal schedule of two evenings a week starting in January, as well as the dress rehearsal and performances. If interested in having some fun and fulfilling your dream of being an actor, please contact the Caught in the Act’s (CITAC) producer, Kathy Antymis, at antymis@mymts.net or director Shelley Schau at saschau@mts.net.
In the coming months we will be letting you know about other volunteer opportunities to help with the production.
Thank you for the donations to the Building Fund and the General Fund as we continue to share ministry in the community and in our building. NOTE: If you are donating by cheque to the Building Fund, the cheque should be made payable to ‘TMUC’ with a note in the memo line to indicate it is for the ‘Building Fund’. The Credit Union will not accept cheques made out to the ‘TMUC Building Fund’.
The Upper Room daily reading booklet is available for September and October in both large print and regular size. Donations of $1.00 are appreciated.
Please remember the TMUC projects:
• The Pop can recycling (so far we have raised over $100)
• Old batteries recycling
• The TruEarth Fundraiser (so far we have raised about $140!) Here’s the link:
https://fundraising.tru.earth/tmuc
Office hours will continue to be irregular, so please email to confirm that someone will be there to meet you if you need to drop by.
Words for Worship for Sunday, September 25, 2022
*we invite those who are able to stand
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
*INTROIT: There is Room For All – More Voices #62
There is room for all in the shadow of God’s wing;
there is room for all, sheltered in God’s love.
And I rejoice and sing,
My refuge and my rock in whom I trust.”
There is room for all, there is room for all.
Reproduced #605666, OneLicense
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up to the Lord.
One: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to give God thanks and praise.
*HYMN: “Come Touch Our Hearts” MV#12
Prayer: God, give us thankful hearts and spirits. Open our senses and our imaginations to the wonders of this world. Open our senses and imaginations to the wonders of all creation. Open our senses and our imaginations to Your love uniting all life. Inspire us to share Your love in our living. May our time of worship nourish our faith, our hope, and our compassion. May the spirit of Christ live within and amongst us. AMEN
A STORY FOR ALL
Anthem: – On Eagles’ Wings
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 16:19-31
*HYMN: “Blest be the Tie That Binds” Voices United #624
MEDITATION
OFFERTORY: Your Work, O God, Needs Many Hands – Voices United #602
Your Work, O God, needs many hands
to help you everywhere,
and some there are who cannot serve
unless our gifts we share. Reproduced #605666, OneLicense
ANTHEM: “Jesus Is My Lord”
CALL TO PRAYER: O God, Hear my Prayer – Voices United #948
O God, hear my prayer, O God, hear my prayer;
When I call, answer me.
O God, hear my prayer, O God, hear my prayer,
come and listen to me. Reproduced #605666, OneLicense
PASTORAL PRAYER:
The prayer that Jesus taught…
*Hymn: “In Loving Partnership” Voices United #603
*Blessings and Sending Forth
*Choral Blessing: “I am Walking a Path of Peace” – More Voices #221
I am walking a path of peace,
I am walking a path of peace,
I am walking a path of peace,
lead me home, lead me home…I am home.
Reproduced #605666, OneLicense