This Sunday is a joyous occasion.
This Sunday is a joyful day.
This Sunday is a day of joy.
This Sunday we light the Candle of Joy – the third candle in this season of Advent.
During Advent we prepare to welcome again the birth of Jesus the Christ.
One of the hymns celebrating Christ’s birth begins:
“Joy to the world, the Lord has come!”
When we recall an experience we might define as ‘joyous’ or ‘joyful’, we might remember the birth of a child, a commitment of love, a return home, a celebration with family and friends, or seeing the smile of an elder (please add your own experiences of joy to these suggestions).
When we light the Advent candle of Joy, it’s light joins the lights of the candles of Hope and Peace.
When we light the Advent candle of Joy, we remind ourselves that Joy is an aspect of our faith; that joy is somehow related to our relationship with God.
We remind ourselves that joy is deep trust in God’s deep love; that joy is trust in the love that nurtures and nestles us at all times of our lives.
Welcome to the Sunday of Joy!
In-person worship and Sunday School continue during Advent at 10 a.m. Sundays. Everyone attending TMUC’s in-person worship (unless under 12 years of age) must show proof of full vaccination or proof from the Government of Manitoba that there is a medical reason for the person not to receive a vaccine for COVID-19.
Masks are mandatory and everyone needs to enter the church building via the glass doors of the ‘Community Extension’ entrance. Thanks!
Upcoming Services:
December 12: 10:00 Advent Sunday of Joy (in person only)
December 16: 6:00 Messy Church (in person – please pre-register at tmuc@shaw.ca)
December 19: 10:00 Advent Sunday of Love (Choir singing) (in person only)
December 19: 7:00 p.m. Blue Christmas (In person and live-stream on ZOOM)
December 23: 6:00 p.m. Messy Church on ZOOM (please pre-register to receive a craft bag)
December 24: 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve (In person and live-stream on ZOOM)
December 26: 10:00 Communion on ZOOM (no in person option)
The TMUC ZOOM link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7538449219
And to participate by phone you can call in via: 204-272-7920
Our Meeting ID: 753 844 9219
Returning to in-person worship means that greeters are needed for Sunday morning. If you would like more info or to volunteer as a Sunday morning greeter, please contact Shelley Schau, Chair of TMUC’s Worship and Welcome Team. Shelley’s phone is 431-275-9169. Thank you.
The Transcona Food Bank Executive would like to thank everyone who supported our Food Bank this past year. Your donations of food, clothing and monetary donations were greatly appreciated. A special thanks to all our volunteers who donated their time and efforts to help make our Food Bank run smoothly. The Transcona Food Bank Executive.
TMUC is also supporting the Holiday Hamper program of the Plessis Resource Centre. The Centre will provide Christmas hampers to every family in the Plessis, Robson, Kernighan Manitoba Housing community.
And, if you would like to share some Holiday Cheer with gifts of food – you are not too late! Food for Hampers or the Food Bank can be brought to the church on Sunday mornings (9:30-10) and on Thursday, December 16 from 10-2.
Thank you for helping us share in this community act of gift-giving.
While we have returned to in-person worship, we are continuing with our weekly email of worship resources.
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.
And, if you are someone who uses Offering Envelopes, 2022 envelopes are now ready for pick-up.
Even though we cannot be together in one place, let’s continue to be a community at prayer together. If you are not in the Sanctuary with us 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, December 12, 2021
Advent 3 – The Candle of Joy
Introit: “Hope is a Star”:
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 “The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Child”:
Candle lighting – the candle of joy:
In a world of uncertainty.
Joy is a star that shines.
In our lives of uncertainty,
Joy is a star that shines.
Joy is Advent’s first gift.
We are called to share God’s gift of Joy:
Esther and Emmett talk about looking at God through a magnifying glass:
Printable Version:
Esther and Emmett – Dec 12
Scripture readings:
1 Samuel 2 (selected)
Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory.
“There is no Holy One like the LORD, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God….
God raises up the poor from the dust; God lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them God has set the world…
Luke 1:39-56
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb.
And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for God has looked with favor on the lowliness of God’s servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is God’s name.
God’s mercy is for those who fear God
from generation to generation.
God has shown strength with God’s arm;
God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
God has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
God has helped God’s servant Israel,
in remembrance of God’s mercy,
according to the promise God made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
Jeff offers a reflection:
Printable Version:
Jeff Reflection – Dec 12
Let us pray:
Advent God,
God of hope, peace, joy and love;
Sing to us this season
Sing to us of a new world
Sing to us of Your love
That brings us together to share the gifts of creation
Sing to us of Your love
Which gives food to the hungry
Hope to the despairing
Healing to the suffering
Reconciled relationships to the adversaries
And peace to all on earth.
God, we listen to Your song,
We listen to the songs of those who dare dream of Your new world
And the songs throughout creation that emerge from places both of promise and of pain;
And so we offer our songs in the form of prayers.
We pray for nations to choose a way of peace. We pray for nations to seek global harmony and well-being.
We pray for generosity rather than greed.
We pray for compassion rather than indifference.
We pray for cooperation rather than fear and conflict.
We pray for migrants who have left their homes to seek safety.
We pray for all who have no place to call home. We pray for those who seek shelter and warmth in these winter days. We give thanks for all who provide welcome and safe places for those without a home.
We pray for all who struggle with anxiety, stress and depression. We pray for Your peace to touch their hearts, and for supportive communities to befriend them.
We pray for all who struggle with physical illnesses and diseases and injuries. We pray for healing. We pray that all receive medical aid and support.
We pray for everyone working and serving in so many ways to build relationships of trust and respect; for everyone seeking to build systems of compassion and care; for everyone practicing lifestyles that reduce humanity’s impact on climate change; for everyone seeking ways of reconciliation and healing in their relationships with other people and with all Your creation, God.
God, enliven Your Spirit in us, that we may be Your Advent people, that we may live from a deep joy, trusting that You are singing us home into Your abiding and amazing grace.
We pray in the name and spirit of Jesus the Christ, whose birth continues to announce the good news that this is Your world and that we live in Your love. AMEN
Our closing hymn is “Joy to the World”
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