Everything that is old is new again
Things like delivery of milk or parcels from the Bay or Eaton’s were common occurrences in decades past.
Times changed, and there was less ‘delivery’…and then times changed again and you can get everything delivered!
‘Everything old is new again.’
Jesus had a style of teaching that helped people realize that God’s love was very old, but always new again.
So Jesus would say, “Of old it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy, but I say, ‘love your enemy.’”
Jesus took an old teaching and expanded it. Jesus took an old teaching and said it is new again because now your love should include even more people than you previously thought.
This week we invite you to reflect on ways in which you experience something old being new again!
And, for those who want to be part of Sunday School, there is ZOOM Sunday School with Brenda this Sunday at 9:30 a.m.! Here’s the link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7538449219
Again, we thank 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, 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 23 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 ‘Joyful, Joyful We Adore You’:
Esther and Emmett talk about ‘Scrolling!’
Printable Version:
Esther and Emmett _ Jan 23
Scripture reading:
2 Kings 23:1-3
Then the king directed that all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem should be gathered to him. The king went up to the house of God, and with him went all the people of Judah, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the temple. The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before God, to follow God, keeping God’s commandments, God’s decrees, and God’s statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All the people joined in the covenant.
Luke 4:14-21
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jeff offers a reflection:
Printable Version:
Jeff reflection – Jan 23
Music: “Hush, Hush”
Let us pray:
God, we love to hear the stories,
and to tell the stories…
the old, old stories
the stories of creation, of exodus and exile,
stories of captivity and of release
stories of prophetic imagination
opening our perception of Your healing and reconciling Presence in this world,
opening our hearts to love,
opening us to be people of just relations and compassionate societies.
We love to hear and to tell the stories of Jesus;
of his welcoming, vision-bestowing, courage-eliciting and love-inspiring.
We pray, God, that our hearing and telling of stories lead us to living the stories;
to living the stories of Your ongoing love and blessing.
We pray that the Christ spirit embodied in Jesus animate us in our living and loving.
As people immersed in the story of Your faithful love, God, we pray for this world You have created.
We pray for the people of Tonga in the wake of the volcanic eruption and tsunami that struck that country.
We pray for a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. We pray that this situation be resolved without war or military conflict. We pray for peace. We pray that nations live in peace with one another.
We continue to pray for the global human family as we live with COVID and the OMICRON variant. We pray that vaccines to available and be accessed globally. We pray that people and nations make responsible and wise decisions to benefit the health and well-being of all people. We pray for a time when we can again gather safely with family and friends and colleagues.
We pray for nurses and doctors and everyone providing medical aid and care; to everyone providing physical, emotional and spiritual aid and care. We give thanks for the dedication, the skills and the compassion of our health care providers.
We pray for everyone involved with communities of education – with schools, universities and colleges. We pray for safe environments and classrooms. We pray that teachers and communities have access to the resources needed to foster learning and education. We pray for creativity and patience during this pandemic. We give thanks for teachers, professors, educators, learning assistants, administrators and staff, and all who enrich and assist in nurturing safe and effective places of learning.
We pray for businesses and institutions that face financial and service challenges due to the pandemic.
We pray for all who are homeless and seek shelter from the freezing cold of our Canadian winter. We pray for all who provide shelter and welcome and food for those created in Your image who have no place to call home.
We pray for creative and equitable ways of sharing and distributing food and resources so that no one lives in poverty.
We pray for all who are in hospital. We pray for all who live with cancer, MS, dementia or other illnesses. We pray for healing, for courage, for the support of loving family and friends.
We pray for all who live with the challenges of anxiety, depression and fear. We pray for healing and for all to know Your loving presence in their lives.
And we join with other Christians our prayers for Christian unity. We pray that the spirit of Christ heal the divisions and differences existing amongst denominations, churches and faith communities, that we may together offer hope and peace to the world.
We offer all our prayers in the name and spirit of Jesus the Christ. AMEN
Our closing hymn is “I am the Light of 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