We experience God’s presence, God’s grace, God’s love in the life of Jesus.
We also experience God in the wonder and miracle of creation.
We also experience God in the sacred image in every human.
And we discover God in the wisdom and peace offered in many faith traditions.
Today we offer you quotes from two of those faith traditions.
We offer quotes from the Hindu Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi died on January 30, 1948. He taught and embodied non-violence as he opposed the rule of the British Empire in India.
The second series of quotes are from Thich Nhat Hanh, who died, at the age of 95 years, earlier this month. Hanh was a Buddhist monk who was exiled from his homeland of Vietnam because of his teachings on peace. He was a respected teacher of mindfulness.
We hope these quotes will help all of us reflect on our humanity, and the ways we can be people of peace.
Mahatma Gandhi quotes:
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”
“God has no religion.”
Thich Nhat Hanh quotes:
“There is no way to happiness – happiness is the way.”
“Many of us have been running all our lives. Practise stopping.”
“Let us fill our hearts with our own compassion – towards ourselves and towards all living beings.”
“In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.”
May God continue to speak to us through many people, many experiences and many moments of unanticipated grace and blessing.
We are thankful for the grace and blessing of everyone 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), Canada Helps at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/14890, 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 30, 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 ‘We Have this Ministry’:
Esther and Emmett talk about ‘Jesus in his hometown’
Printable Version:
Esther and Emmett Jan 30
Scripture reading:
Psalm 71:1-6
In you, O LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.
Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.
Luke 4:21-30
Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”
He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'”
And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.
But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land;
yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.
There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.
They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.
But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
Jeff offers a reflection:
Printable Version:
Jeff reflection – Jan 30
Let us pray:
God who surprises us,
God who accompanies us in every time and season of life,
God who prods, polishes and transforms us,
Give us courage to embrace the journey of faith,
Give us courage to resist the temptation to easy closure,
The temptation to settle for doctrines about God rather
than a relationship with God.
Give us faith to trust when life seems bleak,
Give us faith to lean towards resurrection
Give us faith that sustains hope in Your grace.
God, we pray for this world of Your creation.
We pray healing and for restoration and for renewal.
We pray for climate systems that have been disrupted
by human greed and abuse.
We pray for humanity to live in right relation and loving
partnership with the rest of Your creation.
We pray for peace in the world.
We pray for the people of Ukraine in a time of
tension and threat.
We pray for justice throughout the world. We pray for
An end to human trafficking. We pray that all people be treated
with dignity and respect and have opportunities to live in safety and peace.
We pray for the world to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. We pray for vaccines to be available globally and for people to be patient and kind with one another, and to make decisions for the well-being of all.
We pray for all who experience poverty, who face economic challenges daily. We pray for food to be shared and for the development of economies that allow care for everyone.
We pray for the people of Tonga, trying to recover from the devastation of a volcanic eruption and a tsunami.
We pray for faith communities continuing to worship and meet and provide support in new and adaptive ways during this pandemic.
We join with other faith communities in the Prairie to Pine Regional Council prayer cycle, as this week we offer prayers for the people of Rivers, Manitoba. We pray for the staff and community of Rivers United Church, and we pray for all faith communities in Rivers. May they know Your grace and blessing, God.
We offer all our prayers in the name and spirit of Jesus, the Christ. AMEN.
Our closing hymn is “When a Poor One”
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