LOGINWELCOME TO OUR WORSHIP SERVICE
Overwhelming Gratitude
September 30th, 2018
10:20 – Peace Garden Blessing Service – Outdoors
10:45 – Regular Worship Service Begins – Indoors
Focus Statement: Thanksgiving is a time when we recall, with overwhelming gratitude, those times in our lives when we have seen God most clearly. In the midst of harvest, in the changing colors of fall, and in the shared lives of each other God is present and we pause to give thanks.
GATHERING AS GOD’S PEOPLE
Prelude
Choir – Come Christian join to sing – Ramsey/Paige
Welcome and Lamp lighting
We light a light in the name of the God who creates life, the Son who loves life, and the Spirit who is the fire of life. Thanks be to God who unites us in our hope, faith and life.
Call to Worship and Opening Prayer – Proverbs 3:1-10
Congregational Singing
Mountain of God
We praise you, O God, our Redeemer, Creator (insert)
PROCLAIMING GOD’S WORD
Reflection – Rudy Warkentin
Prayer and Offering – O worship the King – M. Haydn, arr. R. Shaw
Children’s story – Ingrid Penner
Reflection – Lois and Otto Loeppky
Choir – Creation’s Praise – Michael A. Smith
Reflection – Audrey Siemens
RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD
Congregational Singing
HWB 89 For the beauty of the earth
Congregational Life and Sharing
Congregational Prayer
SENDING GOD’S PEOPLE
Benediction
Song of Sending
HWB 118 Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Postlude
Worship Leader – Marg Rempel
Song Leaders – Ed & Val Peters, Lyle Peters, Bev Rogers
Organist / Pianist – Karen Peters
Pianist – Margarete Dyck, Lyle Peters
SMC Choir – conducted by Val Peters, accompanied by Karen Peters
THINKING AHEAD
Next Week’s Scripture: Job 2:1-10, Hebrews 2:5-12
Think on it: What does it take to see God and give our thanksgiving through the suffering of life?
SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR ALL AGES
No Sunday School next Sunday, Oct. 7th.
Oct. 14th at 9:30 a.m. Sunday School for all ages
- Children meet in the kitchenette
- Youth meet in the lounge
· 20’s and 30’s meet in Room 115
- Adults meet in the MPR and Music Room
PRAYER & PRAISE
Please pray for:
· Peter Koop who is in Bethesda Hospital.
· Hildegard Adrian, Peter Dyck, Tina Nikkel, Jessie Peters, and
Helen Warkentin who are in Bethesda Place.
· Pray for our missionaries: Rachel Klassen - Germany
· Judy Lafournaise who continues to struggle with health issues.
If you have a prayer request, please contact our Prayer Chain coordinator, Anne E. Froese,
Our condolences go out to John and Anne Kasdorf on the passing of her brother Reverend John Krahn in Winkler at Salem Home. The funeral will be on Monday at the Grace Church in Winkler.
CHURCH FAMILY INFORMATION
Today – Please join us for Thanksgiving lunch following the service. Everyone is invited to attend.
Today - 2-4 Family Volleyball in the gym.
Oct. 1st – Men’s Volleyball Next week, Mon. Oct. 8th No Men’s Volleyball
Oct. 1st - 6:30 pm - Steinbach Mennonite Handbelles practice in the kitchenette
Oct. 1st – 8pm – Technology Committee meeting
Oct. 2nd – Website Committee meeting at 7p.m. in Rm 115
Oct. 3rd – Faith and Life Meeting at 7 p.m. in the MPR
Oct. 4th – Pastoral Relations Committee meeting at 7 p.m. in Rm 115
Oct. 6th – SMC Ladies Breakfast at Smitty’s at 8:15 a.m.
Oct. 6th – SMC Mens Breakfast at Uncle Jakes at 7:45 a.m.
Oct 9th – Board meeting in the MPR at 7p.m.
Oct. 12th -13th – Church Retreat
Oct. 20th – Worship meeting at 12 p.m. in the MPR
Oct 24th – Education and Ministry meeting at 7 in the MPR
Nov. 6th – 7 p.m. - Semi annual meeting
Gym Comm. Contact: Isbrand Fehr
COMMUNITY & CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
September 30th – Steinbach Bible College invites you to attend their Fall Fundraising Faspa at 4 p.m. Featuring Saengerfest, Faspa and stories of God’s work at the college. You can reserve your spot by calling SBC at 204-326-6451.
Sept. 30th – 7 p.m. Vespers choir service on at the Mennonite Heritage Village Museum. All are welcome, a freewill offering will be taken.
October 2 - 7:00 pm (CMU, Marpeck Commons) Dr. Anna Carter Florence will offer a public presentation and speak about her latest book Rehearsing Scripture: Discovering God’s Word in Community . All are invited! This book will be available from CommonWord that evening.
MCC Manitoba welcomes applications for Sam's Place Manager (12-month term) based in Winnipeg. Applications are accepted until October 2. For more information and to apply, visit mccmb.ca/sams-place-manager
MCC Canada welcomes applications for Advocacy Intern (4-month term) based in Ottawa. Applications are accepted until October 10. For more information and to apply, visit mcccanada.ca/advocacy-intern
October 10th, 7:00 PM - Join us at CMU for Face2Face, Whose Neighbour Am I? Treaty One and Mennonite Privilegium. Niigaan Sinclair will reflect on Treaty 1 (signed August, 1871) and Hans Werner will speak about the Mennonite Privilegium (signed August, 1873). See cmu.ca/events
Oct 11, Thursday, 9:30 am at Grace Mennonite Church: Canadian Foodgrains Bank and MCC are hosting a visitor from Syria and are coming to Steinbach. Rahaf Abdo works as the field coordinator in Syria for the food assistance project of the Forum for Development, Culture, and Dialogue (FDCD), a partner of Canadian Foodgrains Bank in collaboration with Mennonite Central Committee. As the crisis in Syria worsened in 2012, Rahaf Abdo gave up her position as a lecturer in the engineering department of her local university to distribute food boxes and cash supplements as a full-time volunteer. Six years later, Abdo continues to provide food to displaced people. Join us at Grace Mennonite Church, Steinbach, Oct 11, 9:30 am to meet Rahaf and learn about the conditions and hunger issues in Syria.
October 11 – 13 Steinbach Bible College is offering a Weekend Intensive with Chris Marchand, Self-Care for Caregivers, . The material will explore biblical ideas of Sabbath rest and its application for everyday lives and will consider the importance of boundary-setting while encouraging students to practice the spiritual discipline of self-awareness. Full course details and registration are at SBCollege.ca/events.
Oct. 12th - 7:30pm. 20th anniversary exhibition celebration & annual MHC Gallery fundraiser; program in CMU chapel, reception & door prize draw in gallery. Details on MHC Gallery Facebook page. RSVP to swolfe@cmu.ca
Camps with Meaning Celebration Fundraising Banquets. All proceeds will help get kids to camp. October 27, 5:30PM, Emmanuel Mennonite Church, Winkler; October 28, 5:30PM, Douglas Mennonite Church. Please consider hosting a table (ie. making sure your friends attend). Contact our office to reserve your free tickets and perhaps commit to hosting. 204-895-2267.
Infuse 2018. Come for a time of learning inspiring and connecting. We will focus on the theme of Vulnerability in Mission, with Keynote address by Betty Pries. November 3, 2018, 8:30am-4:30pm, 500 Shaftesbury Blvd (CMU). $65 for the day includes a locally catered lunch and all refreshments. We encourage everyone to come, especially those in a leadership role in the church (council, board, deacon, etc.). Please contact Stephanie Wenger at 204-896-1616 for more information.
PEACE POLE AND GARDEN
To commemorate our congregation’s 75th milestone and the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we planted a Peace Pole in front of our building on November 12, 2017 (Peace Sunday). The Anabaptist Mennonite tradition includes the belief that the gospel embraces a commitment to the way of peace as modelled by the Prince of Peace. We renounce violence in human relationships and see reconciliation at the heart of Christianity. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9).
The prayer, “May Peace Prevail On Earth” was authored in Japan. A desire to spread this message throughout the world gained momentum as “The Peace Pole Project”. There are over 200,000 Peace Poles on all the continents of the world. A Peace Pole is a silent visual of a common wish – a permanent reminder to think, speak and act in a spirit of harmony. The message appears in eight languages on our pole: English, German, Russian, French, Spanish, Cree, Tagalog and Latin. This symbol prompts us to consider components of nonviolence and conscientious objection to war. Article 22: Peace, Justice, and Nonresistance in our Confession of Faith states: “As followers of Jesus, we participate in his ministry of peace and justice…. Led by the Spirit, and beginning in the church, we witness to all people that violence is not the will of God.”
This year a Peace Garden was constructed around the pole. A welcoming, accessible path from Loewen Boulevard’s sidewalk invites people to sit on a bench surrounded by trees, cedars, grasses and hydrangeas to nurture the meaning of harmony. It is hoped that all who visit or pass the site will be inspired to promote peace beginning with their family so that it ripples out to the community around them. Shalom – peace!
