Freelton Strabane United Church
To live our discipleship with integrity and grace.
Horseshoe Falls Regional Council
Eighteenth Sunday of Pentecost
Thanksgiving Sunday
Sunday, October 12 2025
Minister: Rev. Will Wheeler, B.A. M. Div. 905-659-3380 E-mail: [email protected]
Music Director Joan Simpson
New Paragraph
Gathering Blessed is the one who comes in the Name of Lord.
Call to Worship
One: God welcomes us to this time of refreshment for the soul in this community of faith we are challenged
All: God’s steadfast love is before our eyes. We will walk in faithfulness before our God.
One: God is faithful and ready to show mercy God restores and heals let us give thanks.
All: We will sing a loud song of thanksgiving let us tell of all God’s wondrous s deeds.
Prayer of Approach
God of Creation, of planting and of the Harvest, from our heart , with our hand through our voices in our love we thank you God, For every sunrise and sunset, for every smile and tear, for every moment that has passed and for every moment yet to come. May our Thanksgiving fill the world with gratitude and joy. Amen (prayer by Richard Butt.)
All: (sung) In God we live and move and have our story.
In love God lives in us and makes us whole
O Jesus may we hear the Word that calls us near;
Your story makes a home within our soul.
Your story makes a home within our soul 
One: Our lesson is taken Philippians 4:4-9
Gospel is from John 6:25-35
One: The Word of God for the People of God
All Thanks be to God
Prayer
Lord as we ponder your words open our hearts that we may understand and know you. Amen
Sermon
Yet another wonderful fall week for us as we move into October. I know that fall officially started a couple of weeks back it seems fall really starts with Thanksgiving Day Weekend. As the Canadian National Exhibition marks the end of summer, The Rockton Agricultural Fair marks the beginning of Fall for us. It is a full weekend.
Ah the feasting, the wonderful smell of roasting turkey, fresh baked rolls and of course a selection of pies. Thanksgiving marks the lighting of the fires in the fireplace (I think that is still a thing) the smell of burning leaves. As I think I have mentioned the fall is my reflection time.
I stroll around the house looking at the treasures I have found in the past season of antiquing. I give thanks for another year of accumulation of dust. Stop for kisses from Scarlet. I think of the Churches and their journeys. I see all that is a part of my life and give thanks.
Still as the leaves contemplate changing colours and falling the deep knowing that all things change all things come to an end. They are here and then they are gone. My house has a lot of other people’s things and someday my things will be someone else’s. Like the Antique store in Prince Edward County “Dead Man’s Stuff.” Great name because it is true. We are directed to work towards that which is eternal.
I was recently asked when I am gone, (and my spirit haunts antique markets and shops around the globe) what do I hope my legacy will be? What will I be remembered for. That of course is assuming that I will be remembered.
These are not sad thoughts, no. They are the thoughts that remind us to be thankful for that which truly matters.
We find in John today the beginning of John’s “Jesus I am” statements. John here is using the “I am” formula which could possible although debated goes back to God’s declaration of “I am who I am” to Moses. John is establishing Jesus authority. What we take from this passage is the message of looking beyond what we may have to what we may be able to take what we have and use it to live out our ministry.
To see what really matters. Our relationships with God, and each other and ourselves. Knowledge and wisdom. Not just gaining but sharing these things. That is how it becomes eternal, food for the spirit.
Thanksgiving should not be giving thanks for what we have but more importantly giving thanks for what we are able to give away. To give thanks for The gifts that we share. The talents that we have. To be thankful for our relationships. To walk around out lives see that all that we have is a gift. The love we know, the security we have, the knowledge the wisdom, the laughter all is a gift.
Ministry does not happen in isolation.
I look at my day book and all the filled lines I realized that I am not doing this alone. That there are many people working hard to accomplish this task of ministry and all of the tasks that there are to be servants to God and to each other in our community. And they do it because they are a gift.
We must not take those gift for granted. We must not think well that person should be here and not elsewhere, or Say we don’t need you. Or take the work they do for granted and thus just expect it of them.
Each offering as that gift. To see beyond the labour and see that which is eternal, the spirit in which it was given.
All things perish in time. This is a truth. What endures is the spirit of the relations that we create. The the spirit that we create as a community of faith that is what will last.
It is that gift of life that is given to us in Christ that becomes the Spirit of our Church home . That is the bread of heaven that sustains us. It is that faith that makes us whole and why we shall not hunger . It is that faith that creates A place where people can come and find the bread and drink for the soul and never hunger. And receive the gift of God’s love. A gift that comes through us to them.
The leaves outside my window lazily take on their colours, the morning glories still greeting the days, the birds supping on the fruit of the flowering Crab. Scarlet barks defending the window and places a fresh nose print, the coffee cooling and the day warming up. All is well with my soul, and I am grateful, thankful.
It is the season of Thanksgiving.
The Indigenous People have honoured the harvest for centuries. They would celebrate the harvest with communal feasts giving thanks for the earth’s bounty. And they did it all without Pumpkin Spice. Some of their traditions have had an influence of our Canadian thanksgiving today
The first Celebration of Thanksgiving here in Canada was in 1578 when Martin Frobisher held a feast in what is now Newfoundland to give thanks for surviving a perilous journey through the Arctic. 447 years later we give thanks for surviving the perilous journey of a family dinner. Last, Canadian Thanksgiving was officially declared a national holiday in 1957 when the Diefenbaker Conservatives designated the second Monday of October as the official day of Thanksgiving .
I do hope that you find some time this weekend to just be. To see your world threw thankful eyes. May all be well wit your soul. Know that I am I am grateful, thankful for all you do in our community of Faith. I give thanks for God’s giving. May we all see the giving of God in our lives and remember that we are not alone.
Prayers of the people
Hear our prayer we humbly offer
Grant to us your peace O God
Hear our prayer we humbly offer
Grant to us your peace O God.
Prayers
O God we come as your thankful people. We are so truly blessed. We come knowing that we are wealthy people. Help us to not measure our wealth in terms of material things but in terms of our relationships, the support we have in our lives, the opportunities that come into our lives. Most of all it is the faith that you are always with us that we cherish. Help us to see that these are the true bread of heaven that shall not perish but will sustain us. Help us to see it is not how costly something is, but the that our giving comes from a generous spirit. May we always be thankful for the many gifts great and small that you send into our lives. As we give thanksgiving we cannot but help think of those that are in need of your presence this day. For a world which knows poverty and injustice. For a world that knows illness and lostness we offer prayers. We ask for courage to walk with those that come into our lives, and offer prayers for those that we shall never meet. We offer up the names of those that we walk with and ask that you be a presence in their lives. We offer our own prayers of thanks giving and the prayers of our hearts spoken in the calmness of this place and time. Lord hear our prayers and we know that in your time and your way they shall be answered.
Offering
We give thee but thy own. The work of the Church continues and there are three ways you can continue to support that work. Consider using PAR, use the donate button on our Web Site or drop your gift at the Manse. Let us make our offering and give thanks.
One: Praise God who from all Blessing flow
Prayer We praise you with our offerings and with time and effort devoted to your purposes, gracious God. By your mercy we have been healed and by your love we are blessed day by day. In Christ we have been introduced to life in its fullness. Grant us to enjoy simple things as Jesus did, and to live with others in mutual caring, respect, and helpfulness. We would live and endure with Jesus Christ. Amen.
Yesterdaywe honour our heritage.
Todaywe know that we are not alone,that we live in God's world.
Tomorrowwith God,we will discoverthe undiscovered country.
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