FREELTON STRABANE UNITED CHURCH
To Live Our Discipleship With Integrity And Grace
Horseshoe Falls Regional Council
Twenty Third Sunday of Pentecost
November 13 2022
Rev. Will Wheeler BA M. Div. E-mail: [email protected]
Organist : Joan Simpson
New Paragraph
Call To Worship
One: The sovereign God of all nations summons us all of us are children of God. .
All: As children of the Eternal one we seek realities that are yet unseen. .
One: God calls us to fresh and abiding hope and imparts to us the good news of salvation
All: God is merciful to all who live in love and seek to do good to all people.
Prayer of Approach.
Lord, help us to know the truth of our finitude. Our projects, our plans, our institutions, our lives do not go on forever. Our lives are limited. We have not, within ourselves, to make our lives count for ever, to establish the value of ourselves by ourselves. Redeem us, good Lord. Save us from the ravages of time. Lift us up and make us count for something. Enable us to put our trust, not in ourselves, our projects, and our plans, but in you and your eternal, creative, life giving love. Amen
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 from. 2 Thessalonians 3 :6-13
One: In the word we find the inspiration of the Spirit Here the goodness of the Gospel taken from the Gospel of Luke 21:5-19
One The word of God for the People of God
All Thanks be to God.
I can remember walking with a friend along the Hamilton beach front. We had stopped and they asked me what I thought it looked like here before the early settlers arrived. It was an interesting conversation trying to imagine what it would have looked like. It just so happened that shortly after that I was reading a historic paper and it included a quote from Lady Simcoe’s diary and she was talking about what it was like to travel from Grimsby to Hamilton . She said that one had to travel along the trail on the escarpment as it was far to overgrown and swampy along the lake shore. What would Lady Simcoe say today.
It reminded me of a show that was on a while back on the History Channel called Life After Humans. The premise of the show is what happens if all of humanity disappears in one moment. What happens to all that society has built. The culture, the art, buildings and the like. It moves in incrementally. One week Months and then years. It is surprising how fast things change. How fast nature takes back the land
Theologian Karl Barth has written that “Our being in time will one day come to an end when our present will never again be followed by a future
The Gospel tells us the story of Jesus and the boys walking into the big city of Jerusalem. Some are commenting on how wonderful the temple looks how wonderful it is. Jesus, looks up munching on a rather tasty fig and saying “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down
Luke here is using some creative writing. It is a technique we have talked about before called apocryphal writing. This is used something in the past and writing it as if it is yet to come. It is true that the temple had been destroyed in the past. There is speculation and ergo debate if Luke actually was writing his Gospel after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70ce. Regardless Jesus was right about the temple look at it today outside of the temple mount not one stone rests on another.
For the disciples it must have been hard to hear this. The temple on the Temple mount must has looked so permeant. We hold to this idea of permanence. It makes us feel secure it makes us happy.
The night before he met his tragic death Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in an apocalyptic mood. He looked ahead beyond the moment, beyond the Civil Rights Movement, beyond his own life, and spoke of seeing the promised land. This is the vision at the end, that gives one a hope that endures beyond our end.
We are in a time when the stones of the Church as we have known it stones of the faith are being taken apart. For us it is the prospect of an amalgamation and what that will mean. It can feel just overwhelming. It can feel as if we are losing something. What we are experiencing is fear.
Martin Luther King’s words speak to us “I’ve been to the mountain top and I don’t mind I just want to do God’s will and he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain and I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mime eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”
I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I don’t know what will happen in the next week, next month or where I will be celebrating my 125 Birthday. What I do know is I have been to the traditional spot where Moses stood and looked from the mountain top and seen the other side the promised land. I know that it will be good.
We are where we need to be at this moment in our lives.
I have a very good view of my Rock collection from my desk. Every once in a while I will stand in front of it picking out samples I collected mainly from Bancroft. It leaves me always a little awed that that whole area at one time was a massive mountain range. Now all that is left are the very roots of the mountains. The Grenville Orogeny is a range that takes in the Appalachian the Adirondack the blue ridge mountains up through Eastern Ontario (we call it the Haliburton highlands) All once a part of huge chain of mountains running from south central US all the way up and including Newfoundland. They rivaled the Rockies Mountains. Time changes all things.
But look up. Your redemption is drawing near. There is our hope
The good news and challenge of this scripture is this. This is a good time for us to bear testimony to the presence of God, the promise of life in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us to sing a new song.
I read a statement that a women made to her minister. She said.
I have been forced to go on a journey I did not want to take. This the worst of my times, has also been the best of times, I am closer to God than I have ever been Because so many of the things I leaned on have been taken away from me, I have been forced to lean on Jesus. And I have found him trustworthy and true. It is well with my soul
There will come a point where our present will no longer lead to a future. Consider what it looked like here 200 years ago. Consider what it will look like here in 20 years, 50 100 200 300 years
As I mentioned last week our heritage rests solely in our story not in a place. The journey will take us forward and yes that is frightening if not terrifying.
We in our journey can hold to this that we can lean on the everlasting arms of Jesus. A rock which cannot move. Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love.
Yes For therein is our hope. That God will be with us, that Christ has given us life and inspiration and that the Holy Spirit, will challenge us and show us the directions we will go in this ever changing fluid world that we find ourselves. That we will live in this moment. We will see that life is good. Trusting God with tomorrow and knowing 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.
Prayer, Blessed God in you we find our hope. We know that in time all things will pass away. That mountains shall be come plains, that Rivers will become canyon and that we will in our time be one with the saints of heaven. Give us such strength that we do not dwell on what will come but to live in the moment to experience the wonder of your world. Be with us in this moment so that we maybe for others in their moment. We pray for all of those who are trying to rebuild lives. Lives broken by war and food insecurity. Lives broken by illness, and natural disasters. Lives lost in the overwhelmingness of the world. Be with those that we never shall know and be with those who walk and journey with us. We hold up the names of those in our hearts. God of the now, in this moment in this place fill us once more with your grace and hear our own personal prayers of thanks giving for we know that in your way and time our prayers are answered. We come with one voice and say the prayer that unites us as one saying Our Father.
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 God, we bring our offerings with open hearts knowing that you have always blessed us even when we have strayed. With these offering we will minister to your people and help those that are week and needy that are your children.
Sending Forth and Blessing.
One: Go out to live and work and witness do not weary in well doing.
All: We reach out to others with help not judgment remembering how God has met our needs
One: Receive the gifts God offers you dwell in the wisdom God imparts.
Blessings
One: May God the one who brings us comfort surround you, May Christ our Joy walk with you. May the Continued presence of The Holy Spirit illuminate our path and keep us safe until we can gather again in community. Amen
Our Mission
Mission Statement:
“Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness.” (2 Corinthians 3:12)
Freelton Strabane United Church together honours over 170 years of Christian leadership and discipleship in the communities of Freelton and Strabane. Together we take pride in our commitment to worship in which our faith story is told in word and song. In living out our Faith we own that...
It is our mission to take forward the vision of a vibrant faith Church Community from the past into the future,
It is our mission to provide a safe place of worship for all who call this their spiritual home.
It is our mission to greet people where they are in their spiritual journey and promote spiritual growth.
It is our hope to be a place where people will find support and recharge their faith.
It is our hope to extend hospitality and a sincere welcome to all into our Faith Family
To be a venue where local groups can meet in community;
We are Called by God, as disciples of Jesus, to reach beyond our own faith community to seek right relations and be supportive to the wider community and world
In all of this We go forward in faith knowing that we are not alone but one with Christ.
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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