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Mennonite Church Saskatchewan Assembly 2015
Worship Sessions
Friday 6:45 - 7:00 Gathering songs - with the Clay, Zac, Jordan, Curtis
Over my head
StJ #18
I want Jesus to walk with me
HWB #439
I just keep trusting my Lord
PPT
They’l know we are Christians by our love
PPT
Come walk with us
StJ #2
Friday, 8:15 pm, Walking with God: with each other, worship & memorial service*
Special Guests: A Buncha Guys
A BUNCHA GUYS…
“WALK BY FAITH” based Hebrews 11
”HE NEVER FAILED ME, YET
Congregational songs: Come walk with us
I’m pressing on the upward way
(StJ 2, theme song),
(StJ 96)
Scripture – John 15:1-7
Offering Music: A Buncha Guys - One Faith, One Hope, One Lord
Centering words
We hear the sounds of footsteps, many footsteps
Some loud, some quiet, some confident, some hesitant
Some fast and some slow, some heavy and some light
And all of them following Jesus…all of them walking with God
Message – Josh Wallace “Walking with God: With Each Other”
Josh started his message with a story about a fellow named Todd and an experience with footwashing. Did he want Todd to wash his feet? Todd did wash Josh’s feet. John 13 – Jesus
washes his disciples feet - Jesus lays down his respectable outer garment; Jesus lays down his
life for his friends. Jesus commands love; Jesus demonstrates love to the uttermost. . . . John 15
– the vine and the branches – branches need to be connected to the vine. “But connection isn’t
the focus of the picture Jesus paints here. Our connection to him and to the life of God is a
function of our fruitfulness. Bearing fruit, not staying connected, is at the centre of Jesus’
words.” . . . “Our fruitfulness is measured, according to Jesus, by how we treat one another.” . .
“What does Jesus say to us tonight? He says, ‘Love each other.’ He says, ‘Now that I have cared
for your feet, you also should care for one another’s feet.’ He says, ‘You did not choose me, but I
have chosen you to go and bear much fruit.’”
“Jesus has called us as friends. Let us enact that friendship tonight and tomorrow, even when we
stand in disagreement, even when we feel misunderstood or insulted or betrayed. Let us lay aside
the outer garment of
honor and ‘being
right,’ and choose the
humbling work caring
for one another, the
work of friendship.
Let us bear much
fruit. Amen.”
Congregational song:
Guide my feet
HWB #546
Memorial
Sending Song: A
Buncha Guys - I will
come to you in the
silence
Saturday, 9:00 am, Walking with God: with the stranger*
(8:45- 9:00, Gathering songs) Darrell- djembe, Jerry – bass guitar
God loves all His many people
HWB 397
We are walking in the light of God We will walk with God
StJ 78
My Lord knows the Way
PPT
We will follow Jesus
StS 40
Scripture – Luke 4:16-21
Congregational song: How can I say
(StS 117)
Centering words
We hear the sounds of footsteps, many footsteps
Some loud, some quiet, some confident, some hesitant
Some fast and some slow, some heavy and some light
And all of them following Jesus…all of them walking with God
Message – Krista Loewen and Joe Heikman: Walking with God: with the stranger
Krista started off telling us about a
phone call she had received at the
church office. From Angela – who
told about difficulties that life had
thrown her way. And, now, at the
end of her rope, she just needs $20
to set things back on a manageable
path. . . .
What do you do when a stranger
needs help? Sob stories abound . .
. we know the right answer, but the
first reaction is often suspicion. Do
our prejudices show up? We’ve all
heard the Good Samaritan story
multi times – who is our
neighbour? Our highest goal is
“hospitality”.
“Hospitality goes beyond simply
meeting the need, giving the
stranger what they ask for.
Hospitality is an invitation into
relationship, inviting the stranger
into a place of safety and warmth,
inviting them to join you as an
equal, as a guest of honor in the
place where you live.”
The parables and stories that Luke
uses to tell of Jesus’ ministry on the way to Jerusalem are stories of hospitality for the lost and
strangers. These parables are unique to Luke and really drive home the point that in order to live
as a disciple we are to show kindness to others. The Good Samaritan: The Rich man and
Lazarus – stories about God’s upside down kingdom – calling us to welcome the outsiders, invite
them into our lives. When we share our lives with strangers we don’t know what will happen.
Joe had a parable of his
own, a street person
named Archie. Archie
often needed help, Joe
never needed anything
from Archie – until one
day Archie came by
with a story – a sad story
about his pastor at a
Chinese church he
attended – ending with:
“You know,” Archie
told me reverently,
“even pastors are weak.
But God uses them.”
Joe said “I’ve never
heard the voice of God
more clearly in my life.”
“As a stranger, Archie
was someone for me to
help, someone who needed the things I had to give. But when I let him in, when I listened, he
was a prophet, speaking God’s truth into my life.”
Angela got the money and Joe and Krista opened themselves up to a relationship with her.
Krista concluded with: “Realizing this makes me wonder what we as MC Sask hold onto that
keeps us from inviting people in and being hospitable.
Who are we separating out from our communities and lives? Who are we making our strangers?
We are here today to make policy and budget decisions. How can we make these decisions to
better serve our strangers? Not only are we called to be careful stewards of our own possessions
and lives but, to also to be our brother and sister’s keepers in the same respect.”
Congregational Song: Come walk with us
(StJ 2, theme song)
Saturday PM, 1:15 pm, Walking with God: beyond our walls, communion service*
Special Guests: Mount Royal Mennonite Church Choir
Gathering songs:
Leaning on the Everlasting arms,
I want to walk as a child of the light
HWB 544
Choir
Call to worship Choir - Spirit, Sing
Offering, MRMC choir
Hold on to the Rock – during the
offering
Scripture – John 17:20-23
Centering words
We hear the sounds of footsteps, many
footsteps
Some loud, some quiet, some confident,
some hesitant
Some fast and some slow, some heavy
and some light
And all of them following Jesus…all of
them walking with God
Message – Daniel Janzen - Walking with God: Beyond our Walls
Daniel began his message with a personal story
about preparing for a 2010 MCC assignment in
Sarajevo, Bosnia. Venturing beyond his
familiar territory, he tried to prepare himself
for the situation in which he would find
himself. He then shared some of his learnings
about walking beyond his walls:
1) Stuff is already growing in the yard beyond
the Wall where I went out. In the case of the
MCC assignment, other workers had been there
before him. So, we need to realize that
“God is already at work, long before we have
gotten there.” So; “Be on the lookout for what
God is already doing.”
2) Looking from the balcony is not the same as
going outside and participating. Classes help
but they don’t necessarily prepare you for the
real things you will experience, people /
customs are different. Beliefs need to be informed by practise. “God transforms us the most
when we are engaged with people outside our walls.”
3) When you walk beyond your walls you are entering into someone else yard. “The ways in
which God is transforming or growing me is different than the way you. God, however, is moving
in the both of us, but because the geography of our backyards are different, God is doing
different things. God is doing different things in different places.”
Congregational song: Beauty for Brokenness
(StS 115)
Communion with MRMC choir singing Come Unto Me
Let Our Prayer Rise Up to You
Congregation Song: Go my friends in grace
Blessing prayer for the afternoon
(StS 57)
(StJ 174)
* For a more detailed version of the services, including prayers, scripts, and song lyrics, contact
Kirsten Hamm-Epp or Russ Regier