Nov. 3, 2024
Heritage and Remembrance Sunday
First Mennonite Church
Sugarcreek, Ohio
November 3, 2024
Worship: 9:30 – 10:30
Fellowship Time: 10:30-12:00
We believe in Jesus and take his life, teachings, death and resurrection
as the model for how we live and the message we proclaim.
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We seek to be a caring and discerning community, the gathered body
of Christ, that welcomes all to join in worship, study, and service.
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We embody God’s transforming and redeeming Spirit in the world
through our prophetic witness and action.
THE CHURCH WORSHIPS TOGETHER
~Gathering~
Prelude "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" - arr. Matt Limbach
Welcome & Announcements
Focus Statement:
Who are we as Anabaptists as we approach the five-hundredth anniversary of this movement and our one-hundredth year as a church presence in this community? This invites us to look back and to live forward in our faith as we each articulate, humbly and prayerfully, what it means to be part of this tapestry of faith that we call Anabaptism.
Time of Meditation: "O God, Our Help in Ages Past"
- arr. Cindy Berry
Call to Worship: (inspired by Joel 2:23-29)
Leader: Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for
He has given you the autumn rains because he is
faithful.
People: We rejoice in you, O Lord. You have poured out
upon us blessings like abundant rain. Our threshing
floors are full of grain; our barrels overflow with the
wine of your goodness.
Leader: “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten,”
says the Lord, “and You will have plenty to eat, until
you are full.”
People: We will praise your name O Lord our God, who has
worked wonders for us.
Leader: “Then I will pour out my spirit on all flesh,” thus says
the Lord;
People: Send down the fire of your justice!
Leader: “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,”
People: Send down the rain of your love!
Leader: “Your old shall dream dreams, and your young shall
see visions.”
People: Send down your Spirit, breathe life in your people!
Invocation
Ending Prayer from Menno Simons:
Lord Jesus,
blind I am, do enlighten me;
naked I am, do thou clothe me;
wounded, do thou heal me;
dead, do thou quicken me.
I know of no light, no physician, no life, except thee.
AMEN
Hymn of Gathering: HWB 32 Our Father God, Thy Name
We Praise
Leenaerdt Clock, O Gott Vater, wir loben dich, Ausbund, 17th
century; Music: Geistliche Lieder, 1535
~Praying & Praising~
Prayers of the People
Hymn of Praise: HWB 438 I Sing With Exultation
Felix Manz, ca. 1526, Mit Lust so will ich singen, Ausbund, 1564
Music: Bentzenauer Ton, 1504
~Hearing God’s Word~
Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23
Message: “Signposts, Markers, and Legacies”
~Responding~
Hymn of Response: HWB 407 We Are People of God’s Peace
Menno Simons, 1552
Music: Johann Horn, Ein Gesangbuch der Bruder im Behemen
und Merherrn, 1544
(the offering will be brought forward)
Offering Prayer
Remembrance Litany
Leader: Let us pray together. Lord God, by your grace we are
running a race.
People: We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses--
Pastor: Patriarchs and matriarchs, prophets and psalmists,
disciples and evangelists, martyrs and saints.
People: We thank you for their example. We praise you for
their lives of faith.
Leader: For all your saints, O Lord, who strove in you to live,
who followed, obeyed, adored you - our grateful hymn
we sing. Lord God, by your grace we are running a race.
People: We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses--
Pastor: Loved ones now resting in you, who guided us, nurtured and
cared for us; ancestors who worked and traveled, lived and
died that we might be who we are, where we are--your precious
children in this community of believers.
Leader: We thank you for their example. We praise you for their
lives of faith. For all your saints, O Lord, who strove in
you to die, who counted you their great reward - accept
our thankful cry. Lord God, by your grace we are
running race.
People: We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses--
Pastor: Family members and members of this congregation; fellow
believers in every country, every denomination; friends
who help, guide and uplift us--children of your family, sheep
of your fold, saints of your redeeming.
People: We thank you for their example. We praise you for
their lives of faith. For this, your name we bless, and
humbly pray anew, that we like them in holiness may
live and die in you.
Leader: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the
sin that clings so closely,
ALL: and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before
us,: looking to Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our
faith. Amen.
Candlelighting
Time of Reflection: "For All the Saints" - arr. John Innes
(to be read silently—words on next page)
For all the saints how from their labors rest,
who Thee by faith before the world confessed;
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
"Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
"O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!"
~Sending~
Sending Hymn: VT 583 O Christ, Impart Your Teaching True
Michael Sattler (present day Germany), 1527; Ausbund 1583
Music: H. Percy Smith (England), Church Hymns with
Tunes, 1874
Benediction: (Ephesians 3:16-21)
Leader: I pray that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ would
grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might through His Spirit in the
inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith; that you, being rooted and
established in love, may have power, together with
all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high
and deep is the love of Christ. And to know this love
that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to
the measure of all the fullness of God.
All: Now to God who is able to do immeasurably more than
all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at
work within us, to him be glory in the church and in
Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and
ever. AMEN.
Postlude: "Benediction Medley - Blest Be the Tie That Binds /
God Be with You Till We Meet Again" - arr. Mark Hayes
God be with you till we meet again,
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with his arms securely fold you,;
God be with you till we meet again.
Till we meet, till we meet
till we meet again at Jesus' feet,
till we meet, till we meet
God be with you till we meet again.
Sending Words
WORSHIP 9:30-10:30
Minister: Mike Gehman
Worship Leader: Julie Gerber
Song Leader: April Shupe
Pianist: Sue Stauffer
Usher: Leadership Team
FMC LIVES IN DISCIPLESHIP TOGETHER
Mennonite Arts Weekend: Early-bird registration is open for the 2025 Mennonite Arts Weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio, February 7-9. This weekend celebrates the creativity and discipline of Anabaptist Mennonite artists. Find the list of presenters, registration and location information at https://mennoniteartsweekend.org
THE CHURH GIVES THANKS
Kristy Keim: Last Sunday was amazing, thankful for the beautiful music and for everyone who came to worship with us.
Sue Stauffer: Thankful for everyone who says yes when we need readers, microphones, etc..
CHURCH PRAYS FOR
Sue Stauffer: Jim Cahill was very touched by our church’s support. He will have a bone marrow transplant a week from Tuesday and needs our prayers.
Margaret Cheslock was in the hospital this week, and has now been moved to Park Village in Dover, most likely to stay. Prayers as she goes through these health and transition difficulties.
THIS WEEK
Nov. 10th Happy Birthday, Braden Shupe
NEXT WEEK
Text: : Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17; Psalm 127; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44
Minister: Mike Gehman
Worship Leader: Tabatha Murphy
Head Usher: Leadership Team
UPCOMING EVENTS
Nov. 10 Sonnenberg Station performing at the First Moravian Church of Dover, 7pm
Nov. 22 Zollikon Institute Choral Group performing at the First Moravian Church of Dover, 7pm
LAST WEEK
ATTENDANCE: 21
OFFERING: $1573
Change for a dollar: $9
CHURCH LEADERSHIP
Pastor’s Hours: Wednesday 9:30 am-2:30 pm
Church Secretary: Tabatha Murphy
Church Phone: 1-330-852-2822
Email: office@firstmennonitesugarcreek.com
Website: http//fmcsugarcreekoh.org
Address: 113 W. Main St. P.O. Box 250 Sugarcreek, Ohio 44681
CONGREGATIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAM:
Chairperson: Mike Keim
Office Contact: Linda Yoder
Mission Contact: Reno Stevanus
Trustees Contact: Dan Hostetler
Secretary Contact: Amy Stauffer-McNutt
