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. 10^th 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