Oct. 20, 2024

October 18, 2024

Joyful Music Lifts Us Sunward

In the Triumph Song of Life!

 

First Mennonite Church

Sugarcreek, Ohio

October 20, 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.

***************************************­

We seek to be a caring and discerning community, the gathered body

of Christ, that welcomes all to join in worship, study, and service.

******************************************

We embody God’s transforming and redeeming Spirit in the world

through our prophetic witness and action.

 

THE CHURCH WORSHIPS TOGETHER


Worshiping Together Through Music


~Gathering~


Chimes

 

Moravian Text for the Week: Mark 10:45

“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

 

Welcome and Announcements

 

Focus Statement: 

Anabaptists, Moravians, Mennonites--making and sharing music, some centuries old, to worship together today in this service. The

Moravian hymn, “What Brought Us Together” (text 1744,)

expresses the unity we as Christians strive for in our daily lives.

The last phrase stands out in particular:

“What brought us together, what joined our hearts? 

The pardon which Jesus, our High Priest, imparts;

‘tis this which cements the disciples of Christ,

who are into one by the Spirit baptized.

“Is this our high calling, harmonious to dwell,

and thus in sweet concert Christ’s praises to tell,

 in peace and blessed union our moments to spend

and live in communion with Jesus our Friend? 

“O yes, having found in the Lord our delight,

He is our chief object by day and by night;

this knits us together, no longer we roam;

we all have one Father, and heav’n is our home.

 

~Connecting With God~


Organ Preludes: 

  “Ein’ feste Burg” – Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg  (1719-1795)

  “Toccata on Old Hundredth” – Genevan Psalter (1551)

           -arr.Michael Burkhardt (b. 1957)

 

Hymns of Praise:

     HWB 119 Praise God From Whom (Old Hundredth) verse A

(text: Thomas Ken, 1695; music: Louis Bourgeois, 1551)

     VT 70 Praise God (Dedication Anthem)

(text: Thomas Ken, 1695, altered 1709; music:

Boston Handel and Haydn Society , 1830)

 

Call To Worship – Mike and Kristy Keim

 

Invocation

 

Scripture: Psalm 100

       Right: Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!

          Left: Serve the Lord with gladness; come into God’s

                     presence with a song.

       

   Right: Know that the Lord is God, our maker to whom we

                     belong;

          Left: we are God’s people and the sheep of God’s pasture.

   Right: Enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving and the

                courts with praise.

     Left: Give thanks and bless God’s holy name.

    Right: Good indeed is the Lord, whose steadfast love is

                everlasting,

      Left: whose faithfulness endures from age to age.

 

Special Music – Randall Gibbs and Suzanne Stauffer

“Fantasy on Holy Manna” – Southern Harmony (1835)

                                               -arr. Howard Helvey (b. 1968)

 

Hymn: VT 25 Brethren, We Have Met To Worship

(text: George Askins, 1817; music: The Columbian Harmony, 1825)

 

~Recognizing Our Need for God~


Prayers of the People

 

Anthems – Legacy Christian School Choir

 “Magnificat” - Taize

 “In Meeting We Are Blessed” – Troy Robertson

 

Reading – Brad Shupe

 

Scripture: The 23rd Psalm (The Living Bible)

 

Moravian Hymns:

 Jesus Makes My Heart Rejoice 662

(text: Henriette Louise von Hayn, 1776; tune: Hernhut, 1740)

   What Brought Us Together 675

   (text: Ludolph Ernst Schlich, 1744; tune: Hernhut, 1740)

(the offering will be brought forward)

   

Offering Prayer


~Responding~

   

Reading – Bob Gerber

 

Anthems – Legacy Christian School Choir

“Time” – Jennifer Cook

“Gentle Words” – arr. by Kevin Siegfried

 

Hymn: VT 103 Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee 

                  (4 verses – four tunes)

(text: Henry Van Dyke, 1907; music: Ludwig van Beethoven, 1823)

 

Verse 1 Tune: Beecher (Love Divine, All Loves Excelling)

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love.

Hearts unfold like flowers before thee,

 praising thee their sun above.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive our fear and doubt away.

Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

 

Verse 2 Tune: Nettleton (Come, Thou Fount)

All thy works with joy surround thee,

earth and heav’n reflect thy rays,

stars and angels sing around thee, center of unbroken praise.

Field and forest, vale and mountain,

blooming meadow, flashing sea,

chanting bird and flowing fountain, call us to rejoice in thee. 

 

Verse 3 and 4 Tune: Hymn To Joy (Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee)

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blesss’d,

well-spring of the joy of living, ocean-depth of happy rest!

Known in Jesus Christ our brother, all who live in love are thine.

Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine. 

 

Mortals, join the mighty chorus, which the morning stars began.

Love divine is reigning o’er us, leading us with mercy’s hand.

Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife.

Joyful music lifts us sunward in the triumph song of life. 

 

~Sending~


Postlude: “God of Grace”

                    – Cwn Rhondda, arr. Paul Manz (1919-2009)

 

Sending Words:

       ALL: We go into a world of God’s wondrous works and

                   wisdom. May we go as stewards of land and sea and

                   all creatures, loving and sharing with others on the

                   way, singing praises to the Lord.

         WL: May our meditations be pleasing to God and our lives

                   rejoice in God’s song. Go in grace and peace.

 

 WORSHIP                                                                            9:30-10:30 

   Minister:                                                                      Mike Gehman   

   Worship Leader:                                                         Bruce Stauffer                   

   Song Leader:                                                                   April Shupe 

   Guest Organist:                                                   G. Randall Gibbs

   Usher:                                                                                Mike Keim     

 

 

We welcome Randall Gibbs from the First Moravian Church in Dover

as our guest organist today. He has also arranged for the Legacy

Christian School choir and their director, Franklin Miller, to join us for

our service of music and song. We are delighted to have them here!

 

G. Randall Gibbs is a 1969 graduate of New Philadelphia High School. Following High school, he attended Malone College, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and earned a Master’s in Educational Administration from Ashland University. His professional career has included teaching general and choral music at the elementary, middle level and high school choirs, Assistant Principal of Welty Middle School, and Assistant Superintendent for New Philadelphia City Schools. He retired in 2005 and then served as the Director of

Testing for the Quaker Digital Academy of New Philadelphia through 2020. He has served as organist at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Canton, Ohio and since 1975 , is the Director of Music and Organist, First Moravian Church, Dover, Ohio.  Mr. Gibbs is a long-term member and past President of the Board of Trustees, Moravian Music Foundation, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is the co-founder of New Philadelphia City Schools’ Quaker Foundation, serving as board member,

President and developer of the district archives.

 

Legacy Christian School is an Anabaptist, K-12 school located in Sugarcreek. LCS seeks to provide a high-quality, Christian education. LCS focuses on training students in four key areas: academic excellence, music appreciation, Anabaptist worldview, and spiritual growth. We work toward accomplishing these goals by using carefully sourced, nationally-recognized curriculum, teaching choral music to all grade levels, teaching Anabaptist history and world view, and

incorporating Bible classes for all ages. The staff, students, families, and churches work together to build a school that builds the Kingdom of Christ. 

Legacy Ensemble is a fine arts elective and is made up of students from grades 10-12 who meet twice a week to prepare music for various community outreach events.

 

Franklin Miller and family Brittany, Willow, and Finley love to travel, play board games, sample quality food, and make new friends. When he is not in front of a choir, he loves to smoke meat, entertain guests, and take walks around Dover with his family and stop by Miller’s Creamery as often as possible. Franklin graduated in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Music from Kent State University where he served as the assistant for Kent Chorus. Franklin has conducted the Minerva Community Choir, Voice of Light Chorale, and has guest conducted the Ohio Men’s Choral Festival, Kent State Chorus, and Oasis Chorale. He is currently teaching grades 5-12 music and choir at Legacy Christian School, directing the

Zollikon Community Chorus, conducting the Ohio Men’s Choral Festival, and is an instructor at the Shenandoah Christian Music Camp. As a chorister, he has sung with various choirs and served as the East-Central Chair for the Ohio Choral Directors Association. Franklin strives to bring life and energy to the rehearsal process with the firm belief that music making should be inspiring, God-honoring… and fun! 

 

UPCOING EVENTS:

Sonnenberg Station is a 19-member men’s ensemble who will perform at the First Moravian Church of Dover on Sunday November 10 at 7pm.

This group has given over 160 programs in more than 80 venues over the course of 17 years. They continue to sing to appreciative audiences without the aid of amplification, simply by focusing on the timeless power and beauty found in the transformative act of singing. Deriving their name from a local landmark in the Sonnenberg valley northeast of Kidron, they strive to weave a thread of local culture to an area where many of our ancestors lived. As before, audience members can expect to hear songs from all singing traditions: from high church traditions to mountain spirituals, sea chanteys to big city gospel, folk songs and much more. The ensemble is directed and accompanied by Tim Yoder.

 

Zollikon Institute Choral Group, a group of 45 singers, will present a concert at First Moravian Church on Friday, November 22, at 7:00 p.m. 

The Zollikon Institute, located in Berlin, Ohio, makes learning available to our Amish and Mennonite groups in the context of trusted Anabaptist

community. They seek to build on a foundation of historic Christianity that is peace-driven and life-giving. Their mission is to build a community of scholars on a foundation of historic Christianity made manifest in a two-kingdom theology, and the priesthood of all believers, as manifested in early Anabaptist theology and perspective. They seek to accomplish this mission within an atmosphere of innovation, mutual respect, and rigorous academic discipline that is both life-giving and peace-driven. Within the Zollikon Institute course offerings is the

opportunity to experience singing in a choral group. The choral group practices weekly preparing music to share in a worship setting. This group is under the direction of Franklin Miller, choral director at Legacy Christian School in Sugarcreek, Ohio.

 

FMC LIVES IN DISCIPLESHIP TOGETHER

Mission Project for October: Homeless Shelter

Paper items like Kleenex, paper towels, toilet paper, and cleaning

Items like Wood Floor Cleaner, Disinfectant type cleaner for

bathrooms and toilets, Comet cleanser, etc. There will be boxes under

the mailboxes, or put on top of table in fellowship area. These items

will be taken to the New Philadelphia shelter at the end of the month. 


Disaster Relief for victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and

Hurricane Milton in Florida:   Mennonite  Disaster Service is accepting donations. Please make  your check out to First Mennonite Church (memo MDS) and drop it in the offering plate (today is the last Sunday we will be collecting for this). Bruce will then send one check from our church. 

 

THE CHURH GIVES THANKS

Bertie Showers: Thankful to Shirley Holman who is playing our piano this Sunday.

April Shupe: Thankful to Nancy Yoder for telling us stories the last few Sundays.

Kristy Keim: Daughter had her baby, 4lbs. 3oz. and 17 ½” long. Mother and baby are doing well.

 

CHURCH PRAYS FOR  

April Shupe: Keep Maragaret Cheslock and Sandy Incarnato in your prayers, Sandy and husband had covid this past week. Thankful for everyone helping Maragaret.

 

THIS WEEK

Oct. 21st          Happy Birthday, Jaden Murphy

Oct. 21st          Happy Birthday, Jon Gerber

Oct. 25th         Happy Birthday, Ron Meyer

 

NEXT  WEEK       

Text: : Psalm 8; Romans 8:14-25; Hebrews 2:6-11

Guest Minister:                                                                    Ernie Hershberger

Worship Leader:                                                                              Kristy Keim

Head Usher:                                                                                       Mike Keim


LAST WEEK

 ATTENDANCE:                                                                               24

 OFFERING:                                                                                 $720

 Change for a dollar:                                                            $12

 MDS Hurricane Fund:                                                         $450


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

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June 21, 2026

June 20, 2026
First Mennonite Church Sugarcreek, Ohio June 21, 2026 Happy Father’s Day! Worship: 9:30 am Coffee & Fellowship Time: 10:30 am We believe in Jesus and take his life, teachings, death and resurrection as the model for how we live and the message we proclaim. ***************************************­ We seek to be a caring and discerning community, the gathered body of Christ, that welcomes all to join in worship, study, and service. ****************************************** We embody God’s transforming and redeeming Spirit in the world through our prophetic witness and action. THE CHURCH WORSHIPS TOGETHER God’s Faithfulness ~Gathering~ Prelude: “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” -arr. John Carter Welcome& Announcements Focus Statement: In Psalm 100:5, the psalmist declares that the Lord is good and his love endures forever, and his faithfulness continues through all generations. We have seen the many ways said that God has shown his love and faithfulness to us through the years, as followers of Jesus Christ and as believers who worship together as First Mennonite Church. How can we live and share about God’s love and great faithfulness in our lives, as we continue to follow Christ today? Time of Meditation: “Trust and Obey” -arr. Johanna Miller Call to Worship: Leader: Let us worship the eternal God, the Source of love and Life, who creates us. People: Let us worship Jesus Christ, the risen one who lives among us. All: To the one true God be praise, in all times and places, through the grace of Jesus Christ. Invocation Hymn of Gathering : HWB 71 Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee ~Praising & Praying~ Psalm Litany: Psalm 89:1-8 (NIV) Leader: I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. People: I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. Leader: You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, People: ‘I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’ Leader: The heavens praise your wonders, LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. People: For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? Leader: In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him. People: Who is like you, LORD God Almighty? All: You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you. Hymn of Praise: HWB 70 Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise Prayers of the People Hymn of Praise: HWB 327 Great is Thy Faithfulness ~Hearing God’s Word~ Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1--14 Message: “God’s love and faithfulness abounds…passing it on” ~Responding~ Hymn of Response: HWB 338 I Know Not Why God’s Wondrous (the offering will be brought forward) Offering Prayer ~Sending~ Sending Hymn: HWB 420 Heart with Loving Heart United Benediction: Leader: We go now with faith, trusting God’s Spirit to guide us; People: We go now with hope, waiting for the fullness of Christ’s reign. Leader: We go now with love, resting in God’s care and the care of God’s people. All: We go out with joy: to listen and speak, to sing and suffer, to proclaim good news, and give glory to God. Postlude: “A Gaelic Blessing” -John Rutter Deep peace of the running wave to you, Deep peace of the flowing air to you, Deep peace of the quiet earth to you, Deep peace of the shining stars to you, Deep peace of the gentle night to you, Moon and stars pour their healing light on you, Deep peace of Christ, of Christ the light of the world to you, Deep peace of Christ to you. Sending Words WORSHIP 9:30-10:30 Pastor: Mike Gehman Worship Leader: Bruce Stauffer Pianist: Suzanne Stauffer Usher: Mike Keim FMC LIVES IN DISCIPLESHIP TOGETHER Mission Project for June: My Coins Count Each year, coins and bills collected by children, families and churches along with matches add up to more than $600,000 toward MCC’s work around the world. Your coins (and bills and checks!) count! The money collected will be sent to the MCC Relief Sale held at Mt. Hope on July 10 th -11 th and go toward MCC water, education and/or food projects. Please stay for the Congregational Meeting today following worship. Remember: No church at FMC next Sunday, June 28 th . THE CHURCH GIVES THANKS FOR Melanie Blauch Archer: We went to Panama Beach to watch my granddaughter get married. Sue Stauffer: Greta and Issac are going to high school camp at Camp Friedenswald. THE CHURCH PRAYS FOR Melanie Blauch Archer: Cousin’s wife, Tammy was diagnosed with a mass in her chest. Also, Sony has passed away, prayers for family and friends. THIS WEEK June 24 th Happy Birthday, Bob Barnes June 26 th Happy Birthday, Helene Torgler June 28 th Visitation Sunday (No church at FMC) UPCOMING EVENTS July 3 rd Happy Anniversary, Dan & Amy Hostetler July 24 th Kick-Off 100 th Anniversary Event: Ice Cream Social IN TWO WEEKS: Worship Leader (7/5): Kristy Keim Head Usher: Leadership Team LAST WEEK Attendance: 27 Offering: $1195 My Coins Count: $35.25 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, OH 44681 CONGREGATIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAM: Chairperson: Mike Keim Office Contact: Linda Yoder Mission Contact: Reno Stevanus Trustees Contact: Dan Hostetler Secretary Contact: Amy Stauffer-McNutt

June 14, 2026

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