February 13, 2022 The Sixth Sunday of Epiphany

 Happy St Valentine’s Day! Remember that St Valentine is a saint, believed to be a priest or bishop martyred for his faith whose example was of love, caring and faithfulness. So, no matter what kind of love we have to share and to show, let us celebrate it! 💞💕

Hymn.    Christ the Lord is Risen Today #157VU

Scripture Lessons:      Jeremiah 17:5-10

                                    Psalm 1 p.724VU

                                    I Corinthians 15:12-20

Hymn.     This Joyful Eastertide #177VU

Meditation

Another excerpt from the United Church’s Song of Faith, the church’s most recent statement of faith: 

We sing of a church

   seeking to continue the story of Jesus

   by embodying Christ’s presence in the world.

We are called together by Christ

   as a community of broken but hopeful believers, 

   loving what he loved, 

   living what he taught, 

   striving to be faithful servants of God

   in our time and place, 

Our ancestors in faith

   bequeath to us experiences of their faithful living; 

   upon their lives our lives are built. 

Our living of the gospel makes us a part of this communion of saints, 

   experiencing the fulfillment of God’s reign

   even as we actively anticipate a new heaven and a new earth. 

The church has not always lived up to its vision. 

It requires the Spirit to reorient it, 

   helping it to live by grace rather than entitlement, 

for we are called to be a blessing to the earth. 

We sing of God’s good news lived out, 

a church with purpose: 

   faith nurtured and hearts comforted, 

   gifts shared for the good of all, 

   resistance to the forces that exploit and marginalize, 

   fierce love in the face of violence, 

   human dignity defended, 

   members of a community held and inspired by God, 

      corrected and comforted, 

   instrument of the loving Spirit of Christ, 

   creation’s mending. 

We sing of God’s mission. 

Prayer: O God, you call us to be an Easter people, even in the midst of winter, even in times of trouble and discouragement, you call us to draw on your resurrection power. You call us to draw on your resurrection power to raise us up from death to life; from despair to hope; and from sorrow to new joy. Sometimes, we confess, it is hard to believe, to understand, or to imagine how things might change or how good might come from trouble, and how our sins can be forgiven, but you call on us to persevere and to dare to hope, trusting that you will renew our tired spirits and flagging energy, that you will work to transform us, and through us our lives and our world. May the resurrection power you revealed in Christ’s rising up fill our hearts and minds and guide our living, our loving, and our serving, this day and always. Amen. 

Hymn.     The Day of Resurrection #164VU

The annual reports for 2021 for the Ormstown-Franklin Pastoral Charge have now been printed and are available. They can be found in our churches or can be picked up from Barbara directly. 

Keep in mind, that the opening of the United Church’s General Council is today. This time the council will be held entirely online and will be taking place over a number of weeks and months, until August 7th and you can follow the issues and the course of the discussions and decisions on the website: generalcouncil44.ca. 

Did you know that this past week has been international Development Week? It is a time to remember and celebrate the way our church works, not just for our own members, but also for our brothers and sisters across our communities and all around the world. Whether it is through gifts given through the church’s Mission and Service Fund, or through associated organizations such as the Canadian Food Grains Bank or ACT (Action of Churches Together.) there is something to celebrate! Bringing education and opportunities  as well as help to people around the world.