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Image: United Church of Canada

Keeping in Touch

with Ebenezer United Church

Today is the 18th Sunday After Pentecost (Creation 5).

Our worship service at Ebenezer as well on Zoom is led by Valerie Balasubramaniam & Rev. Nicholas Forrester. Murphy Hung is back as our guest pianist to provide our musical accompaniment with Margaret and the choir. We thank Susan Ryman for the slides, and recognize the broadcast support provided by Shaun Balasubramaniam, James Tribe, and Doug Mark.

Scripture Reading (NIV) 
Jeremiah 29:1, 4–7 A Letter to the Exiles
Luke 17:11–19 Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

Sermon: Moved with Gratitude!]

Today's Hymns
For the Beauty of the Earth VU226
Come, You Thankful People, Come VU516
Now Thank We All Our God VU236
Go Now in Peace

Here're links from the United Church of Canada this week:


ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
TODAY

We wish a Happy Birthday to:
Lesley Chan, October 10
Javon Findlator, October 13
Ann Krones, October 14
 
Guest Pianist We are pleased to welcome our friend, Murphy Hung, to the piano for this week’s Thanksgiving Day service. Thank you for sharing your gift of music with us.
 
Please stay for refreshments and fellowship following the service thoughtfully prepared by Chitra Balasubramaniam and Ina York.
 
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Food Bank. Your generosity will help those in need have a happy Thanksgiving.
 
Grandmothers-to-Grandmothers Today is the time to place your orders for merchandise/gift cards in support of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Order forms are available. Email your request for cards to Jacquelin Lovell (jacquelinlovell@rogers.com) payment by cheque to the church or e-transfer to treasurer@ebenezeronline.ca.  
Your gift cards will be ready during the 3rd week of the month and you will be notified by email.  Thank you for your ongoing support.
 
UCW APPLE PIES $14.00 Please email Bev with your order at bfujimoto50@yahoo.ca 

UCW – New members are warmly welcomed.  Please join us for our next meeting on Thursday, October 20 at 1pm in the Meeting Room.
 
Sign-up Everyone is encouraged to take part in the life and ministry at Ebenezer United Church. Volunteer as Worship Leader, Sunday School Helper, Coffee Hour.  Sign-up sheets are in the narthex.
 
THIS WEEK

Office Hours: Susan will be working in-office Wednesday & Friday 10am-2pm and from home Tuesday & Thursday Please email: ebenezer5000@gmail.com or leave a message 905-477-4365

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!
ThursdayChoir Practice 7:00-9:00pm in the main sanctuary.  Please come out to join friends in an evening of music and worship.
Sunday – In-person/Zoom with Rev. Nicholas Forrester as we celebrate the 19th Sunday after Pentecost. There will be a Sunday School program in the Heritage Hall with Diane McLean.
 
IN THE COMMUNITY

Accoustic Pianos (3 available) If interested, please contact Carmen Novello, CMA school of music and art, at Steeles/Brimley by email: cnovello@live.com or phone: 647-200-4747
 
Ward 8 Virtual All Candidates Forum on Thursday, October 13 at 6:30 pm.  To RSVP for this Zoom event, contact Laura Harper. Phone: 416-292-6912 ext. 301
email: hlaura@agincourtcommunityservices.com
 
Contract Posting (ending August 15, 2023) Women Health Promoter, High Priority Communities Strategy Program working with Social Services Network (SSN), Carefirst Seniors and Community Services Association (Carefirst), and 20 other partners in the South Markham community. Please see the bulletin board or e-news for more information. Deadline for application is Oct. 28, 2022. Resume with a cover letter in one file in PDF format can be sent directly to alykhan@ssnon.com
Have a wonderful week and stay safe,

Doug Mark
PS Please always remember to support your Ebenezer United Church by giving your time and talents as well as through your offerings. Click here to learn more from our website and remember we accept Interac e-Transfers to treasurer@ebenezeronline.ca. Thank-you!
PPS Click here to check our our new CanadaHelps donation link found on our website as well.  

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Ebenezer United Church
18th Sunday After Pentecost

Creation 5
October 9, 2022 10:00 AM
Prelude ~ Murphy Hung
 
Welcome & Announcements ~ Valerie Balasubramaniam
 
Chime ~ Margaret Tribe
 
Land Acknowledgement: (All)
We acknowledge this land on which Ebenezer United Church serves our community. For thousands of years, this land has been on the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit River. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to worship, pray, and practice our faith on this land.
 
Affirmation of Faith: (In Unison)     “A New Creed”                    VU 918
We are not alone; we live in God’s world. We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. We trust in God. We are called to be the church: to celebrate God’s presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God. 

Call to Worship: (Responsive) (Please stand as you are able)
Minister: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
People:  And also, with you.
 
Minister: In deep gratitude, we pause to worship God, our Maker.
People:  We celebrate God as the source of all the good we know.
 
Minister: All good gifts come from the Spirit of God.
All:           God, our Maker, receive our gratitude in song and prayer.
 
Lighting of the Christ Candle & Fellowship Candles:
(Lighting by Nathan Forrester, reading by Valerie Balasubramaniam)
The Christ Candle is a sign to us that Jesus Christ has come into this world as the Eternal Light. The Fellowship Candles remind us that Jesus’ people are the people of Light in this world. As we light the Christ Candle, let us hear the voice of Jesus say, “I am the Light of the World.” And, as we light the Fellowship Candles, let us also hear the voice of Jesus say, “You are the light of the world.”
 
Hymn of Praise: “For the Beauty of the Earth” VU 226 (tune VU 81)
 
Prayers of Adoration & Invocation: (Together) (Please be seated)
Gracious and generous God, in this time of worship, we come, seeking to know you better. We know that: in a world of poverty, you are abundance; in a world of loneliness, you are relationship and love; in world of pain, you are healing and courage. In glad thanksgiving, we acknowledge that you alone are the Giver of all the good we know. We depend on you each day for everything that makes life worth living. Receive our praise, O God, and teach us to appreciate every precious gift that comes from your hands, so that we may remember how much you have blessed us, through Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray, amen!
 
Prayer of Confession: (Responsive)
Minister: God of mercy, we confess that too often we have failed to be grateful for what we have; to be satisfied with who we are.    
People:  We have not welcomed others as we have been welcomed, or lived as forgiven, merciful people.
 
Minister: We recognize within ourselves, our jealous instincts, the reflex to be selfish, and that constant need we
                 feel for something more than we have.
All:           Forgive us, dear Lord, of every kind of wrong, every sin known and unknown, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose name we pray, amen.
 
Assurance of Pardon:
Minister:         Beloved in the Lord, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance: The mercy of our God is from everlasting to everlasting. Friends, hear and believe the good news of the Gospel: In Jesus Christ, God’s generous love reaches out to embrace us. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven and set free to begin again. At this time of Thanksgiving, let us give special thanks for God’s most generous love. To all who turn to the Lord then, he says, “your sins are forgiven.” He also says, “Follow me.”
All:           Thanks be to God!
 
A Song for the Young: “All Things Bright and Beautiful” VU 291
(Children are invited to come forward to sit at front of the Sanctuary)
 
A Time with Our Children:
 
The Lord’s Prayer: (Sung Together) VU 960
(Children are welcome to go with Diane McLean to the Heritage Hall for a Sunday School program.)
 
Prayer for Understanding (read by Rev. Forrester)
Living God, you feed us not only with bread from the earth but with the Living Bread of your Word, which is light and life for our living. Nourish us with your hope and comfort us with your presence as we listen for your voice speaking in the Scriptures today, revealed in Jesus Christ, your Living Word, in whose glorious and powerful name we pray, amen.
 
Scripture Readings (read by Valerie Balasubramaniam)

Old Testament: Jeremiah 29:1, 4–7  (New International Version)
This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon…. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
 
New Testament: Luke 17:11–19  (New International Version)
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
 
Reader:  This is the word of the Lord!
All:      Thanks be to God!
Sermon
"Moved with Gratitude!”
Ebenezer United Church
Jeremiah 29:1, 4–7 & Luke 17:11–19

 (NIV) | October 9, 2022
Rev. Nicholas Forrester
Hymn of Reflection: “Come, You Thankful People, Come” VU 516
 
Prayers of Thanksgiving, Intercession, and Supplication:
Minister: Generous God, on this Thanksgiving weekend, we pause to give you thanks for all things great and small, for moments of wonder and for ordinary exchanges, which fill our lives with meaning & offer us a sense of wellbeing.
People:  May our friends and neighbours see in us the signs of a grateful heart.  
Minister: Generous God, as we give thanks for the harvests of the earth and all the goodness that sustains us, we pray that you will show us how to live respectfully in creation and protect all that is precious to you.
People: In a year when harvests may have not been bountiful in many places, show us how to share what has been produced so that no one goes hungry.  
Minister: Generous God, we pray for the good of your world and the common good in our community. Where there is strife and hostility between peoples & nations, inspire leaders to show wisdom and courage in their decision-making.
People:  We pray for those areas hard hit by fire or flood, hurricane, cyclone, tornado, or typhoon, epidemic or earthquake: reach out to them with grace and mercy.
Minister: Generous God, we pray for our neighbours and those of our number who are facing health challenges or difficult times for any reason. And we pray for family and friends under stress or in sorrow whom we name in silence before you.
All:           In Jesus Christ, we have met your generous love and mercy. Through our lives and by our prayers, reveal his love and mercy to this generation in Jesus’ name, amen!
 
Invitation to the Offering: (read by Rev. Forrester)
At Thanksgiving, we celebrate the gifts of God’s good earth, which sustain us, as well as the labour of those who grow, harvest, and prepare these gifts so we can thrive. Today we bring the gifts we can share, offered so that the ministry and mission of Christ’s Church can thrive. Having this in mind, let us now return and present with thanksgiving and gratitude, our tithes, offerings, and gifts to God.
 
Offering Our Gifts
 
Offertory Hymn: “Grant Us, God, the Grace” VU 540
 
Prayer of Dedication: (read by Rev. Forrester)
Gracious and generous God, we present our gifts to you as a token of our thanksgiving for all we have received from your hand. Bless these gifts and multiply them, just as Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish to bless others. Use our gifts and our energy to grow the miracle of your love in our community and in your world, through the grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose name we pray, amen!
 
Prayers of the People:  Rev. Nicholas Forrester
We pray for all those in need, whether in body, mind or spirit, that your healing light and presence will bring comfort and peace. We pray for: Roy Dixon..., Angie Fix..., Michele Gillette..., Mavis Grange and her daughter..., Dorothy Grant..., Joan and Clyde's friends: David and Donnalee Gullison..., Phyllis Harvey’s husband, Cyril ..., Doug's sister Jackie,... Doug’s friend Carole and her brother...,Tanya's cousin, Edwin and friend, Jenna..., Sarah's father-in-law, Pavlos and his wife Flora..., Diane's friend, Tokiko..., Joseph Salins..., Mary's brother, Basil and sister Cathy..., Connie's friend, Elaine Leiba and her daughter Andrea...,
 
Closing Hymn: “Now Thank We All Our God” VU 236
 
Benediction: (Please stand as you are able)
Minister: Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Go with God, my friends. Amen.
 
Postlude:
“I Won’t Have to Cross Jordan Alone”  by Thomas Ramsey ~ Margaret Tribe and Murphy Hung
Sung by Susan Ryman with accompaniment by Murphy Hung.
Last week's sermon by Rev. Nicholas Forrester
Verse of the Week
Deuteronomy 13:4  (NIV)

It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
Food for Thought

Nature's beauty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude. 
Louie Schwartzberg
American director, producer, and cinematographer.
Inspiration
The Insane Biology of The Electric Eel
by Real Science
Heavenly Humour
from Doug Mark
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