Sunday Worship Information

Ponder Anew – April 29

Good morning,

So, how is your Bible reading going? In the Old Testament, we have traveled a long way. We began with creation in Genesis 1 and are now into the kings and leaders in the history books. In the New Testament, we are only into the third gospel, written by Luke.

As you have been reading, what has made you angry or sad, or even happy? Is there anything that has made you laugh? I find some of the parables funny. If you have read the Old Testament, are there stories that you have seen that you wonder why they are in there?

The Bible is a complex book of history, parable, poetry, genealogy and stories. What have you enjoy most about the reading? Have you understood the full story of God just a little better?

What has God been telling you through your reading? Has it changed your life or changed the way you believe in God? Do you understand what Jesus is asking of us as a church as you read about him in the Gospels. The Gospel writers want us to believe in Jesus. Have you believed more now after reading Mark, Matthew and Luke about Jesus?

Keep reading. Keep believing. Keep challenging your own faith.

Shalom and strength for your journey of life and faith.

Fred

May 1, 2016 Bulletin

Ponder Anew – April 22

Good morning, and greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ( this is from Paul ).

“Do not let your hearts be troubled ” Jesus in John 14.

Jesus knows the state of our hearts. They are troubled.

Three weeks ago we got an email from a former Laotian refugee, who worked for Shirley and I in the Thai refugee camp. He wrote to us to let us know that a family we knew had had a death. Chanthip Markhala had passed away. We knew her husband, Phao, very well. Phao always had a smile for us. They live in Kitchener.

Then we received another email this week that Phao’s son, Metta had passed away as well. The visitation will be this evening in Kitchener. Metta has suffered from rickets, and had various surgeries to try to straighten his legs. They were never successful. He was very bowlegged. When we saw him three weeks ago, he was in a wheelchair.

On Monday morning, I got a call from Jennifer Bisch, Nadine Shantz’s daughter. She immediately said that her mom was fine, but her grandmother had passed away, and would I do her funeral. So, I have a small graveside service to do tomorrow afternoon. A small intimate gathering for the family; a very different service than the one we had for 500 people to remember Earl Wideman just a few weeks ago.

All of us experience death and loss. Death is part of life, part of the human condition. We are all in various stages of grief at all times of our life. Grief never ends. But, we honour our loved ones, we cry, we reflect on what they have meant in our lives, and we also go on in our own journeys. We continue to make a difference in the world and the lives of the people that we love, in response to our grief.

Shalom and strength for your own journey of grief and love,

Fred

April 24 Bulletin

Ponder Anew – April 15

Good morning everyone, including God,

Dear God,
( it is fine if you want to listen in as well )

It now almost three Sundays past the Resurrection, or Easter.
It is one week past communion and footwashing.
What do you want us to do now?
Keep worshiping?
Keep praying?
Keep giving money and receiving the money to bring about the Kingdom.
Keep teaching, learning, serving and speaking the truth in love.
Keep planting corn and tulips and tomatoes.
Keep on proclaiming peace and working for peace in our world.
Keep being the people of God, everywhere and at every time of the day.
Keep accepting the grace of you and from each other.
Do not judge anyone because you do not know their story (Anne Lamott).

Please Lord, do not hold it against us, when we sin and fail each other.
Please do not hold it against us when we are greedy.
Please do not hold it against any of us, when we think that we know it all.
Please Lord…… please….

What do you want to pray to the God of Heaven and Earth today…..?

Shalom and strength for our journeys into the future.

Fred

April 17, 2016 bulletin

Ponder Anew – April 8

Good morning,

” Do not conform to the pattern of this world…” Romans 12:2 —- the Apostle Paul

We live in a secular society. In Canada, we have been moving in this direction since after WW II. I grew up in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and I do not remember many of my classmates going to church. I attended a secular university, Trent in Peterborough, and very few students went to church on a Sunday.

We would like it to be different. We might like to have more religious language in politics or on T.V. or through the Internet. But, we are at a place in the history of the church in society. More and more people, know less and less about the Christian faith. This has nothing to do with immigration of people of other faiths.

Many of the people who have left the church, say that they want to remain spiritual but not religious. They do not want to be tied to any church or program, but they are aware of their spiritual needs. They still want their own spiritual needs met by a higher being or are aware of their need to be in silence and meditation.

As people of Floradale Mennonite, we have experienced the love of God through the life/death/resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. How do we engage in conversation and life with others, who do not share this understanding, or even have the stories or language of our faith. It is like we are speaking German and Spanish to each other.

This is the challenge of going forward here at Floradale. I do not think we can go back to the the 1960’s. We live in a secular society. How does our faith journey intersect with the world that we live in? How do we relate to those who do not share our story of faith? How do we invite them to belong to Floradale?

” We have different gifts, according to the grace given to all of us. ” Romans 12:6

Shalom and strength for the journey of life and faith,

Fred

April 10, 2016 Bulletin

Ponder Anew – March 31

Good morning,

On April 10, we are hosting the play, “This will lead to Dancing” put on by Theater of the Beat. This drama group is made up of Mennonite young adults who are committed to the church. They have written and performed about four different plays.

“This will lead to Dancing” is about the church’s interaction and response to the many questions around same-sex relationships. Even though I have not seen it, I am assuming it will make me laugh, but also challenge some of my views on the subject. I invite you to attend the play, and come with an open mind. We want to be a more welcoming church to any visitors. How will this play affirm, or challenge, our direction in welcoming the world to our church?

Mennonite Church Canada has had a six year discussion on the issue. This says to me that it is an important and difficult issue to talk about. Floradale has not really engaged the subject. Church Council has agreed to host the play, to engage ourselves on the subject of same-sex relationships. Mennonite Church Canada is bringing a recommendation to its annual sessions. I am going to go as a delegate from Floradale, so I need your input to prepare for the discussion. The play is our first attempt here at Floradale to enter the conversation. It is not the end of the discussion for me, or for the church.

Shalom and strength for the journey of faith and live,
Fred

church bulletin -Apr 3’16

Ponder Anew – March 24

Good morning everyone,

We are now in the middle of Holy Week. As we move toward Easter, what part of the Passion story of Jesus do you reflect on? Do you go to the dinner, where Jesus says many things, offers his friends a meal, and where he washes the feet of his disciples. If you had a seat at the dinner table, where would you be seated, and what sort of question would you have asked Jesus?

Or your thoughts might go to the events after the dinner is over, and Jesus is arrested, put on trial and finally, is put on a cross to die? Jesus is tortured, spit on, and made fun of during that night before he is raised on the cross. As you think of what Jesus went through for the world, is it important for your faith that Jesus’ suffering is remembered during Holy Week?

In the end, Jesus dies on the cross. In our worship space, we have an empty cross. Is this important for you, to move to the resurrection and not have Jesus on the cross? Jesus’ life is all about love. Where do you experience the love of God in the whole story from dinner to the empty tomb?

As we move to our Good Friday and Easter Sunday services, may you find yourself in the story in new ways. With the passing of Earl Wideman, the story might change for us, as it does every time someone we love passes away. Our faith changes when death arrives to us, just as Jesus’ death changes everything in our faith.

Pray for us all, as we re-live the events that are essential to our faith.

Shalom and strength for our faith and life.
Fred

church bulletin -Mar 27’16

Ponder Anew – March 18

Good morning everyone,

We invite everyone to come to our Good Friday service.

The choir will sing.
We will take the bread…. and the cup… to remember the last meal that Jesus had with his disciples.
We will wash each others feet or each others hands or take a stone to remember our dedication to service in the name of Jesus Christ.
We will remember that Christ died.

Come as a member of the Floradale community. Please come if you are sad and broken. Please come if you are angry or depressed. Please come if you healthy and happy. Please come if you are hopeful and compassionate . Please come to experience God as we worship together.

In our Mennonite tradition, we have emphasized that we must be in good relationship with each other. This is a good thing, but, this time come to the table to remind yourself that God loves you no matter what. Come and taste the bread and sip the juice, and feel the enormous and unlimited grace of God.

Dear God, Holy and Divine One,

We invite you as the loving God,
to our service on Friday.
We expect you to show up,
to be there to protect us.
We will sing, pray and speak,
to let you know that we love you and worship you.
Amen.

Shalom and strength for the journey of life and faith.

Fred

church bulletin -Mar 20’16

Ponder Anew – March 11

Good morning everyone,

In Luke 14:16 it says, “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests…”

Recently, Shirley and I had the brunch buffet at Pebbles Restaurant in Varney. Shirley’s Aunt and Uncle live just west of Durham, and so we decided to take in some good Mennonite food. Pebbles is owned by some conservative Mennonite people. On that day all the staff was Mennonite. I could tell because of the dress and the accent of the servers.

So, who came to eat that day?
There was an Amish family, the parents and their two boys. The boys did not remove their hats. A couple came in, and the woman had oxygen. There were also some older people as well as some large younger families. Next to us, was a family of five. The parents spoke some eastern European language, maybe Russian. The younger children spoke only English.

When they left, two Sikh men sat down. They were chicken farmers. I believe they had met each other only recently. The one man told the other gentleman about Jewish writing and theology. He went back about 500 years. Two Sikh men talking Jewish theology surrounded by Mennonite people and good Mennonite food, that is probably not good for you.

For me, this is a slight vision for the kingdom of God. It is world wide communion in a small rural Mennonite restaurant in Varney. People from various places eating and living in harmony. Where do you see the kingdom of God in your world? Where have you seen examples in your own life?

Shalom and strength for your journey of life and faith.

Fred

https://floramc.org/media/bulletins/

Blog Post for March 4

Good morning everyone,

Everyone is invited for breakfast on Sunday at 10:00. The bulletin said, “Breakfast includes blueberry French toast casserole with cinnamon chunky apples and/or maple syrup, sausage, juice, muffins, yogurt, tea and coffee.” What a morning it will be.

In the Old Testament, one of the most important rituals is the passover meal. It reminds the Jewish people of how God redeemed them out of Egypt. There is matzos, bitter herbs and veggies. Religious Jews re-live this once a week, on Fridays.

Mennonites celebrate communion, remembering the last meal Jesus had with disciples, but never every week inflatable slide For Sale. Here at Floradale we do it twice a year. We do it to remind us of the sacrifice of Jesus. We share the bread and cup to remember. What do you remember when you take the elements?

Please come to our Good Friday communion service to renew our faith and come closer to God.

Please come Sunday to renew our commitment to each other. We all love to eat, and it will be a great breakfast. Let us treat it as a communion breakfast and recommit ourselves to God and to each other. The banquet begins.

Oh God,

My heart is open to you

Please come and sit in my heart.

Fred

Ponder Anew – February 26

Good morning everyone,

What is your deepest desire in your relationship with God? The people who guide other people in their spiritual path or journey, will often ask a question like this. We are all at some place in our lifetime with God. At times, we are in a good space with God. We know that God loves us, and we feel that love through the Word or through creation. We are at peace with our job, our life, our marriage and with God. It is a wonderful comforting place to be. We are at a place where we can pray to God, with thanksgiving and celebration, and joy.

Then, there are the other times in our lives, where we pray, when God seems to be absent. We have sinned, and we cannot feel that God has forgiven us. We might be afraid that God does not care, or is even angry with us. They might be things that happen without cause. It is what life is all about. We might do good works to try to find God. We might pray with the Bible to find God again, for the first time. We might go to Cuba or Toronto to find rest in God. Where do you usually go, after you have lost God, in order to re-orient yourself to the Divine?

Psalm 13 says,
“How long, O Lord?
Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
……….
But I trust in your unfailing love
My heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
For he has been good to me.”

What happens with those ….. in your life, where we go from despair to hopefulness in God?

May we all find God in extraordinary ways as we walk toward Jerusalem and the cross.

Shalom and strength.

Fred