DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406
We welcome all guests who have joined us.
Danforth Mennonite Church
December 22, 2024 11:00 a.m.
Order of Service
Welcome
Land Acknowledgment
Call to Worship
Candle Lighting
Opening Hymn: VT #47 God of our Strength
Announcements
Hymn: VT #258 Love Has Come
Offering
Hymn: VT #715 Longing for Light
Congregational Prayer
Scriptures: Luke 1: 46 – 55
Hymn: VT #222 My soul proclaims with wonder
Message: Find the miracle in the mess
Closing Hymn: VT #209 We Dream of a Turning
Benediction
Leading Us in Worship
Message Carol O.
Worship Leader Mike D.
Song Leader Sue S.
Musician Kathy W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters Leslie S., Tessa R.
Zoom Host Bonnie W.
A/V Technician Roger H.
December hymn of the month: VT #258 Love Has Come
Hymn Sing Sunday and Adult Discussion Class will return in January 2025
Call to worship
Leader: God shows His strength:
People: God casts the proud from their thrones.
Leader: God shows His mercy:
People: God helps the meek live together in peace.
Leader: God shows His justice:
People: God sends the rich away hungry.
Leader: God shows His loving care:
People: God feeds the hungry.
Leader: God shows His constant love…
People: …to His servants in the past, the present, and the future.
All: Thanks be to God, our eternal hope and Saviour.
Candle lighting
Reader 1: Mary was told that she would be the mother to the promised Messiah.
Reader 2: And she responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.”
Reader 1: With the courage of Mary, we can accept the journey ahead of us.
Reader 2: But we do not need to walk it alone.
Reader 1: We need the support of others.
All: With Christ as our center, we join hands with others, walking together on the journey.
Benediction
May Jesus be nurtured, and born, and grow in our lives so that he would find a home with us.
May we also be at home with him.
May the world be blessed to see and know and love this Jesus, who is “God-with-us”.
Amen.
Scripture Reading
Luke 1:46-55
Mary’s Song of Praise
46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
50 indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS
All are welcome to join us for the
Christmas Eve service.
The children will be participating
Cold drinks and cookies
will be served
after the service.
Danforth Mennonite Church
Annual General meeting
February 2, 2025
Dates to note:
- submissions no later than January 15
- AGM booklet will be emailed out January 22
- printed copies upon request – will be available January 26 (Sunday before the meeting)
Did you know?
DMC Prayer requests
This past Monday Bonnie sent out the prayer requests from Sunday’s service to the BULLETIN email group.
During our congregational prayer time every Sunday, someone is designated to document the prayer requests which Bonnie then sends out to the “WEEKLY PRAYER” email group on Monday.
If you have trouble hearing the requests, or can’t attend the services, but would like to know what the requests have been, please contact Bonnie and she will add you on to the WEEKLY PRAYER email group.
Christmas Giving Tree – 2024
In the weeks leading up to Christmas we will be collecting items of clothing suitable for the season (hats, scarves, mitts, socks) and non-perishable food items. These will be dropped off for distribution to struggling families in the Taylor/Massey Community. Non-perishable food items will be shared with the Nourish East End Food Bank program. $$ donations via the church and earmarked for the institution you desire will also be forwarded to Nourish East End Food Bank and/or Teesdale Community Foodbank which helps them purchase needed scarce items such as meat and milk.
Let us think about food and clothing scarcity and how we can help to make a difference.
The Christmas giving tree is set up in the sanctuary. Please hang up your gifts on the tree or drop off your donations in the bins.
Thank you for your generosity.
It’s getting filled up!
Who We Support
In December Church Council will be reviewing the financial support in our budget for other charities beyond our congregation. Currently our core support is for St. Clair O’Connor Community ($2,500 for Chaplaincy Support) and the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada ($3,060). We also support MCC Ontario, New Life Centre, Sanctuary Toronto, Willowgrove and Theatre of the Beat ($300 each). In 2023 we added the purchase of 1 acre of crop for the World Grains Food Bank through a project with other local churches known as Danforth Grow Hope ($600).
Church Council and the Finance Committee is inviting input from the congregation in this process. Is there a charitable organization that reflects our values and identity that you feel Danforth should add for financial support? Would you like to see a different mixture in our support? Should the dollar amount for our support be changed?
Please contact a council member by December 8th with your suggestions. They are Mike D., Donna A., Don B. and Roger H.
Worship Schedule reminder
December 29
Message Jim W.
Worship leader Linda D.
Song Leader Kathy W.
Musicians Jessica M. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters Leslie S., Tessa R.
ZOOM host Mike D.
A/V Tech Don B.
January 5
Message Robin W.
Worship leader Margaret A.
Song Leader Don B.
Musicians Kathy W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters Vic & Mary Jane G.
ZOOM host Bonnie W.
A/V Tech Mike D.
Hymn Sing Kathy W.
WIDER CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS
A thankyou note from Theatre of the Beat Dear friends at Danforth Mennonite Church, I hope you're having a lovely December so far! I'm writing to express gratitude on behalf of the entire TOTB team for your recent donation to our Amplifying Social Change fundraising campaign. Your generous gift, which was matched 1:1 by a small group of anonymous donors, will go twice as far in helping Theatre of the Beat with our exciting endeavors for 2025, including:
-
Delivering 25 free drama-based workshops to underresourced youth in Ontario, educating them about consent and mental health & helping them build confidence, community, and creative expression
-
Delivering 25 free workshops to seniors in Ontario, using the arts to share important messages and intervention strategies for elder abuse prevention
-
Developing our new play Bargaining Human Life, which explores human trafficking, forced labour and modern slavery and connects these issues to hyperconsumerism, global supply chains, and individual purchasing power
-
Mounting the 2nd annual Emerging Producers Festival, which will offer hands-on training to four youth artist-producers and showcase four new Canadian works-in-progress addressing social justice topics.
We're excited to stay in touch about these upcoming activities, and so grateful to have your support as we keep leveraging the power of theatre for positive social change! Wishing you happiness & health, Malia R. Development Manager Pronouns: she/her theatreofthebeat.ca
Urgent Financial Need – MCEC
As we approach the end of the year, we invite you to prayerfully consider making a donation to support the ongoing ministry and mission of MCEC. We face a financial challenge to meet the approved budget. Despite strong reduction in expenses, revenue has greatly declined. Our MCEC Finance Update for December
(https://mcec.ca/res/pub/Documents/Financial-Statements/MCEC-Finance-Update-December-2024.pdf) outlines the details.
In Summary, upcoming events:
At Danforth
December
24 DMC Christmas Eve service
February
1 Pastor Pieter joins us as our Pastor
2 DMC AGM
Wider Church
December
Community corner
December