DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406

 We welcome all guests who have joined us.

 

Danforth Mennonite Church
December 8, 2024   11:00 a.m.
Order of Service

 

Lighting the candle of PEACE

Words of Welcome

Call to Worship & Prayer

Hymn: VT #57  Holy Spirit, Come with Power

Announcements

Offering and prayer VT #1015

Hymn:  VT #258  Love Has Come

Congregational prayer

Hymn: VT #533     Quietly, Peacefully

Scripture reading:  Joel 2:12-22, 28-32, Luke 11:9-13

Message:  What will you ask for?

Benediction:  VT #839 Go Ye Now in Peace

 

Leading Us in Worship
Message                             Margaret A.
Worship Leader             Bonnie W.
Song Leader                     Sue S.
Musician                            Bonnie W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                             Cindy R., Bethany W.
Zoom Host                        Mike D.
A/V Technician               Fazal S.

 

December Hymn of the month   VT #258   Love Has Come

 

Adult Discussion Class
Coffee will be served

This Sunday the Adult Discussion group will be looking at our program for 2025.  We would like your input on what we would like to do – topics, book study, etc.
All are welcome to join us in the sanctuary at 10:00 a.m.

 

Call to worship
based on Joel 2:12-13

 

Leader: Let us return to the Lord with all our hearts.

People: With our whole heart?

Leader: The hurting and hurtful part? The bleeding and empty part?

People:   The sewn-up-tight-don’t-come-in heart part?

All: With our whole heart, with all our hearts we come to worship the Lord God,

Leader: whose merciful compassion, abundant patience, and faithful forgiving love meet us in our need.

 

Scripture Reading
Joel 2:12-22, 28-32

Change your hearts
¹² Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your hearts,
with fasting, with weeping, and with sorrow;
¹³ tear your hearts
and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
very patient, full of faithful love,
and ready to forgive.
¹⁴ Who knows whether he will have a change of heart
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
¹⁵ Blow the horn in Zion;
demand a fast;
request a special assembly.
¹⁶ Gather the people;
prepare a holy meeting;
assemble the elders;
gather the children,
even nursing infants.
Let the groom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
¹⁷ Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the Lord’s ministers, weep.
Let them say, “Have mercy, Lord, on your people,
and don’t make your inheritance a disgrace,
an example of failure among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

Words of compassion and promise
¹⁸ Then the Lord became passionate about this land, and had pity on his people.
¹⁹ The Lord responded to the people:
See, I am sending you
the corn, new wine, and fresh oil,
and you will be fully satisfied by it;
and I will no longer make you
a disgrace among the nations.
²⁰ I will remove the northern army far from you
and drive it into a dried-up and desolate land,
its front into the eastern sea,
and its rear into the western sea.
Its stench will rise up;
its stink will come to the surface.
The Lord is about to do great things!
²¹ Don’t fear, fertile land;
rejoice and be glad,
for the Lord is about to do great things!
²² Don’t be afraid, animals of the field,
for the meadows of the wilderness will turn green;
the tree will bear its fruit;
the fig tree and grapevine will give their full yield.

²⁸ After that I will pour out my spirit upon everyone;
your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
²⁹ In those days, I will also pour out my
spirit on the male and female slaves.

³⁰ I will give signs in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹ The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. ³² But everyone who calls on the Lord’s name will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be security, as the Lord has promised; and in Jerusalem, the Lord will summon those who survive.

Luke 11:9-13
⁹ And I tell you: Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ Everyone who asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. To everyone who knocks, the door is opened.

¹¹ “Which father among you would give a snake to your child if the child asked for a fish? ¹² If a child asked for an egg, what father would give the child a scorpion? ¹³ If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

 

DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

The choir will be singing at our service on December 22nd. All are welcome. There will be a practice during the pre-service singing on Sunday, December 15^th as well as a short practice after church on December 15thWe are singing VT# 242 – Night Long Awaited.

See Kathy W. if you have any questions.

 

Treasurer’s Report: We received $11,557 in offerings in November. We need $8,114 in offerings to meet our 2024 budget. These November donations along with the absence of a paid Pastor have led to a $40,457 operating surplus to the end of November.
 
In November we sent a $550 cheque to the Nourish East End Food Bank. This money was raised during our Thanksgiving Food Bank drive. There has now been an additional $800 donated to our Food Bank fund. We will be passing on our Food Bank donations to the 40 Teesdale Food Bank and the Nourish East End Food Bank by the end of the year. Our Food Bank fund is open for donations year around. Please designate your donation “Food Bank” to support this need.
 
Donations to Danforth Mennonite Church are always welcome through Sunday morning offerings, mailed cheques or email transfers at dmmc2174@gmail.com. Please contact Roger H.if you would like to join the monthly giving program which happens through bank transfers on the 15th of each month. Thank you to all for your generous support for the work of our church.

It’s early but I am updating the contact section of the DMC Directory for 2025 in hopes of having it ready for our new Pastor when he joins us. The booklet will be on the lobby table.  Please review and make any necessary changes, and initial that you want the information in the directory.

I will contact those of you who can’t come to the church building.

 

 

Please remit any DMC related expenses to Roger H. before December 15^th.   We want to pay out all expenses before year end.

 

Please let us know how many are attending from your group/family.  What are you bringing? 
The sign-up sheet will be posted on the bulletin board. 
There will also be a second sign-up sheet for volunteers for setting up tables, greeting etc. 

Containers wanted for leftovers

 

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)

 

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.

Let’s fill the tree with mittens.

 

Ladies Walking group

We will be visiting Allan Gardens with plans to meet there at 10:30 a.m.  We are carpooling and some are going by TTC.

If you need a ride, please contact Bonnie.

 

From Canadian Mennonite:  With the Canada Post strike, your December print issue will be delayed. Sign up for digital delivery to get it by email on November 29. CM sends an email each Friday and attaches a PDF copy of the magazine once per month. Contact Lorna at office@canadianmennonite.org.

 

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 15
Message                  Carol O.
Worship leader   Erma M.
Song Leader          Dalton J.
Musicians              Jessica M. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                 Cindy R., Bethany W.
ZOOM host          Mike D.
A/V Tech                Murray L.

December 22
Message                Carol O.
Worship leader Mike D.
Song Leader        Sue S.
Musicians             Kathy W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                Leslie S., Tessa R.
ZOOM host         Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                Roger H.

 

WIDER CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Sunday services
Come, let us worship together

The St. Clair O’Connor Community invites everyone at DMC to join us for a

Service of Carols & Readings
On Sunday Dec. 15 at 7 pm.

Please note … we are hoping to sing Carols with the Long-Term Care residents at 6:30 that evening and will confirm this in the days leading up to the 15th.

Thank you for circling this event on your calendar. The residents at SCOC are most appreciative of our support.

 

In Summary, upcoming events:

At Danforth

December
7  Messy Church
11  Ladies walking group – Allan Gardens
14  Men’s breakfast
14  DMC Christmas banquet
24  DMC Christmas Eve service
February
2  DMC AGM

Wider Church

December
15 SCOC service of Carols and readings

Community corner

December
7  Pax Chorale Christmas through the Ages
8  Toronto Beach Chorale concert
16 & 17  Messiah  in Uxbridge