DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406
Pastor Stephen Reist
We welcome all guests who have joined us.
Danforth Mennonite Church
Good Friday
April 7, 2023
Order of Service
Words of Welcome
Opening Hymn: #37 Be Still and Know
Prayer
Service of Communion (including VT #476)
Litany
Hymn: The Old Rugged Cross (men’s chorus)
Prayer
Hymn: #325 O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
Benediction
Leading Us in Worship
Worship Leader Dalton J.
Song Leader Kathy W.
Musicians Roger H. (piano)
Greeters Murray L., Carol J.
Zoom Host Bonnie W.
A/V Technician Don B.
A Man of Sorrows:
A Litany for Good Friday
Jesus on that last Thursday
weeping in the garden alone,
asks for a different path.
In the depths of fear, asking turns to pleading.
He is in all points tempted as we are
as he seeks the will of God.
A man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief.
And then it is Jesus in chains,
taken where he does not want to go.
During that long restless night in captivity,
sleep escapes him as he thinks about his hands, his feet,
the frailty of this human body of ours,
how we bleed.
A man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief.
Brought before judges with power of life and death,
there is no justice here for him,
and he does not look for it.
He knows the path he is walking.
They slap him, and call him a blasphemer.
Stripped and whipped, mocked and spat upon,
he is despised and rejected.
A man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief.
Carrying his own implement of execution,
a heavy beam resting on shredded shoulders,
the uphill climb to Golgotha is too much, and he falls.
A stranger picks up this burden for him,
and on they go.
The many people who are following,
they see him stretched out naked on the ground,
each blow of the hammer
reflected in the flinching of his whole body.
The humiliation of us all is upon him.
A man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief.
Jesus looks in the eyes of the men bent over him,
saying, “Father forgive them,
they don’t know what they are doing.”
But the soldiers know what they are doing,
they have done this before, many times.
They hoist him up, his whole weight hanging
on his feet, his hands; all this to the sound
of jeering from the crowd,
the taunting of the chief priests and scribes;
“He saved others, he cannot save himself.
He trusts in God, let God deliver him now.”
A man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief.
Hour passes hour, with the drip drip of blood,
and the rising agony of muscles cramping,
the struggle to breathe.
The sky grows dark.
In the fog of pain, he sees his mother
and the women who supported him watching,
along with the disciple that he loves.
Words are spoken, gasped out.
A man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief.
Jesus bows his head,
breathes his last,
and gives up his spirit.
Emmanuel, God with us,
gone from the land of the living.
Surely he has borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows;
he was a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief.
“Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com”
and adapted for this service.
Danforth Mennonite Church
Easter Sunday
April 9, 2023
Order of Service
Opening Hymn #340 – Lift Your Glad Voices
Welcome
Call to worship
Hymn #346 – Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Announcements
Offering
Prayer of Confession
Special Music
Congregational Prayer
Scripture: Matthew 28: 1-10 Colossians 3: 1-4
Hymn #333 – Low In the Grave He Lay
Message: Fully Alive in Christ How does the world look different if Jesus did rise?
Hymn #359 Christ Is Alive! Let Christians Sing
Benediction
Leading Us in Worship
Message Stephen R.
Worship Leader Erma M.
Song Leader Kathy W.
Musicians Jessica M. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters Dalton & Carol J.
Zoom Host Bonnie W.
A/V Technician Roger H.
Call to Worship
(based on Psalm 118:21–24)
Leader: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
All: Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Leader: We thank you, God, that you have answered us and have become our salvation.
People: The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
All: This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Leader: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
All: Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Confession
Leader: Lord, we stand in awe at the thought of your resurrection.
People: Can this really be true? Did this really happen? What kind of power is this?
Leader: What does this mean for our lives? For your church?
People: We confess to the Lord . . .
(silent prayer)
Leader: Lord, heal our every thought of disbelief in your presence and power. As you revealed yourself to your followers on that day, come to us with your delight and love.
All: With joyful hearts, we renew our relationship with you. Amen.
Scripture passages
Matthew 28:1-10 (The Message)
Risen from the Dead
28 1-4 After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move.
5-6 The angel spoke to the women: “There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.
7 “Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’ That’s the message.”
8-10 The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks. “Good morning!” he said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus said, “You’re holding on to me for dear life! Don’t be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I’ll meet them there.”
Colossians 3:1-4 (The Message)
He Is Your Life
3 1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.
3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS
Easter Potluck Breakfast
Sunday, April 9, 2022
9:30 am in the Fellowship Hall
Please bring finger foods for all to share.
Coffee, tea, and juice will be served.
10:45 am We are invited to the sanctuary for some pre-service Easter hymn singing.
Everyone is welcome.
Our next Messy Church is April 8th.
Do you have a story that you wish to share with us? Please submit it to Bonnie. Our next issue comes out mid-May.
Ladies Walking group – come and join us
On Tuesday, April 11th at 10:30 am (weather permitting), we will meet at Thomson Memorial Park at 1005 Brimley Road (on the east side, just north of Lawrence Ave. East) in Scarborough. It is the site of the Scarborough Historical Museum and includes historical houses from the 1790s that once belonged to the founding family of Scarborough, the Thomsons.
An email will go out on Monday April 10th to confirm the place and time.
If you need to be picked up or dropped off, please check in with fellow walkers or email Bonnie.
DMC will be part of Doors Open Toronto
May 27 & 28, 2023
Explore Toronto’s Buildings & Sites
- We are looking for volunteers to be greeters in the sanctuary, lower lobby and the Fellowship Hall. Your role will be to welcome people, answer questions etc. I will have a brief history of the building added to our welcome brochure and we also have the pamphlet “Who are the Mennonites”. Between these two brochures, most questions should be answered. A signup sheet will be posted for each day with one-hour increments. You decide what works for you.
- We will be singing hymns in the sanctuary between 2 and 3 pm on Saturday. I’m putting up a signup sheet so we know how many people plan to participate.
- As mentioned this past Sunday, we are looking for one or two volunteers to work with Tessa on a updated display board “A story of Faith, A story of Service”. You should be aware of programs we have run at DMC in the past and what we are doing currently (Bonnie can help with that). Please contact Roger or Bonnie if you would like to help.
Church directory and
birthday list
We are updating the church directory and the birthday/anniversary list.
When you are at church, please review and initial the documents on the table outside the sanctuary that:
Information is correct AND you give permission to publish.
I will contact via email those persons that don’t come in person to church.
The directory will only be distributed for those persons listed in it.
The birthday and anniversary information is used for notices in the bulletin. I don’t put in the year unless it is requested. We highlight (with your permission) birthdays ending in zero and five (e.g. 5. 50, 75, 80) in the church newsletter.
Worship Schedule reminder
April 16
Speaker Dalton J.
Worship leader Mike D.
Song Leader Ed F.
Musicians Kathy W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters Fazal & Leslie S.
ZOOM host Bonnie W.
A/V Tech Murray L.
April 23
Speaker Marilyn R.
Worship leader Cindy R.
Song Leader Kathy W.
Musicians Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters Leslie S., Murray L.
ZOOM host Bonnie W.
A/V Tech Mike D.
Canadian Mennonite subscriptions
All who attend Danforth Mennonite Church may receive a subscription to Canadian Mennonite. The biweekly magazine is delivered by mail and email. Subscriptions are paid for collectively through MCEC. To start a new subscription or to change your delivery preferences (to receive print, digital or both), please contact Bonnie by April 24th.
In summary, upcoming events
At Danforth
April
7 Good Friday service & communion at 10:30
8 Messy Church
9 Easter potluck breakfast
9 Easter Sunday service at 11:00
23 Jessie & Anthony ordination service
May
6 DMC Spring cleaning
13 Men’s breakfast
13 Messy Church
27/28 Doors Open Toronto
Wider Church
April
28 & 29 MCEC Annual Church Gathering