CHRISTMAS 2017

CHRISTMAS IS A REASON...

A REASON TO BE JOYFUL,

A REASON TO BELIEVE,

A REASON TO BE GRATEFUL

FOR THE BLESSINGS WE RECEIVE,

A REASON TO HAVE FAITH AND TRUST

IN THE LORD ABOVE...

CHRISTMAS IS OUR REASON 

TO BE FILLED WITH HOPE AND LOVE.

ADVENT AT HOME SERIES

Created by Elsie Rempel and Megan Kamei, the Advent At Home  series, originally produced by Mennonite Church Canada has been a well received Advent resource for families since 2002-03. Beginning in the fall of 2016, this resource will continue to be developed by the Anabaptist Faith Formation Network and the Central Plains Conference of Mennonite Church USA. This resource is called "Come, Walk in the Light of Day". You can download it at the CommonWord Bookstore and Resource Centre.   

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NEW YEAR'S PRAYER OF HOPE

Lord, we stand at the door of this New Year,

thankful for the year behind us,
a gift through which we’ve lived and moved.
At this timely threshold,
with our feet poised to walk into 2015,
we turn to you with our prayer of hope.

Hope springs eternal when we walk with you.
Help us walk this year with you.
We hope that this will be a year filled
with joy, with love, with laughter,
a year filled with plenty and abundance,
with purpose and fulfillment.

But if the year brings hard times and hurt,
pain and sorrow, tears and trials,
we know that your care and comfort
will console us month by month.
Grace us with forgiving spirits.

As a community help us walk
with the happy and the sorrowful,
holding their stories tenderly.

We hope for peace in our time,
for an end to wild war music.

We long to hear the sound of governments
listening to their people,
heeding their pleas for justice.

We long to hear the sound of the children of the world
cheering together because peace has been declared,
and they do not have to fear anymore.

We hope for healing for our beloved earth,
for harmony and balance where we have caused
disharmony and unbalance.

This year, Lord, help us to feel in our bones
the beauty of this life, this world;
its sounds and sights and smells and tastes,
the lavishness of being
which you give us in seconds and minutes
and hours and days and weeks and months.

Move in us, have your way with us,
so that on the last day of the year
we can say, wholeheartedly,
this year has been a gift
through which we’ve lived and moved
as followers of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Copyright Carol Penner

www.leadinginworship.com

NEW YEAR'S PRAYER OF HOPE

Lord, we stand at the door of this New Year,

thankful for the year behind us,
a gift through which we’ve lived and moved.
At this timely threshold,
with our feet poised to walk into 2015,
we turn to you with our prayer of hope.

Hope springs eternal when we walk with you.
Help us walk this year with you.
We hope that this will be a year filled
with joy, with love, with laughter,
a year filled with plenty and abundance,
with purpose and fulfillment.

But if the year brings hard times and hurt,
pain and sorrow, tears and trials,
we know that your care and comfort
will console us month by month.
Grace us with forgiving spirits.

As a community help us walk
with the happy and the sorrowful,
holding their stories tenderly.

We hope for peace in our time,
for an end to wild war music.

We long to hear the sound of governments
listening to their people,
heeding their pleas for justice.

We long to hear the sound of the children of the world
cheering together because peace has been declared,
and they do not have to fear anymore.

We hope for healing for our beloved earth,
for harmony and balance where we have caused
disharmony and unbalance.

This year, Lord, help us to feel in our bones
the beauty of this life, this world;
its sounds and sights and smells and tastes,
the lavishness of being
which you give us in seconds and minutes
and hours and days and weeks and months.

Move in us, have your way with us,
so that on the last day of the year
we can say, wholeheartedly,
this year has been a gift
through which we’ve lived and moved
as followers of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Copyright Carol Penner

www.leadinginworship.com

Christmas Day

Wishing you a joyous Christmas Day! 

Merry Christmas from BC - Part One

I know it's been a long time in coming but I purposely waited for the Christmas Season to come around before our 2014 Retreat reporting!

Here is the link for PART ONE ! Enjoy!

A Santa Sack big enough to hide a Committee member in! :-)
Found at the 2014 Annual MCC Festival in Abbotsfford.

Fourth Advent

The fourth candle – the angel’s candle – is lit, along with the first three, on the fourth Sunday of Advent, reminding the faithful of the heavenly host or large army of angels who proclaimed Jesus’ arrival with “Behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy!” The much-anticipated birth of Jesus on Christmas is just a few days away, the culmination of four Sundays of Advent that are imbued with hope, peace, love, and joy.  (from Manila Bulletin)

Third Advent

"Advent is a festival of lights.  

We light candles for four weeks to symbolize core elements of our faith.  

The lights shine in the darkness of winter.  

As servants of God we are called to be light to the nations."

(Carolyne Epp-Fransen)

Carolyne and her husband, Gordon, serve as MCC Representatives for Jordan, Iraq, and Iran and live in Amman, Jordan.  To read Carolyne's blog, "A Light to the Nations", posted on December 10, 2014 as guest writer for the MCC Ottawa office, please click here.

MennoMedia's Christmas sale continues and.....

.....for a limited time only they are offering free shipping on a wide selection of books! Click here to read the descriptions and find out how you can save! 

Second Advent

God speaks peace to us, his people.  

In peace we proclaim God's comfort to each other.

(From our Facebook page)

First Advent

Many churches celebrate Advent with the lighting of a candle on each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day.  The four candles represent hope, peace, joy and love and help us to prepare out hearts to celebrate the coming of our Saviour.  A fifth candle may be lit on Christmas Day and is known as the Christ candle.  Throughout this busy season, Advent wreaths or centrepieces (such as the one pictured here) are a reminder of the real reason we celebrate. 

(From our Facebook page)

Christmas Greetings!

May the love, that came that Christmas night,

light all your days with hope and joy!