Visitors:
We're delighted you are here. Please
complete a Welcome card
(at the Welcome Table) and we invite you to introduce yourself during
the
sharing time.
Skit: Nic and Abe
Opening Words
Opening Prayer: Saving God, where but to you
can we
turn for help in
troubled times? Our help comes from you, who made heaven and earth. You
alone create and protect us, keeping us in your care. Amen
Songs:
HWB
582 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
STS
59 From ashes to the living fount
Children's Time: Where does help come from?
Scripture Reading:
John 3:1-17
Confession Our Sins:
Leader:
We look to
God, crying out for rescue
People: We have not
responded to the Lord's call; our feet have slipped from God's ways
Leader:
If we do
not trust God's voice, where will we find help?
People:
Our help
comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. The
Lord keep our steps; the Lord's
care never ceases
Song:
STS
68 Kyrie
Sermon
Called
by God to do one thing
Confession our faith (Unison Reading):
Abraham
trusted God, and that trust set him right.
The
same is true for us, Abraham's spiritual descendants
God
keeps his promise in Jesus Christ,
Birthing
us through the Spirit to share Abraham's trust,
To
live in God's presence,
To
be witnesses to God's power to bring something out of nothing,
Life
out of death.
Song:
HWB
546 Guide my Feet
Sharing/Offering/Announcements
HWB
HWB
545 Be thou my Vision
Sending
Song Leader: Nelson
Music: Anita Worship
Leader:
Roxanne
Children's Story: Dave Py, Speaker: Paul Versluis
If you
have congregational concerns, please contact the pastor or the
Congregational Life Committee:
Janet Reedy, Patti Sprunger, or Dave Polley
SHALOM COMMUNITY CHURCH HAPPENINGS
Small Group
Opportunities: the following groups meet regularly and are open to
interested persons in the SCC community.
You can drop in and ‘drop out’ as you wish. Call the contact person for information,
dates, times, directions or location.
Moms’ Small Group
·
Patti Sprunger
Peace and Justice Interest Group, Monday,
Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m.,
Weaverdycks’
·
Gertrude Warkentin
Readers’ Club: “Pearl" by Mary Gordon, Versluis, March 30, at 7:00pm.
· Priscilla Chamberlain
Slow Cookers:
·
Gertrude Warkentin
Committee Meetings:
Nurture Committee:
Worship Committee:
Monday, March
3, 7:30 pm,
Weaverdycks’
Congregational Life Committee:
Tuesday, Feburary 26, 7:30
pm, Versluis
Service Outreach Committee: Thursday, Feb 28, 6:30 Tom and Kathy B
You
can contribute money to Mennonite Church USA
organizations in a
single, secure credit/debit card transaction at giving.MennoniteUSA.org.
“Genocide” is the topic for the National Youth
Christian Citizenship Seminar, March 29-April 3, 2009, New
York City
and Washington D.C.
for high school youth and adult advisors, sponsored by the
Church of the
Brethren. Register by February
28. www.brethren.org/genbd/yya
Living as a peacemaker can be a lonely and
exhausting task
in a troubled world. Central
District Conference is in the process of developing a retreat
to nurture,
encourage, and strengthen the peacemakers among us. We hope to
create a
time of reflection and renewal at Camp Friedenswald
May 16-18,
2008 for all who desire new energy in their work for peace. This is not
a training
or a workshop, but a time of inner reflection and sharing with a circle
of
likeminded partners in faith. We hope to make this retreat accessible
to
everyone at all financial resource levels. Is this something you would
support
financially or personally by joining us or commissioning others'
participation?
MMA Sharing Funds
provided $500 in matching funds to support special needs in our church
this
last year. Eligible grant amount
for 2008 is $2000. We have 14 Shalom participants who own or
participate in MMA
projects and services which help fund the Sharing Fund.
Contact Gertrude Warkentin the
congregation's MMA
advocate for more information
All women are invited -
"Women in Conversation: Daring To Let Your Spirits Soar" retreat. Join speaker Carolyn Holderread Heggen
for a retreat designed especially for women to explore "women's unique
way
of experiencing the
Divine." Weekend includes workshops,
worship, pampering and fellowship! Retreats
are co-sponsored by
Mennonite Women USA and Laurelville
Mennonite Church Center. Choose from two locations: April 11-13,
2008 at Laurelville; or April 18-20,
2008 at the Wichita Airport Hilton. To register, E-mail
info@Laurelville.org,
call 800-839-1021, or see http://www.laurelville.org/
www.Laurelville.org. Register by March 1
for a $10 discount. March
28th deadline.
"The
Festival of Faith & Writing is a biennial gathering of readers
and
writers hosted by Calvin
College. At the
Festival,
our
goal is to provide a vibrant community where people
come together to discuss, celebrate, and explore the ways in which
faith is
represented in literature and how it plays out in our world today.
Festival
2008 will take place at Calvin
College on April 17-19, 2008."
Cost: $165 (before Feb.
29) / $180. The list of writers
includes Kathleen Norris, Mary Karr, Krista Tippitt, Michael Chabon,
Mary
Gordon,Haven Kimmel and Scott Cairns. See Joy Versluis if
interested in
attending.
Our next Interfaith
Hospitality Network week is Monday, March 31-Sunday April 6. Shalom will be responsible for part of
Monday, all of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Please
look ahead and consider helping
one of those days.
Sunday, March 30–ICPJ ANNUAL MEETING. 6:30 dessert potluck
reception. 7:00
presentation, “Liberty
and Justice for
All: Securing Due Process Rights for
Immigrants.” by Nadia Tonova, Advocacy Coordinator
of
ACCESS, the Arab
Community Center
for Economic and Social
Services. 7:45
business
meeting. Free and open to the public, voting for the business meeting
limited
to ICPJ members. Location: King of Kings Lutheran
Church,
2685 Packard Rd.,
Ann Arbor. Details:
734-663-1870, chuck@icpj.net
Sunday, March 9–THEOLOGY ON TAP: REDEMPTIVE
VIOLENCE.
St. Andrew’s rector Rev. Alan Gibson will discuss the recurring pattern
of violence in pursuit of the greater good that has been seen
throughout human
history. This “myth of
redemptive violence” pervades human culture from the cartoons our
children see on television, to the scenes we see on the nightly news,
to the
stories we hear and celebrate in religious services. As Holy Week
approaches we
will look at some of the ways violence shapes our religious thinking
and the
implications it has on us as people of faith. Sunday, March 9, 6:30-9 pm, Arbor Brewing
Company, 116 E.
Washington St. , Ann Arbor.
Drinks and selections from the
appetizer menu
are available starting at 6:30 pm, presentation
starts at
7:00 pm. For more information call Robin or John at 734-213-5378.
Hosted by the
Outreach Committee at St. Andrew’s Episcopal
Church.