Today’s service will be offered in 2 formats – view the video below, read the text or download and print the service from this document – link.
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Breaking news – VBS spots are now available! Our Galactic Starveyors VBS camp has had a few spots open up, some of our campers are now able to be junior leaders, so…. If you were disappointed to see the deadline last week, you haven’t missed out! Or if your child would like to invite a friend to join us, please direct them to the website www.waltonmemorial.com or call Alison asap at 905-827-1643, to grab these spots as they won’t last long.
Cans for camp – As part of our preparations for VBS we are collecting empty small (284ml) soup cans for a craft. If you could clean and save your cans & drop them off at the church we would appreciate it!
Help send a kid to camp – Over the years the Walton congregation has supported the Kerr Street Mission in sending children from low-income families to summer day camp. To ensure that all eligible children are able to be a part of camp this summer we need your support. It costs $32 per day to allow a child to participate. Please sponsor a day or two (or more!) and make a difference in a child’s life. This can be done online at the Walton website or through the church office.
Cleaning out your closet for spring? Please donate any winter coats to the Bronte Coat drive! Donations are now being accepted! This has become a cooperative effort between Church of the Epiphany, St. Dominic’s Church and Walton Memorial primarily; all of us having the betterment of people of our area as our goal. So, sew on that button, empty those pockets, sponge out that stain, and please give us your coats that you will not plan to wear next year or ever again!
Calling all knitters! The Bronte Coat Drive Committee has a need for knitted scarves for our Annual Coat Distribution Event. If you could knit a scarf 5’ – 6’ long in black, grey or navy, we would be most happy to include it as a giveaway on October 14, 2023. As you may know, there are many people in our community who are grateful to receive a coat from this event, and they are delighted to also receive a warm scarf (or hat or gloves)!
New to Walton? Are you visiting today? Welcome! Please feel free to ask the ushers if you have any questions during the service and we invite you to fill out a welcome card in the pew racks and leave it in an offering plate at one of the doors. Please join us for coffee, tea or cold drinks and conversation in Bronte Hall after the 10:00am service. There you’ll also find the Welcome Centre with information about Walton and someone to chat with. Walton nametags, hats, pickles etc. are also available for purchase. Children and youth are invited to view this week’s virtual Sunday School lesson online.
Walton’s prayer chain is open. Confidential prayers requests can be sent to office@waltonmemorial.com
If you need Rev. Jim for a pastoral emergency, please email him directly at jamescgillwuc@gmail.com.
As we gather today on these treaty lands, we are in solidarity with Indigenous brothers and sisters to honour and respect the four directions, lands, waters, plants, animals and ancestors that walked before us, and all of the wonderful elements of creation that exist. We acknowledge and thank the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation for being stewards of this traditional territory.
One: Come to God who gathers us in.
All: We come to God who nurtures us like a father.
One: Come to God whose arms are open and waiting.
All: We come to God who welcomes and forgives us.
One: Come to God who journeys with us.
All: We come to God who sees us as we really are and loves us anyway.
One: Come, praise our loving nurturing God!
posted on Worship Words
One: Our relationships with our fathers are complicated.
All: For some of us, our Father’s love is like God’s love—too deep, too long, too wide, too strong to measure.
One: Some of our dads are here; some were never here.
All: For some of us, God’s love fills in the empty spaces our fathers left behind.
One: All of us are shaped by the relationship or lack of relationship with our fathers.
All: On this day when we remember what it means to have a father or be a father, we recognize the importance of fathers in our communities. We pledge as a congregation to love and nurture the fathers among us so that they will manifest the love of God in all that they do. Amen.
by The Rev. Dr. LaGretta Bjorn, pastor of the United Methodist Church of Spring Valley in New York.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Alison and Val hold up a number of different books. Who knows what this book is? What about this one? And this? If you guessed “The Bible” for all of them, you’re right! But how can that be? They are all so different.
There are many different versions of the Bible, not one or two, but hundreds! Some use old-fashioned language from hundreds of years ago. Some use easy-to-understand words from the way we speak now. Some have pictures, while others have helpful explanations and additional information. But they all contain the same message and the same stories. They all contain God’s Word.
Why so many versions? So everyone can choose the one that’s right for them. The best Bible is the one that you enjoy reading, the one that you understand, the one that feels like God is speaking to you.
Every year at Walton we are proud to present our Grade 3 Sunday School students with their very own Bible. It’s a big milestone for them – they are old enough to read God’s Word for themselves and we challenge them to try and read the whole thing by the end of summer.
For this special presentation, we choose the “Action Bible,” a really fun, graphic novel version. It’s easy to follow and a really engaging way to explore all the characters and events from the Old and New Testaments. It’s my pleasure to ask the Grade 3 students who were able to attend in person today to stand up and receive this special gift.
Jim, would you please bless these Bibles and the Grade 3’s who are receiving them?
Jim says a blessing.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act that resulted in justification and life for all people.
Every summer I preach a series of sermons on a particular topic or theme. With summer starting this Wednesday, I begin my 2023 series this morning on this Christian Family Sunday. It seemed appropriate on Father’s Day to consider what are entitled, “The Seven Grandfather Teachings” You may be familiar with these Indigenous teachings, or maybe this is the first time you have ever heard of them. I want to apply the Seven Grandfather Teachings to the Christian Scriptures which are told in places like the “Action Bible” given out to Grade 3s today.
The background of these traditional teachings is explained in many ways. I like this one that comes from a Chicago-based Indigenous healthcare organization. I quote, “ An Anishinaabe Tradition.
The Seven Grandfather Teachings are the principles of character that each Anishinaabe should live by. Love, Respect, Bravery, Truth, Honesty, Humility & Wisdom.
According to the story, long ago, a messenger sent to see how the Neshnabék were living, discovered that the Neshnabék were living their life in a negative way, which impacted their thoughts, decisions, and actions. Some had hate for others, displayed disrespectful actions, were afraid, told lies, and cheated. Others revealed pride or were full of shame. During his journey, the messenger came across a child. This child was chosen to be taught by the Seven Grandfathers to live a good life. He was taught the lessons of Love, Respect, Bravery, Truth, Honesty, Humility, and Wisdom.”
This background continues, “ Before departing the Seven Grandfathers told him, “Each of these teachings must be used with the rest. You cannot have Wisdom without Love, Respect, Bravery, Honesty, Humility, and Truth. You cannot be Honest if you are only using one of the other teachings. To leave out one teaching would be embracing the opposite of what the teaching means.” The Seven Grandfathers each instructed the child with a principle. It was then up to the child to forget them, or to put them to use.
The background concludes that, “Each one of us represents the child. We must faithfully apply the teachings of our Seven Grandfathers to our own lives. We must place our trust in the Creator. We must also never forget to be sincere in our actions, character, and words.”
Today I begin with the Truth Saying. It says, “Truth represents the turtle. The teachings on truth allows you to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to being the complete person we were created to become. This will allow youth to see that though the journey may be slow, they need to keep moving forward as they have not yet met their destination.”
Jesus told us in the Good News according to the Gospel Writer John, “ The truth will set you free.”
This Third Sunday of June in church life is a day that can create a bit of confusion. We may be asking ourselves who we are celebrating today. Let me attempt to define “who,” the same way I did back on the second Sunday of May this year, which was Christian Family Sunday, and Mother’s Day. Today is for those who father, in whatever way one can perceive and in whatever generation it takes place. Today is also for those living, or those who have passed, who do or did father as dads, grand-dads, great-grandads, step-dads and godfathers. Plus it is for those who were, or are, father figures in our lives. I think everyone here today, whether worshipping live or virtually, can identify in one way or another with this understanding of fathers and fathering. At the time of baptism like today’s baptism of Addison, we think of the parenting that takes place from one generation to another now and that being offered in a new generation coming along.
Fathering is about guiding others by giving instructions, directions and advice in a loving and caring way. In fact fathering is about sharing that truth, that the truth will set you free as Jesus said. Paul in his writing today shared this wisdom, “suffering produces perseverance, character and hope.” Those comments can also be about good fathering. Life is just plain hard, slugging away at times, but the truth is that it is usually those challenges that produce our true character. Different versions of the scriptures change that word, “suffering” that Paul talks about. The other versions use words like tribulations, troubles, problems and afflictions to better describe what is being talked about in saying, “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Is this not what the first Grandfather saying I shared earlier means when it says, “This will allow youth to see that though the journey may be slow, they need to keep moving forward as they have not yet met their destination?” What wise fatherly advice. Like Paul saying, “ perseverance, character, hope.” coming out of that which we face.
The only grandfather I knew as a child seemed a tough man to a shy five year old. He died when I was nine. It was only very much later in life I heard the full story of his life. He was twenty years old in the artillery at Vimy Ridge and was shelled and buried alive for 24 hours until he was rescued. How he survived and lived a life with a major hearing loss from the artillery in addition to losing his business in the great depression explained a lot to me. Time has taught me a Grandfather lesson about perseverance when times get really tough.
As our first Grandfather Teaching shared earlier to begin this summer series says, “The teachings on truth allows you to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to being the complete person we were created to become.”
Happy Father’s Day!
One: When the ties of family or relationship become stranded,
Two: help us, O God, to express our feelings and to listen carefully to each other.
One: When the times of illness or hard testing are upon us,
Two: help us, O God, to renew our faith and to know that you are with us.
One: When we are faced with a crucial decision,
Two: help us, O God, to share our options and concerns, and to go forward with confidence.
One: When stress or depression get the better of us,
Two: help us, O God, to search out the persons who can help and who can fill us with your hope.
One: God will not leave you without power or control; God will lead you into the way of new life.
Two: We take courage from the promises and actions of God as we have read about them, believe them, and experience them.
One: God will grant you a fresh start; pardon and peace are yours!
Two: Thanks be to God! Amen.
From Prayers to Share Year B, copyright@David Sparks
Jesus promised us abundant life, O God, and our response is to give abundantly in return; you have given so much for us!
In gratefulness we offer our offering to you today.
I invite the ushers forward please.
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All: Loving God, we present our gifts for blessing, so those who are without direction will find the way of Jesus, so those who are suffering will find the compassion of Jesus, so those who walk alone will link up with friends of Jesus and those who are afraid will find peace in the community of Jesus. May these gifts be blessed as we follow Jesus, the good shepherd who watches over his flock. Amen.
Do not worry about anything in life— what you’ll eat, or what you’ll wear.
Look at the birds of the air, or the flowers in the field.
If God takes such good care of such transient things, how much more
can you depend on God to care for you?
For you have a Father who loves you,
a Father who knows all your needs.
So don’t be afraid.
Instead, live lives of love and generosity, storing up your treasure in heaven
instead of here on earth.
May the Father of the human family go with us and sustain us in our family life.
May the Mother of the church family go with us and nurture our common life together.
May the Parent of all humankind go with us and show us how closely related we have become.
Amen.
adapted from Prayers to Share Year B copyright@David Sparks
Here is Rev. Jim’s mid-week update for Wednesday, June 14th
