Today’s service will be offered in 2 formats – read this week’s announcements and complete the service below, download and print the service from this document – link – or watch the video below.
For the latest news and updates from Walton, please check our Facebook page, Instagram and website. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for videos of service, the choirs and more!
Please contact office@waltonmemorial.com if you would like to be added to our email list
• MUNCH A MUFFIN to raise money for the Food Bank! Today during coffee hour, the UCW and Fruit of the Vine will be selling homemade muffins with all money going to the Fare Share Food Bank. Muffins will be $1.00 each… buy 1 or up to a dozen! Cash only, please.
• Could you be a driver for Walton? Now that more people are returning to church, we need more drivers to bring a couple of people to and from church on a Sunday morning. You can select which service that you prefer attending and we’ll match you up with someone to bring when you plan to attend on a Sunday. We need both regular and occasional drivers. Please notify the office if you can be a volunteer driver. Those who need a drive are very grateful for Walton’s driving ministry! If anyone else needs a drive to church, please contact the church office and we’ll try to arrange a ride.
• Would you like to learn how to record a service? We would love to have you join the team! Training and tryouts are unlimited and we would love to have you take part, or watch to see how it all happens. Please contact Wendy Silva through the church office or email socialmedia@waltonmemorial.com
• 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 9:30 service ends and before the 11:00am service begins. 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.
• Easter Food Drive – The Outreach Committee would like to thank all families who have donated recently, you are greatly appreciated. As many as 750 families use our Oakville Fare Share Food bank and more families register weekly. The need continues to rise. Donations of food items can be placed in our decorated food boxes within the church or monetary donations can be given through our weekly ‘giving’ envelopes or through the church website: www. waltonmemorial.com. Please share with others in our community by donating generously throughout March and April. Thank you for your thoughtful gifts.
• NEW Tuesday morning video study – Reverend Jim Gill, Parish Nurse Cathy Winn, and Family Ministries & Worship Coordinator Val Waldron lead our spring video study “Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are.” The 6-week study takes place Tuesdays from 10:15-11:45am in Bronte Hall, and begins on Tuesday, April 11. There is no cost and no preparation required. Please sign up online or in the church office.
• LIVE or VIRTUAL TRANSFER OF MEMBERSHIP SUNDAY, May 28 at the 10am Service – If you are a confirmed member of any Christian denomination and would like to transfer to Walton from another congregation, we’d be pleased to arrange the transfer. Please contact the Church Office or Rev. Jim jamescgillwuc@gmail.com for more information.
• Rooms for rent – Looking for somewhere to host a meeting, bridal shower, birthday party, music recital. exercise classes, sports groups, craft lessons or more? Walton has room for you! We have a number of rental spaces to accommodate groups large and small, for a one-off event or weekly sessions. Contact the church office for more details. See photos on our website –https://www.waltonmemorial.com/room-rentals
• Walton’s Outreach Committee would like to offer a different way to recognize the season of Lent this year. Starting Ash Wednesday we have prayer themes for each week taking us to Easter Sunday. Please join us in praying for these areas of concern. Each week there is a short scripture and prayer, please add your own as you feel guided to. The sheets will be available on the table near the entrance to the Sanctuary on Sunday and a soft copy will be posted with the Sunday service for each Sunday of Lent. Thank you for your faithful support for Outreach activities at Walton. See the end of the service document for this week’s theme.
• The CVITP Committee(Community Volunteer Income Tax Program) is beginning to make appointments for March and April 2023. If you need help filing your return, have a modest income, and a simple tax situation, the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program may be able to help you. There is no charge for this assistance. For details about the Free Tax Clinic, you can visit the following online page:https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/free-tax-help.html or call Ruth at 905-631-6188 or John at 416-840-9418. Tax assistance will be by appointment only – taxes can also be prepared by phone and by e-mail/internet. As the pandemic closure has been somewhat lifted, we will have you come to Walton Church Allen Entrance for an appointment with a tax preparer, however, you must be masked. Details also found on our website – waltonmemorial.com/cvitp-tax-clinic
• 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.
Welcome to this time of worship! This is the fifth Sunday in the season of Lent as we continue our journey to Holy Week. We pray that through this time of worship you will be blessed by the Living God.
Two candles are lit, as well as the Christ candle.
One: O Jesus, you wept over your friend Lazarus.
Two: Do you still weep for us?
One: Do you weep when forest fires rage, when homes are burnt, animals die, and the smoke blows? Do you weep as floods destroy homes and livelihoods?
Two: Do you weep for those suffering from illness and for their families? Do you weep for those who live with a myriad of worries, anxiety, and depression?
One: Do you weep for injustice, for those who experience ongoing racism, bullying, and discrimination of all sorts?
Two: Do you weep for those who have no more tears to shed, who have no more prayers to say, who have no more dreams to dream?
One: Then we are willing to shed our tears with you. We shed tears for the world you love.
One candle is extinguished.
Don’t be afraid.
My love is stronger, my love is stronger than your fear.
Don’t be afraid.
My love is stronger
And I have promised, promised to be always near.
One: Let us pray
All: O Christ, who weeps for us and with us, we know that you are in our pain and in our suffering. We also know that you are in our deepest longings. We long for your kingdom to come. We pray that our tears of sorrow will lead to tears of joy. Then may our tears of joy turn into a celebration as we dance our way into a revolution of your love. Amen.
One: We are on a journey of faith
All: travelling toward the cross.
One: We are on a journey of faith
All: travelling toward the empty tomb.
One: We are on a journey of faith
All: accompanied by the Living God.Let us worship God as we journey alone, with others close by and with all in the world trying to follow the way of Jesus.
All: Companion God, we pause from our usual activities and commitments of life to worship you. We worship you with all our faith and all our doubt, all our confidence and all our uncertainty, all our desire to help others and all our hesitancy to share our blessings with others. We ask that in this time of worship you assure us of your love for us wherever we are on our faith journey. Bless us, we pray, and empower us to be a blessing to others. We pray in the name of Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
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.
We all know why Jesus died on the cross – to wash away our sins and save us., But what does that mean exactly? It’s a big topic that can be hard for kids to understand. Alison and Val demonstrated the power Jesus has to give us a fresh clean start with a really neat experiment.
In front of them they have two cups of water: one of them looks clean and clear, and one is dark brown and murky. When God first created the world, there was no sin. Everything was perfect and the world was pure and clean, like the clear glass of water. But then Adam and Eve made a bad choice and sin messed everything up.
The dark dirty water represents the world after sin entered the picture. People were not listening to God. They weren’t following his rules, which meant he was disappointed and had to punish them. The worst punishment of all was that they were separated from God forever. The world was in a mess!
But that’s not how God wanted things to be. He loves all his children and wants us all to be close to him forever, so he came up with a plan to save us all from our sin. He sent his son Jesus here to earth in human form. Jesus didn’t sin, but he was going to get arrested and get punished anyway. He was going to take the punishment for all of our mistakes, so we could all be forgiven and be close to God again. That’s why Jesus had to die on the cross at Easter; that was his punishment which washed the world clean of its sins.
Alison holds up the cup of dirty water, and asks Val to pour water from the clean cup into it. The dirty water represents the world full of sin, and the clean water represents Jesus, washing away all our bad choices and mistakes. Like a miracle, as the clean water pours into the dirty cup, the dark water is transformed into fresh, clean, clear water! That’s the amazing power of Jesus’ gift to us. Not just at Easter, but every single day we can ask for forgiveness and have a fresh clean start.
Now of course, Alison and Val aren’t actually miracle workers. This experiment may look miraculous, but it’s just science. The water in the dirty cup has iodine mixed in, and the clear cup is a mix of bleach and water. The result is an amazing visual that perfectly illustrates how Jesus washes away our sins!
Let’s say a prayer:
Loving God, thank you for loving us and wanting a relationship with us. Thank you for sending Jesus to wash away our mistakes and sins so we can be close to you always. Help us to make the right choices, and forgive us when we don’t. Amen.
(Jesus) was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them,
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him. And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything,’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion. If you then, 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!”
A boy was overheard by his Dad asking God to make Kingston the capital of Canada. “Why did you pray that?” his Dad asked. “Because that is what I said on my geography test this afternoon!”
We may pray for many things but does God really answer our prayers? Do you remember an occasion when God answered your prayer? Do you recall an occasion when it seemed to you that God did not answer your prayer?
This morning’s scripture says, “Ask and you will receive; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened.” It seems rather clear. It seems that whatever we ask God will do for us. And so our prayers often involve asking – asking for a family member with cancer to be healed; requesting a good job offer or a passing grade on an exam; pleading for world peace to be a reality, for food to be affordable for all, for family relationships to get kinder and more forgiving.
We pray sincerely, hoping that our prayers will be answered by God and our wishes will come to pass.
Many of us can identify times when we are convinced God was at work through our prayers and we are grateful for those times. However, sometimes it seems that either God wasn’t listening or if God was, God did not respond. The person we cared about gets sicker. The promotion didn’t happen. The marriage came to an end. And world peace? Well, world peace seems very far away.
As a result we may not be so sure that God answers prayers. And more significantly, our uncertainty may lead to some uncertainty about God. Maybe God doesn’t listen to us. Maybe God doesn’t care. Maybe God is like the parent who gave their son a scorpion rather than the egg he asked for. Maybe…
Or maybe we have misunderstood what it means for God to answer our prayers? Maybe prayers aren’t always answered by being given exactly what we ask for but rather receiving what God knows we need to receive. Listen to the words of Jesus. “If you 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!”
The purpose of prayer isn’t so much to give God a list of things, even important things, that we want done but a way to enter into a deeper relationship with God, our heavenly Parent, through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
I vividly remember the first time, as a child, I chose to pray by myself. I initiated the prayer and used my own words instead of ones taught to me. I remember the occasion so well because it was at that moment that God became personal. No longer was God only someone I learned about in Sunday School. God became real. God became my friend. God became relevant to my life.
Prayer is the opening of a door to the blessings that an ongoing relationship with God can bring to our lives. These blessings we receive are many things that will vary from time to time depending on our needs. At times God’s Spirit may bring us a security that anchors us when we are buffeted about by the storms of fear or uncertainty about our future. At other times God’s Spirit bathes us with a healing peace which gradually over time quiets our grief. God’s Spirit assures us of God’s forgiveness for our mistakes and shortcomings and may challenge us to recognize our need to forgive someone else. The Holy Spirit gives us direction for our lives and insight when we face tough decisions. God’s blessings are limitless because God’s Spirit speaks to our souls rather than our ears.
Notice that the blessings we receive from God are not necessarily the specific things we have asked for in prayer. Rather we are blessed by the relationship that develops between God and ourselves much like a conversation with a friend deepens our friendship. There is a place to pray about specific matters just like we would share things with a good friend. However, we can share anything and everything with God because will never recoil from us or withdraw God’s friendship and love. And there is a time for us to simply knock, inviting God to open the door that we might sit together in quiet, acknowledging God’s love for us and ours for God.
Prayer is also a place for us to share with God our concerns for others – those near to us and those who live far away from us. God’s Spirit is at work in the world and often God’s Spirit works through us. Our relationship with God empowers us to be a part of that work whether in small or large ways.
We pray “Thy Kindom come” and often it is through us that God is at work bringing God’s Kindom to reality. Through our words and our actions we help true justice for all to grow within our country. We demand that bullying in school, in church, on hockey teams and in our homes stops. We help the hungry here in Oakville and in drought plagued parts of the world to receive the food they need. We change the way our homes discipline children so they are taught non-violent ways of dealing with problems. We make phone calls to the lonely. We welcome those on the fringe of our communities. Prayer brings us into a closer relationship with God who loves all and prayer empowers us to be answers to our prayer ‘Thy Kindom come”
Does God answer prayer? Oh, yes. God answers our prayers. God answers our prayers by opening the door so we may enter into a deeper relationship with God, a relationship which blesses us and empowers us to bless others.
Take some time every day, whether before you fall asleep at night or while you are on the Go train or going for a walk or sitting in front of a fireplace. Invite God to share life with you, your whole life, your joys and your challenges, your celebrations and your heartaches. As you continue your Lenten journey, knock and walk through the opened door to a deeper relationship with God.
Ever-present God, we thank you that we may always come to you in prayer. We thank you that we may share our celebrations with you as well as our worry and our heartache. Thank you that you always meet our prayers with your love.
We praise you for creation – for blue skies and needed rains, for the flowers soon to appear, for clean water, gentle breezes, sunrises and sunsets. Instill in us, Creator God, the desire to take good care of the world you have entrusted to us.
We thank you for the diversity of the human family. Ease the tendency to fear those different from us; encourage our desire to understand others more fully and assure us that our differences bring multiple blessings to all.
We thank you for those who seek peace and justice and we pray for those today throughout the world who can find neither peace nor justice. Fill us with compassion so we may welcome into our land those displaced by violence. Fill us with compassion and courage to challenge those in our society who promote violence and abuse of any kind.
We thank you for the essentials of life like food and shelter and we pray for those who are having a difficult time because of inflation finding that shelter and enough nourishing food. Help us to encourage the fair sharing of your blessings.
God, who hears all prayers, we offer to you now our silent prayers for ourselves, our family, our friends, our world.(A time of silence)
Thank you, God, for your never-ending love. We pray in the name of Jesus, our Saviour, our Lord and our Friend. Amen.
As we are blessed by the God of wonder and love, let us share the gifts and blessings we have received by blessing others. The offering will now be received.
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♥ by cheque through the mail slot at the Church office entrance or by Canada Post
♥ by monthly PAR payments. To sign up contact stuart@waltonmemorial.com
All: Holy God, we thank you for your enduring love. In response to your love for us we make our offerings to you – the gift of our hearts and the fruits of our labours. Bless these gifts and use them that others may see and experience the love of Christ. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen
Go into the world trusting that God hears your prayers. Go into the world knowing that God blesses you with the Holy Spirit so that you may live embraced by God’s love and empowered to share God’s peace, hope, and compassion with others.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God, and The Communion of the Holy Spirit be with each one of us this day and forever more. Amen
Your Outreach Committee would like to offer a different way to recognize the season of Lent. Starting Ash Wednesday we have prayer themes for each week taking us to Easter Sunday. Please join us in praying for these areas of concern. Each week there is a short scripture and prayer, please add your own as you feel guided to.
Ukraine and Haiti were top of mind when we started this project and now the Earthquake in Turkey and Syria have joined them in our concerns.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Let us pray for Ukraine, Haiti and all the places in the world where there is no peace and people live in fear with the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (Prayer for Peace)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Walton is accepting donations for Disaster Relief through the church office and online if you are able to help.
Scripture Readers: Marie MacLeod, Jim Wilcox
Soloist: Alyssa DiMarco
Here is Rev. Jim’s mid-week update for Wednesday, March 22nd
