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Church
News: May and June 2003 |
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Our Church Services in
May and June 2003: Thurday 29. May 01. June 29. June
Our Groups and Circles Confirmation Instruction Monday, May 5th + 12th + June 16th and 23rd, 7:00 p.m., at the Parsonage Crafts Evening for Mother's Day The Literary Circle The
Congregational Concept Committee The Senior
Care/Senior Residence Committee The Board of Directors of the Nursery The Church Choir The Mission Circle The Women’s
Group The Church
Council The Family Choir The
Contact Group of the Bilingual Lutheran
Congregations Alpha-Course
All Information, Sermons, Activity
Calendar also on our web site: |
Receive one another,
therefore, as Christ has received you, for the glory of God. Dear
Congregation, Easter Services - in Retrospect At
Easter, we could greet many participants in the Services: 42 participants The
confirmands have had a part in the Service and were introduced to the
congregation by name. A
thank you is due here to all who have helped to prepare for this Easter
Sunday and to those who have come to the Services.
Annual Meeting of Moll Berczy On April 23rd, the Annual Meeting of the Moll Berczy House took place. On account of the safety measures concerning SARS, we could not meet at Moll Berczy House, but had to switch to Christ-the-King/Dietrich Bonhoeffer Congregation, who were so good to offer us rooms for that night. It was decided to continue to support a Senior Home in the west of the city, which is a great advantage for our efforts in finding accommodations for seniors. All former members of the board have agreed to continue the work, and a new member could even be won for the board. Unfortunately, not all German speaking Lutheran congregations are represented on this board, as it was the case at the founding in 1984. But still, it is gratifying that Moll Berczy House is receiving more support from Churches. Crafts Evening for Mother's Day Takes
place on Thursday,
May 8,
at 6:00 a.m., for all generations in the basement of the Church. Contact: Peggy
Seifert, Tel: 416-253-1374. Hike in Elora In
wonderful weather, a group of 29 (!) participants has undertaken a hike in Elora.
There was the opportunity to take a longer or shorter round-trip along the Grand
River. Anyway, the effort was rewarded with ice-cream at the end of the walk.
Time and again, we invite for walks after the Church Service. Why don’t you
just come along the next time? There are plans for a bigger trip in September,
please obtain information about it in time. Camp Lutherlyn - please register!! Whoever
wants to come to Camp Lutherlyn, Sunday, July 27th to Saturday,
August 2nd, should please register . We want to meet ahead of time,
on June 22nd, after the German Church Service. At the moment, we are
also looking for a bus, so that the children can be transported to the camp
together and also be returned. As ever, we need helpers, youths, students.
Please register with the Pastor, (Cell: 416-567-2487, or Email fralupus@rogers.com
)
The costs for the camp will be approximately $225.00 per person. A Thank you from the Nursery Dear
Congregational Members,
As a result of the congregational questionnaire last year, Hans Vetter, a member of the Church Council, will offer a so-called “Community Building Workshop” from October 24 to 26, Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. The workshop will take place in Edgewood and is laid out in such a way, that through practice and discussion, community among the participants will grow. The course is designed also to help strengthen self-confidence. There is a trusting atmosphere during the discussions. Strengthening, discovering the ability to communicate and to extend it, to resolve conflicts and form a community, are the aims of this course. Not more than 16 persons should participate. In the following Congregational Bulletins we will report in more details about this program. If you have questions, please contact Hans Vetter directly (Telephone: 416-367-0378). 
Yes,
it is true, beautifully the organ pipes are standing, according
to size. Burkhard Möller has, however, had quite a job so that the organ
would resonate again. The pipes were not in good condition. Some repairs
were possible. But, little by little, the registers will have to be
exchanged. As
time goes by, the organ will be restored. At this time, we are glad that
it sounds good again and say many thanks to Burkhard Möller for his
difficult work.
Substitutions during the Absence of Pastor Wolf Pastor
Wolf will be substituted during the Germany trip by Pastor Knaack. In
emergencies, please contact him at: Telephone: 416-243-5469. We thank
Pastor Knaack for his service, also Pastor Boettcher for conducting a
Church Service. A Cordial Invitation to Mother's Day and a Joint Service on May 11th May
11th is Mother’s Day again! On this day, we will have a joint
Service at 11:00 o’clock.. Afterwards, as usual, there will be a joint
luncheon, which is prepared by the men. Therefore, the men will meet at
the Church at 8:00 a.m.! This time, the Ascension Service will take place in our Church. As Pastor Wolf will be in Germany at the time, Pastor Möller will kindly take over the service. It will be at 7:00 p.m. The other German Churches will also take part. On June 29th, at 2:00 p.m., a Service takes place again at the Trillium Health Centre - Queensway Site, McCall wing. Who can come along to help transporting the patients? Every
Friday at 11:00 a.m., Pastor Wolf holds a radio devotion on Ciao Radio
station, AM 530. It is about “God and the World” and offers a preview
to the following Sunday Service. Helmut
Gschösser was kind enough to offer us this space. We thank him for it and
hope that especially older people, who can not come to Church very often,
will be glad to hear the devotion. It
is that time again: Our congregational picnic is near. In this year, too,
a great program for every age is awaiting you: 11:00 a.m.
Service for the whole family “God needs you’! The
way to the Camp: -
Highway
401 west -
Guelph
Line 1, exit northbound -
Through
the town of Brookville -
Stay
on Guelph Line until you come
to a 4-way stop (huge stop-sign) -
Turn
left to Eden Mills and follow the signs to the Camp (William James, 1842 – 1910) Money
Can buy: A
bed but not sleep |
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cordially invite you to stay for a while
after
the Services for a cup of coffee!
“Testament”, in the Letter to the Romans. He has seen too much intolerance
and animosity, also among Christians. It is interesting that the word
“receive” returns once again in a similar form. In Romans 5, 17, it says:
“Those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness
reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” I found this very revealing,
because Paul reminds us, first of all, that God receives us and bestows his
grace on us, so that we can accept this without reserve. However, God’s love
should not be without consequences in our life, it should have an effect.
Therefore, he reminds the Christians in Rome – and ultimately us, too – that
we should get along with each other. Romans 14, 1: “As for the man who is weak
in faith, receive him, but not for disputes over opinions.” Romans 15, 7, our
Verse of the Month: “Receive one another, as Christ has received you, for the
glory of God.” He establishes a direct connection between being accepted by
Christ and accepting other people. This belong together. The Bible is very clear
in this point: “He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the
darkness still. He who loves his brother abides in the light ...”(1. John 2,
9+10) The behaviour towards others should, for Christians, be determined by
Christ. And should not depend on liking. God himself does not make a difference
between those whom he likes and those he cannot stand. We depend on him loving
us all, however different we may be. The dispute about opinions, the hasty
judgement can grow into long-lasting discord. And Paul knew that this has, on
the whole, but particularly for the congregation, catastrophic results. And are
we not especially as Christians measured as to how we treat one another? Does
not every good, but, unfortunately also every bad example speak much louder than
everything that we can say and proclaim? Paul worries that the differences are
deepened, when we forget that we should receive each other. I find the phrase in
the Letter to the Colossians beautiful: ...”forbearing one another”
(Colossians 3, 13); if not able to love, so then at least be forbearing. It is
surely amazing how realistically the Bible treats human trifles. – I like to
think of the couple, married to each other for 60 (!) years, asking as their
anniversary text: “...forbearing one another”. The two old people loved each
other very much, even after such a long time, but they also knew that they have,
at times, been unbearable for each other. The verse continues: “...if one has
a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you,
so you also must forgive!” The willingness to forgive each other, even though,
and this happens, one had different opinions and has even quarreled, the
ability to approach one another, to love, and to find, even in difficult
contemporaries, the good kernel, this is, what Paul wants to put into our
hearts. I like to be told this, even though he is right who once said: “Rather
accept criticism ten times than having to change once.” But it is God’s
intention that we change, however difficult it is. We shall try to
“practice” love, as far as we can, be more tolerant and more loving. A long
way to go, certainly, but it is worthwhile, not only for us personally, but for
this world. All problems could be put aside, if everyone would just take the
Verse of the Month to heart, is this not so? – The US-American author Faith
Baldwin once wrote: “ We all could try to forego the sweetness of revenge, the
bitter herb of rancour, the hot spice of gossip, the mild pudding of
self-righteousness, the ego-building protein of vanity, the strong aperitif of
prejudice, the coarse bread of unfriendliness and the intoxicating wine of
self-pity.” Paul’s advice shall be our new diet instead: Perhaps, in the
beginning it does not taste as well, but it strengthens our love and our
togetherness.
in the morning at five o’clock for the Easter Sunrise Service and 177
visitors for the traditional Easter Service at 10 o’clock.
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Martin Luther Church
is a member congregation of the
Toronto Conference of the
Eastern Synod of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Canada, the
DELKINA
(Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Konferenz
in NordAmerika / German Evangelical Lutheran
Conference in North America), and the
EKD (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland /
Protestant Church of Germany). |