10/04/2025
Good afternoon, Lake Towaway UMC family and friends!
This email contains the link for our worship service tomorrow morning as well as the bulletin.
I wanted to make you aware of Saunders's hospitalization for the last week. Many of you were aware the weekly email did not go out last Saturday; Saunders was hospitalized and there was not enough time for me to get out an email.
I also wanted to ask you to consider praying regularly for Saunders and Matt. Please respect Saunders need for rest and privacy; please refrain from texts, call, and even emails. If you want to show love and concern, consider sending cards to thier home address: 234 Fox Ridge Rd., Lake Toxaway, NC 28747. Please do not send flowers! I anticipate Saunders will return to work as soon as possible.
I prayerfully ask you to consider giving a designated gift for Saunders. I grew up with this known as a "love offering" for someone during a time of need. Saunders and Matt have had increased expenses for medical care, gas, etc. If you would like to contribute to this love offering, please be certain to place your contribution in an envelope and label it as "Grommesh Love Offering." We will collect this offering over the next 3 weeks and give it to Sanders and Matt at the conclusion of October. Please feel no pressure to do this; I only appeal to you as you might feel God leads you.
I will keep you updated about Saunders and how we as a church family can support her.
Please exercise your patience with the church and your Pastor as we work through some of the tasks we depend upon Saunders to complete for our worship and ministry. I and our leadership team are working through the short-term plans to continue in our worship of God and outreach and ministry to the community.
Faithfully,
Marcus
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgtuJe20i8DN7S_Cfg1sWCg
BULLETIN
Lake Toxaway United Methodist Church,
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Lake Toxaway United Methodist Church
Community Worship Service & Communion
Proper 22, October 5
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgtuJe20i8DN7S_Cfg1sWCg
We have a closed hearing loop system. You may be able to turn your hearing device to the “T” setting and receive the signal directly to your hearing device. We also have headsets in the narthex if your device does not have a “T” setting.
To allow all worshippers to reflect and prepare for the service, please observe silence during the prelude.
RINGING OF THE BELL
PRELUDE - Piece Number V Franck Bridge
CALL TO WORSHIP
The Holy Spirit rekindles God’s purpose
and grace for our lives.
Grace was given to us in Christ Jesus
before the ages began.
Christ Jesus, our savior, abolished death
and brought life and immortality to light.
This is good news, not just for ourselves,
but for the world.
Let us worship in thanksgiving and praise.
HYMN #452 - My Faith Look Up to Thee
OPENING PRAYER
Holy and Triune God,
your table transcends time and space.
As your disciples on World Communion Sunday,
we join our voices to the songs and prayers
offered to your name throughout the world.
Increase our faith and give us grace
to love and forgive one another,
as you have loved and forgiven us.
We remember all your beloved children
who suffer this day—
especially the victims and refugees of war.
We hear the echo of their broken lives
in the songs of lament in today’s scriptures.
Help us bear witness to their suffering without fear.
Give us the courage to live in love with you,
in you, and for you.
For the sake of all your beloved children, we pray.
Amen.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
(Let us offer our silent confessions.)
Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your judgment. For our sake, and the sake of your son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways that lead to glory. Amen.
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
Imagine. Now go and live out that grace. Imagine what a mustard seed of faith might do this week in your life.
Not a quart, nor a gallon, nor a truckload. Just a mustard seed ,Yes! Let it be so! Amen! In Christ, you are forgiven!
In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God! Amen.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH #881 (The Apostles' Creed)
(Please stand as you are able)
GLORIA PATRI #70
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Lamentations 1: 1-6 Jerusalem empty and destroyed
1:1 How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become subject to forced labor.
1:2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers, she has no one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies.
1:3 Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude; she lives now among the nations; she finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.
1:4 The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the festivals; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter.
1:5 Her foes have become the masters; her enemies prosper because the LORD has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe.
1:6 From daughter Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes have become like stags that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer.
Psalm 137 Weeping by the rivers of Babylon
(Psalter Lesson-UMH Pg. 852. Please read the bold text)
2 Timothy 1: 1-14 (Epistle Reading) Guard the treasure entrusted to you
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
1:2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
1:3 I am grateful to God--whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did--when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.
1:4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.
1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.
1:6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands,
1:7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
1:8 D o not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God,
1:9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Jesus Christ before the ages began,
1:10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
1:11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher,
1:12 and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard the deposit I have entrusted to him.
1:13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
1:14 Guard the good deposit entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.
Luke 17: 5-10 Faith the size of a mustard seed (Gospel)
(Please stand as you are able)
17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
17:6 The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
17:7 "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'?
17:8 Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'?
17:9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded?
17:10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'
L: This is the word of the Lord for the people of Christ.
P: Thanks be to God.
SERMON
ANNOUNCEMENTS (Please be seated)
PASTORAL PRAYER
OFFERTORY - O How Blessed, Faithful Spirits, Are We
Johannes Brahms
OFFERING
DOXOLOGY #95 - Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow
(Please stand as you are able)
PRAYER OF THANSGIVING
Faithful God, our source and sustainer, you call us to believe beyond what we see and serve without seeking reward. Take these gifts as seeds of trust, planted in hope and watered with gratitude. Even when our faith feels small, you multiply our offering into acts of healing, welcome, and justice. So, increase not only our faith, Lord, but also our willingness to serve—with humility, joy, and confidence that you are at work through every generous act. In the name of the one who came to serve, we pray. Amen.
COMMUNION HYMN # 620- One Bread, One Body
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you.
And also, with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
The pastor gives thanks and remembers God’s acts of salvation, and concludes:…and so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
The pastor continues the thanksgiving. The institution of the Lord’s Supper is recalled. The pastor concludes:...and so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
The pastor invokes the present work of the Holy Spirit and then praises
the Trinity, concluding:...all honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and forever. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER #895
BREAKING THE BREAD
GIVING THE BREAD AND CUP
COMMUNION PRAYER
Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves to others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN # 545 - THE CHURCH'S ONE FOUNDATION
(Please stand as you are able)
BENEDICTION
CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE #393
POSTLUDE (Please be seated) Improvisation
ANNOUNCEMENTS
UMC Annual Charge Conference - Oct. 8 and “Welcome Home Baskets.”
Our Annual Charge Conference will be Oct. 8 at St. Timothy’s UMC in Brevard at 6:00 PM. We will not have all of our work completed by this date, so we will attest to our commitment to complete our annual requirements.
We are being asked to bring supplies for “Welcome Home Baskets.” These are for people returning to restored homes after the Hurricane Helene damage.
Please see the list below and bring them to church and place on the round table in the Dice Hall closest to the pianos.
Thank you for giving this list of supplies your attention.
Journal or Notebook, Welcome Home Mat (remember our non-English speaking families too!), Scissors or a Multi-tool, Hammer, 5 Screw drivers (Phillips and Flat) Duct Tape Flashlight, Zip lock bags (2 different sizes), Power strip with extension cord, 10 Hangers, First Aid Kit, Trash bags, Kitchen towels, Laundry Detergent, Household Cleaner Liquid Dish Soap, Multipurpose cleaning towels, Kitchen Sponges, 1 or more gift cards, Hand Soap, Paper Plates, Plastic cups and cutlery, Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Pens, Deck of Cards, “Welcome Home” greeting card.
Outreach Committee Volunteers Needed
The Outreach Committee is looking for members to help plan future events at the church. If you are willing to help out, please contact Mandy Stahl at [email protected].
Bible Study
The Bible Study meets on Sunday mornings at 8:45 AM in the Minnich Conference room. It is led by Don Henderson; questions - [email protected]
Prayer Ministry
The Prayer Ministry meets the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at 9:30 AM.
AA Meetings Thursday Nights
The weekly AA meeting is every Thursday at 4:45 PM in the Dice Hall.
PRAYER CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY
Stephen and Cynthia Wood in the death of his mother, Shirley Bales
Char Holbrook, Sally and Doug Bailey, Adam Prusiecki Leslie Brown
Our summer residents who are returning to their winter homes
Numerous silent requests, especially those with chronic illnesses
and dementia
STAFF & LAY VOLUNTEERS
Pastor: Marcus Dodson: 828-553-0282, [email protected]
Organist: Bob Kintner: 828-329-2457
Church Administrator: Saunders Grommesh, 469-569-2314, [email protected]
Lay Leader: Paula Markert: 828-553-9434 and Maria Buehler: 828-553-2128
Audio/Visual for Livestream Chair: Joe Haraschak 813-918-1916
Liturgist: Cynthia Wood
Dela dina videor med vänner, familj och hela världen.
