Service Sunday September 13, 2026
HIGHLAND HILLS UNITED CHURCH
Minden, Ontario
SUNDAY, September 13, 2026
All are Welcome!
Worship Leader: Rev. Diane Bennett-Jones
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
Watch a video recording of the whole service below using YouTube
(For a Printer Friendly PDF version click this link)
(For Rev. Peter’s Musings PDF version click this link)
THE GATHERING
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS
FOCUSING ON THE LIGHT OF CHRIST
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TERRITORY (In Unison)
As we gather here today, we respectfully acknowledge that this is sacred
ground. We are on Treaty 20 lands and the traditional territory of the Williams Treaties First Nations. We respectfully recognize these original Indigenous inhabitants as the stewards of this land since time immemorial. We are grateful to have the opportunity to gather and worship here.
THE APPROACH
Call to Worship:
One: Come, let us gather in this sacred space.
All: It is good to be here.
One: Let us rejoice in this sacred time.
All: It is good to be together.
One: Let us lift up our hearts and voices.
All: It is good to offer our thanks and praise.
One: Come, let us sing and pray and listen for the Spirit.
All: It is good to be here together worshipping and praising God!
* Opening Hymn: VU # 222 Come, Let Us Sing
1 Come, let us sing to the Lord our song,
we have stood silently too long;
surely the Lord deserves our praise,
so joyfully thank God for our days.
2 O thirsty soul, come drink at the well;
God's living waters will never fail.
Surely the Lord will help you to stand,
strengthened and comforted by God's hand.
3 You dwell among us and cause us to pray,
and walk with each other following your way;
our precious brothers and sisters will grow
in the fulfilling love they know.
4 Deserts shall bloom and mountains shall sing
to the desire of all living things.
Come, all you creatures, high and low,
let your praises endlessly flow.
Opening Prayer: (In Unison)
Ever-living God,
We gather here in your presence.
We ask that you be with us and within us as we worship.
Nourish us with the wisdom of Jesus.
Strengthen us with the power of your Spirit.
Empower us to live as you would have us live,
So that we might be your presence in the world.
Amen
MINISTRY OF MUSIC
LEARNING TOGETHER
* Hymn: MV # 12 Come Touch Our Hearts
1. Come touch our hearts that we may know compassion,
from failing embers build a blazing fire;
love strong enough to overturn injustice,
to seek a world more gracious, come touch and bless our hearts.
2. Come touch our souls that we may know and love you,
your quiet presence all our fears dispel;
create a space for spirit to grow in us,
let life and beauty fill us, come touch and bless our souls.
3. Come touch our minds and teach us how to reason,
set free our thoughts to wonder and to dream;
help us to open doors of understanding,
to welcome truth and wisdom, come touch and bless our minds.
4. Come touch us in the moments we are fragile,
and in our weakness your great strength reveal;
that we may rise to follow and to serve,
steady now our nerve, come touch and bless our wills.
5. Come touch us now, this people who are gathered,
to break the bread and share the cup of peace;
that we may love you with our heart, our soul,
our mind, our strength, our all, come touch us with your grace.
THE WORD
Scripture: Matthew 18: 21 - 35
Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE
“Losing Count”
Read the message at the bottom of this page.
OUR RESPONSE
Candle Lighting
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and
THE LORD’S PRAYER: spoken VU # 921
* Hymn: MV # 154 Deep in Our Hearts
1. Deep in our hearts there is a common vision;
deep in our hearts there is a common song;
deep in our hearts there is a common story,
telling Creation that we are one.
2. Deep in our hearts there is a common purpose;
deep in our hearts there is a common goal;
deep in our hearts there is a sacred message,
justice and peace in harmony.
3. Deep in our hearts there is a common longing;
deep in our hearts there is a common theme;
deep in our hearts there is a common current,
flowing to freedom like a stream.
4. Deep in our hearts there is a common vision;
deep in our hearts there is a common song;
deep in our hearts there is a common story,
telling Creation that we are one.
AFFIRMING MOMENT
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
Offering Plate is located on the back table
OFFERTORY HYMN: VU #543 vs 1
We give thee but thine own, what e’er the gift may be; All that we have is thine alone, a trust, O God, from thee.
OFFERTORY PRAYER: (In Unison)
Life Giving God, all that we are and all that we have is a gift from you.
You have entrusted us with so much, and in return we offer our gifts back to you.
In faith, we offer you our time, our talent and our resources.
We pray that you use us and our offerings to make your kindom known here on earth. Amen
SUNG BLESSING Christ Has No Body Now but Yours
MV #171 vs 4
Refrain
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours.
Here on this earth, yours is the work,
to serve with the joy of compassion.
Through ev’ry gift, give back to those in need;
as Christ has blessed, so now be his blessing,
with ev’ry gift a benediction, be to the people of God. Refrain
SENDING FORTH:
A TIME OF FELLOWSHIP
© Music Reproduced with permission under License number A-605748,
Valid for: 26/10/2025 - 25/10/2026; One License - Copyright Cleared Music for Churches.
Matthew 18:21-35 "Losing Count"
Today's scripture reading begins with Peter asking Jesus, "Lord, how many times should I
forgive someone who sins against me?" - And for many of us, Peter's question does not seem
all that unusual, because we tend to think that, when it comes to forgiveness, eventually
'enough is enough' - so we want to try to keep track.
In fact, as humans we try to keep track of many different things.
We measure rainfall and record temperatures;
We keep attendance and take polls;
We complete census and record all kinds of strange things about ourselves.
Did you know that apparently,
ZlVo of us don't make our bed every day.
5% ofus never do.
707o of us drink orange juice every morning - and when nobody else is around, 47% d."it:/r-
straight from the carton.
13oZ of us brush our teeth from side to side.
22Yoleave the glob of toothpaste in the sink.
2 out of 3 of us say we wouldn't give up our spouse, even for a night, for a million dollars. -
However, for $10 million, 25o/o of us says we would abandon our friends, family, and religion.
But despite our fascination with statistics, ifwe try to keep track of the number of times we
should forgive someone, we lose sight of what it really means to forgive - And this is where
Peter goes astray in today's gospel reading, when he asks Jesus how many times we should
forgive someone.
Because Peter is convinced that there must be a limit to the amount of forgiveness we are
required to give. The religious law said the limit was 3 times, so Peter, attempting to show
Jesus how magnanimous he is, doubles this number, adds one more for good measure, and then
volunteers an answer to his own question. "IJp to 7 times?" he suggests.
Now at that time everyone knew the number 7 was significant.
It represented healing, restoration, and reconciliation.
There were 7 days of creatioR,
The Sabbath was the seventh day of the weeh
Every 7 years farmland was to be allowed to rest;
And every 7ft cycle of 7 years, was ayear of Jubilee, when debts were to be forgiven and
slaves set free.
So, Peter thinks that forgiving someone up to 7 times is more than enough, and he expects
Jesus to be pleased with his answer.
But Jesus tells Peter "You must forgive not just 7 times, but77 times!"
And to make his point, Jesus te1ls him a parable about a king and a servant that, in our modern-
day setting, might go something like this...
There was once a Bank Manager, who was going over the accounts and discovered that one of
his Clerks, had an outstanding loan, that was past due, in the amount of $50 Billion dollars.
So the Bank Manager called the Clerk into his office and said "You have to repay all of the
money you owe right now!"
But the Clerk didn't have the moneJ, so the Bank Manager said, "Well then, the Bank is going
to take you to court, and you will have to sell everything you own - including your home, your
car and all of your other possessions. You will have to empty your bank account; liquidate
your assets, and declare bankruptcy. In fact it is highly likely that you and your family will end
up with nothing and out on the street."
Well, the Clerk, on hearing this begged the Bank Manager for more time to repay the money.
And the Bank Manager took pity on the Clerk and logged on to his computer and transferred
$50 Billion dollars from his own account to the bank to pay off the Clerk's debt.
Then he took out his gold waterman pen and wrote across the loan statement "Paid in full" and
he said to the Clerk "Don't worry about paying me back, consider this a gift."
And the Clerk was very thankful, but soon after leaving his Manager's office, he saw a co-
worker, (a Teller), who owed him a $500. And the Clerk demanded that that Teller pay him
back the money that instant!"
But the Teller didn't have the money and he begged for more time to come up with the cash.
But the Clerk said, "No way, if you don't pay up right now, I'm taking you to court."
And when the other employees heard this, they immediately went and told the Bank Manager
and, well, you know the rest of the story...
This modern-day parable, like the one, Jesus told Peter, is full of exaggeration.
After all, how could a Clerk (or anyone) owe a Bank $50 billion dollars or a servant owe a king
10 thousand talents * one talent was worth about 15 years of wages for a common labourer -
l0 thousand talents were more than the total revenue of the province of Galilee.
It would have taken an anny of 9,000 men to carry such a large sum and if each of the soldiers
carried a sack of coins weighing 60 pounds, they would have formed a line 5 miles long.
10 thousand talents was an astronomical amount - an outrageous sum.
There was simply no way anyone could ever hope to repay such a large debt - And yet, what
does the king do? He doesn't just give the servant more time to repay the loan, which is what
the man asked for (even though that would have been impossible), the King forgives the debt
entirely.
Jesus tells this parable in answer Peter's question, to make the point that "Because of the
extravagant grace and forgiveness God shows us, we should show grace, and forgivsness, to
others."
Now, this doesn't mean that Jesus is asking us to just 'suck it up,' when someone hurts us.
He is not condoning injustice"
He is not asking us to pretend we haven't been hurt, when we have,
and he is not telling us to say that something doesn't matter when it does,
Because people should be held accountable for their words and actions,
But Jesus knows that withholding forgiveness, holding onto a grudge, and living with anger
can, not only undermine our relationships with others, but harm us as well. - Bitterness and
resentment can build up inside us and eat away at our own peace and happiness.
There is a story about a woman named Nina, who was very active in her church. She was
involved in the Quilting group, she helped at the Food Bank, she sang in the choir, she hosted a
Woman's Bible study in her home, and she was a member of the UCW.
Well, one day, all of the UCW units were getting together at the church, and Nina's Unit was to
provide the refreshments. So, Ninao who loved to bake, made two big batchs of cinnamon rolls
for the meeting.
But when she arrived at the church and went into the kitchen, Vivian, who was putting a
container of store-bought brownies on the counter, looked at Nina and her two pans of
homemade cinnamon rolls and said "What are you trying to do? Take over the UC\If too?"
Nina felt as if she had been slapped. She was hurt and upset, but she wasn't going to give
Vivian the satisfaction of knowing how bad she felt.
Instea{ Nina ignored Vivian during the meeting, and when it was time to serve the
refreshments, Nina made sure she worked at the opposite end of the kitchen. And the following
Sunday morning, Nina continued to avoid Vivian.
Even after a week, Nina still felt hurt and upset, so she confided in one of her church friends
and then, during the Tuesday morning Bible study, she told the group about what had
happened. She didn't mean to talk about it, but it was still bothering her and it just slipped out.
And soon everyone in the church knew that Nina and Vivian weren't getting along and they did
their best to keep them Wart - but the longer Nina and Vivian were apart, the deeper the divide
between them grew.
When someone hurts us, it often seems easiest to ignore them and to pretend they are not there,
- to brood about what has happened, to complain to others, and to think that the person who
offended us should be the one to apologize and make amends.
Many of us can be quick to 'write off those who have wronged us, but Jesus says \re should
forgive them.
And this is what Nina felt she needed to do when Vivian stopped coming to church.
With stomach churning, Nina called Vivian and asked if she could come visit her. Vivian
agreed and when they were together, Nina explained how Vivian's words had hurt her. Then
she listened as Vivian told her about what had happened to her that day: - How she had decided
to try a new recipe for squares for the meeting - how she had gotten up early and prepared the
batter and then while the squares were baking, she had decided to go downstairs and do some
laundry, but when she came back up from the basement the oven timer wasbuzzing, smoke
was seeping out of the oven, the squares were burnt and Vivian only had enough time left to
stop at the store and buy some brownies on her way to the meeting. She was feeling
disappointed and embarrassed when she got to the church and that's when Nina had walked in
with her 2 pans of perfect cinnamon rolls and Vivian's nasty comment had just slipped out.
Vivian had been upset and she was sorry for what she said, and she apologised to Nina, and
Nina apologised to Vivian for not talking with her sooner and their friendship (much to their
relief and everyone else's) was restored.
We are all human and we all make mistakes. From time to time we do and say things that hurt
our friends, our family, or our neighbours - and they do thing that hurt us as well.
Jesus realizes that some things are easier to forgive than others.
He understands that forgiveness aan be difficult.
He knows that forgiveness can take a great deal of courage, and soul searching and inner
strength.
But he also knows, that forgiveness is possible, because, the Good News is, that all things are
possible wittr God, and God is willing to help us.
As Christians, we are called to forgive - to make every effort to settle our differences with care
and respect, in a way that preserves the dignity of others, as well as our own, and this is
important because if we don't do this, who on earth will?
So, how ma.ny times should we forgive?
Jesus says, 'oNot 7 times b$77 times,"
In fact, we should throw away our calculators and 'lose eount' entirely.
So this week I invite you to consider if there is someone you need to forgive.
May we never lose sight ofthe vision Jesus gives us of God's kin-dom and how we are calted
to live.
To God be the glory.
Arnen
Sources:
Augsburg Sermons 3 Gospels Series A - On Counting and Forgiveness, page 197
Daily Feast: Meditations from Feasting on the Word Year A, edited by Kathleen Long
Bostrom, Elizabeth F Caldwell and Jana K. Riess.
The Abingdon Preaching Annual20l7, edited by Scott Hoezee.
The Abingdon Preaching Annual z}l4,edited by Jenee Woodard
4
