Service Sunday November 2, 2025
HIGHLAND HILLS UNITED CHURCH
Minden, Ontario
All are Welcome!
Worship Leader: Rev. Max Ward
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
(For a Printer Friendly PDF version click this link)
Watch the whole service using YouTube below.
The Gathering
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
FOCUSING ON THE LIGHT OF CHRIST:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF LAND:
The United Church of Canada acknowledges that its buildings and ministries, from coast to coast to coast, are on traditional territories of Indigenous Peoples. Here we gather on territory where Aboriginal people have performed age-old ceremonies of celebration, initiation and renewal. We acknowledge their living culture and their unique role in the life of the region.
THE APPROACH
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: As we move deeper into the fall season, witnessing the falling leaves and feeling the cooling temperatures, we take time to celebrate God’s bounty among and within us.
ALL: We come, then, to cherish the gifts we share with one another, to treasure the riches of our relations as a body of living faith, connected to all of creation.
One: As we come, let us join together in prayer:
ALL: Sometimes, O God, we consider the growing bareness of the trees, wondering what to expect in the fallow time of winter, yet to come. We have experienced the circle of life that keeps renewing. We hope for that same renewing among and within each of us, but also within this, our family of faith, and within creation itself. As we gather for worship, may we keep discovering your gifts as we weave them into a whole, as we uncover wisdom in our giving and receiving. In our weaving, as we follow your pattern, may we be made whole. Amen.
Written by Gord Dunbar, Kindardine, Ont.
Gathering, Pentecost 2 2025, p.32. Used with permission
HYMN: “Fairest Lord Jesus” VU #341
1 Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,
O thou of God to earth come down:
thee will I cherish, thee will I honour,
thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown.
2 Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
who makes the troubled heart to sing.
3 Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,
and fair the twinkling, starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
than all the angels heaven can boast.
4 All fairest beauty heavenly and earthly,
wondrously, Jesus, is found in thee;
none can be nearer, fairer or dearer
than thou, my Saviour, art to me.
A NEW CREED: Spoken in Unison
We are not alone; we live in God’s world.
We believe in God: who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the church: to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.
MINISTRY OF MUSIC
LEARNING TOGETHER
HYMN: “Walk with Me” VU #649
1 When Moses heard the call of God
he said, 'Lord, don't send me.'
But God told Moses, 'You're the one
to set my people free.' Refrain
Refrain Walk with me, I will walk with you
and build the land that God has planned
where love shines through.
2 Now Peter was a most unlikely
man to lead the flock;
but Jesus knew his holiness
and he became the Rock. Refrain
3 Young Mary Magdalene was sure
her life could be much more,
and by her faith she dared to let
God's love unlock the door. Refrain
4 And when you share your faith with me
and work for life made new,
the witness of your faithfulness
calls me to walk with you. Refrain
THE WORD
Scripture: Luke 19: 1-10
Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE:
“So…Now What?”
Listen to an audio recording of the message below or read it at the bottom of this page.
OUR RESPONSE
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and THE LORD’S PRAYER: sung VU#960
HYMN: “We Shall Go Out with Hope of Resurrection” VU #586
1 We shall go out with hope of resurrection;
we shall go out, from strength to strength go on;
we shall go out and tell our stories boldly;
tales of a love that will not let us go.
We'll sing our songs of wrongs that can be righted;
we'll dream our dreams of hurts that can be healed;
we'll weave a cloth of all the world united
within the vision of new life in Christ.
2 We'll give a voice to those who have not spoken;
we'll find the words for those whose lips are sealed;
we'll make the tunes for those who sing no longer,
expressive love alive in every heart.
We'll share our joy with those who still are weeping,
raise hymns of strength for hearts that break in grief,
we'll leap and dance the resurrection story,
including all in circles of our love.
AFFIRMING MOMENT:
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY PRAYER: In Unison
Abundant God, bless our commitments. Let our gifts of love multiply and shower the world with love. Let us be each other’s encouragement and building up. Amen.
Written by Whitney Bruno, Little Current and Sheguiandah U.C., Little Current, Ont.
Gathering, Pentecost 2 2025, p.38. Used with permission
SUNG BLESSING (MV #173 vs 5)
Reach out in friendship,
stay with faith in touch with those around you.
Put peace into each other’s hands;
the Peace that sought and found you. ©
SENDING FORTH:
A Time of Fellowship
© Music Reproduced with permission under License number A-605748, Valid for: 26/10/2024 - 25/10/2025; One License - Copyright Cleared Music for Churches
Sermon 2025 11 02
“So…Now What?”
Luke 19: 1 - 10
Gracious God, be with us today in this place, in the Scriptures and in our words.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts praise your Holy name. Amen.
The Gospel reading for today focuses on life renewed.
The crowd makes Zacchaeus an outcast.
Last week, we heard Rev. Diane say that the Tax Collectors were hated because they enforced the Roman Taxation laws.
The Romans had conquered the Jews and occupied their land.
The Romans were hated for it…of course.
Yet even worse was a Jew who worked for the Romans to collect the taxes imposed on them.
Some of these collaborator tax collectors took more than they should from their neighbours and lined their own pockets with the difference.
So, you can see how being a Tax Collector could be a lonely job even if you were a fair tax collector.
Zacchaeus, whether a just Tax Collector or not, was hated and an outcast.
The last time I preached using this text, it was three years ago.
I reflected on our amalgamation process on the Highland Hills Pastoral Charge that began with an official vote in the fall of 2016 even while talks were going on for years before that.
As a reminder, I preached these words from 2016…
“You know, I wondered last Sunday, with our Amalgamation Vote, whether I would become an outcast, like Zacchaeus, for enforcing the rules about who could vote!
Fortunately, I think the message got out there to most people.
For those who may not have heard yet, Minden United Church and Zion United Church both said Yes to Amalgamation.
Maple Lake United Church said No.
The next question is always, “So...Now What?”
Let’s get back to the Gospel.
Jesus invites himself to Zacchaeus house.
This ticked off the crowd.
They didn’t want Jesus associating with Zacchaeus.
They didn’t want Jesus spending time with the other side.
Jesus accepted Zacchaeus for who he was; a human.
Jesus showed love and mercy even when the crowd would have refused.
That changed Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus was transformed into a new man that day.
For one, he wasn’t as lonely, knowing that at least Jesus cared about him.
Amazing, how such a small simple act of having lunch can break down so many barriers and create something wonderful!
How things have changed in the last 9 years.
The amalgamation between Zion and Minden created Highland Hills United Church.
Then, came along the decision to say goodbye to the Carnarvon property lovingly known as Zion United Church to worship together at the Minden property.
Then, COVID-19 came to introduce us to Zoom and worshiping from home!
Then, most of us were back into our buildings again with a large group continuing with Zoom to include as many people as possible.
Then, Maple Lake United Church’s decision to disband came early in 2022.
The transfer of the Maple Lake members and adherents to Highland Hills and their participation in worship services, both In-person and on Zoom, unites us all once again.
Finally, in January 2023, we started working and worshiping more closely with Hope United Church in Norland.
That partnership continues to this day sharing three Sundays a month on average.
There is no doubt that churches in Canada are struggling in a variety of ways.
I heard a lot about that subject at last weekend’s East Central Ontario Regional Council meeting.
The days of the past are gone, and the end seems at hand in many ways if we don’t make significant plans for changes in the future.
Yet, I see it a little differently.
Locally, uniting and partnering has helped us work together.
It has helped us to reduce our financial costs and our human resources needs for filling various volunteer positions.
For years, long before I arrived on the scene way back in 2003, there had been talk of amalgamation.
Those talks became intentional in 2015 and resulted in the amalgamation vote in 2016.
The talks then continued but they had shifted slightly from if to how and when.
That was a life choice!
It was a choice to approach our individual end-of-life choices by making a contribution to the continuing life of the church in our community.
None of us will be here or alive 50 years from now – except for Thomas, we hope!
Some of us, the number is not 50 years but 20 or even 10!
Our forefathers and foremothers knew it wasn’t going to be them personally to care for the church in the future.
They knew it would be other people, so they made individual end-of-life choices that supported the continuing life of the church.
We have done and are doing the same.
All three of the former churches of the Highland Hills Pastoral Charge and their members have chosen to pursue new and renewed life.
All of us do this encouraged by the love of Jesus and strive to share that transforming love with others.
May Zacchaeus remind us that we are all on this human journey of life together seeking love and transformation.
May we be encouraged by new initiatives like the Affirming Education and Accessibility improvements we have all been working on.
I received some very timely advice.
It is called, …
COMMANDMENT WISDOM
Thou shall not worry; for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.
Thou shall not be fearful; for most of the things we fear never come to pass anyway.
Thou shall not cross bridges before you come to them; for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.
Thou shall face each problem as it comes; you can only handle one at a time anyway.
Thou shall not take problems to bed with you; for they make very poor bedfellows.
Thou shall not try to relive yesterday for good or ill, it is forever gone; concentrate on what is happening in your life and be content now.
Thou shall be a good listener; for only when you listen do you hear different ideas from your own.
Thou shall count thy blessings; never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.
Sermons shouldn’t be a list of do’s and don’ts but I hope these bits of wisdom help you to put your trust in God.
Let us share the love of God with those around us in tried and true ways and even some new ones.
May God’s transforming love gather us all in, transforming us and those not previously included, like the Zacchaeus’ of this world.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
