Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship
March 7, 2010

Gathering Hymns Jesus, stand among us HWB 25
                         Many and great, O God HWB 35

Welcome
(Visitors are invited to fill out a welcome card and place it in the offering basket.)

Call to Worship
Leader: Like parched ground waits for rain,
People: we long for God, body and soul.
Leader: When we see God's power and glory
People: we can't help but lift our hands in praise.
Leader: God is the one we seek,
People: the one we'll hold on to.

Affirmation of Faith HWB 715

Hymn Breathe on me, breath of God HWB 356

Scripture Isaiah 55:1-9

Offering Prayer

Offering

Scripture Luke 13:1-13

Children's Story

Hymn I sought the Lord HWB 506

Sermon Extending grace into chaos

Confession
Source of everything good, we have worshipped other gods,
and hungered and thirsted for things that do not satisfy.
(silence)
Do not test us beyond our strength,
but restore us in Jesus' name. Amen.

Response Hymn Slowly turning, ever turning STJ 23

Sharing Joys, Concerns and Reflections and Introduction of Visitors

Prayers of the Community

Benediction
Leader: Leaving behind what does not satisfy,
People: and letting go of our pride, greed and selfishness,
Leader: let us look to God
People: and share what we've received.

Hymn May the grace of Christ our Savior HWB 423

We warmly welcome all who are visiting with us today!

Children's Circle, which meets in the basement during the second half of the worship service, for children ages 3 through 7

Sunday, March 7--IHN Volunteers Potluck Training Lunch (See NOTES for complete details.)

New City Presbyterian continues their weekly 5pm worship services in our building on Sunday evenings.To aid in the process of leaving the church in a clean and orderly condition for them , please set in order the books in your pew and remove bulletins and any stray items from the worship area. Thank you.

Tuesday, March 9-- Community Meal (5pm)
Thursday, March 11-- SLT (6:30pm)

Sunday, March 14 --PJOS (8:30am, Peace House)
Sunday, March 14 --Safe Sanctuary Brown Bag Luncheon , after church
(second date, replaces Second Sunday Potluck for this month)

Thursday, March 25-- Council (6pm)
Sunday, March 28-- Book Club (after church, see NOTES for complete details.)

Pastor Joel's Whereabouts
Beyond congregational duties, below are some of Pastor Joel's present activities:
Recent:
Tuesday, March 2nd- Oakley Community Council re: Food Pantry expansion
Friday-Saturday, March 5th-6th -In Atlanta for consultant work with Fund for Theological Education

Upcoming:
Ongoing work with Healthy Sexuality resource through Mennonite Publishing Network
Friday-Saturday March 12-13 - Ohio Conference Annual Conference Assembly, Archibold, OH
Sat-Sunday, March 20-21, - Quarterly Weekend Off . In Chicago with siblings.
Mondays are Sabbath.

Our Lenten worship theme this year is "Holding on and letting go," a reminder to hold on to what is most important and let go of that which hinders our walk with God. This week's lectionary readings for meditation are: Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32.

In keeping with the spirit of Lent as a time of letting go , stripping our lives down to the bare essentials, we will be removing one item from the sanctuary platform each week of the season such that the Sunday before Easter it will be completely bare. We hope that the opening of the space can also lead to an opening of spiritual space as we worship.
-- worship committee

All of our church IHN volunteers are invited and urged to attend the Potluck Training Lunch at First Unitarian on Sunday, March 7 at 12:30 pm. Please bring a dessert to share.

Church Council has reviewed the Safe Sanctuary draft proposed by the Safe Sanctuary committee, and affirmed the draft at the January Council meeting. Council is ready to get congregational feedback in the form of brown-bag lunches on Feb. 28 and March 14. Members of Council and the Safe Sanctuary committee will be leading discussion groups in which all teens and adults are invited to raise questions and concerns about the Safe Sanctuary Plan. Please mark your calendar to join a brown-bag lunch one of the two dates. Once these questions and concerns have been addressed, and any necessary modifications made to the Plan, at a later date this winter/spring, Council will be asking for congregational approval of the Plan.
If you are unable to attend a scheduled brown-bag lunch, and have questions/concerns about the Plan that you would like answered, please contact any member of Church Council: Beth B., Rosella C., Jim M., Anne H. or William B.. Do not wait to ask your questions until the congregational approval meeting (late winter/early spring), as Council hopes to have all questions/concerns raised before this time. Hard copies of the Safe Sanctuary Plan are in each mailbox. Please read this document thoroughly prior to attending one of the brown-bag lunch discussion meetings.
Please note that there is also a set of supporting documents which have been drafted by the Safe Sanctuary committee. The supporting documents are working documents which are not a part of the Plan per se, and require no congregational action . These supporting documents provide one way to implement each part of the Plan and have been drafted in an attempt to make initial implementation easier for the permanent Safe Sanctuary committee. However, the committee and Council welcome feedback and suggestions on any of these working documents. Hard copies of these are available by the church mailboxes and anyone is welcome to take a copy.


In preparation for the brown bag lunches about the Safe Sanctuary Plan, please be aware that there are copies of a DVD from the congregational meeting in November, 2008, where the first congregational discussion about a safe sanctuary plan occurred. The DVD provides a valuable introduction to the ideas and questions that CMF'ers raised and that the Safe Sanctuary committee subsequently considered in the drafting of a plan. In a basket next to the mailboxes, there are several copies of the DVD which can be checked out.

The PJOS committee will meet on Sunday, March 14 at 8:30 am in the Peace House.

Camp Luz Men's Retreat! March 19-21, 2010. Speaker: Andy Stoner, ``The Samson Syndrome: Looking at Male Sexuality, Spirituality and Relationships.'' Cost: $85 per person. See brochure at the bulletin boards area or visit www.campluz.com for a printable form.

Book Club will meet on Sunday, March 28 after church at Dumesh Indian Restaurant at 944 Ludlow in Clifton.The book to be discussed is "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Save the date! The next Peace Church Brunch will be held at the Peaslee Neighborhood Center, 215 E. 14th St. Cincinnati, OH 45202 (free parking lot next to center) on Saturday, April 10 from 10am to 12pm.

We are one of five Oakley congregations who support and help operate the Oakley Community Food Pantry which feeds 150+ people/month. These congregations will be collecting food throughout the year and focusing on particular items each month. March is cereal month. All donated items (cereal and other pantry items) can be placed on the desk top in the kitchen. Thanks for helping support the pantry and contributing to Oakley household food needs.

Ten Thousand Villages of Cincinnati is in need of more volunteers' hours. If you or anyone you know is interested in volunteering in the store, please contact Elizabeth Russ at tenthousandvillagesofCincinnatifuse.net phone: 513-871-5840.If you are already a volunteer and have some time to give the store, now is a great time to help out.


Our Advent/Christmas offering of coins for MCC's Penny Power project totaled $227.58. Thank you for donating your spare change to create global change! Penny Power raises money for Mennonite
Central Committee projects of peace, relief and development around the world.

MCC Great Lakes is extremely grateful to each of you who have contributed to MCC in the past few months. Thanks to your generous support, nearly $11 million has been raised for immediate and long-term relief and development efforts following the earthquake in Haiti. In addition, response to the January bulletin announcement raised $30,705 toward the total Goshen meat canning budget of $122,000.
We offer a sincere ``thank you'' for entrusting your resources and prayer support to MCC. We appreciate your support as we continue to work locally and around the world in the name of Christ.

God's creation will nurture you through canoe trips, cabins, yurt, and retreats at Wilderness Wind , a Mennonite camp based in Ely, Minnesota near the Boundary Waters. WW is taking reservations for summer 2010. Special retreats - Lakeside Writer's Retreat with Jeff Gundy and Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Quilter's retreat, Primitive Living Skills for those who want new challenges, and Fishing for smallmouth bass, walleye, and northern pike. Check www.wildernesswind.org or call 316-217-1129.

Prayers for Faith and Learning:
Pray for Ervin Stutzman, the new executive director for Mennonite Church USA, during his installation service today in
Harrisonburg, Va. Pray also for safe travel for those who attend.

Prayers for the Mennonite Mission Network:
Recruiting teachers for LCC International University, a four-year Christian liberal arts college in Lithuania, is becoming increasingly difficult due to the global recession and new migration laws. Pray for Robin Gingerich, director of LCC's English language programs, and for a complete staff for the coming academic year.

Journey Groups

Art & Spirituality
March 21, 5:30pm @ home of Tiffany M.
Spiritual Journey
March 16, 6pm @ Peace House
Men's Group (Open)
TBA
Open Group (Open)
TBA