Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship
February 21, 2010

Gathering Hymns Come, let us all unite to sing HWB 12
                          Longing for light STJ 54 V. 1,3,4,5

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

Call to Worship
Leader: You who live in shelter of the Most High,
People: place your trust in the Almighty,
Leader: come to rest in the shadow of God's grace.
People: When we call out, God will answer.
All: In our trouble, God will be near.

Affirmation of Faith HWB 710

Hymn A wonderful Savior is Jesus HWB 598

Scripture Psalm 91: 1-2, 9-16

Offering Prayer

Offering

Child Dedication of Aven Lilly J.

Children's Story Les and Gwen Gustafson-Zook

Hymn In the morning when I rise STJ 45 V . 1,2,3

Scripture Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Luke 4:1-13

Sermon "Jesus in Palestine" Les and Gwen Gustafson-Zook

Confession
Lord, strip us of any illusions
that would block our way to you.
( silence)
Let your Word within us comfort, disturb, and convert us. Amen.

Assurance HWB 709

Response Hymn God of our strength HWB 36 V . 1,3,4

Sharing Joys, Concerns and Reflections and Introduction of Visitors

Prayers of the Community

Benediction
Leader: May your journey be one of joy.
People: Thank you, Lord, for joy.
Leader: May your journey be one of peace.
People: Thank you, Lord, for peace.
Leader: May your journey be one of love.
People: T hank you, Lord, for love. Amen.

Hymn Give thanks for life STJ 108

We warmly welcome all who are visiting with us today!

A supervised nursery, located next to the main entrance, for newborns through age 3

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

Sunday, February 21 Bowling with HCATF , Western Bowl (see NOTES for 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, February 23 Community Meal (5pm)
Wednesday, February 24 Council (6:00pm, note change from last week)
Saturday, February 27 Council Retreat (9am-1:30pm)
Saturday, February 27 Book Club (6pm, see NOTES for details)

Wednesday, March 3 City Gospel Mission

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: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35.

Nick Miller will be participating in the Equality Ride for the next two months. This bus trip visits universities all across the country with policies that expel students who come out as GLBT. The mission of the Ride is to reach out to these schools, from a place of non-violence and engage in productive and meaningful dialogue with the hopes of changes in, minds, and policy. For more information, or to donate visit www.soulforce.org/nick_miller . (This email address is a correction from last week.)

Donations collected for the MCC Haiti Relief fund totaled $955.00!
Thank you for reaching deep in your pockets and showing your support.

The HCATF bowling activity begins at Quizno's at 6470 Glenway, meeting for lunch (12:45pm) and then traveling on to Western Bowl at 6383 Glenway Avenue for an afternoon of fun!

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.

A message from Elizabeth NN:
Daniel, Douglas, and I (Elizabeth NN) are in a local children's choir, Young Voices ( www.young-voices.org ). We have all learned lots and lots from this program, and is one of my favorite activities. In our upcoming move, it will be on of the hardest things to leave. As our spring fundraiser we are selling flats of flowers. They are from a good company, McCabe's Greenhouse and Floral in Aurora, IN. I need your orders and money by Sunday, Feb 28, and the flowers will be delivered to you on May 3. We have Jumbo flats (36 plants) of begonias, marigolds, impatiens, petunias, vinca periwinkles for $15. We also have Flats (12 plants) and ½ flats (6 plants) of zonal geraniums and wave petunias; the flats are $45 and the ½ flats are $25. We rely on community support, and so I would really appreciate your support. Thanks!

It's not too late to register for the MCC Great Lakes annual gathering! On February 26-27, you're invited to join other MCC supporters for a time of worship and learning together at Reba Place Church in Evanston, Illinois. This gathering will feature speakers Steve Steiner (recently returned from an MCCtour in Sudan)Jenny & Joel Bishop Kempf (MCCservice workers in Mozambique). With workshops, worship services and plenty of fellowship, it promises to be a wonderful event. For more information and online registration, visit our website: greatlakes.mcc.org or call our office at (574) 534-4133.

Book Club will meet on Saturday, February 27, 6pm at Jim & Joy M.'s home. A meal will be served.The book to be discussed is "Alex & Me" by Irene Pepperberg.

You are invited! Come join hundreds of Anabaptist board and staff leaders, nurses, physicians, pastors, chaplains, social workers and other professionals at Mennonite Health Assembly in Norfolk, Virginia, March 4-7, presented by MHS Alliance and MMA. For conference details and registration options, please visit www.mhssonline.org . For immediate information, see the posted brochure in the foyer.

Camp Friedenswald is hosting its Spring Scrapbook Retreat on March 5-7. Don't miss this fun weekend of scrapbooking, papercrafting, and stamping!For more information or to register, please contact Portia at 269-476-9744 or info@friedenswald.org . You can also check for updates on vendors and workshops at www.friedenswald.org .

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.

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

The church office has a new copier!We are looking to give away our previous copier , a Canon Image1620, along with a storage stand, a nonprofit organization or worthy cause that would benefit from its use.Please talk with Violet or Pastor Joel if you know of a group that could put it to use.

Try on service this summer with Youth Venture
Get ready for a new adventure and be a part of what God is doing around the world. If you are between the ages of 14 and 22, and are interested in spending some time serving and learning alongside other young adults, Youth Venture may be for you. Youth Venture gives you a chance to try new things, meet new people, and learn about a new culture through the eyes of a local church or host community. During summer 2010, you can travel with teams and a leader to locations like Bolivia, Botswana, France, southern California and Montreal, among others. For more information about Youth Venture, visit Service.MennoniteMission.net or e-mail ArloaBMennoniteMission.net.

Prayers for Faith and Learning:
Goshen College takes a midterm break this week. The softball, baseball and men's and women's basketball teams will be traveling, along with the men's chorus. Pray for safe journeys, and for a time of rest and renewal for all students and faculty.

Prayers for the Mennonite Mission Network:
Pray that God may strengthen and guide Alyssa Hostetler, Kelli Yoder, Allen Slabaugh and Richard Aguirre of the Americus, Ga., Mennonite Voluntary Service unit as they serve the local community.

Journey Groups

Art & Spirituality
February 21, 5:30pm @ home of Patti G.
Spiritual Journey
March 16, 6pm @ Peace House
Men's Group (Open)
TBA
Open Group (Open)
February 25, 6:30pm @ home of Christine S.