Wesley United Church– Year A
March 8, 2026, Third Sunday in Lent

Worship Leader:  Bev Hinks & Lucy Bragg

 

Reader: Roy Richards
Music:  Bev Bragg
Greeter: Joyce Seaward
Bell Ringer: Ross Cooper

 

Gathering in the Spirit

 

Welcome to our worship service either online or in printed form.  

 

Life and Work of the Church may be found at the end of the service.

 

Our Blessings & Birthdays for this week are:

 

Lighting of the Christ Candle  

 

L. We light this candle because it’s important to do so even when we feel as if we are just going through the motions.  We show up, even on days we don’t feel like it, because we have chosen the Way of Jesus.  We have chosen to honour God in the little things and through the habits we cultivate day by day, week by week, like lighting the Christ candle. 

 

*Introit:  VU # 412  This Is the Day

This is the day, this is the day
that our God has made, that our God has made;
we will rejoice, we will rejoice,
and be glad in it, and be glad in it.

This is the day that our God has made,
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day, this is the day
that our God has made.

 

*Call to Worship 

 

L. Come to the wellspring of our salvation! Come to the place where the water of life runs free!

 

P. Come to the well, where you may set your bur-dens down and draw up refreshment, for mind and for soul.

 

L. Come, people of God, to this place or worship.

 

P. Come and praise the God who gave us life!

 

*Opening Hymn:  MV #161 I Have Called You by Your Name  

 

1  I have called you by your name, you are mine
I have gifted you and ask you now to shine.
I will not abandon you;
all my promises are true.
You are gifted, called, and chosen;
you are mine.

 

2  I will help you learn my name as you go;
read it written in my people, help them grow.
Pour the water in my name,
speak the word your soul can claim,
offer Jesus’ body given long ago.

 

3  I know you will need my touch as you go;
feel it pulsing in creation’s ebb and flow.
Like the woman reaching out,
choosing faith in spite of doubt,
hold the hem of Jesus robe,
then let it go.

 

4  I have given you a name, it is mine;
I have given you my Spirit as a sign.
With my wonder in your soul,
make my wounded children whole;
go and tell my precious people
they are mine.

 

Opening Prayer 

 

Loving God, when the people wandered in the desert, you were there.  When they were hungry, thirsty, and wondering how they could go on, you responded with your abundance, water from a rock, manna in the wilderness.
You, present with us now, are aware of our needs; you hear our concerns.  Allow us to set down all of our burdens and be fully present to you, in the way that you are present for us.
Feed us with what we need in our time together, enabling us to live in your way of abundance for all, following the path toward peace and justice.  We pray this in the name of the Christ.  Amen  

 

Invitation to Confession  

We know that we can come before the One who knows our thirst and hears our unspoken longings.
In the wilderness of our hearts, God meets us with mercy.
In the dryness of our souls, Christ offers living water.
Let us now lay down our burdens, speak truthfully of our need,
and open ourselves to the grace that restores and renews.
Together, let us confess our sins before God and one another.

 

Prayer of Confession  

We confess the times when we have lost our way as individuals.  Sometimes we feel as if we are in a fog or in a far-off country.  We need your help and guidance to bring us back.  We confess that in families or with friends, sometimes we have lost our way and yearn to heal broken relationships.  We need your help and guidance to find the heal-ing path.  We confess that as communities of faith, as people of goodwill, as folks who want to do the right things, sometimes we have lost our compass and need your North Star to guide us.  We need your guidance, like a compass, in order to point us in the right direction.  We confess that sometimes as a nation, our values are off-kilter and we are rudderless.  Be our captain and guide the ship of the country we know as Canada.
Now, in these moments of silence, we confess the areas in our life where we feel we have missed the mark and need your guidance.

 

Silent prayer                          Amen

Words of Assurance 

 

L. Like a father or mother welcoming home a beloved child, we know that God’s love seeks us out, finds us, forgives us, and welcomes us home.  This welcoming home was lived through Jesus, who declared to Nicodemus that God so loved the world.  We were lost, and we have been found, for we are part of God’s family.

 

P. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Listening for the Spirit

*Hymn: Video of VU # 600  When I Needed a Neighbour

 

1  When I needed a neighbour, were you there,
were you there?
When I needed a neighbour, were you there?
And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter,
were you there?

 

2  I was hungry and thirsty, were you there.
were you there?
I was hungry and thirsty, were you there?
And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter,
were you there?

 

3  I was cold, I was naked, were you there,
were you there?
I was cold, I was naked, were you there?
And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter,
were you there?

 

4  When I needed a healer, were you there,
were you there?
When I needed a healer, were you there?
And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter,
were you there?

 

5  Wherever you travel I’ll be there,
I’ll be there,
Wherever you travel I’ll be there.
And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter,
I’ll be there.

 

Prayer of Illumination

 

Life-Giving God, grant us a hunger for your message of new life.  Quench our thirst for your timeless grace with your living water.  Fill us with nourishing com-fort, a spicy call to action, and sweet love.  We ask in the name of the One who is the host of the banquet and the giver of water at the well, Jesus the Christ.  Amen 

 

Scripture Readings

 

Exodus 17:1-7 

This reading occurs during the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai.  The passage highlights a recurring theme in the wilderness narratives: the tension between human doubt and divine faithfulness.  Despite witnessing God’s past miracles, the Israelites quickly forget and complain when faced with scarcity, in this case, a lack of water. 

 

Exodus 17:1-7 

From the wilderness of Sin, the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?’ But the people thirst-ed there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried out to the LORD, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ The LORD said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah* and Meribah,* because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the LORD, saying, ‘Is the LORD among us or not?’

The Word of the Lord                          Thanks be to God

 

 

Psalm 95 

This psalm begins with an invitation to sing, shout, and make a joyful noise to the Lord, described as the “Rock of salvation”.  This emphasizes that worship is not merely ritualistic but a heartfelt, communal expression of gratitude and reverence.  We  are encouraged to approach God with thanksgiving, acknowledging His greatness and the joy of being in His presence.  

 

Psalm 95

L.  O come, let us sing to God,

P.  let us shout with joy to the rock of our salvation.

 

L.  Let us come into God’s presence with thanksgiving;

 

P. let us joyously shout to God with songs of praise.

 

Refrain:
Come, let us bow down and worship; let us kneel before God our maker.

 

L.  For you are a great God,

 

P.  high sovereign above all gods.

 

L. In your hand are the depths of the earth;

 

P.  to you belong the heights of the mountains.

 

L.  The sea is yours, for you made it;

 

P.  your hands also formed the dry land.

 

L.  You are indeed our God;

 

P.  we are your people, the flock that you shep-herd.

Refrain:
Come, let us bow down and worship; let us kneel before God our maker.

 

Response to Psalm

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

 

Gospel Reading:  John 4:5-42

In this reading, we witness a transformative encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman at a well.  At first glance, this interaction may seem mundane, but it is anything but ordinary.  Jesus uses he metaphor of “living water” to reveal deeper spiritual truths about Himself. Jesus offers the Samaritan
Woman living water, quenching not only her physical thirst but also speaking to her spiritual thirst for salvation and eternal life.
This moment is symbolic of Jesus as the source of true satisfaction and fulfillment for all humanity.

 

Gospel Reading:  John 4:5-42

 

So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will pro-claim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer be-cause of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
The Word of the Lord     Thanks be to God

 

Message:  Putting Down Your Jar (Living Water)

By Rev Jo-Anne Taylor

 

Note: This is a first person narrative, told from the perspective of the Samaritan woman Jesus meets at the well in John 4. While most messages can be given by either a man or a woman, this one needs to be heard in a woman’s voice. 
[Wear a scarf that covers all hair, carry a ‘water jar’ containing about a cup of water. Have the baptismal font placed in the center of the chancel, and have two large stone jars on the altar or a table near the font, one empty and one with some sand/pebbles in it.]

I live in Sychar – you also probably know it as the city of Shechem, in Samaria. I don’t really live in Sychar, but just outside of town. Jacob’s well is about a mile from Sychar, and I probably live closer to the well than the town square. You can actually see the well from my doorway.
One day, about lunchtime, I saw a group of men walking toward the well. I could tell they were Jews, even at a distance. They looked like they had come a long way, probably taking the shortcut back to Galilee from Je-rusalem.
Most Jews crossed the Jordan and traveled around Samaria, so Sychar wasn’t really “on the way” between Jerusalem and Galilee, unless you were trying to avoid the crowds on the roads.
I could tell that they didn’t have anything with them to draw water. They probably had no idea how deep the well was. Anyway, I picked up a water jar and headed toward the well. If I hurried, I could get there first, leave the jar for them, and be out of the way before they got there.
But I wasn’t fast enough. By the time I got to the well, only one man was there. I guess the others had headed into town to buy food. I lowered my eyes and started to draw some water.
Out of the blue, the man spoke directly to me! This was unheard of! I could tell he was a Jew, and Jews do not speak to Samaritans if they can help it. Not only am I a Samaritan, but – as you can see – I’m a Samari-tan woman. No self-respecting Jew would speak to a Samaritan woman.
But he did.
“Give me a drink,” he said.
“How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” I asked him. It was risky, answering him that way, but he had spoken first, so I took a chance.
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is say-ing to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
Well, that explained it. This Jew was apparently a crazy man. No wonder he had no trouble speaking to a dou-ble outcast. He was probably an outcast himself. But I decided to humor him.
“Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”
He said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
Right, I thought. He’s definitely crazy, but probably harmless.
I said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
That’s when the joking and the banter stopped. He looked me right in the eye, and said, “Go, call your husband, and come back.”
Maybe he realized he had overstepped some bounda-ries. To continue this conversation, a male relative re-ally should be present.
But he had raised a question that I was embarrassed to answer, so I told him the simplest truth: “I have no husband.”
I thought that would end the conversation, but then he said, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”
How could he possibly know that?
Now, you are probably thinking I am some floozy who goes through men the way water goes through a strainer. You might think I’m an adulteress, or a pros-titute.
But you’d be wrong. If I had committed adultery or prostitution, I would have been stoned to death for it. You don’t know my story. You don’t know if my five husbands died, or divorced me because I burned the toast, or left because they couldn’t keep up with my study of scripture.
For all you know, the man I am with now could be my brother-in-law, who took me into his household after my last husband died, according to levirate law. He would only be fulfilling his brotherly duty, and wouldn’t consider me his own wife, but his brother’s.
You don’t know my story, but this man did! Maybe he wasn’t crazy after all. Maybe he was a man of God.
So I tested this idea. I said, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Answer me this: Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.”
He answered, “Woman, believe me, the hour is com-ing when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
He’d lost me somewhere after “salvation is from the Jews.” I didn’t understand what he said about worship-ing in spirit and truth. Maybe he was just crazy, after all. But something in me really wanted to hear more.
I couldn’t put my finger on the feeling at that moment, but now I know what it was. Hope was starting to wake up in me, and at the same time, I was afraid of that hope being dashed. We Samaritans have lived with disappointment for a long time. Better to lower my ex-pectations. Better to not get my hopes up.
“I know that Messiah is coming (who is called Christ),” I said. “When he comes, he will teach us all things.”
Then he said something I will never forget:
“I who speak to you am he.”
…. (let this sink in….move from confusion to awe to excitement)
I saw the others coming back from the village, but I couldn’t wait for them to get to the well. I left my wa-ter jar for them, and I ran into town as fast as I could.
I went to the town square and shouted to all my neighbors, “Come see a man who told me everything I have ever done! You don’t think this could be the Messiah, do you? Come and see!
And they came. They all came. They left their lunches, their work, whatever they were doing, and the whole town came out to the well to see this man, this Jesus. Many of them believed in him because of what I had told them.
As we gathered around the well, he taught us about the Kingdom of God. And he told us we could be part of that Kingdom, even though we were Samaritans!
We asked him to stay with us, and he did. Jesus and his followers stayed two more days. Many more people came to believe in him because of his teaching.
After he and his students had headed back to Galilee, some of the people from the village stopped by my house and said, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
Friends, this is the Good News, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God.
(Move to font, touch the water.)
I see that you have a water jar, too. What’s in your jar? Is it filled with Living Water that splashes out and bathes you in baptism? As you drink of this Living Water, is your thirst for God satisfied? Does the water in your jar fill you and nourish you, and spill over into the world around you?
(Pick up jar with sand.)
Or is your jar filled with other things, so there is no room for Living Water in it? Do the cobwebs and dust of old grudges and hurts keep you from tasting the Living Water that Jesus offers? Has your jar filled up with the dirt of self-importance and pebbles of worry, (pour a little sand into your hand, and back into the jar.) so there is no room for God to fill your jar with the Holy Spirit?
Or, (pick up empty jar and shake it upside down) … Is your jar empty?
We live in a world of “not enough.”  There is not enough time, not enough money, not enough patience, not enough love, not enough hope, not enough … life. Our whole lives are “not enough.”
We can talk about what needs to change; we can plan new programs and start new projects. But if each new program just replaces the one before it and nothing re-ally changes, hope dies. We dry up.
Yet, Jesus tells us that he came so we could have life – not just barely-scraping-by life, but real, abundant, full-to-the-brim life.
As you set your jar at the feet of Jesus, can you give him everything that is in it – your desire to be “in control” and your pain and your doubt, your emptiness and your worry, all that you are and all that you have?
Just as surely as Jesus knew everything I had ever done, he knows you. No secret is too terrible, no sin is too dark for him to wash it away with Living, life-giving water.
It’s time for you to stop carrying a heavy jar filled with things that will not satisfy the longing of your soul. It’s time to put your jar down at Jesus’ feet, and let him look you in the eye as he tells you how he loves you.
And then it’s time for you to go tell someone else who Jesus is.
You see, it was on the way back to town that I realized I had already decided to trust this man, this Jesus. He never asked me to repent of my sin, as I later learned he would ask many others who met him. He never asked anything of me except to give him a drink, something I certainly was able to do.
But once he told me who he was, my life changed in that instant. As I ran into Sychar to tell the others, still not completely believing I had met the One, the Mes-siah, I was already being transformed into something new, someone different.
As I told my neighbors, “Come see a man who told me everything I have ever done,” I was still in shock: this man couldn’t be the Messiah, could he? And yet, the very act of calling the others to come meet him was forming my faith in this man, the Son of God.
I was being filled with Living Water.
How could I not share that with everyone I knew?
I know there are stories of Jesus meeting other people. You have heard the story of the respected teacher, Nicodemus, who found Jesus in the middle of the night. But Jesus came to me at high noon, in the mid-dle of the day.
Nicodemus was an important religious leader. Jesus told him “You must be born of water and spirit if you are to enter the Kingdom of God.” Here I am, a poor Samaritan woman, yet Jesus talked to me of worship-ing God in spirit and truth, and he offered me Living Water.
Do you see the connection? In water and spirit, Jesus meets us wherever we are. He offers us eternal life that begins immediately, not just after we die. He offers us the life-giving water of his own spirit.
This is why the act of baptism is such a sacred event. It uses water to show how God fills us with his Holy Spirit, flooding us with his love and protection.
When you are baptized in this church, the congrega-tion is asked if it will guide you, through teaching and example, to profess your faith openly, and to lead a Christian life.
Then, as part of the very Body of Christ that promised to guide you, you also promise to teach and guide oth-ers to profess their faith openly, as they lead a Christian life.
You teach others to profess their faith by profess-ing your own,
just as I learned to believe that Jesus was the Christ by announcing it to my neighbors.
In Hebrew, the word for “well” is the same as the word for “to see.” Imagine yourself by the well, look-ing down at the water. The water is like a mirror. If you look closely, you can see not only yourself, but this community around you, filled with people of all ages and backgrounds. Jesus offers living water to each of us, not only for ourselves, but for us to share.
I can see us offering this living water to all we encoun-ter. I can see God transforming the loneliness, pain, and despair in our community into streams of just, re-storing, living water – and doing all this through us.
So, pick up your jar. We have water to share.
 

 

Responding to the Spirit

 

*Hymn: VU # 661  Come to My Heart

1  Come to my heart, Lord Jesus;
teach me to walk in your way.
Come to my heart, Lord Jesus;
come to my heart today.
Give me the peace and joy
that only you can bring.
Come to my heart, Lord Jesus;
give me a song to sing.

 

2  Fill me with love, Lord Jesus;
teach me to walk in your way.
Fill me with love, Lord Jesus;
fill me with love today.
Give me the peace and joy
that only you can bring.
Fill me with love, Lord Jesus;
give me a song to sing.

 

3  Answer my prayer, Lord Jesus;
teach me to walk in your way.
Answer my prayer, Lord Jesus;
answer my prayer today.
Give me the peace and joy
that only you can bring.
Answer my prayer, Lord Jesus;
give me a song to sing.

 

Prayers of the People

Gracious God, like a deer that longs for running streams, so our souls yearn for the love that comes from you - the love that wells up in us like streams of living water and brings life to us and to those around us.  Help us to open our lives to you, to put down our roots in your word and to turn our hands both
upward and outward that we may receive and give your blessing.

Grant, O God, that we may be a people who in speak-ing truth do not judge those of whom and to whom we speak. Help us to reap the harvest which others have sown and to sow so that others may reap.

Father, hear our prayers for those of our brothers and sisters whose names are upon our hearts at this time. We remember them and all those who are in need around our world this day before you at this time_________________

God of holy love, thank you for the living and ever-lasting water you pour out for us and for our world through Your son Jesus.  Keep us close to Him, and loyal to His leading, as we pray the prayer He taught us to say:  Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not in-to temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen

 

M & S Story

 

Spring doesn’t arrive quietly. It pushes. It breaks through frozen ground, insisting on life. 
That same insistence is at work through Mission and Service partners around the world. And when we give to Mission and Service, we’re not simply supporting good intentions. We’re strengthening this steady, root-ed, courageous work that is already underway. 
Our generosity supports partners as they show up, day in and day out, wherever there is need. 
When wildfires displace families: they’re there to open their doors in welcome.
When food prices rise beyond reach: they’re organizing food distribution before cupboards are bare.
When storms wash away infrastructure: they’re planting crops in soil made fragile by climate change. 
When isolation presses in on communities: they’re creating safe spaces for learning, healing, and belonging.
Every gift we give through Mission and Service is fuel for this response. Our collective generosity becomes groceries on a table, a workshop that shifts harmful beliefs, seeds planted in changing climates, and training for leaders. 
This work is not theoretical. It’s daily, practical, and faithful. And it grows because, together, we continue to help it grow. 
Spring is coming. Let’s make sure hope grows every-where it’s needed. 
Give to support Mission and Service today; help love take root.

 

Offering Invitation 

Today we remember we are brought together through God’s grace and Jesus’ love.  Wow!  We are the beneficiaries of abundant blessings.  In grateful response, we will now present our offering. 

 

Offertory Hymn MV # 191 What Can I Do?

What can I do?  What can I bring?
What can I say?  What can I sing?
I’ll sing with joy.  I’ll say a prayer.
I’ll bring my love.  I’ll do my share.

*Offertory Prayer 

Loving God, when we asked for a cup of water, you gave us a fountain.  When we asked for living water, you gave us truth.  May these gifts we bring be poured out upon a thirsty world, bringing both comfort and truth.  Amen 

 

 

*Closing Hymn:   VU # 635 All the Way My Saviour Leads Me

 

1  All the way my Saviour leads me;
what have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt his tender mercy
why through life has been my guide?
Heavenly peace, divinest comfort,
here by faith in him to dwell,
for I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.

 

2  All the way my Saviour leads me,
cheers each winding path I tread,
gives me grace for every trial,
feeds me with the living bread.
Though my weary steps may falter,
and my soul athirst may be,
gushing from the rock before me,
lo, a spring of joy I see!

 

3  All the way my Saviour leads me;
O the fullness of his love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
in my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed, immortal,
wings its flight to realms of day,
this my song through endless ages,
“Jesus led me all the way!”

*Benediction & Commissioning 

Go in prayer.  Go in hope. Go expecting resurrection.  Go trusting where this Lent leads.  Firmly in the promises of God our Saviour, go a be a disciple fully.  Amen

 

*Sung Benediction: MV # 215 “Peace Be With You” 

 

Peace be with you, peace forever,
Peace be with you, my friends.
Till we meet again, may God be with you.
Peace, peace, peace. 

 

 

Life and Work of the Church

Donation to our new Digital Hymnal in memory of Bertha & Arthur Davis and family members Edgar, Harold, Aubrey, Helena, Elizabeth & Irwin by Dave & Margie Davis

 

Today, on our Memory Board, we are remembering

Edward Windsor, David Garland Butt and George William Richards 

 

 Thank you to Ruth Deveaux, Elsie Organ, Joyce Seaward and Theona Anderson for helping out at the Salvation Army Luncheon on Tuesday.

Digital Memorial Fund-  If you would like to donate towards our new Digital Hymnal, please mark the word “Digital” and the person you are remembering on your envelope. Thank you for your financial help with this project.

 

Bible Discussion Group- Please let Evelyn or Joan know if you would like to be a part of a group to discuss the scripture readings of the previous Sunday.  Also, the group would be open to studying favorite scriptures of the members or any other Biblical ideas.

Recovery Is Possible Support Group meetings are held in our church hall on Sunday nights at 7:00 pm.  The coordinator for this group is Andrea Feaver. 

Wesley United Library- in our former Choir Room. Please take time before or after our services to borrow, exchange or donate books.

 

Columbarium Niches: There is one niche left that can be reserved.  Each niche, which can hold two urns, cost $2500.00.  Please contact Mable Spencer if you are interested in purchasing a niche. 

 

Walking Group meets on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10:00 am.  Dinah Carter is the coordinator for this group.  

Darts – The group meets at 1:00pm on Tuesdays.  The Coordinators are David Davis and Debbie Moss.

 

AIM’s Empower Rangers Group meet each Tuesday 4:00-6:00 in our church hall.  This is a social club aimed toward empowering neurodivergent youth in everyday life here in town. It is open to youth from grade 6 onwards. Coordinator is Reed Bartlett.

Quilting, Sewing, Knitting, Crafts and Social get-togethers are held on Thursdays, at 1:00 pm.  Evelyn MacDonald and Ruth Deveaux are coordinators for these groups.

 

Previous bulletins have been placed on the Information Table in case anyone would like one.  These are nice to give out to people who are unable to attend.

 

Copies of “Our Daily Bread” are available on the Information Table.

 

Food Bank –The Food Bank needs sugar, can milk, tea bags, butter or any nonperishable item. You may bring your items to church or drop them off at the Thrift Store. 

 

Recycling Depot Thank you to those who have been donating their recyclables to our account. Our account total is now $12.40. You may donate by using the pin number 6953434 (our telephone number) when you drop off your recyclables. 

 

Sunday Morning services on our web site. You are able to read our worship service by clicking on the following link: www.wesleyunitedchurch.sitew.ca Once you are on the site, click Sunday Worship which will take you to the service.

          Offerings Needed to Meet 2026 Budget
Local: $5000.00 Monthly
M & S: $200.00 Monthly

Date                             Local Account             M & S
January                          3739.00                   127.00

February 1                       467.00                     47.00

February 8                      398.00                     43.00   

February 15                      216.00                      21.00  

February 22                     762.00                   107.00

March 1                       Will be recorded next week.         

Many blessing for this new week and let us share our jug of living water with others on our journey this week.