Listen or watch this service here
Directions: It is Messy Church Sunday! Let’s have a snow day. Please take a bowl outside and gather a bowl of snow – any size of a bowl. Any amount of snow. Bring it in at this time. We’re going to have a pretty song called The Skaters Waltz played by Ruth while we get our snow. Come back and join us with your snow.
Snow Gathering Music: The Skaters Waltz
Traditional Land Acknowledgement
(If you are missed, please share the history of your land in the chat box.)
We are gathered at home and digitally on Treaty 94, the Manitoulin Island Treaty. And Treaty 45, the Manitowaning Treaty. And Treaty 61 – The Robinson-Huron Treaty. These lands are the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe people: the Ojibwe, Odawa and the Pottowatomi.
We acknowledge their stewardship of this land. Their care of the water, earth, fire and wind that is centre to their lives and spirituality. With the Mnidoo Mnising* Peoples, and their neighbours, let us live in respect and gratitude for all creation.
(*Manitoulin Island)
In honor of the land on which we live, I re-tell a traditional sacred story of the Anishnaabe people today Little Current Public School recently shared…
– Story of Nanabush and the spirit of winter https://vimeo.com/507563200
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLE
We light this candle with the rest of the world,
and the light touches all corners of the earth.
– light candle
Just as Jesus touches all humankind,
Let us keep the light of Christ in our hearts to touch others.
Call to Worship: Psalm 148
1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise God in the heights!
2 Praise God, all you angels;
praise God, all you host!
3 Praise God, sun and moon;
praise God, all you shining stars!
4 Praise God, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for God commanded and they were created.
6 God established them forever and ever;
God fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.
7 Praise the LORD from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling God’s command!
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and young together!
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for God’s name alone is exalted;
God’s glory is above earth and heaven.
14 God has raised up a horn for God’s people,
praise for all God’s faithful,
for the people who are close to God.
Praise the LORD!
Invocation
We praise you, God! We praise you for all creation! We praise you for the technologies that gather us. We praise you for the food that sustains us. We praise you for our waters. We praise you for our snows and ice and wind. We praise you for the cedars and pines. We praise you, God, for this day! The sun! The clouds! The marvelous world, the astonishing galaxies and stars, the unfathomable universes you have created! We praise you! Come into our service and let us feel you powerfully near! Amen.
Hymn: Came he not in fire #15 vu
Came he not in fire, onward came the Lord.
Not in wind or rain, onward came the Lord.
Hail nor sleet or snow, onward came the Lord.
In a still small voice came he, onward came the Lord.
Exploration of God’s Gift of Snow
– Smell!
Scripture on smell
Hosea 14:5-6 ESV
5 [God says] I will be like the dew to Israel;
[they] shall blossom like the lily;
[they] shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
6 [their] shoots shall spread out;
[their] beauty shall be like the olive,
and [their] fragrance like Lebanon.
Activity on smelling snow
Lebanon is the land of cedars. The two Lebanese mountain ranges collect the clouds and bring down rain, and in the winter enough snow that a quarter of the year there’s skiing. In all of this marvelous rain water and snow are the cedars – trees! Fragrant trees and amazing water. The mountains cause a desert behind them – the Syrian desert. Just south of Lebanon is Israel – dry and arid – but not a desert. There’s still vineyards and palm trees. But it isn’t lush, wet, Lebanon.
Which smell does God refer to in describing the smell of the goodness of people restored?
The smell of the cedars; or the smells of the fresh water to a thirsty people; or the smell of new fallen snow?
Smell your snow. Can you smell anything?
I am always surprised in winter how little smell there is – that freshness. No grass. No pollen. Fresh. Brisk. Stark.
It makes every little smell even stronger – the smell of woodsmoke. The smell of cedar branches. The smell of snow.
– Look!
Scripture on the look of snow
Matthew 28:1-6a
1 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. 3 His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. 4 The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. 5 Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.
Activity with the look of snow
Hold your snow up to the light. Look at how the sun or overhead lamps shine on the snow. Have you ever gotten a snow burn from the sun reflecting off the snow? Snow is so brilliant! It’s like billions of little mirrors.
The reflectiveness of snow is important for our earth. Earth glow is a measure of how much sunlight the earth reflects back out into space. We reflect light with clouds and with snow. Snow and clouds works to reflect heat from the sun off the earth and back into space. As we have less snow on our polar caps our world collects more and more heat. Pools of melted ice collect heat instead of reflecting it and melt more ice.
The look of snow is good. The look of snow in the Bible is the purest, most brilliant, white of whites. The hair of the Ancient of Days, the robes of angels, our souls – that is the white of white, the most sparkly, the most brilliant snow.
– Taste!
Scripture on taste: Isaiah 55:10-11 (NABRE)
10 Yet just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
11 So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me empty,
but shall do what pleases me,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
Activity on tasting snow
Taste your snow! How does it taste? Have you caught a snowflake on your tongue before?
Have you ever tried maple taffy? Traditionally one would pour hot boiled maple sap or maple syrup on fresh snow and make tasty candy delights. If you have some maple syrup, try adding a little on your snow. What else could you add? I could add some snow to my tea to cool it down before drinking it.
Break for a hymn about snow: #2“When the Wind of Winter Blows” MV71
v1. When the wind of winter blows,
bringing times of solitude,
fill the silent icy night;
be our hearts’ compassion.
Refrain: Holy Light, warm our night;
warm the time of winter.
Holy Light, warm our night;
warm the time of winter.
v2. When we shiver in despair,
when the chill of death comes near,
hold us, Spirit, calm our fear,
while the evening deepens. Refrain.
v3. When in days of fallen snow,
change confounds or love burns low,
from the ashes may there rise,
phoenix of our growing. Refrain.
– Feel!
Scripture on the feel of snow
PROVERBS 25:13 (NARBE)
To those who send him, a trustworthy messenger is like the coolness of snow on a harvest day; he refreshes the life of his masters.
PROVERBS 31:10, 20-21 (NARBE)
21 Who can find a woman of worth?
Far beyond jewels is her value.
20 She reaches out her hands to the poor,
and extends her arms to the needy.
21 She is not concerned for her household when it snows—
all her charges are doubly clothed.
Activity on the feel of snow
Proverbs is a bunch of sayings and wisdom collected together. In the first talks about the hot harvest time and how refreshing it is to have a bit of snow then. So now adays – the awful hottest time bailing straw or sweating and laboring away outside in the sweatiest day – and having a cool drink of water with ice in it.
Marvelous.
Refreshes your life.
Having a trustworthy person in your life is like that – a relief. Goodness.
Feel how refreshing your snow is! Remember ice cream in summer. Remember a cool cloth on a feverish forehead. Remember how good cold is.
The next wisdom is about how cold snow is! A wise woman doesn’t fear winter, it says, for she has cared for the needy in her town and in her house. They have two layers of clothing. Having a wise woman in your life is worth more than jewels. Proverbs was likely penned by men for boys to study and learn from to become good men in their societies. So we can extrapolate this proverb – Who can find a wise spouse? They are worth more than jewels. Who can find a wise friend? They are more valuable than a bank full of gold. Who can find a wise community? It is a precious gift.
Wisdom is caring for your home and community. Preparing them for the bitter cold of winter. You know winter is coming. It comes every year! You know it will snow and the ice will gather. But we don’t have to fear these long cold nights. We don’t have to fear the natural change of the seasons. We don’t have to fear because we have one another.
Relationships are worth more than all wealth.
– Listen!
Scripture on the sound of snow
Isaiah 55:10-11
10 [God says] Yet just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
11 So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me empty,
but shall do what pleases me,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
Activity on the sound of snow
Have you ever stood and listened to the snow fall?
The ice crack.
The silence of winter.
(listen)
We often do not have enough silence in our lives. We hear the TV, and work, and the business of our thoughts. It can be hard to stop. To listen. To hear the snow.
Can you hear your snow melting? Does it make any noise? Can you hear the life in it that God has spoken – and to which it will achieve – nourishing our streams, and lakes, our grasses and trees, our deer and birds, nourishing us.
Not a word God speaks does not achieve what God wills.
And in the silence, there is still the good Word of God.
Amen!
Prayer of the Day for New Beginnings and Right Relations
We cannot speak of snow without mentioning perhaps the most famous of snow scriptures: Psalm 51:7 “Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
Or Isaiah 1:18 “Come, let us discuss this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will be like wool.”
Or Lamentations 4:7-8 Her princes were brighter than snow, whiter than milk, Their bodies more ruddy than coral, their beauty like the sapphire. 8 Now their appearance is blacker than soot, they go unrecognized in the streets; Their skin has shrunk on their bones, and become dry as wood.”
There are countless hymns about wanting to be washed of our dark, evil sins and be light, white, as snow. Whiter than snow even! There’s the desire to be the white sheep – never the black sheep of the fold. The desire to be white, white, whiter.
Our scripture also has beautiful passages about skin of ebony black, and ruddy red… but the passages of the importance of white have been and are now used to justify that the paler someone’s skin is, the more holy they are.
We must own our scripture has been used to justify racism. We must own that there are skin-whitening creams and teachings that black is evil, scary, sinful and white is good, just, and holy.
New beginnings and right relationships are about owning our own, and our ancestors’ sins – and doing better.
Black is beautiful. Red is beautiful. Yellow is beautiful. White is beautiful.
Expand your vocabulary, and awareness, and be in the world with a new perspective.
Let us pray!
Beautiful God, you have spoke and made all creation.
You whisper the stars to shine.
You sing the snow to fall.
You shout the wind.
You coax the clouds to part and warm us with sun.
Each day you gift us. Each night you gift us. Each moment you gift us.
And we are grateful.
When we curse the cold, remind us of its gifts.
When we are sad over snow, give us the joy of turning it into a snow day of play.
When we are lonely over this, another covid winter, make it possible for us to call one another. Meet in small groups. Write each other. And be the relationships more valuable than all the money in the world for one another.
Forgive us, loving Parent, for the micro-racisms we do every day. Forgive us for we know not what we do, and how we hurt one another with our inherited words, songs, phrases, and histories. Forgive us, teach us, and set us in new and right relationships with all peoples, and all creation.
Reassure us that you have spoken each season, each person, each branch, each rabbit and bird, each seed waiting in the earth and each snowflake into existence – and together, we are all “very good.”
This we pray in the name of Jesus, our messiah and rabbi, who taught us to pray OUR FATHER…
Offertory invitation
We are the beloved community of God. We are God’s hands and feet on this world. How can we love all to the fullness of who God has created them to be? Through being there for one another.
The Little Current Public School is asking if you have kids’ mitts, hats, boots, and snowsuits to donate to them. These go out to kids in our communities who outgrow their clothes, lose them, or in one manner or another show up at school not ready for the weather.
Donations given to the church keep the building ready for us to return to as soon as it is COVID safe; keeps us producing electricity for our community with the solar panels; and keeps a used goods pantry to give to those who have had house fires, or are in emergency need, and keeps items out of the landfill.
The time you give one another is a precious gift. You think ‘I’m just being a good neighbor,’ but THAT is what being Christian is: being a good neighbor.
The prayers you give are like snow. One, two flurries seem like not much – but you know and I know enough flurries can bring down branches and build snowpeople and blanket the land in all directions. Prayers are powerful. Snowflakes are powerful. Pray for one another.
At this time, I invite you to dedicate time, prayers, and resources to the calling to be known by our love.
Offertory Hymn
The church is wherever God’s people are helping,
caring for neighbours in sickness and need.
The church is wherever God’s people are sharing
the words of the Bible in gift and in deed.
Offertory Prayer
Bless, generous God, these dedications. Let us each receive what we need. Let us each see the good our gifts achieve. Bless, generous God, our community with the gift of one another. Amen.
Snow hymn: Sing till Sundown #78
1.Sing till sundown, hum your joy,
dress in straight, girl and boy.
Man and woman climb the hill,
warmed beyond December’s chill,
reeling, clapping, touch the air:
is that fragrant music there?
Come the glory, gone the gloom:
in a wondrous huddled room.
Christ the Word we’ve longed to know
calls us dancing through the snow.
2.Gladness deepens into grace,
weaves its light on every face.
Let us wake the sleeping earth,
celebrate the sweetest birth,
pierce the night with festive cry,
bloom in colours of the sky.
Bring the flute, the trambourine,
wave the branch of evergreen. Lost we were a grief ago,
now we’re dancing through the snow.
Snow blessing
We don’t often read from Sirach, as it is one of those ancient writings our Protestant forefathers protested, but our sister churches have kept it alive for us. And today, let us hear the beauty of Sirach 43:13-20
13 By God’s command God sends the driving snow
and speeds the lightnings of God’s judgment.
14 Therefore the [sky] storehouses are opened,
and the clouds fly out like birds.
15 In God’s majesty God gives the clouds their strength,
and the hailstones are broken in pieces.
17a The voice of God’s thunder rebukes the earth;
16 when God appears, the mountains shake.
At God’s will the south wind blows;
17b so do the storm from the north and the whirlwind.
God scatters the snow like birds flying down,
and its descent is like locusts alighting.
18 The eye is dazzled by the beauty of its whiteness,
and the mind is amazed as it falls.
19 God pours frost over the earth like salt,
and icicles form like pointed thorns.
20 The cold north wind blows,
and ice freezes on the water;
it settles on every pool of water,
and the water puts it on like a breastplate.
In other words, God blesses us with snow. God blesses us with ice. God blesses us with winter.
May you be blessed this winter! Amen.
Snow slide show with more ideas:
1) paper snow flakes
2) marshmellow snowpeople
3) painting snow
4) Manitoulin Island snow sculpture contest
5) Snow bubbles
6) Rainbow snow balls
7) Sledding (or watching sledding)
8) Ice fishing
9) Go see Bridal veil in snow and ice
10) Manitoulin Island Snow Sculpture Challenge
The First Congregational Church of Rockport, Massachusetts is an Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ, nicknamed Old Sloop (like a boat) share this digital choir singing of Tis Winter Now… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgDtklcOL44
Pastor Whitney Bruno Sermons 