Trissels Mennonite Church, Broadway, Va., held a tree-planting event at the end of its three-day bicentennial celebration. I was privileged to speak on October 21 and at the tree-planting Sunday, October 23, 2022. Here’s a link to a video of my short speech.
Article in Daily News-Record, October 8, 2022, about the Trissels Mennonite Church bicentennial.
It was fun to lead a tour in the Broadway, Va., community on September 11, 2022, with five stops. One of the stops was the historic Rhodes family cemetery, with burials from the early 1800s.
Trissels Mennonite Church will celebrate 200 years, with a program under the oaks on the church lawn, July 15, 2022, 7:00 p.m. Historic hymns of the church will be sung, a Virginia Mennonite Conference Historical Report, and a message from the web host on “The Holy Spirit Gives Gifts.” Four gifts of Trissels to the wider church and community will be given, with stories from history. All are invited. Sponsored by Virginia Mennonite Conference.
Fanny Crosby’s great hymn God of Our Strength expresses the Christian’s confidence in divine inspiration and hope for daily living. God’s strength comes to us as the source of life and the fount of love.
In the assurance of God’s love and infilling Holy Spirit, we can draw strength for the living of our lives. God’s power is enthroned above yet available to humans as the very source of our living.
For this strength, we wait on God, our sure defense in whatever life brings our way. God is our fount of love, and may our devotion’s sacred flame awaken our souls to praise God’s name.
God of our strength, on thee we call, God of our hope, our light our all; thy name we praise, they love adore, our rock, our shield, forevermore. This hope in God’s strength is the Christian’s prayer, hope, inspiration, and bedrock assurance.
After 33 years of teaching history and Bible classes at Eastern Mennonite School, Elwood Yoder is ready to “re-wire” — not retire — for a new chapter of history making.
On October 20, 2019, I led music at church and we sang “The Lord is My Light,” from Sing the Journey songbook. I like the lyrics of the song and of course, we sang this in the pre-COVID era. Maybe you will learn to like this song as I do.
In Luke 5, we read the story of disciples whom Christ asked to put out into the deep. There, Jesus, told them, they should let down their nets for a catch. When they indeed made a very large catch, they were astonished. We are encouraged to move into the deep water in life, put down our nets, and then acknowledge the one who makes us fishers of people.