A worship team leads attendees in praise at a community Thanksgiving service sponsored by the Syracuse-Wawasee Ministerial Association. Photo provided.

By Ray Balogh
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — The Syracuse-Wawasee Ministerial Association is sponsoring its annual community Thanksgiving service at 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, at The Sanctuary of Syracuse, 10121 SR 13.

The public is invited to the hourlong service, which will feature the combined Syracuse-North Webster elementary school choir.

“This service brings the community together to celebrate where our blessings come from,” said Craig Fritchley, The Sanctuary’s pastor. “It is exciting to see people from throughout the area gathered together to give thanks to the Lord. Plan to be there.

“This year is the first time the North Webster third- and fourth-grade choir will join the Syracuse third- and fourth-grade choir. We’ll have a total of about 60 kids. It is a great opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate the blessings of God.

“We will be glad to have you gather with us to lift up the name of Jesus, the ‘only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved,’” he said, citing Acts 4:12.

The order of worship:

• Welcome video, “Give Thanks to the Lord.”

• Invocation by Pat Park, pastor of Wawasee Heights Baptist Church.

• Worship songs by The Sanctuary Worship Team, directed by Lisa Fritchley and Jerry Pauley.

• Update on the Syracuse Food Pantry by Fritchley, pantry board president.

• Offering, conducted by Stan Owen, pastor of the Syracuse Church of God.

• Video, “Thanksgiving Praise.”

• Syracuse and North Webster elementary schools combined choir, directed by Kris Stump and Michele Payton.

• Scripture reading by Brad Cox, co-pastor of Wawasee Lakeside Chapel (see text below).

• Message, “Harvest Time,” by Paul Rogers, pastor of North Webster United Methodist Church.

• Benediction by Jesse Vore, pastor of Dewart Lake Friends Community Church.

The Scripture reading will be Psalm 100:1-5:

“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

“Serve the LORD with gladness; come before his presence with singing.

“Know ye that the LORD he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

“For the LORD is good, his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations.”
The message will be based on two Scriptures:

“Fear not, for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, ‘Give up,’ and to the south, ‘Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.’” Isaiah 43:5-7.

“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’” Matthew 9:35-38.

“This whole place is seeded and ready for harvest,” said Rogers, referring to the Syracuse-Wawasee community. “I believe God called the seed that has been planted for generations to come into harvest.”

The offering will go to the SWMA Needy Assistance Fund, administered by Compass, the benevolence arm of the ministerial association, to be used to help needy area residents.

For more information about Compass, call or text (574) 529-1663 or visit wawaseecompass.org.