Email, November 16, 2014

Last Sunday (Pentecost 22, November 9, 2014)   

November  16 – 10:00am, Godly Play,  Bible Miniseries (Parish House)

November  16 – 11:00am, Holy Eucharist, Rite II, Pentecost 23 

November  19 – 10:00am, Ecumenical Bible Study

November  19 – 5:00pm – Reading the Chronicles of Narnia (Parish House)

November  23 – 10:00am – "Singing Mary’s Song", Parish House

 Calendar  

This Sunday at St. Peter’s – Servers, Readings    


Deadlines and Updates!

 

1. Pledge cards . Due Nov. 16.

2. Have you given a gift to the ECM for their Christmas distribution ? Due Nov. 23.

3. Samaritan Purse shoeboxes are due Nov 16 and 23. 

4. Village Harvest distribution is Wed. Nov. 19, 3:30pm  

Updates, Nov 9Village Harvest needs cans of chicken broth and packages shredded carrots for a Kale recipe.  Also they want to distribute kleenix. Please bring to the front pew on the right. 

ECM can use contributions from not just the men but women, too since it is a church project, spreading hope through the community. They have collected 9 checks which will cover Thanksgiving but not Christmas.  Get your checks in by Nov. 23 and support local families! 


Samaritan’s Purse – How to Pack a Shoe Box ?  (Due Nov. 16 and 23)

1. Link for packing a shoe box or use the graphical illustration below 

2. Link for the box label.

3. Link to our Samaritan’s Purse page for 2014 for more information.  


Looking Ahead – A St. Peter’s Christmas – "The 12 Events"

This year we focus on the story of Mary leading up to the birth of Jesus in a four part study. And rightfully so. She is the only New Testament character present at Jesus birth, at the Cruxifixion and at Pentecost.  It starts on Nov. 23.

This Christmas has an ecumenical overtone. The author of our Advent study comes out of the Methodist tradition. Then, we will integrate some of the Moravian traditions into our Christmas celebrations – coffee hour and Christmas Eve. We still have plenty of the traditional events – ECW luncheon, Everett’s Christmas and the Christmas Pageant.  

These words guide our Advent and Christmas celebration – inspiration, hospitality, song, food, decorations and tradition. Come partake! 

1. “Singing Mary’s Song” – Sunday mornings 10am

Sun. Nov 23, Nov 30, Dec. 7, Dec 14

The Magnificat is Mary’s song of praise to God as the child in Elizabeth s womb (John the Baptist) leaped inside her when Mary visited Elizabeth. Her song, recorded in Luke 1:46-55, was not just a sweet lullaby sung in anticipation of the baby Jesus birth, author John Stroman says. Instead, it was a message of deliverance and hope.  

Catherine will be leading this wonderful study.  It’s a wonderful guide to the Advent season and beyond.  More information here.

2. Coffee Hour – Sun., Dec. 7, 12pm – Moravian Candle Tea

Candle Tea is a Moravian tradition dating back to early American colonial times. Held on the first week end in December, it is a community open house and craft fair regarded by many as the opening event of the Christmas season. Guests are warmly greeted by volunteers wearing traditional 18th-century costumes; served sugar cake and coffee in the pews while listening to the music, songs and history of the Moravian Church.  

We will adapt that tradition in part for coffee hour.  

3. Port Royal Christmas Lighting – Fri., Dec. 12, 5pm – St. Peter’s will be providing the soup at the Firehall.

4. Choir Retreat – Sat., Dec 13,10am – Learn the Christmas music in the morning and have a great lunch!

5. Everett’s Christmas – Sun., Dec. 14, 5pm. A Wonderful display of Christmas Past with their Christmas collections. Hospitality at its best.

6. ECW Christmas Luncheon – Tues., Dec. 16.  

7. Christmas Pageant on Advent 4 – Sun., Dec. 21,11am  

8. Christmas Eve – Wed., Dec. 24, 4:30pm – Holy Eucharist Rite II with a Moravian Love Feast

We will have our usual Eucharist  but we will also include a Lovefeast. The Moravian Lovefeast concentrates on the singing of hymns and listening to music which may come from the organ or choir. The songs and hymns chosen usually describe love and harmony. It is based on the Agape feast and the meals of the early churches . Traditionally for European, Canadian, and American Lovefeasts, a sweetened bun and coffee is served to the congregation in the pews by dieners (from the German for servers). We will adapt this for our celebration.

9. Lessons and Carols – Sun. Dec 28th, 11am


Region One meeting, Nov. 5 – Looking towards 2015

Our final 2014 Region One meeting at Christ Church, Spotsylvania considered where we are in 2014 as a region and provided an opportunity to look ahead to 2015. We had 27 in attendance. 

 

1. Our program guest was Ed Jones, Secretary and Chief of Staff at the Diocese and former Region One president. He talked about five priorities of the Diocese:

A. Creating a greater sense of the Diocese as a true community. We are seeing new people come to the church through outreach and World mission initiatives, the latter he said was unrivaled in the Anglican Community. But why should people come? He cited the fall issue of the Virginia Episcopalian which focused examples of the Diocese being “greater than the sum of the parts” but at the same time the need going forward to make the Diocese more accessible, intentional and upfront showing its diversity and involving the churches. We need to get to know each other better.

B. Demographic challenges in understanding our resources and taking advantage of them. He cited 2014 Annual Council’s resolution, “R8: Strategic Re-visioning and Repositioning Process for the Diocese of Virginia.” “This study is to include a review of locations and values of property, the size and location of congregations, a review of demographic trends throughout the Diocese and the identification of underserved areas of the Diocese.” How can these resources be used in a positive, useful way? The wrong way is the recent proposed administrative merger of 1/3 of the churches in the Catholic Arch Diocese of New York.

Read more the priorities…


Lectionary, November 16, Pentecost 23  

I.Theme –   Week 2 of Judgement parables. The way of abundance is using and acting on what you have now. Squandering your talents is a sure way to be caught up on the wrong side of the "Day of Judgment."

 "Parable of the Talents" -John Morgan (1823-1866) 

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

Old Testament – Zephaniah 1:7,12-18
Psalm – Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11), 12 Page 717, BCP
Epistle –1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Gospel – Matthew 25:14-30

God asks us to make appropriate use of our gifts and talents:
1. Matthew – Parable of the Talents
2. Thessalonians – Paul – quit worrying about the time of Jesus return and live fully as Children of the light
3. Zephaniah announces God’s coming judgment against the self-indulgent and complacent
4. Psalm contrast the realm of God with man’s limits but encourages man to live fruitfully within these limits  

All of these scriptures, as we prepare for Reign of Christ Sunday, remind us to be prepared to do our part in the reign of God here and now, as we await Christ to come into our lives in a new way. We are called not to become content with the status quo, not to take our fill and turn away from the poor as the people did in Zephaniah’s time. Rather, we are called to do what the first two servants did in the parable of the Talents–to risk what we have been given in order to do greater good in the reign of God. That might mean our reputations in standing with the marginalized, or our own possessions in standing with the poor, or our own contentment in standing with the oppressed. We are called to live as participants in the reign of God here and now. This is not something we are waiting for at the end of our lives, but something we are active in now.

Zephaniah cries out and proclaims the day of the Lord is drawing near, a day of judgment. Zephaniah prophesied just before King Josiah carried out great reforms, both politically and religiously. In Zephaniah’s time, Israel (Northern kingdom) had fallen one hundred years before. Judah (Southern kingdom) was in danger of falling to their enemies and the kings had continued to be corrupt, to worship other gods, to let the wealthy elite stay wealthy and trample upon the poor. Josiah, upon the rediscovery of portions of the Torah that had been lost, will reform the political and religious sphere, but Zephaniah writes just before this time. Zephaniah proclaims judgment for those who have forsaken God’s ways, who have betrayed their people and their God.

Psalm 90: 1-12 remarks on how short human life is, in contrast to the vastness of the life of creation. God is beyond time; God is beyond our understanding, and our lives are short, so we should be humble, grateful for what we have, and repent where we have gone wrong. We are called not to waste our days, but to count them, so “that we may gain a wise heart”

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 are words of encouragement for Paul in this time of waiting for the reign of God to come, in this time of waiting for Christ to come again in a new way into our lives, but also a reminder, as last week’s parable taught us, to keep awake. To be ready. To be prepared for the coming reign of God.  These words are a different emphasis from earlier readings in this book.

Matthew 25:14-30 is the second parable of this last chapter before Christ’s anointing, before the preparation for his death.  In the previous parables, he has told us that we need to be prepared for the Second Coming at all times.

A master, before leaving on a journey, entrusts his slaves with his money, “each according to his ability” (v. 15). (A talent was about 15 years’ wages for a laborer, a large sum of money.) Two servants invest the money and earn more (vv. 16, 17); the third simply buries it (v. 18). When the master returns (v. 19), he praises the investors; they, he says, will be made responsible for “many things” (vv. 21, 23), and will “enter into the joy of your master”. But the third slave, admitting that he was afraid of his master’s wrath (v. 24), simply returns the original sum (v. 25). The master chastises him for his wickedness and laziness. This slave loses what he has been given (v. 28) and is condemned to “outer darkness” (v. 30). This would have caused a stir in Jesus’ day, for a rabbinic maxim commends burial of money as a way of protecting it.

But this parable is about the kingdom of heaven, so what is the lesson it teaches? “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 30) is a stock phrase for condemnation of the wicked at the Last Day. The master stands for God and the servants for various kinds of people. Yes, God both rewards generously and is a stern judge. He expects us to be good stewards of his gifts. We will be commended and rewarded for faithfully carrying out his mission. Failure to use what he gives us will result in punishment – by separation from him, the essence of goodness. We are expected to make it grow. He is free to distribute his gifts as he sees fit (vv. 28-29).

Read more about the Lectionary…


Fully Alive

"Recently, a friend of mine wrote me about an experience some years ago that had changed her life. She had gone to an artist’s studio to have her portrait drawn. The artist took his time, asking her a number of questions aimed at drawing her out. Eventually he asked her what she feared most. Her first answer was nuclear war. She mentioned that she had repeatedly had nightmares about nuclear holocaust.

"But the artist said, "No, I don’t believe you. That can’t be right. Something more personal."

"Nancy thought and thought. Finally it dawned on her. "What I fear most is getting to the end of my life and realizing that I had been too fearful — too careful — that I never really used my talents."

"That’s it," the artist said.

-Robert Ellsberg
Sermon, St. Augustine’s Church, Croton-on-Hudson
November 12-13, 2005

-"He that had received one" – made his having fewer talents than others a pretense for not improving any. Went and hid his master’s money – Reader, art thou doing the same? Art thou hiding the talent God hath lent thee?"  

–John Wesley 1703-1791 Wesley’s Notes on the Bible  

See Preston Smiles in this Youtube video tell the story and talk about the key messages of the Parable of the Talents.


1 Thessalonians 5:1-11  "Should Christians be Afraid of Ebola or Climate Change or ISIS or…?"

Odyssey Networks – On Scripture

"Fear is in the air. 

" Ebola. War. Conflict. Economic turmoil. Political victories. Political losses. This is the stuff of the nightly news. And everywhere we look we have a new villain to worry about, a new threat against which we ought to brace, a new sense of hopelessness.

" This is nothing new, of course. The world has always been a scary place. If anything, we have become inured to the greatest threats we might face. With roofs over our heads and weather forecasters to warn us of impending storms and economic structures to cushion us from financial catastrophe, we keep vany dangers at bay. 

" And yet in the midst of so much safety and comfort, we seem to search compulsively for something to fear, something to raise our ire, something that will keep us up at night. It is not enough to feel safe apparently; for some reason, fear is too tempting.

" Anytime these world disasters emerge—whether disease or storm or war or financial crash—some Christian or another will step to the microphone to declare the end of days. Things have never been this bad before. The global crisis is unprecedented. This can only mean the dawn of the end as we know it.

" Then again, the same could have been said in the days when the plague was ravaging Western Europe. The same could have been said by the victims of Western expansion in the Americas. The same could have been said by our grandmothers and grandfathers as the economic system crumbled before their eyes in the Great Depression. The same could have been said by a Jew facing the Holocaust. The same could have been said by the Nigerian girls who were stolen for the sake of a deluded ideology.

" Disasters are not new. Recent disasters do not erase old ones. And old ones do not discount new ones.

" And yet our current compulsion to call today’s tragedy the worst ever is the arrogance of the present day. We feel that we must be the center of history, the moment when everything changes, the hinge upon which Jesus’ return will occur. That compulsion is driven by fear not sobriety, by anxiety not hope.

" And most troubling may be that all that misdirected energy keeps us from loving our neighbor near and far and addressing the real dangers we face as a people. As we worry about some fantastical fear, the reality of a yawning gap between the wealthy and the poor can seem too ordinary and thus not worthy of our attention. While we tremble at the prospect of an international war that may well be averted or at the threat of a disease that we have a minute chance of catching, we don’t see the victims of that potential war, that ravaging disease. While we worry about the remotest possibilities, the real, daily cries of our neighbor go unrequited.

Read more …


"Since We Have to Wait, We’d Better Get to Work" (Matthew 25) 

Summary of article by Matthew L. Skinner for OnScripture

"What does the Christian life consist of? What does God expect from us?

"Here’s Jesus’ answer, according to Matthew’s Gospel: “Wait faithfully. Together. Or else.”

"Sure, that isn’t an exact quotation, but it sums up — again, according to Matthew — what Jesus says to his followers when he instructs them about how they should live after he has departed from this earth.

"If there’s any good news in these parables it resides in their insistence that judgment (whatever it is to look like — remember, these parables speak metaphorically) is God’s prerogative, not ours. And this judgment is not arbitrary, for it discloses and affirms those people whose lives express the virtues Jesus embodies: faithfulness, perseverance, readiness, obedience, and compassion.

"This brings us to the reason why we must wait faithfully together, which is also one of the primary reasons why I go to church: on my own, I’m not capable of expressing those virtues. I need a community to help me, so we can work at them together, relying on God’s help. Individually, none of us can muster the endurance or the faithfulness we need; nor can we fully trust our private motivations.

Faithful readiness must be active readiness. 

"And so faithful readiness expresses itself actively, sometimes through impatience with suffering. It may express itself in outrage over yet more incidents of gun violence in the news and over the ongoing cowardice that keeps politicians from taking up measures to combat the problem. 

"Faithful readiness can express itself in bold solidarity. Consider medical professionals who travel into West Africa to combat Ebola and to provide care to its victims while ignorant and fearful people try to isolate Africa even further, acting as if this is another continent’s problem, or another people’s problem. 

"Faithful readiness can express itself in impulses for change and longings for freedom and human dignity. We may see it in some who participate in the Umbrella Movement on the streets of Hong Kong and among those who support those people with prayer and material or strategic support. 

"Faithful readiness can express itself in a refusal to accept closed doors, to borrow and refashion an image from the parable. This happens especially when doors are locked to keep out the vulnerable and to buttress our prejudices.

Watch the inspiring stories of active readiness expressed by people of faith who advocate for children who flee to the United States only to be apprehended at borders, including some of the 74,000 captured this year alone. These young people, “the least of these,” deserve the same kind of care, support, and regard that we would give to Christ himself.

Read entire article …


Using What We Have in the Interest of Peace : Thirteen Days in September  

Over 35 years ago, Israel, US and Egypt signed what they hoped was a comprehensive peace for  the Middle Easterregion.  A new book Thirteen Days In September  examines the 1978 Camp David Accords. The talks concluded with Israel agreeing to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt ending its economic boycott of Israel.   It did not bring a comprehensive peace but the terms of the agreement are still in effect and the remain the only accord signed by all three countries.

Author Lawrence Wright explained to NPR the often-overlooked role faith played for each leader – Sadat a Muslim, Menachem Begin an observant Jew, and Carter a Christian.

 

Link to Interfaith Voices discussion on the book

"These were three very religious men, and they had come together to solve a problem that religion itself had largely caused. There wouldn’t have been a Camp David if Jimmy Carter didn’t believe that God had placed him in office in part to bring peace to the holy land. It’s kind of amazing to think about this one-term governor of Georgia who had very little experience in the whole world, but especially in the Middle East, having the presumption that he could bring peace to a region that seems so hostile to it.  

"Sadat felt and said that God had placed on his shoulders the responsibility for leading his people to peace. Certainly Begin felt that, you know, he was a man who’s lost his family in the Holocaust and his whole career had been about creating a safe haven for Jews. So each of these men had these profound religious feelings and obligations, and I think they each saw themselves in a prophetic tradition."

Like the Gospel readings emphasized they were using their own "talents" to reach beyond their own backgrounds and flaws for a large cause of peace. All three leaders were presented with both strengths and flaws but managed to forge a larger picture. 

Wright says "We’re constantly hearing the refrain that there are no partners, and here was Menachem Begin, who had fought the British and the Palestinians, and Anwar Sadat, who was a political assassin and a Nazi sympathizer. And then you had Jimmy Carter, who was a failing president. You could not imagine a less-likely cast of characters who could bring peace to their region, but they managed to accomplish it."

There was a significant price Sadat paid for this action. Wright explains "He called himself the first man of Islam, and he set free many of the Muslim Brothers that Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was the president of Egypt before Sadat, had imprisoned." However, he was assassinated in 1981 partially as a result of signing this peace. NPR notes "One of the co-conspirators arrested in the sweep of jihadist milita after was a future leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri. "  


Helping Each Other – The Film It’s a Wonderful life  

George Bailey has spent his entire life giving of himself to the people of Bedford Falls. He has always longed to travel but never had the opportunity in order to prevent rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town. All that prevents him from doing so is George’s modest building and loan company, which was founded by his generous father. But on Christmas Eve, George’s Uncle Billy loses the business’s $8,000 while intending to deposit it in the bank. Potter finds the misplaced money and hides it from Billy. When the bank examiner discovers the shortage later that night, George realizes that he will be held responsible and sent to jail and the company will collapse, finally allowing Potter to take over the town. Thinking of his wife, their young children, and others he loves will be better off with him dead, he contemplates suicide. But the prayers of his loved ones result in a gentle angel named Clarence coming to earth to help George, with the promise of earning his wings. He shows George what things would have been like if he had never been born. In a nightmarish vision in which the Potter-controlled town is sunk in sex and sin, those George loves are either dead, ruined, or miserable. He realizes that he has touched many people in a positive way and that his life has truly been a wonderful one.

 The "salvation" scene at the end of the movie, where all of George’s friends bring their contribution to help him out. The table literally "overfloweth" with their generosity. A wonderful metaphor for God’s grace in times of need. 

Final Scenes in It’s A Wonderful Life"


75 years of healing a broken world, Episcopal Relief and Development  

Episcopal Relief and Development is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a virtual timeline.   (Once it loads, you can drag the dates from front to back. Pretty neat!)

They have taken their mandate from Matthew 25 which we are reading this month, Nov. 2014

"Lord, when was it that  

We saw you hungry and gave you food?
We saw you thirsty and gave you something to drink?
We saw you a stranger and welcomed you?
We saw you sick and took care of you?
We saw you in prison and visited you?

‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

—Matthew 25: 37-40 (NRSV)

They with Church partners and other local organizations to save lives and transform communities worldwide. "We rebuild after disasters and empower people to create lasting solutions that fight poverty, hunger and disease. Working in close to 40 countries, our programs impact the lives of approximately 3 million people around the world… All of Episcopal Relief & Development’s international development programs work toward achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aim to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015."

Four core program areas:

Alleviate Hunger and Improve Food Supply
Create Economic Opportunities and Strengthen Communities
Promote Health and Fight Disease 
Respond to Disasters and Rebuild Communities 

Here are the specific programs


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