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Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
Season of Giving continues…
A New Food Initiative – "Village Harvest"
In an effort to make fresh food more available to those in our area in need of food, the ECW is heading up a new project, titled "Village Harvest." On Oct. 1 we gathered the names of those who would like to receive a bag of food, including fresh seasonal produce and a recipe providing information about how to cook the food. 44 signed up, including 13 children.
This is the big week – the first distribution on Wednesday, November 19, 2014 between 3:30 PM-5:00 PM and continuing the third Wednesday of each month thereafter. We have sweet pototaoes, onion, collards, soup, kleenix and recipes to provide this month. Thanks for the donations from the Parish and Johnny Davis for gathering the fresh produce.
Daily meditations in words and music.
Saints of the Week, Nov. 16 – 23
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16
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Margaret, Queen of Scotland, 1093 |
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17
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Hugh, 1200, and Robert Grosseteste, 1253, Bishops of Lincoln (new date for Robert Grosseteste) |
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18
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Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680 |
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19
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Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary, 1231 |
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20
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Edmund, King of East Anglia, 870 |
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21
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[William Byrd, 1623, John Merbecke, 1585, and Thomas Tallis, 1585, Musicians] |
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22
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C.S. Lewis, Apologist and spiritual Writer, 1963; also [Cecilia, Martyr at Rome, c. 280] |
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23
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Clement, Bishop of Rome, c. 100 |
Sunday, November 16, 2014 (full size gallery)
November 19 – 10:00am, Ecumenical Bible Study
November 19 – 2:00pm, ECW meeting
November 19 – 3:30pm, Village Harvest distribution
November 19 – 5:00pm, Reading the Narnia Chronicles
November 23 – 10:00am, Godly Play
November 23 – 10:00am, "Singing Mary’s Song", Advent study
November 23 – 11:00am, "Christ the King", Holy Eucharist, Rite II
November 23 – Season of Giving continues Samaritan’s Purse collection , Nov. 23
Calendar
This Sunday at St. Peter’s – Servers, Readings
Deadlines!
1. Pledge cards were due Nov. 16
2. Have you given a gift to the ECM for their Christmas distribution ?
3. Samaritan Purse shoeboxes are due Nov 23.
Advent and Christmas at St. Peter’s, 2014
Advent is a season of preparation for the coming of Jesus as one of us. Jesus brought God’s light into the world during his lifetime and we expect him to return to reign in glory at the end of time. We have a variety of events and activities to concide with this time of year. Here’s our schedule
See the first event below which is coming up next Sunday:
"Singing Mary’s Song", Advent Study begins Nov. 23, 10am Parish House
Soon after the angel Gabriel announced to Mary the astonishing news that she would bear the long-awaited Messiah, Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was also expecting a child.
As Mary greeted Elizabeth, the child in Elizabeth’s womb (John the Baptist) leaped inside her. Elizabeth exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you among all women. Why do I have this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Mary responded by singing a song of praise to God, commonly known as the Magnificat.
Her song, recorded in Luke 1:46-55, was not a sweet lullaby sung in anticipation of the baby Jesus’ birth, Stroman says. Instead, it was a message of deliverance and hope.
Mary’s song proclaimed deliverance and hope to a dark and fearful world. It continues to bring challenge and hope to us today.
Singing Mary’s Song provides scripture readings, meditations, and prayers for each day of Advent. Each week’s readings focus on various lines of Mary’s song and related scriptures.
This Advent study led by Catherine will give you new insight into the life of Mary.
Here is the author’s introduction
10am on Sundays:
Week 1 – Singing Mary’s Song – Nov. 23
Week 2 – In the Fullness of Time – Nov. 30
Week 3 – Coming Out of Egypt – Dec. 7
Week 4 – Preparing for Jesus Birth – Dec. 14
Christ the King Sunday, Nov 23, 2014
We celebrate Christ the King Sunday as the last Sunday of Ordinary Time just before we begin Advent. It is the switch in the Liturgy between Years A, B, and C. This year we will switch from Year B with a focus on Gospel According to Matthew to Year B reading passages from the Gospel According to Mark.
The readings for the last Sunday after Pentecost are full of references to the return of Christ, when evil will be defeated and Jesus will begin his final reign as King of kings. In Advent, the Church year begins with a focus on the final restoration of all creation to its original glory. In preparation, on the last Sunday of the Church year, we proclaim the advent of the Lord of lords and King of kings.
The earliest Christians identified Jesus with the predicted Messiah of the Jews. The Jewish word "messiah," and the Greek word "Christ," both mean "anointed one," and came to refer to the expected king who would deliver
Christians have long celebrated Jesus as Christ, and his reign as King is celebrated to some degree in Advent (when Christians wait for his second coming in glory), Christmas (when "born this day is the King of the Jews"), Holy Week (when Christ is the Crucified King), Easter (when Jesus is resurrected in power and glory), and the Ascension (when Jesus returns to the glory he had with the Father before the world was created).
The recent celebration came from the Catholics in the 20th century who saw some dangerous signs on the horizon…
Lectionary, Last Pentecost, "Christ the King", Nov. 23
I.Theme – Images of Christ the King– Shepherd (one who guides, takes care of restores, rules), Arbiter of justice 
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Psalm – Psalm 95:1-7a Page 724, BCP
Epistle – Ephesians 1:15-23
Gospel – Matthew 25:31-46
We have 4 key images this week in “Christ the King Sunday” – God as Shephard (Ezekiel, Matthew), God as rescuer and restorer (Ezekiel), God as King Psalm), God as judge (Ezekiel, Matthew)
Ezekiel describes God as a shepherd whose love embraces most particularly the lean and oppressed among the flock. God will gather them up, restore them to health, and liberate them from all persecution.
Ezekiel 34 reminds us that while all people are the sheep and God is the shepherd, while God is seeking all of the lost, the least, and the scattered, God will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep; in other words, the judgment is on us, now.
Ezekiel’s words are particularly threatening to those who practice economic and relational oppression. They feast on green pastures now, but will eventually receive divine judgment.
But in this passage of judgment, the sheep are not cast out, but rather, made “right.” In other words, judgment in this passage is not about punishment but about putting right what has been wrong. It is about lifting up the poor, not punishing the rich. It is about all having enough to eat. This is the judgment Ezekiel shares, after all the people of Israel have been through, after their leaders failed and the poor were forgotten, all suffered, and with God’s Good Shepherd, all will be restored. This is the reign of the Good Shepherd.
Matthew also uses a shepherd image but rather than restoration, there is separation, in this case the sheep from the goats. On judgment day the righteous, the blessed ones, will be separated from the unrighteous, the cursed ones, the goats. The righteous are blessed because they are compassionate, a compassion that is theirs in Christ. The righteous receive their reward because of their faith and not of their works (living).
However, we should be careful how we live that faith. We are called to a living faith, a way of life that embodies our relationship with God in all that we do. It’s about discipleship. We do not do good works to get into heaven, nor do we simply pray a prayer of salvation to get into heaven. Rather, it is about a transformation that takes place, and that transformation is manifested in us when we see Christ in the needs of others–in the naked, the sick, the imprisoned, the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized. , Jesus declares that there is a judgment, and the judgment is based on how we live out our faith. We separate ourselves based on our actions
Do we live our lives as participants in the reign of God now or are we fattening up for a future time? Are we doing our part to also seek the lost, the least, and the scattered, or are we concerned with our own well-being only?
Psalm 95:1-7a is a psalm of thanksgiving, remembering that God is the Good Shepherd. As congregations in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday, we give thanks to God for all of creation. We give thanks for all God has done and continues to do in our world. Psalm 100 echoes almost word for word this song of thanksgiving and understanding of God as shepherd, and the people being the sheep of God’s pasture.
In Ephesians 1:15-23 Christ is the ultimate ruler, the fulfillment of all things. Christ is above any authority ever conceived and is the ultimate authority, and all things fall under Christ, and yet the church, the body of Christ, is the fulfillment of Christ on earth.
We are part of the body of Christ, we are the Church. We are part of God’s Pasture, for we are God’s sheep. And so are all people on the earth, part of God’s Pasture. We are called by Christ the King, the Sovereign, the Good Shepherd, to be part of one body. We are called to seek restoration and healing to look after the “least of these”. We are called to seek justice that is restorative, not retributive, as God’s justice is not in part, but in whole. God is redeeming and restoring the world.
Read more about the Lectionary…