We participated in the Souperbowl of Caring and collected $286.26 and over 50 cans of food. That’s great with 38 people in church today and being St. Peter’s first participation in the program. Thanks to Tucker and Kim Fisher for being our "collectors" and Clarence for his quick count. Funds will go to Glory Outreach in Caroline County.
Here are the foodstuffs in Fred’s car ready to be taken to Glory Outreach.
We reported the results later in the day and received our certification:
Of course we didn’t forget the real game. The Pogue family was here and we can guess who they are rooting for:
Today was also coffee hour provided by the Wicks and Longs. It featured both tomato and potato soup, barbecue sandwiches, cole slaw, chips, vegtable salad, regular salad and cake from Port Royal’s firehouse’s 50 anniversay. Here is Howard going through the line:
Speaking of Howard, his wife Millie celebrated her 88th birthday in Church. Elizabeth Heimbach, our illustrious former junior warden, on the left, also has a birthday later this week.
Our readings (bulletin here ) focused on Christian ministry in community as found with Jesus in Mark, Paul in Corinthians, Isaiah in Jerusalem. Jesus within a day in rapid succession cast out the demon in Capernaum’s synogogue, lifted the fever from Simon Peter’s mother in law, cast out the demons in all of Capernaum and then set off to preach in the other towns in Galilee. This was his mission to restore people in relationship to God and to bring about the Kingdom of God.
With Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, the sermon states.."we see not only the image of Jesus grasping the hand of the woman and raising her up, but also, as if through a curtain of light, God’s mighty hand, grasping the hands of his dead Son—grasping hands bloody and scarred from the nails that held him lifted up on the hard wood of the cross. We see God’s hands, lifting Jesus up into a resurrected and everlasting life… And it is that sort of service, the personal service rendered to another, that Jesus wants us to be doing for one another, just as the angels waited on Jesus when he was in the wilderness for forty days tempted by Satan."
The key point is that after she was healed she began to serve. Paul 20 years later in Corinth defied custom by not taking pay for his work with Corinth saying he was compelled to preach and didn’t marry. He served by keeping Corinth together by being "all things to all people", submitting to Jewish law to minister to Jews, living like a Gentile to minister to Gentiles, forgoing Christian freedom so not to offend the weak.
In Isaiah, God spreaks again to a dispirited Jewish community in 540BC. Isaiah brings the word to a people weary, seeimingly unable to return to Jerusalem from exile in Babylonia. The words describe God’s majesty, power and compassion.