Easter 3, April 19, 2015 (full size gallery)
A wonderful spring day with mixture of clouds and son with termptures in the 60’s. The dogwood was blooming as was the new apple trees near the river. The sycamore leaves were out.
We had 34 in church on this 3rd Easter. This week on April 15 we had a successful village harvest, increasing our clients from 76 to 77 and distributing 500 pounds of food. Clients seem to be grateful for support, allowing to shift resources to other areas.
Easter 3 can be seen as an epilogue of Jesus’ life. 1. The Disciples finally have an understanding of Jesus life – from teacher, healer, sufferer and resurrected soul- and now finally believe. In the Gospel, by moving through the locked room, Jesus shows himself to be “really real,” not a vision or a ghost. 2. Catharsis In Acts, Peter speaks to the people in a tone that echoes Jesus’ voice: no condemnation, only words of peace and forgiveness. He preaches about the power of God in Jesus and calls his listeners to respond with repentance and conversion. He has full confidence that their turning to God will wipe out their sins.
Laura Long was back on a visit from California. She is an actress in Los Angeles and her imdb page is here. Currently, she has a role in the TV series "Turn: Washington’s spies" playing Becky Franks. Laura was our guest preacher. She asked two questions in her sermon:
1. How do you know Jesus is real ? Faith can be routine and comfortable, so easy when it shouldn’t be. In miracles and healing, Jesus surprises, comes out of nowhere and become real and intimate.
The disciples had been told “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Finally they realized what he said was true when Jesus was able to appear not impeded by a lock door, a physical body and not a ghost. The cross happened.
Luke is considered to having been a doctor so that we would interested to show the physical effects of the crucifixion with the scars.
2. How do we kill doubt ? C.S. Lewis once said, "If ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt. If doubt is eventually justified, we were believing what clearly was not worth believing. But if doubt is answered, our faith has grown stronger. It knows God more certainly and it can enjoy God more deeply." We should embrace our doubts, and pursue them to the best of our ability. When we find the answers we seek, our faith will be that much more secure. Faith ultimately becomes stronger than doubt.
What we can depend on is that Jesus always has faith in us. Jesus not depend on our faith or lack of it.
Laura cited the story in Mark 8:27-29 where Peter declares the Christ 27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
The cross answered the doubts of the disciples who still needed to convinced. When he appeared to the disciples he had the mark of the cross.
At the peace Laura was presented a St. Peter’s cross and later a mug outside the service.
During the announcements Andrea announced the 4th annual Shred it on May 8. Time now to gather items to shred with spring cleaning beginning.
Garden week is this Tuesday, April 21 followed by the Booth weekend in Port Royal on Sat. April 25. The Parish House was filled with food in the refrigerator, croissants and cookies. Tables had been rearranged. 175 dinners have been ordered. It is a great money making opportunity for the church and one for evangelism. In conjunction with this we have reprinted the historic bulletin and the graveyard bulletin. Ken has produced some postcards of the church. The ECW has their gifts to sell – cookbook, mug and Christmas ornaments.
We have been recently given two items from Herb Collins collection – a hanger for baskets which includes at the bottom a boot scraper and a long pole used for lighting in Colonial Williamsburg.
Roger thanked the Church for support during his dad’s last days – cards, emails, visits. He also recognized Michael for a good report card in the choir – A’s and Bs. Good going, Michael!
We celebrated Catherine and Ben’s 38th wedding anniversary and birthdays for Lamar Key and Zeke Fisher.
Catherine mentioned the growth of the Village Harvest food ministry. We are up to 77 supported with new families. She asked the congregation to provide tuna and peanut butter for the May distribution on May 20.
Catherine spoke of the Armenian genocide, 100 years old this year. On April 24, 1915, more than 250 Armenian notables—civic and political leaders, teachers, writers, and members of the clergy—were rounded up, imprisoned, tortured, and killed. Before the cessation of conflict, it is estimated that as many as one-and-a-half million Armenians perished, many as the result of forced marches, deliberate starvation, and heinous massacres. President Theodore Roosevelt declared the Armenian Genocide to be the greatest crime of World War I. Unfortunately, this idea of ethnic cleansing is still going on in our world today.