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Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
Beginning Nov. 12 for 4 Sundays in the Parish House ! (no class Nov. 26). Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and the Bible.
A Christmas Carol has delighted audiences since it publication in 1843 in its book form and through the many movies made from its story. Few people know of Dickens’ connection with religion. A Christmas Carol has many Biblical references, some cleverly hidden within the story. The regeneration of Scrooge mirrors the regeneration of mankind in the Bible. Even with the title, “A Christmas Carol”, Dickens is using the meaning of “carol” familiar to him: a song celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Dickens each chapter of his book a stave, a stanza of a song. We will discuss Chapter 1 of the book on the first Sunday. Where to find it ?
2 The book and audio are available free at Project Gutenberg on the web. It is available in plain text, formatted text, Kindle for book readers (with or with images). It is available in in audio in mp3 format and itunes audiobook
3 If you want a hardcopy, it is available on Amazon. Look for Dover Thrift edition for as little as $3 plus shipping.
Link to the reports from Jan 15 Annual Meeting
3-Minute Retreats invite you to take a short prayer break right at your computer. Spend some quiet time reflecting on a Scripture passage.
Knowing that not everyone prays at the same pace, you have control over the pace of the retreat. After each screen, a Continue button will appear. Click it when you are ready to move on. If you are new to online prayer, the basic timing of the screens will guide you through the experience.
Daily meditations in words and music.
Your daily prayer online, since 1999
"We invite you to make a ‘Sacred Space’ in your day, praying here and now, as you visit our website, with the help of scripture chosen every day and on-screen guidance."
Saints of the Week, Nov. 12 – Nov. 19
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12
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Charles Simeon, Priest, 1836 |
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13
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14
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Samuel Seabury, First American Bishop, 1796 |
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15
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[Francis Asbury, 1816, and George Whitefield, 1770, Evangelists] |
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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 |
Village Harvest – What a 3 Year Anniversary – Nov 15!
A new monthly record 191! We gave out all 1,600+ pounds of food including chicken, peanut butter, tuna. potatoes squash, cabbage and cereal. canned vegetables and grapes.
Nov. 12, 2017 – Pentecost 23
Approaching the zenith of fall
Saluting Veterans on Veterans Day.
We recognized 7 Veterans with the Book of Common Prayer – " Prayer for Heroic Service"
"O Judge of the nations, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
We are encouraging support for St. Peter’s Village Harvest during #Giving Tuesday, November 28, 2017. November is the 3-year anniversary for this program. Giving Tuesday is an international day of giving after “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” to support non-profits in our local community.
Our goal in #Giving Tuesday is to raise 3 months support or $500. We need "ambassadors" to contact your neighbors and local businesses to encourage support.
Much attention in #Giving Tuesday is providing donations online. We are back to basics on this one – donations by mail – in keeping with the nature of what we provide, food, the the basic ingredients of life.
Donations address:
St. Peter’s Church
P. O. Box 399
Port Royal, Virginia 22535
Please add #Giving Tuesday in the memo line – with our thanks
Read more about #Giving Tuesday
The Week Ahead…
Nov.15 – 9:30am – Village Harvest preparation
Help needed: 9:30ish, help needed to unload the truck. Many hands make light work. 1PM, help needed to set up. 3-5PM help needed for the distribution itself. Help the shoppers gather what they need. Thank you for your contributions of both food, school supplies and time. Everyone can share in making this important St Peter’s ministry happen.
Nov. 15 – 10:00am – Ecumenical Bible Study
Nov. 15 – 3:30am – 5pm -Village Harvest Distribution
Nov. 19 – 10:00am – "Dickens: Christmas Carol and the Bible"
We will consider the Ghost of Christmas Past, chapter 2 where Scrooge takes the first step toward salvation experiencing regret for past events by revisiting these events.
Nov. 19 – 10:00am – Children’s Christian Ed with Becky
Nov. 19 – 11:00am – Holy Eucharist, Rite II
Final collection for Samaritans’ Purse shoeboxes as well as the ECM collection for helping 3 families for Thanksgiving.
Sunday, Nov. 19, Readings and Servers
Laura Long guest preacher, Nov. 12
Laura recently spent time in Greece working with Syrian refugees. She writes "Never in my life have I been more embraced by kindness and hospitality than that of my new friends. I am forever changed. This crisis will not disappear so please stare at it deep in those eyes-I assure you that you won’t be able to look away."
Read some of her posts and an article she did for the Letter Magazine.
Bridgette Long, daughter of Justin and Karen Long, will be baptized at St Mary’s Catholic Church on Saturday, November 18th, and St Peter’s will celebrate Bridgette’s baptism with a special blessing on the 19th
Sunday Nov 5, 12, 19- JUDGMENT!
Matthew concludes this Lectionary Year A with the weighty subject of judgment from 3 stories from Chapter 25:
Matthew 25:1-13 – Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids (Last Sunday, Nov. 12)
Matthew 25:14-30 – Parable of the Talents (Nov. 19)
Matthew 25:31-46 – The Sheep and Goats (Nov. 26)
The three parables in Matthew 25 examine the procedure, preparation, and intention required to enter the Kingdom of God. Here is a Youtube video that covers these three stories. There are some similiarities:
First, in each parable the judgment occurs at the consummation of this age. While the timing of that event is unknown, each follower is to be ready for and anticipate the coming kingdom.
Second, the judgment will render decisions that are eternal in nature,reflecting the status of each human being with regard to his or her eternal relationship to the kingdom. Phrases such as “the darkness outside,” the “fiery furnace,” and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” describe eternal separation from the kingdom. They are not simply expressions of grief over a Christian life that did not count for much in the kingdom, for they are figures and phrases representing an eternal exclusion from the presence of God.
With this in view, it has been suggested that salvation in these parables is viewed as a “whole,” not simply as a point of entry. The “sons of the kingdom” and the “sons of the evil one” (Matt 13:38) are on opposite sides of the soteriological divide. Those who are rejected are permanently excluded.
Third, the basis for this eternal judgment is the individual’s works. In some cases the emphasis is on faithfulness to a job assigned: perhaps in a picture of preparation for an event, or a picture of the fruit of the believer. But however it was pictured, works were the key to the judgment.
However, Works are not separated from the faith one exercises for entrance to the kingdom for works are evidence of that faith. A true change of heart will be reflected in a person’s life. A lack of that change is apparently enough to prevent entrance into the kingdom. Works are never ultimately separated from the faith of the individual, for it was also shown that works are not in themselves enough to impress the Son of Man positively in His role as judge.
Lectionary, Pentecost 24, Nov. 19, 2017
I.Theme – 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. Zaphaniah 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 on Nov. 26, 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 had fallen one hundred years before. Judah 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.
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.
"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.