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2. Contact the Rev Catherine Hicks, Rector 5. Latest Newsletter-the Parish Post (May, 2018) 6. Calendar 8. What’s new on the website 10. Latest Bulletin –Easter 7 (May 13, 2018 11am), and Sermon (May 6, 2018) |
Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
| White | Gold | Easter | Apr 1-22 |
| White | Gold | Eastertide | Apr 23-May 24 |
| White | Gold | Ascension Day | May 10-12 [Sun May 13] |
| White | Gold | Eastertide | May 13-May 19 |
| Red | Pentecost Sunday | May 20-26 | |
| White | Gold | Trinity Sunday | Jun 27-Jun 2 |
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, May 6 – May 13
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6
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7
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[Harriet Starr Cannon, Religious, 1896] |
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8
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Dame Julian of Norwich, c. 1417 |
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9
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Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople, 389 |
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10
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[Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, Prophetic Witness, 1760] |
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11
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12
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13
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[Frances Perkins, Public Servant and Prophetic Witness, 1965] |
Photos, clockwise – Catherine presents a stoll to the Rev. Charles Joy of St. Asaph’s the guest preacher, Communion, the darkening sky with the sun setting in contrast to the son rising, Catherine and Charles, the small congregation at the offering, shadows on the cross at service time 7pm, John a new lector
Pictures and description, May 10
This Week…
May 9 – 10:00am, Ecumenical Bible Study
May 10 – 7pm. Ascension Day service with St. Asaphs. Ascension readings
May 13 – 10:00am, Children with Becky
May 13 – 11:00am, Easter 7, Holy Eucharist Rite II
Sunday, May 13 Readings and Servers, May 13
Coming up …
May 20 – 9:45am, Pentecost Prayer Walk
May 20 – 11:00am, Pentecost, Holy Eucharist, Rite II
May 24 – 10:30am, ECW Joint Meeting with St. George’s
Thy Kingdom Come – Prayers from Ascension (May 10) to Pentecost (May 20)
Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement started by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in 2016. The Archbishop invites Christians around the world to pray between Ascension and Pentecost for more people to come to know Jesus.
Join the worldwide prayer movement by going to https://www.thykingdomcome.global/ and signing up to spend time in prayer for these eleven days. Last year, 700,000 people around the world participated. When you sign up, the light on the map for our area of Virginia gets bigger and brighter. Right now, the Port Royal area has the brightest light in the state! The website has some wonderful prayer resources that you can use for just for yourself, for your family, or for whole groups of people. Check it out!
Justin Welby says that “Prayer rests on the conviction that the strongest power in the world is unseen. Thy Kingdom Come is built upon this conviction given by Jesus. Often when we pray we don’t see immediate results. But we know we should trust and believe that God hears our prayers. The testimony of many people is that God has used the prayers and witness of others to bring the reality of the good news to their lives…When we pray God is at work. In prayer God invites us to be His partners in the transformation of the world through transformed lives.”
Welby has written – "The hope is that people will commit to pray with God’s world-wide family – as a church, individually or as a family. Churches will hold prayer events, such as 24-7 prayer, prayer stations and prayer walks, across the UK and in other parts of the world;people will be empowered through prayer by the Holy Spirit, finding new confidence to be witnesses for Jesus Christ."
Resources:
Reverend Gareth Powell, from the Methodist Church of Great Britain visiting the New Room in Bristol, England.
Here’s what we’ll be doing at St Peter’s to participate as a church in Thy Kingdom Come. Please join in! PRAYER CHANGES THINGS!!!!!!!!
Praying Between Ascension and Pentecost at St Peter’s
Thursday, May 10th—Ascension Day service with St Asaph’s at St Peter’s, 7PM. This service will begin our eleven days of prayer together as we focus on Jesus, ascended into heaven, available to all people, in all places, at all times. In his life on earth, Jesus ushered in the reign of God, but God’s reign has not yet been fully realized. Opening our hearts to God’s will in our own lives and praying for God’s kingdom to be fully realized and complete on earth is our job as Christians. So let’s get started.
Friday, May 11th—Pray for five people who need to know Jesus in their lives. Pray for them every day during Thy Kingdom Come, and then keep praying for them.
Saturday, May 12th—Pray for Port Royal, for all the families and children and churches in our town, for those who lead, for those who work, and worship in Port Royal, for those who visit. Ask God about how you can make help God’s kingdom to become a reality in Port Royal.
Sunday, May 13th—Mother’s Day. Pray for your family. Pray that Jesus may be more fully known in your own family.
Monday, May 14th—Pray for St Peter’s. The Vestry will be meeting on Monday, May 14th. Pray for our church, for the Vestry, for all who serve, that we may fully welcome in the reign of God and to discern how God is asking us how best to carry God’s love out into the world.
Tuesday, May 15th—Pray for the Fredericksburg Region, and for The Diocese of Virginia, that this network of Christians may come together in powerful witness to God’s love out in the world.
Wednesday, May 16th—Pray for all who come to the Village Harvest Food Distribution for food, and for all who make the food distribution possible, including The Healthy Harvest Food Bank (formerly known as the Northern Neck Food Bank).
Thursday, May 17th—Pray for our nation. Study the news, and pray that God will enter into the situations you read about and making healing possible.
Friday, May 18th—Pray for the Church around the world, that it will experience a revival and that the Holy Spirit may bring new life into its mission and ministry.
Saturday, May 19th—Take an hour to pray The Lord’s Prayer. See the resource for this prayer included in this newsletter.
Sunday, May 20th—Pentecost and Port Royal Prayer Walk. Come to church at 9:45AM and meet out front. From 10AM-10:45, we’ll walk through our town and pray for The Holy Spirit to come and to transform this community. And then, at 11AM, we’ll celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Read the Book of Acts over Eastertide
These were organized by Forward Movement for a combined Luke and Acts study These are just the Acts portion.
There are many commentaries on the book. Here is an easy one to get started.
May 13 Easter 7, Lectionary
I.Theme – The Role of an Apostle
"The Word of Life mural" – Millard Sheets (1964)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
First Reading – Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Psalm – Psalm 1
Epistle –1 John 5:9-13
Gospel – John 17:6-19
Today’s readings examine the role of an apostle of Jesus Christ. In Acts, the eleven remaining apostles welcome Matthias as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection. The author of 1 John asserts that those who acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God will abide in God and God in them. In today’s gospel, Jesus prays for his followers’ sanctification in the truth of God’s word.
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 This passage recounts the choosing of another apostle to replace Judas. The early Church sought confirmation in the Old Testament for what Christians experienced, hence the application of the generalized descriptions in Psalm 69:25 and 109:8 to the specific case of Judas.
The choosing of 12 disciples as a special group seems to have been a sign of the coming age and of the new Israel. They are a distinct group whose numbers need to be restored after Judas’s defection.
In today’s passage, the company of believers picks out two candidates who fulfill the criteria and then they cast lots—an Old Testament custom to allow the operation of God’s will (see Proverbs 16:33). Matthias will share in ministry as the servant of the community and in apostleship as the missionary envoy of Christ.
Psalm 1 This psalm, with its call to a righteous life based on knowledge of the “law of the LORD,” the Torah, serves as a fitting introduction to all the psalms. It springs from the wisdom tradition, which emphasized how to live in both material and spiritual prosperity.
The righteous are those who have not taken the advice of the wicked, nor imitated their way of life, nor joined in their rejection of the law. They “meditate” (v. 2) upon it, literally, read it aloud in a low voice. The LORD is in intimate and personal relationship with the righteous.
1 John 5:9-13 Today’s reading includes the end of the discussion on the witness to the Son of God, a statement of the point of the epistle and its purpose and the first part of an appendix. The testimony of God was manifested in two ways: first, through God’s saving action in Jesus; second, through the result of that action—eternal life for the believer.
Verse 12 encapsulates the call to decision, toward which the whole letter has been leading. Verse 13 summarizes the epistle in a way similar to John 20:31. The appendix speaks of prayer “according to his will” (v. 14) as John does of prayer “in his name” (John 14:13-14 and 16:23-24).
John 17:6-19 Chapter 17 is known as the “prayer of consecration” or “high priestly prayer” of Jesus. He offers himself to the Father and speaks as high priest in offering intercession for others. Jesus’ ministry on earth is completed. He has revealed God to the disciples.
For John, this prayer is the expression of Jesus’ union and communion with the Father, spoken aloud before the disciples so that they may share that union. It is revelation as well as intercession.
Jesus prays for himself (17:1), for the disciples (17:9) and for future believers (17:20). He prays that the disciples may be kept safe from the world by the power of the name God has given him.
In John, the “world” (Greek, kosmos), means the universe under human direction, or more particularly human society. The world is not evil in itself. God wills to save it through Jesus.
The world is, however, oriented toward and dominated by evil, so that it comes to stand for those who reject Jesus. The disciples, and all Christians, “do not belong to the world” (v. 14). They do not have the world as their point of origin. They belong to God for they have been born anew.
The disciples—and all Christians—are consecrated, set apart, as Jesus was by his incarnation. This is not merely for self-purification but for mission into the world. The mission of the disciples, continuing the presence of Jesus, brings the world to judgment.
Ascension, May 10, 2018
Our service is at 7pm with St. Asaph’s.
Biblical scholar Ronald Coleman wanted to be clear on Ascension -"We do not, as a matter of fact, believe that Jesus ended his earthly ministry with the equivalent of a rocket launch, rising a few hundred miles above the earth. Nor do we think Jesus was the first to be “beamed up,” to use the term made so familiar by the television series Star Trek."
The New Testament treats the Ascension as an integral part of the Easter event.
It is the final appearance Jesus’ physical and resurrected presence on earth. It is the final component of the paschal mystery, which consists also of Jesus’ Passion, Crucifixion, Death, Burial, Descent Among the Dead, and Resurrection.
Along with the resurrection, the ascension functioned as a proof of Jesus’ claim that he was the Messiah. The Ascension is also the event whereby humanity was taken into heaven. There is a promise he will come again.
So when is it ? The Ascension in Luke 24 is on Easter Sunday evening or, at the latest, the next day; in John 20, sometime between the appearance to Mary Magdalene (who is told not to touch the risen One because he has not yet ascended) and the appearance to Thomas (who is invited to touch him); in Acts 1, after the forty days (which, however, are symbolic of the time of revelation; there may be no intention to suggest that the ascension actually “occurred” on the fortieth day). We celebrate Ascension on the 40th day, this year Thursday May 25 or the closest Sunday, May 28.
The main scriptural references to the Ascension are Mark:16:19, Luke:24:51, and Acts:1:2 and vvs. 8-10. Luke 24 says "While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven". In Acts " he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen." Jesus commissions his followers, rather than simply blessing them; and we have an appearance from two men in white robes.
Mount Olivet, near Bethany, is designated as the place where Christ left the earth. The feast falls on Thursday, May 25 and it is one of the most solemn in the calendar, ranking with the feasts of the Passion, Easter and Pentecost.
In disappearing from their view "He was raised up and a cloud received Him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9), and entering into glory He dwells with the Father in the honur and power denoted by the scripture phrase."
In a way, Jesus’ abandonment of the disciples upon the Mount of Olives is more profound than their abandonment on Calvary. After all, the disciples themselves predicted he would die. But no one could have imagined the Resurrection and the extraordinary forty days during which Jesus dwelled again with his friends. Forty days with the resurrected Jesus – appearing in the upper room, along the way to Emmaus, upon the beach at Galilee! Imagine their despair when this, the Jesus present to them in such an astonishing way, enters the Cloud on the Mount of Olives.
Ascension as the beginning of the Church’s mission
The Ascension is the beginning of the church’s mission.
1. It is powered by the Spirit
2. It is a call to be witnesses
3. It is worldwide is scope
The Ascension holds the promise of Christ’s return.
The Purpose of the Ascension:
A. For Man’s Redemption
B. For Jesus to be our Advocate
C. So The Spirit Could Come
D. To Prepare a place for Us
The Ascension is about direction
1. Looking upwards
Where is heaven ? When the early church confessed that Jesus had ascended into heaven, the emphasis was not so much on a place – the emphasis was on God’s immediate presence. The church was confessing that Jesus had entered into the divine glory – that the risen Jesus now dwelt in the immediate presence of God. This may explain the meaning of the phrase, "a cloud took him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9). Oftentimes in scripture, a cloud represents the shekinah glory of God, the sign of God’s presence (cf. Exo. 33:7-11; Mark 9:7).
This day reminds us that Jesus, our Risen Lord and Savior, is “beyond the bounds of time and space and free of their confinement, so he is able to be present everywhere at once.”
2. Heading downwards
Apostles are grouped together in Jerusalem awaiting their next step. "Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying…these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer
3. Setting outwards.
This is an opportunity to reflect on the mission imperative of the church, the dangers of the church looking inward and the strength we gain from a Jesus now in the heavens who equips us for service
The Ascension marks the exact moment when Jesus, Son of God, commissioned his disciples to begin the gigantic task of converting the whole world. As recorded in St Mark’s Gospel, Jesus said: "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned." This day reminds us that Jesus, our Risen Lord and Savior, is “beyond the bounds of time and space and free of their confinement, so he is able to be present everywhere at once.”
Lectionary, May 10 Ascension
I.Theme – The Ascension and its implications for the church
"The Ascension" – Catherine Andrews
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Acts 1:1-11
Psalm – Psalm 47 Page 650, BCP
Psalm – Psalm 93 Page 722, BCP
Epistle –Ephesians 1:15-23
Gospel – Luke 24:44-53
Read more from the Ascension lectionary
Ascension Art: trying to make it visual.."
The Ascension has always been a challenge to understand through the scriptures. Artists have played a role in giving us a visual depiction of the event. They have been doing this for over a 1000 years. 
Read more about Ascension art with a collection of 17 works …
Our own Ascension art – St. George’s Ascension window
These are earliest windows produced for the church in 1885 and dedicated to Rev. Edward McGuire who served as rector her for 45 years from 1813-1858 and was the rector when the current Church was built in 1849. It was produced in Germany but we do not know the maker. There are three panels increasing the drama and focus. The window is the front of the church directly in front of parishioners.
The Ascension took place 40 days after the Resurrection when Jesus led the disciples to the Mount of Olives. He raised his hands, blessed them and then was lifted up until a cloud took him out of their sight. This is shown in the middle window. He is shown, arms raised, disappearing into a cloud with his feet and the hem of his clothes visible. His feet still show scars of the crucifixion.
Continue with the article and a photo gallery …
An Alternate Take – "The Ascension Never Actually Happened – Ascension is Always Happening"
From a sermon from Pastor Dawn Hutchings. Full sermon
Dawn cites the story of Larry Walters who in 1982 ascended to a height of 16,000 in a lawn chair lifted by over 40 helium balloons. He intended to come down by shooting out the balloons with a bb gun. However, he dropped the gun. By luck, he shot out enough balloons to get him down though he wandered into a commercial airline path and almost ran into some power lines. That’s a true story but she cited a movie in Australia base on Larry’s story – Danny Deckchair which is not true.
"The movie’s hero, Danny, is a bored labourer who drives a cement mixer. Danny is an unlikely Christ figure whose story is similar to Larry’s. Danny ascends from his backyard in Sydney during a barbecue and lands less than gracefully in a small town in the Australian outback. By this act of departure and arrival everything changes not only for Danny, but also for those he left behind and those he meets in the outback. Danny’s unique departure inspires those at home to take risks of their own: to live life more boldly, to act on their dreams, to become all they can be.
"In acting out his dream, Danny finds new confidence and becomes the source of inspiration and affirmation for the townsfolk in the outback who used to see themselves as backwater hicks, but now see the importance of their actions in the life of their town. Everyone is transformed by Danny’s ascension. New Life and love accompany his resurrection.
"With that said, let me just say, that the Ascension never actually happened. It is not an historical event. If a tourist with a video camera had been there in Bethany they would have recorded absolutely nothing – but it’s always happening.
"The Ascension story is about the joy the disciples felt about the ongoing ever so real presence of Jesus after his death. The God they saw in Jesus they found in themselves. In Jesus’ departure they discovered that they could love as wastefully as he did. They could live abundantly as Jesus did. They could heal and reconcile just as Jesus did. With Jesus pointing the way they had found God and while Jesus was gone, the God that Jesus pointed to was everywhere, even in them.
"May these realizations live and breath and have their being in you. May you know the joy of seeing Jesus point the way, the joy of finding God, may you know the God Christ points to who is everywhere, even in you. May you love as extravagantly as Jesus loved. May you live as abundantly as Jesus lived. May you be Christ’s Body here and now, in this place in this time!