November 11, 2018, Veterans Day
Celebrations this Sunday- baptism cake, choir and bell tolling for the end of World War I, kickoff of the Heifer project, baby baptized, fall in Port Royal.
Pictures and text from this Sunday, Nov. 11
Video segments from this Sunday, Nov. 11
The Week Ahead…
Nov. 12 – 1pm, OneDay, followed by Vesry
Nov. 14 – 10am-12pm, Ecumenical Bible Study
Nov. 18 – 10:00am, Living the Good News Christian Ed for children
Nov. 18 – 11:00am, Holy Eucharist, Rite II
Sunday, Nov. 18 Readings and Servers
The "Season of Giving" reminders
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Project |
Focus |
Items |
Collection |
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ECM |
Local |
Funds |
Nov. 4. By Nov 18 (Thanksgiving) Dec. 16 (Christmas) |
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UTO |
National, International |
Funds |
Nov. 4 – Dec. 2 |
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Heifer Project |
International. |
Funds |
Nov. 11 – Dec. 9, Fill the Ark! |
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Episcopal Relief & Development |
International |
Funds |
By Dec. 16 Help ERD support cleanup for Hurricane Florence and related disasters. Your gift provides their partners on the ground with critical supplies, such as food and water, pastoral care and other urgent needs for communities impacted by Hurricane Michael and other ravaging storms. Funds are also used to assist with the long-term efforts needed to rebuild and heal. |
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Village Harvest |
Local |
Food stuffs, Funds |
By Nov 21 (for Nov), By Dec. 19 (for Dec.) Please donate toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex and other paper products |
1. Heifer Project is new this year! We will be doing the “Fill the Ark” project
Each family will receive a Calendar and Giving Bank on Nov. 11. The calendar is divided into four weeks, one week on each page. Each day focuses on a single animal, part of Heifer’s work with populations.
After reading the day’s lesson, determine how much money to place in the Giving Bank. Place your family’s gift into the Giving Bank and say a prayer that the money will be used to help another family somewhere in the world.
As you fill a Giving Bank with money you’ve saved, you’ll learn how your gifts can share God’s love and end hunger and poverty around the world. Bring the Giving Bank back to the church by Dec. 9
2. The United Thank Offering helps The Episcopal Church Women help people in the United States and around the world. Put coins in the blue box for thanks and blessings in your life. What kind of thanks? FOR LITTLE THINGS like a good parking spot on a busy day, sunshine for your family picnic, or a birthday card from a friend. FOR BIG THINGS like recovery from serious illness, a new job, or forgiveness and reconciliation after a long dispute.
Thankfulness leads to generosity, and your donation will help with projects that provide new spaces for people to gather and to worship, transportation, playgrounds, education, medical services, hot lunches—the list is endless.
The money you donated to the UTO last year helped to fund grants . Last year we collected $757.09
Begins Nov. 4 with the distribution of “blue boxes” with collection by Dec. 2. You may submit a “blue box” or check to St. Peter’s with “UTO” in the memo line.
3. Episcopal Church Men (ECM). Last year they supported 3 families for Thanksgiving and another 2 families for Christmas and collected $1,135 (compared with $1,085 the previous year). This effort will include Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner and Christmas presents for them. The men will contact the families and purchase the items in consultation with them and deliver them at the appropriate time.
They are requesting donations of any amount from the congregation in support of their project. This is not just a ECM project!
Thanksgiving -Collection begins Nov 4 and ends Nov. 18 for Thanksgiving.
Christmas collection begins Nov 25 and ends Dec. 16. Please mark your check “ECM, season of giving”
4. Village Harvest
VH is 4 years old in November! It has provided these benefits:
A. Food for those who are being challenged economically.
B. Enriching those at St. Peter’s who help with the distribution.
C. Providing a role for the church in the community. People who are not members are coming here.
Monthly, the parish has contributed other non-perishable products, such as chicken broth, beans, rice, spaghetti and sauce, paper product, tuna, peanut butter, etc.
For November, we are collecting boxed stuffing, canned corn, green beans or cranberry sauce. However,toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex and other paper products are also greatly appreciated.
The method of distribution has evolved from paper bags to a market style distribution where people can shop as they need.
Please contribute boxed stuffing, canned corn, green beans or cranberry sauce to the Nov. Village Harvest by Nov. 21 and help celebrate 4 years of this vital ministry. You can always make a monetary donation with “Village Harvest” in the memo line.
Thanks goes out to Johnny and Cookie Davis who go to the Northern Neck Food Bank to purchase fresh produce. That’s a big commitment. Thanks to all in the church who have contribute the non-perishable products each month and particularly to those who help distribute the food monthly.
5. Episcopal Relief and Development.
In their mission statement they say “We facilitate healthier, more fulfilling lives in communities struggling with hunger, poverty, disaster and disease. Our work addresses three life-changing priorities to create authentic, lasting results.”
We are focusing on giving to their Hurricane Relief Fund by Dec. 16.
Read more about 2018’s Season of Giving…
Checks or Cards – We’ve got it covered!
In the past people have given cash and checks during the Season of Giving during the church service. And that has been beneficial to those we serve.
This year we want to extend our reach and go a step further. We are inaugurating “Season of Giving – online” where you can charge a credit card for these gifts through the secure platform of Paypal.
You can find the link here.
We do this since we see our “congregation” beyond those who sit in the pews on Sunday and beyond just “Episcopalians”. We add those on social media, those who come to our Village Harvest food distribution, those who live in our local community who come to our events and any who may want to support our work to make people’s lives just a little bit better. To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson writing years ago – we are “hitching our wagon to a star”. We want to see where it may take us. We are inviting you to come along for the ride. Blessings to you in this approaching holiday season.
Support the Village Harvest on Nov. 27, Giving Tuesday
#GivingTuesday is a global giving movement that has been built by individuals, families, organizations, businesses and communities in all 50 states and in countries around the world
We have two days for getting deals – Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On #GivingTuesday, we have a day for giving back. Giving Tuesday can us share what we are doing with the larger community
Our goal last year was $500 and we actually collected $1,010. Can we shoot for $1,200 or about 6 months of support?
This is St. Peter’s second year to participate in this day. We are targeting the Village Harvest in 2018 due to increased costs. We are averaging $192 a month or over $2,300 a year. Help us recover the cost and even add to our resources to do more.
Give a little, Get a lot:
A $10 donation feeds 6 people.
A $20 donation feeds 12 people
More about Giving Tuesday – Giving Tuesday site or Facebook
How to Give ? Two ways:
1 On or before Nov. 27 make out a check to St. Peter’s with “Giving Tuesday” in the memo line
St. Peter’s Church
P. O. Box 399
Port Royal, Virginia 22535
2 Go online on Nov. 27 and use St. Peter’s new PayPal account and donate via credit card using this link
or churchsp.org/givingtuesday2018/
Lectionary, Pentecost 26, November 18
I. Theme – Holding fast to faith in difficult times
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
"As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down" – Mark 13:1-2
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Daniel 12:1-3
Psalm – Psalm 16 Page 599, 600, BCP
Epistle – Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25
Gospel – Mark 13:1-8
Today’s readings encourage us to hold fast to our faith, even in troubled times and persecution. Daniel speaks of a time of great trouble, through which the righteous will “shine like the stars.” As the Day of the lord approaches, the author of Hebrews tells us that our hard struggle with suffering will be rewarded.
In today’s gospel, Mark assures us that—even in chaos—God remains in control . This chapter of Mark begins with the destruction of the temple. Imagine how the early Christians must have felt, when Jerusalem was still in many ways their spiritual home. The Jewish heritage and tradition had probably been handed as carefully to them as a precious heirloom passed from parent to child.
All that was threatened by their new religion, then lost when Roman armies demolished the temple. It does not require a great leap of the imagination to see them feeling abandoned and without direction. To his community and to us, Mark issues a warning: watch. Be cautious of simplistic solutions, of the desire to cling to possessions and security. Beware of even well-meaning political reformers who simply replace one form of domination with another. Christ alone is our new direction, our liberation and only security.
How are we to respond when we face the violent upheaval of our world, or when others use mockery to dominate us in personal power plays? The temptation is to respond in kind, offering violence for violence and using force to overcome force.
What does it mean to trust in God’s grace and protection, to live out the peace and justice of God’s Reign in a world of war and injustice? The call to peace is always a difficult one to answer, both personally and collectively, but it is a call we must face in worship this week. This way is demonstrated in Daniel’s prophecy of the shining resurrected ones, in the Psalmist’s celebration of God’s protection and guidance, and ultimately in Jesus’ self-giving on the cross. It is interesting that, in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ warnings are associated with the disciples’ awe at the temple building, which represented wealth and power both of a spiritual and political nature. It is when we get absorbed in the trappings of power and wealth that we become violent and oppressive
We give thanks for God’s faithfulness. We give thanks for the ways God is at work in our world. Even when we are consumed by what is going on in our life, our own problems, our own worries, God is at work in the world around us, God is at work in the universe, and God’s steadfast love and faithfulness endure forever. It may be hard to see that at times through our own narrow vision, when all we see is our own hardships and struggles, but we see in these scriptures the promise of resurrection, the fulfillment of God’s justice and mercy, and the hope of the future. From Hannah to Hebrews, we see that there is something greater going on than the struggles of one person or one people, and God hears our prayers, and desires to save the whole world.
…Read more about the lectionary…
David Lose – Mark’s Gospel – Dealing with Uncertainty
By David Lose, Lutheran minister
The antidote to uncertainty, it turns out, isn’t certainty, but courage; and the best response to insecurity is the confidence that comes from knowing that God esteems you worthy of dignity, honor, and love.
"In short, life was something of a mess for many of Mark’s community, and he employs the symbols and metaphors of apocalyptic traditions about Jesus that he inherits to place the struggles and questions of his people in a cosmic context and, in this way, offer a measure of both perspective and comfort.
We can "allow the images Mark employs to name figuratively some of our own challenges and questions. While there are several elements of this passage that might serve in this way, the one that draws my homiletical imagination is Jesus’ warning that many will come claiming to be him in order to lead his followers astray.
"Perhaps it’s the lure of wealth or possessions, the perpetual contender for our allegiance in a consumerist economy oriented to unending consumption. Or maybe it’s the possibility of a more prestigious position at work or acceptance by an appealing school or social group. Perhaps it’s the dream of the perfect relationship, or just being in a relationship with someone who values and cares for you. Or maybe it’s the “smaller” attractions of being super competent (and hopefully being noticed for that) or the ideal friend/sibling/child (again, with due attention to our achievement). Or maybe we find ourselves worshiping at the altar of providing our children with everything we never had but want to make sure they enjoy (with an emphasis on “making sure”). Or maybe…. Well, you get the idea.
"And here’s the interesting thing that all these various claimants of our attention and allegiance have in common: there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of them – not wealthy or status or belonging or relationship or competency or wanting the best for our children. In fact, there is much to be admired about, and much good that can be achieved through, these various desires. Yet none of them can save. Moreover, none of them can bear the weight of meaning we unconsciously ask them to and for which we desperately long. And yet we are either so insecure or confused (or maybe a little of both), that like Mark’s community we so crave a level of certainty that we take these God-given gifts and turn them into, well, God.
"Which is perhaps the human condition – worshiping the gifts of God rather than God the giver. And perhaps that’s what this tricky little passage is about: in times of confusion, challenge, and distress, we will not only be overly impressed by the symbols of power around us – “Teacher, look how big these stones are!” – but we will also take many of the delights and gifts of this life and seek to find our security in and through them rather than in the One who gave them to us in the first place.
"Living with uncertainty was hard for the first century-followers of Jesus and it’s just as hard for his twenty-first century disciples as well. The promise God offers us in Christ, however, is not that if we just work hard enough, are pious enough, make ourselves acceptable enough, or attain enough we’ll leave all our uncertainties and insecurities behind. Indeed, the Christian faith does not offer an end to uncertainty or insecurity at all. Rather, it promises that we can discover who we are only in relation to Whose we are, as we receive our identity as beloved children of the God who created and sustains all things and loves us unconditionally. The antidote to uncertainty, it turns out, isn’t certainty, but courage; and the best response to insecurity is the confidence that comes from knowing that God esteems you worthy of dignity, honor, and love. Rooted in these promises, we are better equipped to resist all pretenders to throne and give our allegiance to the One who gave all things for us. Thanks to be to God."
Veterans Day: War on Every Shore (Mark 13:1-8)
Link to the video
By Shively Smith, Professor at Wesley Theological Seminary
"Mark 13:1-8 does not gloss over the likelihood of turmoil. In fact, it is so attentive to the possibility of conflict and danger, it shifts the Gospel’s language, style and content to address it. Up to this point in the Gospel, the author has had a singular focus—namely, telling the story of Jesus’ life and ministry. In our passage, the Gospel turns to telling the story of others.
"What will happen to everyone when the Second Temple is destroyed?
"Historically speaking, Mark appears to focus on the events leading up to the First Jewish War with Rome in the mid-first century in Palestine (66-70 CE). Literarily speaking, however, Mark’s goal is not to capture a historic moment, but offer warnings and encouragement. Mark cautions his readers to be suspicious of teachers, recognizing that not all are proclaiming what is true and real (Mark 13:5-6, 7-8, 21-23). Jesus tells his readers there are many uplifted voices in the world, but they are not all going the way of Christ. They are not all going the way of love and acceptance (Mark 9:42; 10:14).
"For Mark, Jesus’ messiahship is characterized by suffering and death (Mark 8:31, 10:45). Trauma and calamity are unavoidable realities, even for those who understand themselves as “insiders” of the Christian community. True to its apocalyptic character, Mark 13 offers comfort by balancing honest assessment of present circumstances with a vision of what is possible for followers of Christ.
" On one hand, Mark’s images of war and catastrophe echo prophetic announcements of conflicts between world powers (2 Chronicles 15:5-6; Jeremiah 4:15-16) and natural disasters (Isaiah 13:13; Daniel 9:26) in the Old Testament. No doubt, Mark 13 forewarns readers of what lies ahead in the not so distant future.
" But what if Mark is not just broadcasting what could be? What if Mark 13 is describing the situation for what it is right now? Right now, there are bodies in our midst that brace everyday for experiences of micro-aggressions, oversight, and erasure. Everyday bodies enter so-called “safe public spaces” such as college and university campuses, knowing that these spaces just aren’t so safe anymore. As an elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, rarely does a Sunday service or weekly bible study pass that I do not think about the heinous mass shooting that took place at Mother Emanuel AME Church on June 17, 2015. We have unsafe spaces right here on our shores because hate and prejudice lives. Just like the soldiers who spring into action abroad, there are heroes who spring into action among us fighting for justice and the safety of all.
" I also recognize that everyday a military family laments the death of a loved one. Daily, a mother, father, child, and sibling pray for someone in active-duty abroad. Everyday rumors of war bring real transition and an entrance into the unknown for segments of people we may not be in the habit of thinking of and considering in the church.
" The voice of Mark 13 enters the conversation and takes a specific platform. It urges readers to endure present distresses (Mark 13:9-23) and future ordeals (Mark 13:24-27). It reaffirms an essential confession of Christianity, which is that Jesus Christ has already suffered in obedience to save others. As such, discipleship is cast as obedience and service in spite of difficulty.
" In our current context, that form of service and obedience is visible in the lives, actions, and sacrifices of service-oriented people. Mark 13 raises a flag for communities of faith. It is not okay to forget about the people who are facing danger so that others can be safe and at peace. As this Sunday falls immediately after Veteran’s Day, we should encounter Mark 13:1-8 with a degree of sobriety and thankfulness for those who live out the vision of the way of Christ through how they serve us. In faithful response to their actions, we should be compelled to do something to help their lives be a little easier.
" After all, when wars initiate, conflicts ignite, and earthquakes hit our service members and veterans act. ALL those who serve for justice, whether under the uniform of military or under the “uniform” of personal choice and moral code help make “the end” still be able to come (Mark 13:7).
2. Contact the Rev Catherine Hicks, Rector 5. Latest Newsletter-the Parish Post (Nov., 2018) 6. Calendar 9. Latest Sunday Bulletin (Nov. 18, 2018 11:00am), and Sermon (Nov. 11, 2018)
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Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
| Red** | All Saints Day or Sunday | Nov 1 [or the next Sunday] | White | |
| Green | Ordinary Time | Nov 4-24 | Lt. Green | |
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Saints of the Week, Nov. 11 – Nov. 18
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11
11 |
Martin, Bishop of Tours, 397 Lili’uokalani of Hawaii, Queen & Hymnographer, 1917 |
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12
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Charles Simeon, Priest, 1836 |
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13
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14
14 |
The Consecration of Samuel Seabury, First American Bishop, 1784 Gregory Palamas, Bishop & Mystis, 1369 |
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15
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Herman of Alaska, Missionary, 1837 |
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16
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Margaret, Queen of Scotland, 1093 |
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17
17 |
Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary, 1231 Hugh of Lincoln, Bishop, 1200 |
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18
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Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680 |