We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.

Sunday Links for July 3, 2022

July 3, 11:00am – Eucharist

We had a diverse crowd 26 in the service and 5 online. However, we had Brad Saylor’s family visiting from Africa (8 or so) and Peter from Wales. We also had Ken’s father from Tennessee. We had ample time for dialogue – the sermon featured it. It was also first Sunday coffee hour called “Cookies and Conversation”. It was a picturesque Sunday with not only the regular flowers but special flower for a parishioner’s mother born on July 4. The town had their July 4 flags out. We introduced our task to provide 250 markers for school children by the middle of the month.

We even had enough children for an impromptu children’s sermon.

It was one of the most important Gospel lessons from Luke 10 – in essence how to spread Jesus teaching with his sending out of the 70.

The mission was the same as Jesus’ own ministry: “cure the sick” and “say to them, ‘the kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

There are two basic tasks 1. Bring the message, “God’s kingdom has come close to you!” All this is in the present tense and not the future. 2. Show by action. Bring deeds of the kingdom. (Namely, heal the sick.) Tell them the good news that “the kingdom of God has come near to you” (v. 9): it’s partly already here! The teams went out with an urgent message. “Turn around people – and seek peace – God’s reign has come close to you!” The message is timeless.

Notice how Jesus only tells them what they should do and doesn’t say anything about measuring their success. The version 16 paragraph closes with another note about success. We are not to rejoice about our success in our various ministries, but to rejoice “that your names are written in heaven,” that is, that we are part of this kingdom of God which we are proclaiming.

So, the essence of the mission is to live out the relationship with God that has been given to us through Jesus Christ. And this is what it looks like; don’t travel alone, do travel light, not worry about what is up ahead, just share peace and healing if you can.