Bulletin, Pentecost 4, June 25, 2023
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Taking up the Cross
Stained glass – “Carrying the Cross of Christ” Gabriel Loire (1904-1996)
But what does “taking up the cross” mean? This is the first reference to “the cross” in Matthew, and Jesus uses it as a metaphor for the difficult work of embracing an unconventional life of intense, generous commitment to God’s mission — a willingness, as Jesus sums it up, to “lose their life” in order to “find it” (Matthew 10:39). According to this ideal picture, following Jesus means making God’s mission of love and justice the first priority in our lives, even above family and livelihood (Matthew 10:35-37; 10:9-10). It means being willing to confront and conflict with death-dealing powers, so much so that — even as genuine peacemaking remains the ultimate goal — it may well initially appear as though we “have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 5:9; 10:34).
In brief, discipleship means leaving behind conventional approaches to kinship, career, and social harmony — and that’s not a prospect to be taken lightly. Count the cost before you go. The good news of the Gospel may be for everyone — but discipleship isn’t. That may be counterintuitive. Isn’t the whole point of Christianity that anyone can become a disciple, and that the goal is to make as many as possible? Well, if Jesus thought so, he had a strange way of showing it.
Recent Articles for June 25, 2023
Sunday Links, June 25, 2023, Pentecost 4
The Shakers’ Dance from the Sermon, June 18
Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt – Pentecost 3 – Sunday June 18, 2023
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Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt – Pentecost 2 – Sunday June 11, 2023
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Notebook Paper Collection for Caroline’s Promise School Supply Distribution
Sunday, July 16th is the deadline for St Peter’s to collect 8.5”looseleaf, hole punched notebook paper for Caroline County school children, to be distributed by Caroline’s Promise on Saturday, July 29th. Our goal is 200 packs of 8.5×11 looseleaf notebook paper, 3 hole punched . There is no specific quantity (200, 500 sheets, etc) to purchase. Most of them have been 150 sheet packs
[As of July 9 we have collected 37 packs of notebook paper. One week to go. ]
Bring your donation to church and place it in the back pew. If you’d like to make a monetary donation toward this project, write a check to St Peter’s and put Notebook Paper/Outreach on the memo line.
We have frequently partnered with Caroline’s Promise for school supplies. (Last year it was markers). Caroline’s Promise works to help young people in Caroline County to succeed by providing a healthy start and future, one of their five promises. You can read more about Caroline’s promise at
this link. https://www.carolinespromise.org/
Their distribution July 29, 10am-12pm
Caroline Middle School
13325 Devils Three Jump Road
Milford VA 22514