October 16, 2016 (full size gallery)
Mixed clouds and sun led to a sunny mild day for fall. Temperatures warmed up over the week. The light was beautiful throughout the day showing the river with changing colors and through the leaves on the church property.
We had 44 today with 2 visitors. Both our christian education children groups, Godly Play (preschool through 2nd grade) and God’s Kids (3rd grade and up) studied "Noah’s Ark" in Genesis
The flood brought on by Hurricane Matthew hit Catherine’s home town of Goldsboro NC. We are working with St. Andrew’s Episcopal in the center of the disaster to provide supplies and money. We had an insert in the bulletin but you can find the key information here.
The churches have banded together to feed rescue workers and others, 3 meals a day. Please bring your supplies and monetary donations to the church and she will carry them down. Please make out your checks to St. Peter’s with "Flood relief – St. Andrews in the memo line." Update – We received checks totaling $1,000 from parishioners on Oct16. Thank you!
We continued with our stewardship series on Gratitude with Helmut talking about the Endowment Fund. The document was revised in 2015. You can see the revised document here. The fund is intended to build up a long term fund for St. Peter’s for outreach work and for preserving the facilities.
Today’s readings encourage us to seek intimacy with God through scripture study and constant prayer. As he wrestles with God, Jacob becomes Israel, patriarch of God’s people. Paul commends the use of "the sacred writings" for growth in the faith. Jesus illustrates how, unlike an unjust judge, our God welcomes our persistent prayers and quickly gives justice.
This image of God as companion also appears in today’s psalm, Psalm 121. There, God is as close as a person’s hand, and as welcome as shade from the sun. The psalmist’s image of God as guardian will ring true for anyone who has felt insecure about sleeping in an unfamiliar place. While most of us don’t have bodyguards, we still know how the presence of a trusted friend in a strange situation calms fear and enables sleep.
There are really 3 themes in today’s readings. 1) the meaning of divine law and its relationship to our well-being, 2) the inspiration of scripture and its role in sharing God’s news, and 3) persistence in prayer and the question of unanswered prayer. These themes are woven together by a vision that God acts in ways that invite us to be part of a greater adventure, companionship with God in healing the world. Alignment with divine evolving order, sharing the good news of an open-spirited gospel that reflects a living, moving God, and prayerful persistence in seeking the greatest good are all responses to God’s vision of Shalom.
Persistence is a characteristic of faithful stewardship, persistent use of our time and God-given abilities for ministry, and persistent gratitude and generosity in response to God’s providence and grace.
The sermon lamented the conditions in the worlds – from the recent flooding brought by Hurricane Matthew, politics, the refugees and foreign policy
"The temptation is to feel hopeless and to give up believing that anything I could do, even voting, will make much of a difference in the divisiveness that this country is experiencing right now. "
"We can’t save ourselves and we know it. And so we limp along.
"But that proverbial limp is a reminder—that God preserves us, walks alongside us, and will carry us if necessary, no matter where we’re taken or what we have to endure.
"Through persistent prayer we receive the gifts that God wants to give us– hope, courage, and love.
"Persistent prayer brings with it the knowledge that God is a God of justice, and that God is in charge."