A cooler day with temperatures in the mid to high forties. Rain overnight and continuing partially into Sunday. A low Sunday with 19 in the church and 7 on Zoom
We thank Elizabeth Heimbach for the beautiful arrangements adorning the altar
The sermon featured a quiz on sheep with some surprising results of the abilities of sheep.
The sermon described Peter’s giving new life to the deceased Tabitha. The only difference with Jesus is that Peter pauses to kneel and pray, thereby illustrating that the authority to raise the dead is not his own like it was Jesus’, but is an extension of the presence of Christ.
The highpoint of the sermon -“In this miraculous moment, Peter is one with Jesus, united with Jesus in Jesus’ lifegiving, healing mission to the world. And in this oneness with Jesus, through which new life flows into Tabitha, people see for themselves the evidence of God’s love, and many believe in the Lord.
“In Bible study on Wednesday, Helmut pointed out that we suddenly seem to have so many friends who need our prayers. Our prayer list continues to grow.
“We can pray for them the way Peter prayed that day in Joppa, by removing the other voices that nag at us even in prayer, and then be intentional about listening for the voice of Jesus, reflecting on Jesus’ love for each of us, Jesus’ love for the person for whom we’re praying, and then to open ourselves as a channel for Jesus’ healing, life giving resurrection love to flow where it will, out into the world, and into the person for whom we are praying. We are united with Jesus in Jesus’ lifegiving, healing mission to the world.
“Jesus says that he gives his sheep eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of his hand. So when we pray, we really can simply listen for the voice of Jesus and reflect on his life giving love in prayer, resting in the assurance that all is well, and that all will be well, even when life is falling apart around us, and even if we are full of fear for ourselves, for those we love, or more broadly, for the state of the world itself.
“After all, we are praying for what is not now, but for what will be. We are praying in the now for the not yet of God’s reign, here and completed on this earth, when the words of Jesus have finally been realized.
As Jesus says earlier in Chapter 10 as he is talking about being the good shepherd, “There will be one flock, one shepherd.”
“That shepherd is the Lamb at the center of the throne in the book of Revelation who guides us to the springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
“This is the same God who in this life pursues us with goodness and mercy all the days of our lives and wants us to dwell in the house of the Lord forever, the one who wants us to have life, and to have it abundantly.
This week coming up is Shred-It on Wed May 11. We don’t know the time until Tuesday night. It is a service to the community and a money maker for St. Peter’s Outreach ministries
Fourth Sunday After Easter, May 8, 2022(full size gallery)