"Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed."
St. John 20:8
__________________________
On Easter morning St. Peters looked beautiful both outside . . .
and inside!
Thank you to everyone who helped make the church look so wonderful for this joyful service!
__________________________
Fr. Dennis's sermon focused on the different reactions of Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, and John to discovering the empty tomb as described in the Gospel lesson from John 20. Mary Magdalene reacted with fear, distress, and sadness. Simon Peter reacted with uncertainty and hesitation. However, John reacted with faith - living faith - "he saw and believed". All three of these witnesses ultimately became courageous witnesses, willing to live and die for their faith. These same types of reactions to the empty tomb are seen today. Sadly today many people with doubtful reactions, the possibility of the resurrection is not real - the empty tomb does not offer living hope to them. People who react with living faith, even if it is small and immature, have transformed lives with new hope. The resurrection assures them of the triumph of divine goodness, divine love, and divine grace over evil and destruction. May we respond like the beloved disciple, John, with living faith in the living Christ who has defeated Satan, sin, and death for all time. While the struggles of this world continue, the final victory of goodness is assured by the empty tomb.
Please find the complete service including Fr. Dennis's wonderful sermon at the following link:
Thank you Fr. Dennis for the beautiful service this Easter Sunday!
Sue and Scott contributed their amazing musical talents to our Easter service. Thank you both for the beautiful music and for all you do for St. Peters!
Claudia and Teresa sent these beautiful pictures from after services:
___________________________
This past Easter Sunday Fr. Dennis continued with his series of Confirmation Classes. He completed the lessons on Anglican church history in North America. In the next lesson he will cover the ancient creeds. As Fr. Dennis will not be with us for a few weeks, the next Confirmation Class is not yet scheduled. I will post the date of the next class. Everyone is invited to attend these classes! Thank you Fr. Dennis for these very informative lessons!
On the Sundays Fr. Dennis is not with us, Sue will lead a short Prayer Meeting downstairs starting at 10:30.
_________________________
Thank you Scott and Sue for opening church and hosting a quiet meditation time on the Saturday before Easter.
_________________________
Br. Scott led a solemn Good Friday service. At the end of the service Sue and Scott played two hauntingly beautiful pieces (O Sacred Head Now Wounded - J. S. Bach and The Lark Ascending -Ralph Vaughn Williams) as we meditated on the empty altar.
_________________________
Sue continues to lead our weekly online prayer group on Discord every Thursday at 2 pm. Thank you so much Sue for taking the time each week to lead our prayers! If you have a special prayer request but cannot join us, please send your request to Sue. Please contact me if you would like to join us on Discord.
__________________________
Our next Women's Bible Study meeting is at the church on Wednesday, April 12 at 11 am . This is the last lesson in this study! Please remember to bring the book, your bible, and a lunch!
Our next Bible Study will use "The First 24" for our next study guide. This is an in depth study of Mark 1:21-45 - the first 24 hours of Jesus' public ministry. The guide is available on Amazon.
Before Bible Study, Diane and I planted a Rainbow Nandina (donated by Diane) beside the front porch of the church. Thank you, Diane!
_________________________
On the north and south sides of the church we had new gutters installed this past week. Included in the installation are new 6" gutters, larger downspouts and repair of the connection between one of the downspouts and the under ground sump. Hopefully this takes care of the water issues in the basement - we can finally repaint the basement!!
________________________
Komentáře