The Second Sunday after Easter is also known as The Good Shepherd Sunday. In addition to the Gospel lesson from John 10, we recited the 23rd Psalm.
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Fr. Scott led a beautiful Holy Communion Service this past Sunday. His sermon focused on the The Collect for this Sunday, one of his favorite collects:
Almighty God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit , and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (BCP p. 173)
In his sermon, Fr. Scott discussed the two salvation messages in the collect: 1) Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross for our sins which repaired our relationship with God and 2) Jesus Christ's example of a Godly life. We are called to both look back with faith to all Jesus did for us and to walk actively in His way. This is a both/and situation not an either/or situation. On this Good Shepherd Sunday we remember that God gave us the Good Shepherd, not the hireling. Our shepherd laid down His life for us and as His sheep our responsibilities include being part of His flock and following our shepherd. The Bible tells us the Christian message is we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. Our salvation is more complete than only dealing with our sins and includes conforming our lives to His image so we live better lives. Are we following the Good Shepherd? Do we hear our shepherd's voice? Return to the Good Shepherd!
The complete version of Fr. Scott's sermon may be found at the following link at 23:15 mark.
Thank you, Fr. Scott for a wonderful, timely sermon!
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Before service, Fr. Scott led our Sunday School class. He started this week's lesson by stating that we should learn and be able to articulate what we believe. In particular we should be able to explain the Anglican way of doing things i.e. explain what we believe in our terms. The Anglican Church has been called the most Roman Catholic of the Protestant Churches and the English Reformed Catholic Church. We are not theological innovators - we only pruned from the Roman Church what we had to and kept everything else. Though the Church of England originally spread with the British Empire, each country now has an independent church. Anglicans believe in the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the bread and wine instead of transubstantiation or consubstantiation. Traditionally, the Anglican Churches allowed a wide range of beliefs on non essential items (high church vs low church, Holy Communion every Sunday or less often, etc.). We use the Creeds (Apostle's, Nicene and Athanasian) as our fundamental statements of the standards for Christian beliefs. Next Sunday, Fr. Scott will start a series of lessons on the 7 sacraments, starting with Baptism.
Thank you, Fr. Scott for preparing and presenting this very interesting lesson!
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After services, the congregation gave Fr. Scott the new Anglican Altar Missal in honor of the second anniversary of his Ordination!
Congratulations Fr. Scott! St. Peter's is blessed to have you as our Vicar!
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After the service, our cook team of Claudia and Lynn provided an amazing luncheon! Thank you so much for the wonderful food!
A happy Sunday afternoon spent with wonderful company!
Then the Mission Committee Meeting! I'm not sure what I said but they sure don't look happy!
Thank you everyone for a wonderful day at St. Peter's!
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Fr. Scott also wanted to share the following message:
I am amazed at how much St. Peters is growing and I love seeing all the new faces. God is blessing our Church. As this growth continues, the preparation work that goes into each week increases. Right now, a small group of people are doing the work for everyone else. I thank God they have been so faithful and now I want to encourage the rest of our Church family to get involved. Please pray about helping out the Church.
Please let Fr. Scott or me know if you are interested in joining one of our cleaning and/or Sunday refreshment teams! These are a once every four weeks commitment.
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Next Sunday, April 25, is our big "Thank You Very Much" Party for Fr. Dennis. For many, many months Fr. Dennis drove over from NC, across the mountains to celebrate Holy Communion with St. Peters. He also taught Sunday School lessons and wrote magazine articles for us! And sometimes brought some of his wife's wonderful homemade goodies!!
Fr. Dennis will deliver the sermon during next week's service. After service we are having a big luncheon. We are asking everyone to bring a pot luck side dish or dessert to share to go along with a honey sliced ham. We hope to continue to see Fr. Dennis as often as he feels up to crossing the mountains! Thank you, Fr. Dennis!
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Rose Marie and Earl are visiting their great grandson! Great grandmother, grandmother, mother, and baby are pictured!
Have a great trip and can't wait to see more pictures!
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Sue continues to lead our weekly online prayer group on Tuesday at 11:30. 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 Rosalind if you would like to join us on Discord.
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On Saturday, May 15 at 10 am we are scheduling a yard work day at the church. We hope many are able to help with picking up trash around the property, digging out some weeds, trimming bushes, etc. More information to come on work to be done and tools to bring. Please join us!
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April Activities
Tues., April 20 11:30 am Online Prayer Group
Sun., April 25 10 am Christian Education Fr. Scott
11 am Holy Communion, Fr. Scott
noon – Fr. Dennis’s ‘Thank You Party’
Tues., April 27 11:30 am Online Prayer Group
May Activities