Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
St. Matthew 7:16
_________________________
Fr. Yossi's sermon focused on the Gospel Lesson from St. Matthew's recording of the Sermon on the Mount. In these verses starting at Matthew 7:15, Jesus directs us to beware of false prophets and gives us very practical means to determine who is a false prophet. Jesus advises us to judge people by the 'fruit' of their actions just as we determine the type of tree by the fruit it produces. Fr. Yossi reminds us to use discernment - not to take people at face value. We also need to remember the Bible is ultimate authority. Lastly he asked that we consider what our 'fruits' say about our lives. Our authentic fruits should show the world we are orthodox Christians!
Please find the complete service including the sermon at the following link:
Thank you Fr. Yossi for the lovely sermon and Holy Communion Service!
______________________________
Next Sunday after services, please stay upstairs for a quick meeting. Fr. Yossi will discuss possible revisions to the order of service.
______________________________
After services we enjoyed another wonderful lunch including ham & cheese sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, potato salad, chicken pasta salad, cheese, crackers, cucumbers, fruit, and several yummy desserts! Thank you to everyone who brought food!
Fr. Paul and his lovely wife Benita joined us from California. Fr. Paul has moved to the Tri-Cities area and Benita will be following later in the year! Welcome to St. Peter's and to Tennessee!
_____________________________
Br. Scott shared this message from our Dean, Fr. Paul Rivard, about The Annual Deanery of Appalachia Picnic :
The time has come again to prepare for our annual picnic and this year it will be held on the beautiful campus of All Saints in Mills River on Saturday, August 26 from 11AM to 2PM.
Our hosts, Fr. Erich Zwingert and his parishioners, have indicated that at present there is no need to bring anything but yourselves to this event so please make a special point to mark your parish calendars and inform the members of your parishes and missions so that everyone has a chance to enjoy a great time of fellowship together with others from the Deanery.
Please let Fr. Yossi or Br. Scott know if you want to attend!
__________________________
Ming will visit with us again next Sunday! He and Sue will provide all our music! It will be wonderful to catch up with him and to hear them both play together again!
____________________________
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 is on Wed. August 2 @ 11 am at the church. We are using "The First 24" for our 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. Please remember to bring the book, your bible, and a lunch!
_______________________________
