Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Collect of the Day, p 209 BCP
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Fr. Scott and Maryl were under the weather this Sunday and unable to attend church. Many, many prayers for their speedy recovery!
Thank you Mike and Earl for leading our Morning Prayer services on short notice this Sunday!
Earl delivered Fr. Scott's sermon which elaborated on the collect for this Sunday and the virtues of faith, hope, and charity (love). A virtue is a trait deemed morally good and valuable to have. Of the seven virtues defined by the Church as coming from scripture, four (prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance) are catagorized as Cardinal virtues. While they are the starting point for a virtuous life they are not the goal. God does not need to specifically act in our lives for us to show some measure of these virtues. Faith, hope, and love are called the Theological virtues because they can only be attained through the Holy Spirit's gift to us and we are right to ask God for these.
Fr. Scott explained these three virtues using a time line. We have faith in what God has already accomplished. He created the world and us. Jesus Christ lived, died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven for us. We ask God to strengthen our faith in the previous actions of God. As faith is trust in God's past involvement, hope is the trust in God's future involvement. This hope is an assurance of things to come. Love is trust in God's action in the present. Love is the greatest of the three because it proves the other two. If you don't love then you don't have faith in the past actions of God and you don't have hope that God is doing something in this world. Love is the vehicle God uses to get from the past to the future. We are at the cutting edge of God's plan of salvation, working with God so He may be glorified in fulfilling His will. As God's plan for our world is constantly progressing, we are constantly called upon to display love for the world, further showing the world who God is.
Thank you Fr. Scott for writing that beautiful sermon and Earl for delivering it! Thank you Mike for leading the service!
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Our lovely ladies in red, Lynn and Claudia, brought a wonderful light lunch for after services. They brought BBQ meatballs, cheese & crackers, grapes, chips & dip and Claudia's amazing, homemade carrot cake!
Thank you both for all your wonderful food!
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Rose Marie and I continued our work on the multi purpose room. We painted the back wall and the floor.
We rearranged the furniture....
and here is our completed room! Thank you Rose Marie for all your help!
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Mike and Earl are making great progress in removing the large, diseased walnut tree!
Thank you both for all your continued work!
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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 me (Rosalind) if you would like to join us on Discord.
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Our long time member and devoted Anglican, Margaret Little, is having a birthday on Sept. 23. She is currently living at a senior living facility in Bristol. As a cheerful reminder that we still love and miss her, we are asking people to send her a birthday card at the following address:
Margaret Little
Dominion Sr. Living
425 Shelby Lane, rm 142
Bristol, TN 37620
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