Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.
St. John 16 13
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Fr. Yossi led a beautiful Holy Communion service this past Sunday. His sermon focused on the Gospel lesson from St. John 16:5-15. In this part of Jesus' "Farewell Address" to his disciples, he is teaching them about the Holy Spirit. Jesus laid all the groundwork for his kingdom (his Church) but it's the Holy Spirit who actually creates the Church. The Spirit's work is to point us to the perfect righteousness of Jesus and to show us that without Him there is no righteousness. Also, we must remember the Holy Spirit is a person and that means he acts deliberately, with purpose and being God, he is sovereign in his actions. Fr. Yossi reminds us that to leave the Church is to leave Jesus' Body and to undo the work of the Holy Spirit blasphemously and deliberately as Christians need each other to function the way Jesus intended. If we want to transform our world, the power to do that comes as we first allow the Spirit to transform our own lives with the Gospel message.
Thank you Fr. Yossi for the beautiful service and sermon! Thank you Br. Scott for serving!
After services we enjoyed a fun and delicious lunch of chili dogs with all the fixings, potato salad, bean salad, marshmallow/fruit salad, and homemade macaroons! Yum! Thank you Lynn, Laurel, and Carol for the delicious lunch!
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Thank you Fr. Paul for leading our 10:15 Morning Prayer service. Please let Fr. Paul know if you are interested in being a reader of one of the lessons during Morning Prayer.
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This past Sunday, Fr. Yossi's Christian Education class focused on the Gospel lesson and how that ties in with the other daily readings. Please join us next Sunday at 9:15 am - a pot of coffee will be on!
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Saturday Work Day:
Thank you to everyone who came out for the Spring work day this past Saturday!!
Hutch & Misty trimmed, weeded, and mulched the front beds.
Nicole and Annabelle took on the ivy growing up the walnut trees - Nicole soon declared victory!
Sue, Taylor, Teresa . . .
Anderson, Andy, Keith, and Fr. Paul tackled the bamboo and the very over grown fence line above the parking lot!
Fr. Yossi, Diane, and Rosalind worked on digging out the privet roots to make a little more space for parking. We were fighting a losing battle until . . .
Misty, Hutch, and Andy joined us. Andy introduced us to the new must have tool - the "Root Slayer"!!
After all that hard work, we enjoyed a delicious lunch which included homemade lasagne made by Benita and lots of take out pizza. Thank you to everyone for all your help! Thank you to Rose Marie, Lin, Agnes, and Carole for cleaning up the Sanctuary, arranging the basement, and setting up the food!
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Construction Update:
During week 4 of construction all the work was done at Jim and Diane's workshop. They spent the week priming and painting the soon to be installed columns and trim. Also, Jeff began testing stain colors for the shield. Plans this week include installing the columns and much of the trim.
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Many thanks to Hutch for agreeing to serve out the remainder of Daryl's term on the Mission Committee!
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Our Bible Study will continue this Wednesday @ 11 am at the church. Fr. Paul is leading a series of lessons which are focused on his book As It Is In Heaven A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Introduction to the Traditional Church and Her Worship. The topic for the next lecture is "The Ties that Bind Part II - the Sacraments."
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Sue continues to lead our weekly online prayer group on Discord every Thursday at 9:30 am. 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. Thank you so much Sue for taking the time each week to lead our prayers!
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Jody, the owner/operator of the pest control company used by the church, participates in the Kairos Prison Ministry International, Inc. Part of their ministry involves bringing cookies into the prison! His group of volunteers is visiting the Northeast Correctional Complex in Mountain City in early May.
Any one interested in baking at least two dozen cookies (sugar, peanut butter, molasses, or chocolate chip) for their visit please bring them to the church by 11 am on Wednesday.
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The Shades of Grace ministry is currently very low on used men's jeans. In an effort to "Help Fill That Shelf", we are collecting used men's jeans from now through Sunday, May 26. They are particularly low on smaller size men's jeans (28 - 34" waist). Please place any donations in the basket in the Narthex.
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