Vacation Bible School Next Week
June 29, 2010
Children of all ages are invited to Vacation Bible School—Son Rock Kids Camp, July 12-16, 2010, 6:00-8:00 PM.
Contact vbs@allsaintsanglican.net for more information.
Fourth of July
June 28, 2010
On Sunday, July 4th, All Saints will celebrate Independence Day.
The 9:00 AM service will be Morning Prayer.
Come to Mass at 11:15 AM dressed for a picnic and bring a side dish.
Following the service, enjoy hot dogs, homemade ice cream, fellowship, music, and more as we celebrate our country’s birthday.
Liturgy Lesson for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity: Modeling a Healthy Spiritual Life
June 27, 2010
When we worship in our Holy Communion service, we actually model the cycle of a healthy spiritual life—and the liturgical Calendar as well. In each mass, we will find a little bit of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and even Trinity! If Advent is all about the Lord’s coming (and His Second Coming), just consider the first prayer, the Collect for Purity—we are asking the Holy Ghost to look into and prepare our hearts—much like St. John Baptist saying, “Prepare ye the Way of the Lord,”—and praying for the Second Coming in the Our Father: “…thy Kingdom come (Maranatha!). Aside from the proper preface for Christmas that celebrates the Lord’s birth, we proclaim it in the ancient words of the Nicene Creed and declare it with the words of God’s angels on that night in Bethlehem, when we sing the High Gloria—Gloria in Excelsis. Epiphany is in the inclusivity for all mankind in the prayers for Christ’s Church, the confession and absolution and when we commemorate the Body and Blood shed for all in the Consecration. There is ample Lent—the Collect for Purity (first one in the service), the Kyrie Eleison (Lord Have Mercy), and the Prayer of Humble Access—making us a people of open and contrite hearts when approaching the awesome and powerful Sacrament of Holy Communion. Of course, there is Easter—in the prayers for the faithful departed (Prayers for Christ Church), the confession and absolution, and the Consecration (All Glory be to Thee…), all of which come to us by the Resurrection. We invoke the Holy Ghost in the Epiclesis (Greek: “Calling near”) following the Consecration (And we most humbly beseech…) and in the preface for Whitsunday. Finally, we have Trinity—growth time—when we ask the Lord to fill us with His Nature in the Sacraments and continue to grow us in His Grace and blessing in the Consecration and Blessing. Lord, use this service to show us your cycle of grace and growth in our lives—more of you, less of us, as we look forward to your Return in Glory!
CAM Needs
June 25, 2010
CAM is in immediate need of canned soups, boxes of cereal, and men’s jeans. If you feel called to donate any of these items, place them in the donation bin in Ballard Hall. Please keep CAM and our All Saints support ministry in your prayers. God is not out to demonstrate what we can do, but what He can do.
Visit the CAM Web site to see other needs.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.- 2 Corithians 1: 3-4
The Face of Christ
June 24, 2010
Jesus’ Primary Command: Love
June 22, 2010
Orthodox doctrine and right living are vital, but they are not enough. If we are loveless — if the world cannot see our love for one another and for them — then our Christian testimony is distorted and impotent. Love is Jesus’ primary command and at that command we must not fail. The success of the whole Christian enterprise is dependent upon our continuing to love. ~ Dr. Ralph Wilson in Discipleship Lessons from John’s Letters, Epilogue
Liturgy Lesson for the Third Sunday after Trinity: Rubrics
June 20, 2010
In the Book of Common Prayer, there are italic directions, called “rubrics” (reds) because of their original red lettering. They hold the force of canon law, and officiants in any services must comply with them as a means to do things “decently and in order,” as Scripture commands. At the end of the Holy Communion service are general rubrics, intended to govern the administration of the entire service. These instruct the celebrant to refuse the Holy Communion to anyone openly living an evil (unrepentant) life or who have wronged their neighbors by word or deed. It also directs the priest to deny communion to anyone he perceives to have unresolved malice or hatred against their brothers or sisters in Christ. In this, the clergy actually protects those living this kind of life, because they have not repented from sinning and are in danger of partaking in the Lord’s Supper unworthily—that is to say, with unresolved, purposeful sin in their lives—which calls the Lord’s condemnation down on them. This calls the great question, then to us all—have we truly turned from our sins? Are we, as we say in the words of invitation, truly and earnestly repenting from our sins and in love and charity with our neighbors, and intend to lead a new life by following God’s commandments and walking from that point on in His holy ways? If we can answer “yes,” then we can go to the Lord’s Table to receive Communion, allowing the joy of the Lord to quiet our hearts and strengthen us, but if not, we need to do authentic “heart business” with our Heavenly Father, seeking the answer to that question, as the Holy Ghost shows us our hearts! This is the way we have His peace and governance in our world—with a heart broken and ready for His indwelling!
Surest Way to Happiness
June 18, 2010
If anyone would tell you the shortest, surest way to all happiness they would tell you to make it a rule to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you. For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity befalls you, if you can thank and praise God for it you will turn it into a blessing. ~ A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law
John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace
June 15, 2010
John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace by Jonathan Aitken
Available in the All Saints Bookstore
Review by Lillie Ammann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I always thought John Newton had a dramatic shipboard conversion when he was a slave ship captain and changed his life immediately. He did have a dramatic shipboard conversion when he was in a shipwreck in a terrible storm, but he became a slave ship captain after that. His lifestyle change was gradual over years, but he later spent at least five hours a day in prayer. His ministry was incredible, preaching and teaching and writing books and hymns as well as learning from and mentoring other great Christians of the time. He kept detailed diaries, and this book tells his life story from his diaries, letters, and public writings as well as other historical documents. The only thing that disappointed me was that even quoting so much from Newton’s diaries, there wasn’t anything to explain his transition from slave ship owner to abolitionist. Early in his Christian life he didn’t see anything incompatible between Christian faith and the slave trade and late in life, he became an ardent abolitionist. Perhaps it was a gradual evolution, but it isn’t clear how it came about. With the hymn Amazing Grace, his other hymns and books, and his mentoring and support of William Wilberforce (even convincing Wilberforce to remain a politician when he considered entering the ministry), John Newton left a remarkable legacy.
Liturgy Lesson for St. Barnabas, the Apostle: Committed to Prayer
June 13, 2010
Saints’ Days, such as St. Barnabas, honor the first martyrs, those most connected with our Lord in establishing His Church, and in honor of all our faithful departed. We should study their Godly lives—especially their commitment to God’s Kingdom–and ask God to help us follow their examples. Saints’ days date to at least the 2nd century, growing from ancient Christians meeting at martyrs’ graves on their death anniversaries to celebrate and praise God for their heroic lives in our one great Heavenly parokia, or parish—God’s family. St. Barnabas was a Levite—a Jewish priest who became a Christian and one of the 70 evangelists in St. Luke X.1. The most striking thing about him was his commitment to prayer, characterized by a retreat he and St. Paul had at Antioch, where they ministered to the Lord and fasted. Here, the word “ministered” means celebrated the liturgy and the Holy Mysteries of the Eucharist daily. In the midst of this, the Holy Ghost directed the Church to separate (make holy—ordain) Barnabas and Paul for the work He had for them. As a result of focused prayer, then their work began ministry for both men and yielded the Church we know today. The huge lesson, then, is the great mission of the Church Militant stems from the liturgy (people’s work) of prayer and worship—not wishing, planning, scheming, or manipulating. May we, then be people of prayer and liturgy—to a great harvest in God’s vineyard!
