| a weekly e-newsletter from Saint Martin's Church |
December 21, 2017
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This Week
at
St. Martin's
Greening of the Church
3:30 p.m.
Rite I
Quiet Worship
8 a.m.
Choir & Pageant Preparations
9:00 a.m.
Rite II Pageant
& Worship
with music
10 a.m.
Rite II Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist
5 p.m.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Rite II Worship with music
10 a.m.
Wednesday
The mid-day Eucharist service and evening Bible Study are postponed until 2018.
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Greeting
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
~ Mark 1:9
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
~ Matthew 1:18
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.
~ Luke 1:26-27
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
~ John 1:1
The 4 Evangelists describe the origins of Jesus in 4 different ways. Like 4 different facets of a single jewel they each provide a distinct but connected view of how the Messiah came into to the world. None is more "true" or "right" than the others. If your relatives and close family friends were to describe how you came into the world, there would be different stories with different details depending on your family's relationship to them and their vantage point. What all of our birth stories share with Jesus's is the goodness of the holy mysteries that always accompany them. In this season we rightly celebrate and reverence the Christ coming among us. Let's also recall that the very purpose behind the birth of this holy child is God's unfathomable love and yearning for every single one of ours: all precious, all blessed, all beloved. Every one.
Peace & blessings,
Chris+
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Christmas Decorating
TOMORROW!
 Church decorating will take place tomorrow, Friday, December 22nd at 3:30 p.m. Come deck the church with greens and garland. It will be a festive time for everyone!
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Christmas Pageant
THIS SUNDAY!
St. Martin's Annual Christmas Pageant will be this Sunday, December 24th during the 10 a.m. service. Although there won't be any nursery care, family members of all ages are invited to enjoy the pageant and even participate in this special reinactment. Costumes will be provided for any visitors that would like to participate. Preparations will start at 9am with costuming and music rehearsal. Afterward, please stay and join in fellowship for our coffee hour. It's sure to be a joyous occasion!
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Outreach in Advent
Thank you to all who donated to our ECS gift card collection and our Christmas Dinner Drive for St. Barnabas. We delivered 20 $25 gift cards to Episcopal Community Services and 18 turkeys, 3 hams, 2 cases of vegetables and 22 bags of "sides" to St. Barnabas. Special thanks to Myrtie Musetti and Sarah & Don Rittenhouse for coordinating these programs and making the deliveries. We helped make Christmas very special for many people.
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Pledge Cards
Thank you to all who have returned their pledge cards for 2018. If you have not yet done so, please give prayerful consideration to making a pledge and return your card as soon as possible. If necessary, you can visit St. Martin's Stewardship webpage to download a copy of the
2018 pledge card.
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Hurricane Relief - $1 Challenge
This is the last week for our $1.00/week challenge to raise funds for victims of all the various hurricanes. So far this challenge has raised $427.50 which leaves us $72.50 short of our $500 goal. Can we do it? Yes, we can, and I hope we will try.
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Dear fellow pilgrims,
We have almost reached our destination on this Advent journey with Mary and Joseph on the road to Bethlehem. Together we watch and wait for the coming of Christ. Today, December 21st, is the darkest day of the year though we know Christ's light will shine brightly in just a few days. Light and peace, these are the focus for Advent IV. Yet in the midst of the predictable course set for Advent--there can be unexpectedly new twists and turns.
Imagine my surprise last Tuesday when I went "off course" and ended up at a Salvation Army facility in Pottstown, PA. On Monday I learned the "Toys for Tots" collections were concluded last Saturday so the gifts St. Nicholas collected could not go to the intended destination (because of the St. Martin's snow delay.) That is when a call to the Salvation Army took me in an entirely new direction. They had a last minute influx of families new to the area with no money for gifts, and the waiting list included children of all ages. I headed up Route 422 and found the building easily. The warm welcome when I arrived gave me the feeling that the Spirit was at work. I was right where I was meant to be...even if I had not realized it until that moment. After a few minutes and a "God bless you" from the volunteers preparing to distribute toys, I was back on the road. All I could pray was "thank you."
Thank you for these dedicated workers, cheerfully assisting others to have a special Christmas. My drive time was full of more thanks. Thanks to the children, youth, and adults who participated in the pageant dress rehearsal last Sunday. My appreciation extends to the choir and the parishioners who will provide treats for a festive coffee hour after the 10am service this Sunday, when our youngest members present the pageant. Thanks to Maggie, Sherrill, the Altar Guild and others who work behind the scenes to make Advent IV and Christmas Eve special experiences. But most of all I offer a prayer of thanks for Jesus Christ. I close with a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, for the Nativity of Our Lord:
O God, you have caused this holy night to shine with the
brightness of the true Light: Grant that we, who have known
the mystery of that Light on earth, may also enjoy him
perfectly in heaven; where with you and the Holy Spirit he
lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
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Offering envelopes for next year will be available for pick-up in the Gurley Room beginning Sunday, December 24th. If envelopes were inadvertently not assigned to you, please contact the church office.
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Upcoming Events
Greening of the Church
THIS Friday, 12/22, 3:30 p.m.
Christmas Pageant
THIS Sunday, 12/24, 10 a.m. - No Nursery care.
Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist
THIS Sunday, 12/24
5:00 p.m. at St. Martin's Church
9:00 p.m. at Christ Church, Ithan
Christmas Day Holy Eucharist
Monday, 12/25, 10 a.m. - No Nursery care.
Lessons & Carols
Sunday, 12/31, 10 a.m. - No Sunday School. Nursery is open.
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Read and Ponder
this Week's Scriptures
The scripture readings for this Sunday are:
The Collect
Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Old Testament
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
When the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, "See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent." Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you." But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.
The Response
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
The Epistle
Romans 16:25-27
Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith-- to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.
The Gospel
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
Optional parts of the readings are set off in square brackets.
The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
The Collects, Psalms and Canticles are from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.
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 Participate in The Cloak
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Contribute to The Cloak.
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| Saint Martin's Episcopal Church of Radnor
400 King of Prussia Road
Radnor, PA 19087 (610) 688-4830 |
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