| a weekly e-newsletter from Saint Martin's Church |
January 4, 2018
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This Week
at
St. Martin's
Rite I
Quiet Worship
8 a.m.
Parish Breakfast in Bolingbroke
8:30 a.m.
Choir Rehearsal
9:00 a.m.
Sunday School in Bolingbroke
9:30 a.m.
Rite II Worship with music
10 a.m.
Confirmation Gathering
4:30 p.m.
Holy Eucharist service
12:15 p.m.
Bible Study
7 p.m.
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Greeting
"Love sought is good, but giv'n unsought is better."
~ William Shakespeare, "Twelfth Night", (or "What You Will")
It is generally believed that Shakespeare wrote his comedy "Twelfth Night" as a "twelfth night's" entertainment to close out the 12 days of Christmastide in England in 1602. The play is an uproarious romance of mistaken identities involving shipwrecked twins, infatuated and confused aristocrats, servants and fools, all longing for love of one kind or another. An apt allegory for the whole tragi-comic yearning after love, relationship, meaning, beauty and belonging that underlie such human endeavors as religion, art and drama. Given his extraordinarily varied and complex literary corpus, Shakespeare's spiritual leanings are not entirely clear. But the words above, uttered to the disguised Viola by the besotted Countess Olivia, sound a lot like grace to me!
Peace & blessings,
Chris+
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THIS SUNDAY!
Save up your appetite for the first Parish Breakfast of 2018! Food will be served starting at 8:30 a.m. in Bolingbroke. Enjoy some great food and fun fellowship!
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This Sunday, 1/7, children and youth are invited to attend Sunday School starting at 9:30 in Bolingbroke in conjunction with the Parish Breakfast. Our lesson will be on the Magi visiting the baby Jesus. Children will have a chance to share what they would bring to the baby if he were born today. This is a joyful way to begin the new year and we look forward to seeing your family on Sunday. The nursery nursery will be open at 10am in the small Sunday School room.
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Was one of your New Year's resolutions to become more spiritually centered? Perhaps you'd like to develop, renew, or strengthen your relationship with Jesus, the church, and others in a special way. You're invited to St. Martin's new Bible Study sessions starting on Wednesday, January 10th at 7 p.m. in the large Sunday School room. The evenings will offer an enlightening approach to Bible Study that's being conducted in other Diocesan churches.
Visit https://approachingthegospelstogether.com for more information.
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The Confirmation Gathering scheduled for this Sunday, 1/7 at 4:30 p.m. will cover
Chapter 6 in My Faith, My Life (Sacraments: Signs of Grace).
OTHER DATES TO NOTE:
January 20: Confirmation Rehearsal at 10 a.m. - This rehearsal is for the three Confirmation youth and their sponsors, upstairs in the church. Fr. Chris and Ms. Deb will lead this special meeting, in preparation for the visit from the bishop.
January 21: Confirmation - All youth are asked to arrive at 8:45 a.m. Sponsors and parents are invited to meet the bishop with the Confirmands, and others in the congregation, at 9:15 a.m. See the schedule below for more details of the Bishop's visit.
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The Bishop Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez will visit St. Martin's Church on Sunday, January 21st, 2018. He will preside over one combined service at 10 a.m. for the Confirmation of Julia Nigro, Josh Penny, and Elizabeth Pettit.
Please save the date and plan on attending this special occasion!
SCHEDULE
9:00 - Arrival
9:15-9:50 - Q&A with the Bishop
10:00 - Confirmation Service
11:15 - Congregational Coffee Hour
12:00 - Bishop's Reception with the Vestry
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Please pick up your 2018 Offering envelopes available in the Gurley Room. If envelopes were inadvertently not assigned to you, please contact the church office.
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 The Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Sunday, January 28th, following the 10 a.m. service. Please plan on attending to hear church news - the year in review and projections for 2018. It's also a great time to have your voice heard, so bring your comments, questions, and suggestions! Voting will take place for any nominees submitted for the Vestry vacancy. Coffee hour goodies will be available.
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 In This Holy Season
Lord, in this holy season of prayer and song and laughter, we praise you for the great wonders you have sent us: for shining star and angel's song, for infant's cry in lowly manger. We praise you for the Word made flesh in a little Child. We behold his glory, and are bathed in its radiance.
Be with us as we sing the ironies of Christmas, the incomprehensible comprehended, the poetry made hard fact, the helpless Babe who cracks the world asunder. We kneel before you shepherds, innkeepers, wise men. Help us to rise bigger than we are. Amen.
https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/
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Upcoming Events
Parish Breakfast
Sunday, 1/7, 8:30 a.m. in Bolingbroke
Confirmation Gathering
Sunday, 1/7, 4:30 p.m. - Chapter 6
New Bible Study
Approaching the Gospels Together
Wednesday, 1/10, 7 p.m.
Bishop's Visit & Confirmation
Sunday, 1/21, starting at 9:15 a.m.
(only one service for the day - see details above for the full schedule)
Vestry Meeting
Sunday, 1/21, 1 p.m.
Annual Meeting
Sunday, 1/28, 11:15 a.m.
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Read and Ponder
this Week's Scriptures
The scripture readings for this Sunday are:
Genesis 1:1-5
Psalm 29
Acts 19:1-7
Mark 1:4-11
The Collect
Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
The Old Testament
Genesis 1:1-5
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
The Response
Psalm 29
1 Ascribe to the Lord, you gods, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his Name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice; the voice of the Lord is a voice of splendor.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon;
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire; the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
8 The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests bare.
9 And in the temple of the Lord all are crying, "Glory!"
10 The Lord sits enthroned above the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as King for evermore.
11 The Lord shall give strength to his people; the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.
The Epistle
Acts 19:1-7
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." Then he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They answered, "Into John's baptism." Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied- altogether there were about twelve of them.
The Gospel
Mark 1:4-11
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
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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| Saint Martin's Episcopal Church of Radnor
400 King of Prussia Road
Radnor, PA 19087 (610) 688-4830 |
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