| a weekly e-newsletter from Saint Martin's Church |
February 22, 2018
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This Week
at
St. Martin's
Rite I Quiet Worship
8:00 a.m.
Choir Rehearsal
9:00 a.m.
Sunday School
9:30 a.m.
Rite II Worship with Music
10:00 a.m.
Holy Eucharist
12:15 p.m.
Lenten Evening Worship in Bolingbroke
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Greeting
How heavy do I journey on the way,
When what I seek, my weary travel's end,
Doth teach that case and that repose to say,
"Thus far the miles are measured from thy friend!"
~ Excerpt Sonnet 50, William Shakespeare
At St. Martin's we are focusing this Lenten season, and in our whole church year, on pilgrimage - specifically a journey externally, internally, and collectively to a holy place. Something we rarely talk about is what we leave behind when we move to a new place. What in us, or in our lives, must die in order for something new to be born? Shakespeare's extraordinary sonnets work on many levels. As I was re-reading them in a book recently given to me by a friend, these words in #50 jumped out at me. A traveler measuring distance not by how far he must go but by how far he is moving away from his friend. I wonder what it was like for Jesus to set out for Jerusalem, knowing he'd never see many of his friends and family in Galilee again. Never eat that home cooked meal he loved, or see the sun go down over a certain bluff. Every good and beautiful thing we wish to attain requires some kind of sacrifice, large or small. As we journey toward Jerusalem, what is the new life you hope to find there, and what must die for a new beginning to take root?
Peace & blessings,
Chris+
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Lenten Outreach Soup Cook
 What a wonderful group soup cook we had last Saturday! We chopped, measured, stirred and most importantly laughed as we enjoyed a day of fellowship while knowing how much joy we were bringing to others. We made 44 quarts of chicken noodle, beef barley, minestrone and tomato rice soups some of which were delivered to the Great Valley Food Cupboard and some were frozen for future deliveries. Thank you to our cooks - Robin Cummings, Pam Faber, Gale Muir, Lara, Josh & Brynn Penny, Bev Reinhardt and Abby Thomas. Thanks also to Helen Myers who made soup at home which was also delivered to the food cupboard.
We still need your help with this ministry though. Please sign up to make soup at home over the next several weeks. Cook during the week and deliver to the church on Sunday, and we will deliver it to the food cupboard. Sign-up sheet is in The Gurley Room and containers and instructions are in the foyer outside of the church office. If you aren't inclined to cook soup, please consider making a financial donation. If you have any questions contact Pam Faber.
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Over the next six weeks our Sunday School classes will focus on Lent. This is a time to reflect on Christ's teaching as well as prepare for Holy Week and Easter. The forty days of Lent are a journey extending from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday (but omit the seven Sundays.) The children and youth will continue to interpret New Testament bible stories, assist with outreach, and learn more about the Last Supper. Classes will begin each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and the nursery will continue to be open weekly. Adults are welcome to join the children on this Lenten path. Contact Ms. Deb (
[email protected]) if you would like to participate.
The nursery will be open this Sunday starting at 9:30 a.m.
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 Washington National Cathedral posts daily meditations called "Food for the Journey" and offers a new reflection each morning. One recent post from one of their clergy begins by saying,
"There are many reasons why I love the season of Lent. It is a time set apart that forces us to consider our failures, shortcomings and all that separates us from God and then do something about it! For me, it is also a time to give up myself. Just like some forbidden substance or activity, I consider these six weeks a reprieve from me and all my boorish issues. I get so tired of myself. "Dana" needs to go the wayside just like online shopping and wasted time skulking on Facebook. What about you? Wouldn't you like a reprieve from all the negativity, self-doubt and harmful thoughts that corrode your brain and heart?"
Consider this question, read more, and find your own spiritual nourishment by visiting their Website (https://cathedral.org/lenten-meditations/). Peace in this Lenten season.
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Does Mother Nature know there's one more month of winter?
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 Do you want to be an advocate for those living with addiction? Learn and be inspired in a day of breakout sessions and panel discussions with keynote speaker Susan Ford Bales.
Saturday, March 3, 2018
9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Cost: $20
(includes lunch)
All Saints', Torresdale
9601 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19114
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Upcoming Events
Lenten Evening Worship
Wednesday, February 28th, 6 p.m. in Bolingbroke
(see full schedule above)
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Read and Ponder
this Week's Scriptures
The scripture readings for this Sunday are:
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Psalm 22:22-30
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8:31-38
The Collect
O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Old Testament
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous." Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."
The Response
Psalm 22:22-30
Psalm 22:22-30
22 Praise the Lord, you that fear him; stand in awe of him, O offspring of Israel; all you of Jacob's line, give glory.
23 For he does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty; neither does he hide his face from them; but when they cry to him he hears them.
24 My praise is of him in the great assembly; I will perform my vows in the presence of those who worship him.
25 The poor shall eat and be satisfied, and those who seek the Lord shall praise him: "May your heart live for ever!"
26 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall bow before him.
27 For kingship belongs to the Lord; he rules over the nations.
28 To him alone all who sleep in the earth bow down in worship; all who go down to the dust fall before him.
29 My soul shall live for him; my descendants shall serve him; they shall be known as the Lord's for ever.
30 They shall come and make known to a people yet unborn the saving deeds that he has done.
The Epistle
Romans 4:13-25
For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") -in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," according to what was said, "So numerous shall your descendants be." He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith "was reckoned to him as righteousness." Now the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
The Gospel
Mark 8:31-38
Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
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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