We Are Never More Godlike Than When We Give
Someone once said,
“We Are Never More Godlike Than When We Give”
and that is true. God is a giver in fact, the biggest giver there is or has ever been. At Christmastime, we celebrate God’s greatest gift –
JESUS!
Throughout Scripture, we see example after example of God as a giver. He gives
“strength”
(Psalm 29:11), He gives
“the desires of your heart”
(Psalm 37:4), He gives
“grace and glory”
(Psalm 84:11), He gives
“what is good”
(Psalm 85:12), He gives
“perseverance”
and “
encouragement”
(Romans 15:5), He gives
“life to all things”
(1 Timothy 6:13) and He gives us
“the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”
(1 Corinthians 15:57).
God does this and much more because of who He is. God is a giver. He takes pleasure in giving. He is never stingy. When he gives, he overwhelms the recipient. There is no limit to God’s ability to give or his desire to give. God's nature is giving and he always does it generously and without holding anything back.
And as his children, we need to follow the example of our father!
During this Advent Season, let's open our hearts and be more like Christ in His giving.
For more information on how to give to the Church of Bethesda by the Sea,
click here or call me at (561) 655-4554 ext 110
Turia Roebuck-Hayden
Outreach and Development Coordinator
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9
8:00, 9:00, & 11:00 a.m.
Preacher:
The Rector
*8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
8:15 a.m. Fellowship Breakfast, Parish Hall West
*9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
9:50 a.m. Adult Forum, Parish Hall East
10:00 a.m. Fellowship Finger Food, Parish Hall West
10:00 a.m. 3 & 4 Year Old Sunday School, Sunday School Hall
10:00 a.m. K - 2nd Grade Sunday School, Sunday School Hall
10:00 a.m. 3rd - 5th Grade Sunday School, Sunday School Hall
10:00 a.m. 6th & 7th Grade Pre-Confirmation Class, Library
10:00 a.m. 8th Grade Confirmation Group, ECW Room
10:00 a.m. 9th - 12th Grade Pilgrimage Group, Youth Room
*#11:00 a.m. Morning Prayer and Holy Eucharist
12:15 p.m. Church Tour
Fellowship Breakfast | 8:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. | Parish Hall West
We serve a full hot meal cooked on site, with a rotating menu, for $5 per person. After 10:00 a.m., a simpler fare, fellowship finger foods, will be provided until 1:00 p.m. with no cost to our parishioners.
This week's menu: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and gravy, biscuits.
Adult Forum: Sacred Space for Civil Discourse | 9:50 a.m | Parish Hall East
Developed by the The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations, the Civil Discourse Curriculum was created as a resource to help Episcopalians understand and practice civil discourse, particularly as it relates to discussion about politics, policy, and legislation, and why it is so important to living out our Gospel call and solving the problems facing our communities, country, and the world. Join us for this fifth in a five-part series as we learn how to engage our sisters, brothers, and the general world in civil discourse in an age when such an act seems so difficult.
Church Tour | Today, December 9 | 12:15 p.m. | Chancel
The Church Tour begins in the Chancel (front of the church), immediately following the 11:00 a.m. service
PARKING: Persons attending Sunday services will be allowed to park on ALL of Barton Avenue and the south side of Pendleton Avenue without receiving a ticket from
7:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
* nursery care for infants through age 2 is available from 7:45 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Click here
to view the service leaflet for this Sunday.
Click here
to view this week's Bethesda Happenings.
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Angel Tree
–
Help Share Christmas Joy With Those In Need
Since God created us with hearts to help those in need, will you give something to make a child’s Christmas brighter?
This Advent season we are gathering gifts for children of the Boys & Girls Clubs. If you would still like to make a donation we ask that you bring in a gift card. Gifts should not exceed $25 in value. Please remember to
return your gift to the Narthex (gift-wrapped and with the angel tag attached) on Sunday, December 16
, so we can deliver the gifts by Christmas Day. On behalf of these children, thank you!
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Celtic Pilgrimage
May 3 to May 15, 2019
Following in Celtic Footsteps – A Pilgrimage for The Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea. Led by The Rev. James Harlan & The Right Rev. John Pritchard.
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Adult Confirmation and Holy Eucharist with Bishop Eaton
Wednesday, December 12 |
6:30 p.m. | Church
The Right Reverend Peter Eaton will preside at this special service, confirming and receiving several of our adults and a blessing of the vessels. Vessels being blessed were given by members of the Altar Guild in honor of Peg Ekberg and in memory of Jane Caruso. A reception in the Garth will follow the service. Please plan on joining us for this very special occasion.
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2018-2019 ADVENT & CHRISTMAS SERVICES
Click here
to view, download, and print our entire schedule.
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Cast & Crew Call
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The Boar’s Head & Yule Log Festival
(January 5 and 6)
The Boar’s Head is one of the oldest continuing festivals of the Christmas season, and is a long-running tradition at Bethesda-by-the-Sea. Entire families can participate in a variety of roles for all ages. If not in the cast, you’re needed as a support member of the crew. Learn more and sign up today at the Boar’s Head table in the Cloister.
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Evangelism for Episcopalians--Surely You Jest!
Actually, it is possible, and Canon to the Presiding Bishop Stephanie Spellers is going to show us how.
Saturday, December 15, 2018
9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Bethesda hosts the Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's very own Canon for Evangelism and Reconciliation.
Join us as we seek, name, and celebrate Jesus' loving presence in the stories of all people and learn how to articulate the power of faith in our own lives to tell our own stories. Lunch will be provided. Donations are accepted.
To find out more and to register for this event,
click here
.
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Christmas Concert and Community Carol Sing
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
7:30 p.m.
Ring in the upcoming Christmas season with one of our area’s most popular annual concerts! The Bethesda Choir performs with some of South Florida’s finest instrumentalists, and the audience sings many favorite Christmas carols with the festive sounds of orchestra accompaniment. $20 requested donation at the door. No tickets available in advance.
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Homebound Luncheon Volunteer Opportunities
Friday, December 28
11:00 a.m
.
We need volunteers to help with all aspects of this event with registration, helping guests as they arrive for lunch, serving the meal, sitting and dining with the guests and assisting them over to the Church for worship, and clean-up after the event. If you are interested in helping in any way, please contact April Lawrence at (561) 655-4555 x112 or e-mail:
Click here
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Christmas Memorial Flowers
We invite you to make a contribution in memory of, or in honor of, your loved ones during this Christmas season. Your gift provides for the special flowers and altar adornments during this season and throughout the year.
Your loved ones’ names will be printed in the Christmas service leaflets as long as they are received by Friday, December 14. A minimum $35 contribution is suggested per name.
click here.
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- Middle Way Returns: Wednesday, January 16 -
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We pray for...
Angel, Angela, Ann, Anne, Barbara, Caroline, Chill Family, Chris, Christian, Connor, Consuelo, Donna, Dorothy, Edna, Elizabeth, Ellen, Emily, Ernest, Ernesto, Evan, Gary, Georgie, Holly, Jack, Janice, Jeff, John, Kaleb, Kelly, Kelley, Lewis Family, Lucy, Lynn, Marcia, Mary, Mary Ann, Matthew, Michael, Nancy, Nikki, Pat, Paul, Peggy, Penny, Phyllis, Reysean, Ricky, Robbie, Robert, Robin, Sally, Sandra, Sara, Sean, Sharon, Stephen, Stern Family, Susan, Sylvia, Tamara, Taryn, Thomas, Tina, Tristan, Virginia, Ward,
and those serving our country..
.Alex, Benjamin, Clara, Eric, Harold, Herbert, John, Lorne, Luster Michael, and Tommy.
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This Sunday's Readings in Context
Parishioner Tom O'Brien, a Canon and Examining Chaplain for Scripture of this diocese, writes brief background descriptions of the Sunday readings. We thank Tom for sharing his learning and love of Scripture with us in this way.
Below is Scripture discusses two books that are not often read. The Book of Baruch purports to be written by Jeremiah's secretary, Baruch, during the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE) but in fact was written four centuries later. The Book of Malachi (whose name means "My Messenger") is the last of the "Minor" Prophets and anticipates the "Day of the Lord."
In some denominations, two different readings from the Hebrew Bible are available, and one is chosen to be read.
Baruch 5:1-9
The Book of Baruch is not part of the “Canon” (accepted books) of the Hebrew Bible. It is, however, included as part of the Hebrew Scriptures in Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church Bibles as part of a “second” Canon. In Protestant Bibles, Baruch is not included in the Hebrew Scriptures but is part of a section called the Apocrypha (“hidden books”).
This difference in treatment arose because from 300 to 200 BCE, the existing Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek (the common language of the time). Compilations of these translations are called the “Septuagint.” Baruch was included in most versions of the Septuagint, but it (among other writings) was not included in the Canon of the Hebrew Bible (the “TaNaK”) when the TaNaK was codified in the period from 90 CE to 110 CE by the Pharisees/Rabbis after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.
When Jerome completed translating the Bible into Latin (the “Vulgate”) in 405 CE, he included Baruch and other books that were part of the Septuagint in the Vulgate. Jerome wrote prefaces to some books noting that they were not in the Jewish Canon of the Hebrew Bible. Later compilers of the books in Bibles overlooked Jerome’s prefaces, and the Roman Catholic Canon of the Old Testament was not settled until the Council of Trent decreed in 1546 that the Canon includes all the books in the Septuagint that were included by Jerome in the Vulgate.
Luther and other Protestants, however, followed the Jewish Canon of the Hebrew Bible and put other books from the Septuagint (such as Baruch) in a separate section called the Apocrypha.
The Book of Baruch purports to be written by Baruch, Jeremiah’s secretary, during the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE) after Jeremiah’s death in Egypt in 586 BCE.
Based on the book’s allusions to writings in the Books of Sirach and Daniel, scholars conclude Baruch was actually written between 160 and 60 BCE. The author of Baruch copied and paraphrased numerous Biblical passages and combined them as a way of interpreting them.
Today’s verses are the concluding verses of Baruch. Verses 6, 7 and 8 paraphrased parts of Isaiah written during the Exile (Is. 40 to 55).
Malachi 3:1-4
The Book of Malachi is the last book of the 12 “Minor” Prophets – so called because these books are much shorter than the three “Major” Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel). His name literally means “my messenger” and the book appears to have been written in the 5
th
Century BCE, after the Second Temple was built around 505 BCE.
Malachi asserted that the “Day of the Lord” was coming soon, and the “messenger” of the Day of the Lord was identified as Elijah (4:5). In most prophetic books, the Day of the Lord was presented as a time of wrath, darkness, fear and trembling.
In today’s reading, Malachi described YHWH’s messenger as one who is like “refiner’s fire and fuller’s soap.” (Fuller’s soap is a harsh clay/soap used to whiten clothes or remove impurities from wool.) After the refining and cleansing, the offerings of Judah/Jerusalem will be pleasing to YHWH.
Philippians 1:3-11
Philippi was a major city in Macedonia on the Roman road to Byzantium (Istanbul). Paul wrote this letter from prison. For this reason, many think the letter was written from Rome around 62 CE. Other scholars note that Paul was also imprisoned earlier in Ephesus and made a number of trips to Philippi from Ephesus.
Paul had a deep affection for the Jesus Followers in Philippi, and thanked them for gifts sent to him in prison (4:18). In today’s reading, Paul referred to the “day of Jesus Christ” (1:6) and the “day of Christ” (1:10).
Many of the Messianic changes that many Jews (including Paul) expected (unification of the 12 Tribes; ouster of the Romans; peace and justice) had not fully occurred when Jesus was on earth. For this reason, Paul awaited a “Second Coming” of the Christ (Greek for “Messiah”) which Paul believed would occur soon. Accordingly, he hoped the Philippians to whom he was writing would be pure and blameless on that day.
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