The Mouse for June 20, 2021
"Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
— Mark 4:41
Proper 7
Sermon: "Creation's Storms"

We face many storms in life, not just physical, but emotional ones too. We've just lived through a storm unlike any in living memory. As we saw during the past 15 months, the Christian gets no special pass. We have to face things, just like everyone else.

The difference is that Christians know where these storms come from. We live in a created world, which means everything in it is either Creator or creature.

That's not an easy lesson to learn, as the disciples discovered in this week's reading from Mark. "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" An age-old question, indeed. Does God not care — or worse, not even know — when His creation suffers?

Come hear (or live stream) this Sunday's sermon as I try to unpack this lesson and explain why God can never lose contact with His creation.

Sunday, June 20, 2021

Holy Communion, 8 a.m.
Morning Prayer, 9:30 a.m.
Father's Day BBQ and Hymn Sing
Church Lawn, 11-1 p.m.

You can also live-stream the 9:30 service by clicking here.

Please note: the front door is out of service.
Please enter and exit through the sacristy.

Congregational singing will resume on July 4.
All other restrictions have been lifted.
Catechism Corner

The Vicar continues his weekly exposition of the Catechism, found in the Book of Common Prayer, pp. 845-862.

The Ten Commandments, pp. 847-848.

Q. What do we learn from these commandments?
A. We learn two things: our duty to God, and our duty to our neighbors.

The "shape" of the Ten Commandments is the cross. On the vertical is written our duty to God. On the horizontal is written our duty to each other and, more broadly, to all creation.

God's law is all-encompassing: on one tablet, the Creator, on the other, His creation. A single covenanted life binds Creator and created together, inseparably.

—JWD.
Flowers at St. Peter's

The floral guild is always grateful for donations. If you are interested in dedicating flowers in memoriam or for a special occasion, such as a birthday or anniversary, please send an email to stpeterschurch@optonline.net with the date and the name(s) to whom you would like to dedicate the arrangements.

You can either send a check to St. Peter’s (PO Box 1502, Millbrook, NY 12545) or put the check in the weekly offering with "flowers" on the memo line. You may also add a dedication in the bulletin or leave it anonymous.

Remember - no clothing donations to St. Peter's at this time!
History Highlight

Highlights from Henry Chadwick's The Early Church (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1967), selected by the Vicar. Chadwick was the sometime Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge.

THE JEWISH BACKGROUND OF THE CHURCH (CON'T.)

"Judaism was the religion of the a book in a way that no other ancient religion was. The reconstruction of Israelite society after the catastrophe of the Babylonian deportation had been firmly based on the Law of Moses. There were no more prophets to proclaim the immediate word of God. God's revelation to his people was in writing, and needed to be interpreted by learned scribes and 'lawyers', so that the original documents were supplemented by exegetical tradition in the rabbinical schools. (The status of this tradition became a matter of sharp controversy between the church and the synagogue in the first century.)" (p. 11).
Collect for Proper 7

O Lord, we beseech thee, make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name, for thou never failest to help and govern those whom thou hast set upon the sure foundation of thy loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Text or call the Vicar at (845) 745-8160 for prayer or a pastoral visit.

The Vicar's email address is: jwdell2@pm.me.
To remember St. Peter's in your estate plans, please consider joining The Lithgow Society. To find out more, click here.
Questions about the parish? Please email:
stpeterschurch@optonline.net

The Mouse is compiled and edited each week by the Vicar. He asks that submissions to The Mouse be made by the Wednesday prior to Friday's edition. Please send submissions to jwdell2@pm.me. Thank you.