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Celebrating the 50 Days of Eastertide
Dear People of St. John’s,
He Is Risen! Eastertide, Spring, sunshine, flowers blooming, trees blossoming – this time of year gives us such a sense of rebirth, renewal, and yes the ultimate – resurrection. After the months of wintering, the earth is rebounding and so are we!
After the return of the Alleluias at our glorious service of Easter Sunday, we celebrate the 50 days of Easter complete with the Ascension (May 9th) and the Day of Pentecost (May 19th). It is a time filled with Jesus’ post resurrection teachings and rich opportunities for our personal spiritual growth. The first reading each Sunday is from Acts rather than from the Old Testament and each is filled with teaching after teaching designed to enable the disciples, and us, to continue our ministries after Jesus the Christ returns to God at the Ascension. Eastertide provides the perfect environment for us to steep ourselves in Jesus’ teachings and find new ways to deepen our spiritual journey and our personal ministries.
May you be blessed with the fruits of the Spirit during this Eastertide, and may those blessings carry you forward in your spiritual journey always.
Easter Blessings,
Peter+
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Senior Warden
By Dennis Cocking
Happy Easter to you all! As I have mentioned many times, it is such an honor to serve as Sr. Warden at St. John, and as the Vice President of the Galilee Board of Directors. You could search far and wide and not find a more dedicated, cohesive, and generous group of people than those connected to St. John and Galilee. A perfect segway to the topic of my article - the concept of generosity.
As many of you know. Linda Faiss-Amstutz has a long, long history with Galilee and St. John. Her father was instrumental in the physical location and construction of St. John and many improvements to Galilee. She has told me of seeing the model of the church building sitting on their dining room table as a child. She literally has had a lifelong relationship with both Galilee and St. John.
Fast forward to the most recent Finance Committee meeting of the Galilee Board of Directors, as we discussed a long list of necessary expenditures and a shorter list of available funding options. We prioritized as best we could, but some worthy projects or improvements were relegated to the “maybe later” list. But, as we all know, the Lord moves in mysterious ways and in stepped Linda and Jim with a generous gift to Galilee in the amount of $59,547! Unbelievable!
So, as a result of this generous gift the following projects and purchases will move forward at Galilee:
· $30,000 to establish a long needed unexpected expense reserve fund
· $10,000 to the Annual Fund
· $5,000 to the dining hall rehab project
· $4,400 for a storage shed for the Wright House
· $6,000 for a new wood burning insert for Bishop’s House
· Any remaining funds to pathway lighting project
Again, thank you Linda and Jim for your continued support to Galilee and St. John. It is appreciated so deeply.
Faithfully,
Dennis
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2023 Tax Statements
You should have received your 2023 year tax statement from St. John. If you didn't receive yours, or the amount differs from your records, please email us.
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Each week you will receive an email with the link to connect to our virtual worship services, and links to the Bulletin and Lessons. Worship services are held in-person and on Zoom.
Below is the information about the services, as well as the liturgical links.
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God Has a Dream
I have a dream, God says. Please help Me to realize it. It is a dream of a world whose ugliness and squalor and poverty, its war and hostility, its greed and harsh competitiveness, its alienation and disharmony are changed into their glorious counterparts, when there will be more laughter, joy, and peace, where there will be justice and goodness and compassion and love and caring and sharing. I have a dream that swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, that My children will know that they are members of one family, the human family, God’s family, my family.
by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
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Prayer for a New Beginning
In the beginning you beamed light that shines in the darkest hour, Light that no darkness could overcome:
Pierce the soul of this nation with your light, And enlighten everyone with your divine wisdom.
Pierce the soul of this nation with your light,
And blind the demons of violence and hate.
Pierce the soul of this nation with your light,
That our chests draw in hope
And our hands grasp with strength
And our innards gird with all their might
And our hearts pump the lifeblood
Of an unlikely, luminous new beginning being born.
Amen.
The Rev. Anna E. Rossi
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"If it’s not about love, it’s not about God."
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry
From Bishop Curry's 2024 Easter message:
But as Jesus died into the unknown, he did one thing: He threw himself completely into the hands of God. “Father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit.”
And in that moment, after saying that, Luke’s Gospel says, he breathed his last. And though he died, death did not have the last word, though he did die. He died into the hands of God and slipped out of the grip of death.
And as we now know, on the third day he rose again, and he lives. As William Cowper said in a poem that later became a hymn, “God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform, he plants his footstep in the sea and rides upon the storm.”
So God love you. God bless you. May the God who rides upon our storms and raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead hold us all, the entire human family and all of God’s grand and glorious creation in those almighty hands of love. Have a blessed Holy Week and Easter.
Amen.
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An Agent of Grace
Let me be an agent of grace, a medium through which passes your love. Please Spirit, use me as an instrument of your peace. Let me rise above my own desires, free from any intention but kindness, so that I may be a channel of compassion, a blessing to as many as I may meet. Take away my illusions, place me on the ground of need, and let me be an agent of your grace.
Amen.
Bishop Steven Charleston
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Please Continue to Pray for the People of Israel and Palestine
God of peace, we pray for the people of Palestine and Israel in these perilous and dangerous times. For all who are fearful for the safety of their loved ones and themselves, we pray that the assurance of unfailing love, even in the midst of danger, settles upon them.
Amen.
Lord, we worship you.
In the midst of the storm, we raise our eyes to you. Please speak peace into the crisis in Israel and Gaza.
We raise all the innocent children that have been affected by this crisis to you, Lord. protect them, heal them, and provide for them and their families.
Lord, we pray for the hostages. Please bring them home safely. Let your peace wash over their families as they await news of their loved ones.
Lord please provide food, clean water, medical supplies and necessities for all those affected by the conflict. In the midst of the storm, you are our hope.
We pray for families who have lost loved ones. Lord, let those who grieve and suffer today feel the comfort of your embrace.
Lord, we lift up Israel and Gaza to you. Please speak into this crisis. Give world leaders wisdom as they handle this situation. Guide our hearts and minds as we pray. Open our eyes to all those who grieve in our world, and help us to comfort them.
Lord we come to you with open hands and hearts, trusting that you will do more than anything we can ask for or imagine. Thank you for hearing our prayer.
Amen.
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Bible Study and the Parables
Bible study is held on Wednesdays,from 4 PM to no later than 5:30. We are studying the parables. They can often be confusing, so we we're tackling them together. As always, participation is welcomed, but not required. Just listening is OK.
Come study with us.
Dennis Cocking, Sr. Warden
"Where two or three are gathered in my name, I will be among them." Matthew 18:20.
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Book Club Discussion Coming Soon!
The St John’s Book Club, “Read 'em and Reap “ will be discussing the New York Times best seller, The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel on April 25, at 5:30 over Zoom.
Is there credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God? Former atheist and Chicago Tribune journalist Lee Strobel takes an investigative look at the evidence from the fields of science, philosophy, and history. He cross-examines a dozen experts, asking hard-hitting questions - and building a captivating case for Christ's divinity.
Strobel asks challenging questions like:
- How reliable is the New Testament?
- Does evidence for Jesus exist outside the Bible?
- Is Jesus who he said he was?
- Is there any reason to believe the resurrection was an actual event?
Winner of the Gold Medallion Book Award and twice nominated for the Christian Book of the Year Award, Strobel's tough, point-blank questions read like a captivating, fast-paced novel. But it's not fiction. It's a riveting quest for the truth about history's most compelling figure.
Please join us on Zoom, on Thursday, April 25 from 5:30 - 6:30 PM. Everyone is welcome, if you've read the book or not. Please contact Kathy or Wendy for the Zoom link.
Wendy Vane and Kathy Cocking, Co-Chairs
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With your help, St. John's can continue to make a difference in our community. | |
Help us better communicate with one another! We publish our e-Newsletter – The Window – once a month. Please send your submissions – favorite hymns, inspirational messages here. Deadline is the 25th of each month. | |
St. John’s Episcopal Church is a family called by Christ to grow spiritually, to share our lives with visitors, and to make known God’s love through word and deed. Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, you are welcome at St. John’s. | | |
St. John in the Wilderness
1776 US Highway 50
Glenbrook, Nevada 89413
775-586-2535
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