Rev Jim Craig Preaching this Sunday, July 2

Dear People of Messiah Church:

In the photo above, The Rev George and Annie Welles are celebrating their 60th Wedding Anniversary at coffee hour after church on June 15. Third from the left, the Rev Jim Craig is enjoying the party. Messiah is blessed with the presence of two capable retired priests who are available to assist with worship and other pastoral duties with us. Both men are retired from Massachusetts, which was also my sponsoring diocese back in 1985! Fr Jim is preaching and leading worship this Sunday, July 2 at 10am. Jim has written a message for you to prepare for worship this Sunday. Please join Messiah in Worship!

Vicar John

The Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

This Sunday we continue to hear the Lessons from Genesis, Romans and from the tenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. I have a tendency to focus most of my sermons on the Gospel lesson and this week will be no different. However, we really can’t look past the lesson from Genesis. It starts off by saying, “After these things God tested Abraham.” The chapter goes on to tell how God instructed Abraham to take his only son, Isaac to the land of Moriah and offer him up as a burnt offering. Abraham then went off with his unexpecting son to place God instructed him to go.

It goes on to tell us the Abraham built an altar and prepared the wood and then bound Isaac and placed him on it. Just as Abraham raised his knife to sacrifice his son, God intervened and stopped Abraham from harming the boy.

Abraham is remembered and honored for his unwavering faith, but what I see in this story is his absolute trust in God. When questioned by Isaac as to where the lamb was that was going to be sacrificed, Abraham responded by telling the young boy that, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”

Whenever I read this chapter of Genesis and other accounts of faith and trust in God that fill the pages of Scripture, I always ask myself, “How does your faith and trust in God measure up?” It can be quite sobering to say the least, but I believe that is the goal I strive for everyday. To go to bed each night with a little more faith than I woke up with is my goal and my joy.

I hope you will join me for worship this Sunday, July 2, at 10am, in person or through our live feed on Facebook!

Fr. Jim

Parish Visioning Retreat July 14 & 15

Join Us 10-4 Friday, 10-5 Saturday, 6pm Parish Dinner

Your Vestry, as well as the Site Selection Team, have been hard at work lately to implement a process for moving ahead with finding a new location on which to build a more permanent Church of the Messiah. The Diocese of South Carolina is ready to partner with us in this process. To prepare for our next steps together, we have collaborated with Bishop Ruth to work with a Consultant from the Episcopal Church Building Fund, Ann Fleming. Ann will be with us at Church of the Messiah on Friday & Saturday, July 14 & 15. She will also be with us at Sunday worship July 16. Over those two retreat days, we will begin visioning and planning work to prepare us for our next steps. What is our common story that has brought us here? Who are we, what is our core identity as a church? Where in Myrtle Beach has God called us to put down roots to become the Congregation God has called us to be? What kind of property, at what location do we need to fulfill our call? How do we travel from there to here?

Please set aside the dates of July 14 and 15, and plan to attend one or both days. Both Friday and Saturday will start at 10am. Friday will end at 4pm. Saturday will end at 5pm, and will be followed by a fellowship reception and fellowship supper. We are aware that not everyone can attend the entire retreat, so plan do participate as you can. Remind your friends at Messiah and encourage them to attend as well. Over the next few weeks, as we complete planning, I will be sending out additional Newsletters to announce the details and times of the retreat sessions! If you have any questions, you can respond to this email.

The Vision Retreat Planning team is Kristi Burch, Charlie Jordan, Rick Stall & Fr. John