Good afternoon friends and welcome to 2018 in the midst of the first snow of the year. I hope you have been safe and warm as the Arctic weather has blown through Southside Virginia. The conditions were dicey enough that we felt it more prudent to cancel worship and be safe. The roads were okay to the vicinity of the Church but there was plenty of snowpack preventing access to the property and to the Sanctuary. I tried something new this morning that didn’t work as well as I wanted but it worked – I led Morning Prayer and offered most of the sermon I had planned for this morning via Facebook Live. That’s only helpful if you are on Facebook but I’m still working on bringing alternative worship at St. John’s to the 21st Century.
The readings supported the premise of the Baptism of Jesus – the theme of the first Sunday after the Epiphany. Many of the lessons today were familiar: “In the beginning…” from Genesis and “John baptized Jesus… and the Holy Spirit descended…” in Mark. The familiar lessons can lead us away from part of God’s greater story – in today’s readings the story of the Holy Spirit. We recognize the Holy Spirit is present and has been present from the very beginning. The work we celebrate through the Holy Spirit is the perception of God’s call to move from where we are to a place closer to God. Please listen and think about where God and the Holy Spirit are leading you.
I invite your comments,
Les+
Readings: Genesis 1:1-5; Psalm 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11
Listen at: https://chirb.it/CHnm4r
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