Grace to you on the day before Labor Day 2022. September has come and the proverbial downhill portion of the year. It has been a fruitful week in Chuckatuck, lots of work on the sanctuary and some needed upkeep on the “behind the scenes” aspects of the Parish Hall. We revisited our worship in the “alternate chapel” in the Parish Hall, part of a practice to make worship more accessible for mobility challenged members and visitors. We had to dust off the “live stream” file to remember how to do what we did for over a year during COVID. We also look forward to worshipping with the remainder of the Episcopal churches in Suffolk next Sunday. Blessings to you as September dawns.
In worship we were reminded that we need to resist trusting in our own strength to be successful. We know that the true success comes from accepting God’s grace and mercy on a daily basis. Our lesson from Hebrew Scripture comes from the prophet Jeremiah as he addressed Israel while they were questioning whether God they imagined was their Lord was the God of creation. They are reminded that God’s plan is consistent but our practice must deal with changes that we perceive in how God operates. Our Psalmist sang the song which reminds us that God has known us since before we came into being. God has supported and sustained us through our life, even when we don’t recognize it. Because God knows us we can trust God’s promises. The epistle taken from Paul’s letter to Philemon provided encouragement to depend on the power of God’s love to sustain his life and community.
Today’s sermon was focused on the Gospel of Luke’s account of Jesus directing the crowd that was following him to consider the true cost of discipleship. He reiterated to the crowd that they needed to be ready to surrender anything which might prevent them from being faithful to God. And that the benefits of faith outweighs the cost of faith.
I invite your comments,
Les+
Readings: Jeremiah 18:1-11; Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; Philemon 1-21; Luke 14:25-33
Video of worship: https://youtu.be/ZmG3oI-0Hjk
Video of sermon: https://youtu.be/9mfgdNdO_3Y
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