Happy Sunday afternoon from the Rector’s Study at St. John’s Chuckatuck. We were blessed to return to the Sanctuary after a few weeks away because of the air conditioning. We had a good service today and remembered the past week, all the community experienced and all God’s grace which has been abundantly present. We are closing in on the end of August and the beginning of our fall ministry season. May you be blessed in the coming week.

In worship we were reminded that Jesus served two purposes for all humanity, to save us from our sin and to give us an example of a godly life. We are asked to continue to learn about God moving us forward from today. Our Hebrew scripture lesson was from Genesis and recounted Joseph disclosing himself to his brothers. He reassured them that whatever they did was used by God to prepare the way for all to survive. The Psalmist sang a song to remind us that our unity and oneness is a sign of God’s grace. In community, we are able to achieve more than we can imagine. Our New Testament lesson from Paul’s letter to the Romans assures us that the gifts we receive from God, specifically salvation, are never taken back by God. God does not reject God’s people.

Our sermon was based on the gospel reading from Matthew. In this lesson we heard two stories, the first reminds us that the marks of God are found in what comes out of our soul in word and deed. The second was the story of the Canaanite woman who received God’s mercy, even though she was an “outsider.” Jesus reminds us that the past provides a base and tradition to build on, but that God’s grace is never limited to our tradition – it is so much bigger than that. God’s grace leads us to our future.

I invite your comments,
Les+

Readings: Genesis 45:1-15; Psalm 133; Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15:10-28

Listen at: https://audiomack.com/fatherles-1/song/12-pentecost-sermon

Video of worship: https://youtu.be/oEr02W9ZRRo

Video of sermon: https://youtu.be/AbdhJyDkfGc