responsibility – St. John's Episcopal Church, Suffolk, VA https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org Serving our community since 1642 Sun, 09 Aug 2020 20:31:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.1 https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/cropped-Door-for-website-55x55.jpgresponsibility – St. John's Episcopal Church, Suffolk, VAhttps://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org 32 32 116451644 Our privilege demands our choice to create or destroy – reflection and sermon from 8/9/2020https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/2020/08/09/our-privilege-demands-our-choice-to-create-or-destroy-reflection-and-sermon-from-8-9-2020/ https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/2020/08/09/our-privilege-demands-our-choice-to-create-or-destroy-reflection-and-sermon-from-8-9-2020/#respond Sun, 09 Aug 2020 19:31:00 +0000 http://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/?p=2053 I bid God’s grace on the 10th Sunday after the Pentecost from my study in Chuckatuck. It has been a busy week between the Tropical Storm on Monday, the heat and humidity, the daily thunderstorms, and an earthquake in North Carolina this morning. It appears most of our parishioners survived with only minor damage Isaias’ passing, mostly trees and branches. There was some damage to a couple of the older trees near the sanctuary which will cause them to be removed. Sad but they’ve lived a long life. It was nice to have a few returnees in worship today – 9 total together (including me) in the Parish Hall. We’re hanging in amid the continuing Coronavirus situation. Blessings to you all.

In worship today we were reminded by our collect that the spirit to do and think what is right comes from our relationship with God and not from our will. That is important for us as we continue to navigate a life that has many conflicting voices vying for our attention. Our gospel reading today was the story of Jesus walking on the water and catching up to the Disciples as they struggled to get to the other side of the lake. It also included Peter’s request to walk on the water then him succumbing to the fear of the storm – even though he was walking on the water. Paul’s letter to the Romans reminded us that righteousness (a right relationship) comes not from the law (or Law) but from living our life with God in the person of Jesus. And our job is to spread that word to the world – God brings completeness in relationship. Our sermon was focused on the reading from Genesis, the story of Joseph and his brothers conspiring to kill him. While there was a reason for their dysfunction they had a choice to live in cooperation with Joseph and Jacob – or to turn against their community and use their privilege for destruction not creation. We face the same choice today, and we can remember that life comes from being in relationship not specifically from being right.

I invite your comments and likes,
Les+

Readings: Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b; Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33

Video from today’s worship: https://youtu.be/-eA-lQ5eVEw

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]]> https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/2020/08/09/our-privilege-demands-our-choice-to-create-or-destroy-reflection-and-sermon-from-8-9-2020/feed/ 0 2053 Choosing life in Christ has responsibilities – reflection and sermon from 7/12/2020https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/2020/07/12/choosing-life-in-christ-has-responsibilities-reflection-and-sermon-from-7-12-2020/ https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/2020/07/12/choosing-life-in-christ-has-responsibilities-reflection-and-sermon-from-7-12-2020/#respond Sun, 12 Jul 2020 20:02:08 +0000 http://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/?p=2010 Greetings on an exciting Sunday in Chuckatuck at the middle of July (almost). This past week was filled with tweaking of our “for now” worship space and I think we’re on our 9th iteration that will change again. The excitement today was a small fire in the neighbor’s mulch – nothing that 10 gallons of water couldn’t handle and no damage. The second piece of excitement was the technical difficulties with the audio in worship. It would have been nice for those who couldn’t join us in-person for worship could have heard the service. But it appears there was a minor technical hiccup between the sound check and the start of service. I guess that’s what we get for having amateur videographers.

Worship, even with the safety requirements, was well attended and the Parish Hall, while not optimal or as intimate as the sanctuary was a fine place to gather for the first time since March. Everyone sitting in their own area and adding their voice to our prayers was a nice change from the past weeks. We pray that everyone had an opportunity to worship this morning, whether in person or remotely.

Our lessons today helped focus us on the bidding in the collect: to know and understand the things we ought to do, and to have the grace and power to faithfully accomplish them… Our prayer is that the life we live of faith in the power of Christ will keep us searching for God’s grace to be shared with others. In our lesson from Genesis, we heard the story of the birth of Esau and Jacob along with the stealing of Esau’s birthright. Ironically, Jacob inherited not only the birthright (the double share) but he also inherited the responsibility to provide for Israel’s future. Our gospel reading from Matthew was the parable of the Sower and how we can be productive if our faith in God’s promise is deeply rooted. Today’s sermon focused on Paul’s letter to the Romans and his command to choose life, remembering that life is only available in faith in Christ and the fact that Christ came to save us from ourselves and our sin. That is a focus for us today: to remember that by choosing Christ we have life and we also have responsibility to continue to choose Christ day after day.

I invite your comments,
Les+

Readings: Genesis 25:19-34; Psalm 119:105-112; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

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]]> https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/2020/07/12/choosing-life-in-christ-has-responsibilities-reflection-and-sermon-from-7-12-2020/feed/ 0 2010 Chosen isn’t better, simply chosen… and responsible – reflection and sermon for 6/21/2020https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/2020/06/21/chosen-isnt-better-simply-chosen-and-responsible-reflection-and-sermon-for-6-21-2020/ https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/2020/06/21/chosen-isnt-better-simply-chosen-and-responsible-reflection-and-sermon-for-6-21-2020/#respond Sun, 21 Jun 2020 19:00:59 +0000 http://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/?p=1991 Happy Father’s Day and, as I like to say, fathering Sunday, when we remember those father figures in our lives. We continue our march on the 15th Sunday of Coronatide and hope to be regathering, at least partially, in the coming weeks. We have been dutifully working together apart for weeks and the leaders at St. John’s have been working to create a safe space to worship in-person all while remembering those who cannot meet in-person. It looks like our worship space will look different, regardless the venue. But, with God’s grace we will work through this “for now” worship experience.

In our Spiritual Communion (link below) today (the 4th in a row), we celebrated Holy Eucharist and offered a prayer of Reception of the Sacrament, not quite the same as in-person but it will do “for now.” Our scripture provided an involved picture of our faith and the principles we should follow in our daily life. Our Old Testament reading from Genesis was the story of Hagar and Ishmael being banished by Abraham; and how God continued to care for Hagar and Ishmael (and Abraham and Isaac) even though they weren’t “chosen” as part of God’s people. Our New Testament reading from Romans reminds us that our salvation is assured in Christ and that our salvation comes partly in the “now” and more fully in the “yet to come.” Our Gospel reading shed light on the harsh reality of the world, both in Jesus’ time and our time. Our mission as Christians may not make us the favored of our culture but as Christians, we know our place in the final accounting is assured – if we do our part for God. Timely thoughts and words.

I invite your comments and likes,
Les+

Readings: Genesis 21:8-21; Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39

Link to worship video: https://youtu.be/7sXnAOIcSAI

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]]> https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/2020/06/21/chosen-isnt-better-simply-chosen-and-responsible-reflection-and-sermon-for-6-21-2020/feed/ 0 1991 Our responsibility is to share the gospel – reflection and sermon for Feb. 4, 2017https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/2018/02/04/our-responsibility-is-to-share-the-gospel-reflection-and-sermon-for-feb-4-2017/ https://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/2018/02/04/our-responsibility-is-to-share-the-gospel-reflection-and-sermon-for-feb-4-2017/#respond Sun, 04 Feb 2018 20:45:03 +0000 http://stjohnsepiscopal-suffolk.org/?p=782 Peace to all on the next-to-last Sunday after the Epiphany. February has arrived in tumultuous fashion in Chuckatuck – cold and windy, warm and sunny, drizzle falling to prepare our community for the coming growing season. Blessings abound in our community and our Parish – for the most part we’ve survived this year’s flu season without issue and we’ve been blessed with good health, which leads to active members in our community and the community at large. We continue to pray for those who have lost loved ones this season and those who have been afflicted by the flu and other diseases and maladies this winter.

Our scripture today walked us through a narrative that St. John’s can appreciate: by remembering our history we know that God is constant and with us, even when we don’t recognize God’s presence. Because we are able to recollect that truth we get to live fully in the responsibility that follows our relationship with God: the sharing of the gospel of redemption to the community God connects us with. Because we are related to God we have no option except to share the gospel message – with words when necessary but more often in our actions. How does God prepare you to be a faithful witness?

I invite your comments and likes,
Les+

Readings: Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147:1-12, 21c; 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; Mark 1:29-39



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