March 15th Worship Service
According to Apostle Paul our salvation comes from accepting that on the cross Jesus was sacrificed for “All of the Sins of Mankind.” Every person who accepts Jesus as their savior will receive Grace as promised by God, and will be resurrected in the body as Jesus was. Nothing else matters. It is only the acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice which brings salvation. The reasoning is very straight forward, if we can be saved by good works, or obeying the law, then Jesus’ death was in vain.
So does “Good Works” or ‘Obeying God’s Law” fit into salvation? According to Paul they do not, but if we look at the lives of people who have accepted Christ’s sacrifice what we see is a multitude of “Good Works” and “Adhering to the Heart of the Law.”
When we receive Christ into our lives, and honestly make the commitment and believe that we have been saved, our outlook and lives are changed. Each of us receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit enters into our consciousness and inhabits us, leading, guiding, helping, and teaching us every day working in our activities and relationships. Sometimes we listen and follow the guidance, sometimes we do not, but either way the Spirit is there with us.
What the Spirit does is lead us to do the right things in the situations we encounter. From Matthew 7 we get, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” We are defined not by what we say, but by what we do. What we physically do is how people remember us. The basic guidance is, “Do not do something to someone, you would not want being done to you.”
Do not forget that this Tuesday, March 17, is St. Patrick’s Day, when we recognize the priest Patrick who brought Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century. Although around Patrick there is a unique mixture of tradition, myth and verifiable facts, St. Patrick is well remembered in Ireland. The picture is of St. Patrick’s Oratory, atop Croagh Patrick, a 764 meter hill in northwestern Ireland overlooking Clew Bay. St. Patrick is said to have spent 40 days fasting on the top of the hill and over the centuries it has become an important pilgrimage site, with a small chapel built at the site in 1901.
Join us for our March 15th Worship Service.
Pictures: Mamonyane Mohale co-founder Ministry of Hope Lesotho, Africa / St Patricks Oratory, Crogh Patrick, County Mayo, Ireland
March 8th Worship Service
Paul’s letter to the church in Rome is interesting on several levels. Paul had never been to Rome, but he did have visions of expanding our Messiah’s message into the Roman Province of Spain. He was hoping the Church in Rome would help him. In order to get their support Paul needed the Church in Rome to know about him, and understand what he actually believed concerning Christ and the salvation Jesus offers.
For Paul to communicate his understanding of Christ to the Church of Rome the Epistle to the Romans is different than Paul’s other letters. Paul’s other letters to the various churches he founded were written in response to specific situations and problems in those churches. The Epistle to the Romans gave us a unique opportunity to find out a little of what Paul actually believed.
As explained in Romans 5:1-11Paul has a basic belief that Jesus died on the cross, but God brought him back to life. That in His death Jesus died for the sins of all mankind. That because of Jesus’ sacrifice our sins have been washed away. Because God resurrected Jesus, Jesus fulfilled a unique purpose in God’s plan for humanity. Because Jesus was resurrected, we also will be resurrected from the death of our earthly bodies. Our resurrection does not require doing good deeds, or following the Torah law as given by Moses. What is required of us that we believe and have faith in Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection.
It is because we have this faith that everything else happens to us. In our lives we are guided by the Holy Spirit. It is this guidance which leads us to helping other people, supporting our community of believers, to connecting with other communities, to reaching out to non-believers and spreading God’s message of love and forgiveness. That above all else we are recognized by our actions.
It is bringing about this understanding which is the fundamental basis and purpose of Lent. Join us for our March 8th Worship Service.
Painting: Conversion of St Paul on the Road to Damascus, Hans Speckaert, 1570-1577, Louvre, Paris, France, WGA21655
Lent
We can look at Lent as a time Repentance, Renewal and Redemption. Lent is the six weeks starting with Ash Wednesday, February 18th, and lasting until Easter Sunday on April 5th. Lent is a time of preparation. It is our opportunity to prepare ourselves to receive the gift of forgiveness God gave us with the sacrifice of God, in human form (Jesus), on the cross.
But in order to receive that gift we first have to accept God’s love into our hearts. The process begins with Repentance. All of us have sinned, and by acknowledging our sins we have Repentance. It is through our Repentance that we ask God to help us become the people He needs us to be. And God always accepts true Repentance with forgiveness, which bring us to Renewal. Our mistakes are still there, but God has said for us to put them behind us and follow Him forward. And as we go forward following God’s guidance, we achieve Redemption.
This year Lent began last Wednesday, February 18th, and will last until the Saturday before Easter on Sunday April 5th. Lent is 40 days long which is remembrance of the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert (and the 40 days Elijah spent fasting n Mount Horeb 1Kings 19:8 ). Actually, there are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. Although there are different understandings on how to count the 40 days of Lent probably the easiest explanation is that the Sundays are not included in the 40 days.
This is an excelent time to look at the things Jesus did, His attitude toward the world and cuiture in which he lived, and how we can change our lives, and start to try and live the way Jesus wants us too.
Pictures: Upper lLeft: Jesus Tempted by the Devil, Spanish Fresco Metropolitan Museum of Art , the Cloisters Collection / Upper Right: Jesus and Samaritan Woman at Well, R1420, German Reverse Glass Painting, MET New York / Lower Left: Jesus Blesses Mothers and Children, Stained Glass Window in the Saint John the Baptist church in Zagreb, Croatia / Lower Right: Jesus teaching disciples, Fra Angelico, San Marco Monestary, Florence, 1400s
Join us for our March 1st Worship Service.
Join us for our Ash Wednesday Worship Service. Join us for our February 22nd Worship Service.
Epiphany
Epiphany comes from the Greek, and means manifestation or revealing. Starting on January 6 the season of Epiphany runs until Ash Wednesday, February 28th, and the start of Lent. The purpose of the season to recognize the time Jesus is acknowledged as the Son of God, the answer to God’s promise of redemption reaching back to the words of the prophets of the Old Testament.
Three Wisemen Visit Jesus, El Greco, 1568, Museo Soumaya, Mexico City
Simeon and Anna in the Temple, Rembrandt, 1669, National Museum, Stockholm
Recognitions comes in several instances. The most celebrated is the visit of the Magi following the heavenly star and bringing gifts to the Christ child. Other examples include the presentation of Jesus at the temple and being recognized by Anna and Simeon. Another example is Jesus’ baptism, first when he is recognized by John the Baptist, and again when coming out of the water the heavens open, the spirit in the form of a dove descends and the voice of God saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
Baptism of Christ, Jose Ferraz de Almeida Jr, 1895, Pinacoteca do Estado de Sao Paulo, Brazil
Join us for our February 8th Worship Service. Join us for our February 15th Worship Service.
Join us for our January 25 Worship Service. Join us for our February 1st Worship Service.
Join us for our January 11th Worship Service. Join us for our January 18th Worship Service.
Christmas
It is the season of Christmas, December 25th - January 5th. We have spent the last four weeks preparing our hearts, minds, and soles to receive the gift God sent to His people, Himself to be sacrificed, that His people’s sins may be washed away, and they can be with Him, eternally. But why 12 days for the season?
The Christmas Season, also known as Christmastide, goes back to the Council of Tours meeting in 567 CE who proclaimed the 12 days between Christmas (the birth) and Epiphany (the Magi Recognition) as the Christmas Season. The main purpose is to celebrate. After the 4 weeks of fasting, introspection and preparation to receive Jesus into our lives, now is the time to celebrate our acceptance.
Significant events during Christmastide include: December 25: Jesus’ birth / December 26: feast of St. Stephen (Good King Wenceslaus) / December 27: feast of John the Apostle / December 28: feast of the Holy Innocents (children killed on Herod’s order) / December 29: murder of Thomas Becket 1170 (Archbishop of Canterbury) / December 30: remembrance of John Wyclif 1395 (translated the Bible to English…martyred because) / January 1: circumcision of Jesus / January 2: remembrance of Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah, 1945 Bishop of South India / January 4: remembrance of Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1821, founder of the United States parochial school system / January 5: Epiphany Eve, remembrance of the Desert Mothers (women ascetics living in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Syria 4th & 5th century) / January 6: Epiphany begins, Magi visit (manifestation).
Join us for our Christmas Eve Service.
Join us for our December 28th Worship Service.
Join us for our January 4th Worship Service.
Photos: Death of the Innocents, Siena Cathedral, Siena Italy / Canterbury Cathedral, site of Thomas Becket murder, Canterbury, England
No one is sure when Advent, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, came into the Christian schedule, but it was well established by the year 480, and so we have been celebrating the birth of Jesus, God’s gift to humanity, for well over 1500 years. Advent actually takes place on three levels. The first is the physical birth of Jesus in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. The second is the reception of Jesus into the hearts of the believers. Finally, there is the awaited presence of when Jesus returns to the earth and brings about the world of His desire.
Advent is celebrated in many ways. There is always the decorating of the church with a Christmas Tree, Christmas Wreathes, special programs and litanies, Christmas Cantatas, and almost in each church the lighting of the Advent Candles representing Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. The center candle, the Christ Candle is lit on Christmas Eve, and again on Christmas Day and the following Sundays during the Christmas Season.
It is our way of celebrating the birth of Jesus, God’s gift to a world in sin, and the source of our salvation. An event well worth celebrating, and preparing for.
Join us for our November 30th Worship Service. Join us for our December 7th Worship Service.
Join us for our December 14th Worship Service. Join us for our December 21st Worship Service.
