2007 Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, “Christ the Lord is Risen today!” As is fitting for the foremost feast of the Christian year, attendance was high today with 40 attendees in spite of the clouds and cool weather.

We met for the for the Easter service, as we did last year, in the Alpine Community Center. The room we used last year was in use, so we ended up with a bit larger room than we needed. The acoustics were a bit better than our usual location, but it was a bit further walk. On the other hand, the windows behind the altar and the carpeting made for a very nice church environment.

For this Thirty-First Confirmation Reception class, Father Acker took the opportunity to remind us the Anglican Church has a liturgical based service, that is to say it is in a fixed form and varies only slightly from Sunday to Sunday.

As is customary, the Easter Sunday service is Holy Communion, sometimes also referred to as The Holy Eucharist or Mass. The service begins on page 67 of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and works its way through to page 84. There near the beginning of the service, on page 70, we will be reading the Collect for the Day, Epistle and Gospel, these are referred to as The Propers. There are separate Collects, Epistles and Gospels for each Sunday and some special days. They are found a bit further back in the BCP starting on page 90 and in particular for Easter, they are on page 163. After the Collect, Epistle and Gospel, we come back to page 71 for the Nicene Creed and go page by page afterwards.

Father Acker also introduced the Free Teen Guitar Class kids present: Alex Boyd, Alex Springer and Jack Arnold; as well as recognizing our new organist Marianne Lane.

Ben Lizak read the Epistle which came from Saint Paul’s letter to the Colossians, beginning at the First Verse of the Third Chapter, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. “

As usual, Paul is exhorting us to be the New Man, to put away the trappings of the old and go forward. He asks us to do what anyone who is successful does, hang around with those you want to be like in the end and to emulate their actions. In this case rather that earthly success, Paul is helping prepare us for eternal success through salvation.

The Gospel for this Sunday came from the Twentieth Chapter of the Gospel of Saint John beginning at the first verse. It is the straight forward accounting of the discovery by Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter and John that the Lord was risen indeed. “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.”

Father Acker pointed out that the tomb had been guarded by Roman soldiers, as the Jews were afraid the apostles would steal the body and claim Jesus had “risen from the dead.” Can you imagine the fear in the soldiers’ hearts when the tomb’s stone rolled aside for the risen Lord? You can be sure they did not stay to see who was coming out!

Father Acker’s started his sermon with a story about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh and a noted author in her own right.

Near the end of her life, Mrs. Lindbergh was driving in New England with her daughter and blurted out, “I’m afraid of dying!”

Her daughter was naturally concerned and wanted to help her mother. She asked, “What is it you are afraid of? Are you afraid of the possible pain? Or is it the uncertainty? Or perhaps the thought of being separated from your loved ones? Why are you afraid of dying?”

Mrs. Lindbergh responded, “None of those things, dear, it is your driving.”

It is not always what it seems, is it?

The Collect for the Day reads:

ALMIGHTY God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee that, as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

Sometimes we use words that we think we know the meaning of and yet do not. The words prevent and advent are excellent examples:

Prevent 1. To go before; to precede; hence, to go before as a guide to direct. [Obs.]

We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. --1
Thess. iv. 15.
We pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us. --Bk. of
Common Prayer.
[1913 Webster]

Advent 1. (Eccl.) The period including the four Sundays before
Christmas.
2. The first or the expected second coming of Christ.
3. Coming; any important arrival; approach.
[1913 Webster]

In the beginning was darkness and chaos, into that darkness and chaos sent God light and order. After a time when He had put men on the earth, He gave them The Law that they might find happiness in the order The Law provided.

Recognizing His creations with free will were less than perfect, through The Law, He gave them the Temple. The Law and the Temple provided for atonement sacrifices for the wrong the imperfect creations would do.

Because the people could not really understand or keep The Law and were more kept by it, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to keep the real law for us. While through The Law in the Temple, the imperfect creatures offered sacrifices time after time, He sent His Son to be a Single Perfect Sacrifice, One Time, for All Mankind, for All Time.

Like this service today, where the flowers, the bulletins, the chairs and books just did not appear, God has planned ahead for us. In our lives, God’s special grace is being prepared ahead of time for you. His Grace, so that you might Love God with all your heart, with all your mind and most of all with all your soul; so that you can love others as He loves you.

By thy special grace, prevent us.

Further up and further in!

This morning’s service was a special treat from a music standpoint. Although she says she is “not much on the organ”, it turns out Marianne Lane is actually very, very good on the keys. More than that, excellent!

In addition to Marianne on the organ, Father Acker’s Free Teen Guitar Class kids played for us today, with two Alexes, or Alexi, or whatever and a Jack:

Alex Boyd
Alex Springer
Jack Arnold

Your Beadle apologizes to the kids for no really good pictures, he was so taken by the music that he forgot to get photographs of them or Marianne. They did a great job! The epitome of “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.”

With a careful selection of hymns to be singable, the Core Singing Group forming a loud base for the congregation to build on and the musical talents of Marianne and the FTGC kids, not to mention great playing by Father Acker, and we were appropriately jamming!

Flowers
With donations from the congregation, Martha Stevens came up with some beautiful Easter lilies. Thank you.

See you next week for the First Sunday after Easter!

Birthdays and Anniversaries
Today we bypassed the birthday and anniversary blessings, we will double up next week.

New Name Tags on Sunday
We had no new nametags today.

After Church Hospitality
No goodies today as we had breakfast with the Kiwaniis.

People in our Prayers

God’s Guidance
Please pray that Obra, Shamim, Zack, Aaron and Nadia will come to know God’s love, which can bring them happiness and strength by following the clear instructions He has given us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Travel
No reported travel this week, although Ken was again conspicuously absent, thus it is presumed he is on travel.

Sick or in need of healing
Betty Cook
Muriel Pappin
Betsy Lane
Ken Abbiss is recovering nicely from surgery for skin cancer on his nose and the bandages are getting smaller.

Lona Walsh (Wanda Michaelis' mother) surgery had been put off.

Miney Farrell is on antibiotics after bronchitis set in following a cold. She asks your prayers for Bertha Rose’s balance problems are compounded by her blindness.

Barbara Emrich was feeling less than her usual chipper self the past week.

Evelyn Hunt is doing remarkably well. Gene has been doing much better. He’s been able to manage lunch without assistance.

Lorraine Winkles is still suffering with the shingles with which she has been afflicted since Christmas.

Donna Dingwall is doing quite a bit better. She is getting medication that is helping her balance. She is doing so well she is considering going on a cruise with her family. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Back Door Lending Library
The Back Door Lending Library is happy to announce the availability of Amazing Grace books of several flavors, in addition, there are still several sets of the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis, as well as some background books on the series. There are plenty of sets, so don’t be shy.

There are also Annotated Holy Communion Books. These books have the Prayer Book Holy Communion service on the left page and an explanation on the right page. They are a great way to learn about the service. Pick one up when you come in and use it for the service, if you like.

The Lending Library is a resource you need to use. Most of the books are short, understandable, but very powerful. Also, if you have any books you would like share, please bring them in.

Personal 1928 Books of Common Prayer
While not strictly part of the Front Door Lending Library, we have some personal 1928 Prayer Books. A church in Florida disposed of a nice quantity of personal hardback 1928 BCPs in excellent to new condition, which we were lucky enough to acquire. There are some on the Front Table. We have plenty, although we only put out a half dozen at a time. They are yours to take home as your very own. The only thing the parish asks is that if you ever go to the dark side, please return it. Otherwise, it is yours forever.

Where did the term Easter come from?
Scholars variously attribute the name "Easter" to a derivation from Eostra (a Scandinavian goddess of dawn or spring) or Ostern (a Teutonic fertility goddess), both pagan figures honored at festivals celebrating the vernal equinox, about the time of the Passover. Traditions associated with these festivals include the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility; and Easter eggs, painted with the bright colors of spring, signifying growth and new life, concepts associated with the resurrection. Hence the name and symbols came to be associated with the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occurred at the time of the Passover. In the early English versions this word was frequently used as the translation of the Greek pascha (the Passover). When the Authorized Version (1611) was formed, the word "Passover" was used in all passages in which this word pascha occurred, except in Act 12:4. In the Revised Version the proper word, "Passover," is always used.

Easter is a Movable Feast
The Easter holiday builds on the traditions of the Jewish festival of Passover, or Pesach (the derivation of Pascha, another name for Easter), celebrating deliverance of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. Passover begins on Thursday, when we're reminded that Jesus traveled with His followers to Jerusalem in observation of the feast He came to fulfill.  In an effort to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord at the same time of year, before the calendar was standardized and synchronized to the solar year, Easter became a movable feast and is the lynchpin for the other movable feasts which take their dates from Easter. Victor I (c.189-198AD) standardized Easter as a Sunday holiday, and in 325AD the Council of Nicaea set Easter's date in relation to the paschal moon. The Gregorian calendar correction of 1582AD placed Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox, falling between 22 March and 25 April. If the fourteenth day happens on a Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday after.

A term long forgotten
Easter Dues – Unique to the Church of England, of which our Anglican Church is a direct descendant - Money due to the clergy at Easter, formerly paid in communication of the tithe for personal labor and subject to exaction. For Easter dues, Easter offerings, voluntary gifts, have been substituted.

Question that only you can ask
What would you like to know about our history, what we believe, what we do or how we operate? Father Acker is looking for material for the Catechism class and the Beadle is looking for Thought for the Day material. Help us help you. Please send your question to the Beadle so we all can get an answer. Just because you don’t know the answer to your question doesn’t mean you are the only one who doesn’t know. But, if you don’t ask, no one will know.

Very Important
This is Christ’s Church, which makes it your church; it is not Father Acker’s church, the Beadle’s church, the Senior Warden’s church; it is your church, it is a gift from Christ to you. It is up to you to make it the very best you can.

So, if you see something that needs doing, do it or ask someone else to do it. If there is something you would like to see done or not done in our church, if there is something not being done right, tell someone. Let Father Acker, the Beadle or one of the Vestry know. You have an obligation to make this the very best church you can. Tell us how to help.

If you have a suggestion, criticism or query, tell the Vicar, the Beadle, one of the Vestry, or drop a note in the plate. We must have your help.

Church is like a bank: you get a certain return on your investment; but, if you don’t put anything in, you won’t get anything out.

Bumper or Window Stickers
The church’s stickers are finally in. You can get them from the front door table or the Lending Library table, or ask Father Acker or the Beadle. If you are a long distance reader, you can request one from Father Acker or the Beadle.

Coming Up later this year
Bishop and Mrs. Boyce will be with us on 20 May 2007 for both Confirmation and Reception. Afterwards, they will be joining us for the Second Annual Beadle’s Barbeque at the Arnolds’. Confirmation is a very significant milestone in our spiritual lives, as is the Reception into the Church, for those confirmed. We are expecting a big turnout as those who are confirmed bring family and friends. In addition, as those who attended the First Annual Beadle’s Barbeque can attest to, the Beadle’s Barbeque is not an event to be missed.

Next Sunday
Next Sunday is the First Sunday after Easter. It seems a sure bet the sermon trend will continue on the Risen Lord, in one form or another. On the other hand, it isn’t a bet if it is sure! Still, what about the pre-service class? Will we have one? Will it be about the use of the Book of Common Prayer? Unless you come to the service, you will have to wait until you read the Beadle’s Report to find out.

See you next week on Sunday!

Father Acker posts a .pdf version of the current Beadle’s Report on the church website:

http://www.alpineanglican.com/Beadle/beadle.pdf

An alternative version of the Beadle’s Report without photographs is available at:

http://web.mac.com/thebeadle/iWeb/BeadleBlog/Blog/Blog.html

All back issues of the Beadle’s Reports are available on request from:

thebeadle@mac.com