2007 Fifth Sunday after Trinity

Today was the Fifth Sunday after Trinity. We had a break in the temperature, the marine layer stopped at Tavern Road. Temperatures were in the low 70°s at the start of church and the mid-70°s by the time the service was over. With lovely weather, we had 25 people attending.

Continuing the series of Christian Education Class on discovering Church Membership Father Acker talked about God’s Game Plan. He started off saying that “it all takes a plan. If you want to build a house, you need a plan. While most of us have not built a house, we have been to a ball game. So let’s look at this like a ball game.”

If you want to participate, you need to know God’s Plan for the Game we call life in the church. God asks for commitment on our part, each of us to the extent we are able. He never asks us to do more than we can, but often we only want to do as much as we feel like. He asks us to be committed to the four Ms:
 
• Membership
• Maturity
• Ministry
• Missions

Membership
To be a member of God’s team, you must know Christ
To live that membership, you need to be baptized, to come to worship the Lord on Sundays and to participate in church activities with fellow members to gain the advantage of Christian Fellowship

Maturity
As you gain knowledge and understanding courtesy of the Holy Ghost, you grow in Christ
As you grow in Christ, you are expected to confirm your dedication ot th Lord in Confirmation, to study the Bible on your own, with your family and friends or in Study Groups to further your knowledge of God and His Game Plan, to pray and let prayer provide guidance in your life

Ministry
Each of us has a ministry or job to do to serve Christ
It is up to you do find your own ministry
You will only be truly happy when you are serving God’s will here on earth

Missions
God put us here on earth to change the world, for better or for worse
When we have found Christ, we are obligated to make Him available to others
We each have a mission in life that will spread the word
 
Object of the Game is Getting to Home!
 
Father Ironhand, having broken two strings on his acoustic guitar in the Fourth of July Parade at Crown Hills, was reduced to using his Fender Showmaster electric guitar for today’s service. Nonetheless, between Ironhand on the Showmaster and Marianne on the organ, we had great music that came through loud and clear on our new portable Carvin sound system.

Dru Arnold read the Epistle, which came from the Third Chapter of St. Peter’s First Epistle, beginning at the Eighth Verse. Peter tells to be of one mind, have compassion and pity for each other, to be courteous, to give good to all our brethren, to return good for evil, to seek peace, to do good, not just talk good. Peter tells us to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. To put ourselves in others places, understand when they fall short and make good things happen.

“Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.”

Today’s Gospel started in the Fifth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, beginning at the First Verse. This is one of the classic stories of Jesus in the Bible. Jesus had gone down to Lake Gennesaret to pray and then speak to the people. As they pressed in on him, he asked Simon Peter to use his boat as a speaking platform. Speaking from a small boat near the beach is almost like speaking in an amphitheatre. When he finished talking to the people, he told Simon to go out and set his nets. Simon pointed out they had fished all night with no result, but at His word, he would set his net. The net gathered an incredible catch that Simon and his friends could not board. At that point, it was clear to Simon he was in the presence of one far greater than himself. He fell to his knees, saying, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Then Jesus said, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” From then on Simon followed Jesus.

“It came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: and so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.”

Sermon - a Simple Plan
No matter who you are you probably don’t come to church to hear about problems, complaints, arguing, and infighting.

We have enough of that at school, at work, or even at home.

We come here because God has a better plan: to joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness

Christianity offers simplicity. You often hear, “That is too simple. This is a complex problem. There are no simple solution to complex problems.” That is not true, what is true is that there are no complex solutions that work. Just because one does not like the simple solution doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.

Like the rich man who will have problems getting into heaven, we are often overcome with the pursuit of stuff. Worldly stuff. Yet at the same time, in the words of the old song, RockyTop:     

“I’m real tired of cramped up city life;
                        Trap like a duck in a pen
                        All I know is it’s a pity
                        Life can’t be simple again.”

We have more to do today than can be done. Simplify? Perhaps. Prioritize? Certainly. What is important to you? Put that central, the rest will fall in place.

What would Jesus have you do? You know the answer, it is simple. You just may not like it at first.

Birthdays and Anniversaries
We celebrated Mike Springer’s 50th birthday with him today.

There were no reported anniversaries today.

After Church Hospitality
Stephanie Boyd helped Jan Macauley with the goodies today. There were little chocolate cakes which looked good and banana nut soft cookies which were very good; coated peanuts and wonderful cherries.

Coffee was provided today by Barrista Ben Lizak and Father Acker made his customary low carb lemonade.

Travel
Don, Sandy and Nick are in Texas and surrounding areas

Sick or in need of healing
Betty Cooke
Diane Chase
Muriel Pappin
Fran Dexter

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

Miney Farrell is doing well. She asks your continued prayers for Bertha Rose’s balance problems which are compounded by her blindness. Miney would also like to come to church at least once a month. Greg Chase is going to see if he can make that wish come true as soon as he gets a Sunday off to come to church himself.

Barbara Emrich wishes she had better mail service as she has to wait for Father Acker to bring her the Beadle’s Report.

Gene Hunt celebrated his 87th Birthday last week. Evelyn’s doing much better and is back to driving to see Gene on most days.

Lorraine Winkles is finally recovering from shingles..

Donna Dingwall is doing quite a bit better. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Back Door Lending Library
We have some new 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.

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.

Fourth of July
For the fifth year in a row, the church participated in the Crown Hills Fourth of July parade which started at noon. This year the Free Teen Guitar Class rode in the GTB Troop Transport, followed by Traci and Aaron Huber and Annie Springer in the GPW Jeep, followed by Ben Lizak driving the M601 Troop Transport with Holly Lizak, Alice Acker and Dru Arnold in the back, with Mike Springer driving Mr. F850, the Fire Truck, with Stephanie, Alex and Andrew Boyd on top with their friends.

The parade started late, stopped in the middle and it was very hot. We were very uncomfortable for a fairly extended period of time. On the other hand, we had a great time. Go figure.

After the parade, we met at the Alpine Community Center Park for a pot luck picnic which turned out wonderfully. This was a great event and we had a super time.

Descanso Parade
The Arnolds and the Ackers had a such a wonderful time in Alpine that we decided to ride in the Descanso Parade on Saturday, 7 July 2007. While the invitation went out to the entire congregation, only the toughest forgot how hot it had been in Alpine and decided to ride the Descanso Parade. This parade started at 1000 and was much cooler. Descanso is a much friendlier parade, with a wide cross section of participants. We drove the GTB Troop Transport with Jack Arnold and Father Acker playing guitars in back, while Alice Acker and Dru Arnold passed out candy. We followed a half track and were right in front of the Model A club. On the other hand, at least three riding lawn mowers participated, as well as the Sheriff and Rural Fire Departments.

After the parade we met back at the Arnolds’ for lunch. Seven people for lunch on 7/7/07!

Trailer Interior
After lunch, your Priest and Beadle undertook the fitting of an interior to the new trailer. We are pleased to say we can now both store and find things in the trailer.

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 continuing education 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.

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.

Opportunity to help the parish
The Vestry identified items that the parish now needs that were not in this year’s budget:

Trailer – Our parish trailer needs signage on the outside for advertising. If you would like to donate, you can write a check, or just add a bit to your normal contribution and put a note in the memo area.

Signs – Our Sunday morning signs have become quite worn. We are looking to get a set of new signs to match our bumper sticker and advertisements in the Alpine Sun, with snap on lower panels for times and special announcements. We are looking for people to donate towards that end. If you would like to donate, you can write a check, or just add a bit to your normal contribution and put a note in the memo area.

Advertisement – If you pick up the Alpine Sun, you will find a half page advertisement; at the suggestion and with the financial support of Muriel Pappin and a few others, we committed to two months advertising to see if it had any positive effect. The advertisement follows the general layout of our bumper sticker and patches for “brand recognition.”

We have completed our two month trial with zero results, positive or negative. We are going to cut back to a small listing for now. If you have any other ideas for advertising talk to Father Acker or the Beadle.

Epistle Readers
In response to requests from the congregation and the readers, we will be posting the list of Epistle Readers in the Beadle’s Report from henceforth. This way, you can either plan your attendance or your pre-reading as the spirit so moves you.

Date Reader

15 July 2007 Hap Arnold
22 July 2007 Mike Springer
29 July 2007 Jan Macauley

Next Sunday
Next Sunday is the Sixth Sunday after Trinity. Summer is getting a firm grip on our area. We have a lot of people on travel. The Continuing Education Class should be back on track as we learn what it takes and what it gives to be a Christian in a local church. Perhaps the sermon will interface with that and maybe tie the propers in. For sure? No and 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://alpineanglican.com/BeadleReports.htm

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