The Fourth Sunday after Easter

Today was the Fourth Sunday after Easter. After last week’s moderate Santa Ana, we were back weather that is fairly normal for this time of year. The sunrise temperature on Mount Olympus was 42°F, by the time church ended the mercury had climbed to 76°F. With several of our members on travel, we ended up with 21 people present for the service:

Father Acker’s Pre-Service Class - Around the Bible in 140 days by popular demand
Today continued the twenty week tour of the Bible, 10 minutes of teaching each Sunday, beginning at 8:30am. The class started with one of the Collects for the Day, applicable to the subject at hand, in this case the Second Sunday in Advent:

BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Second Sunday of Advent BCPp92

We have been making our way through the Bible and are now at the end of the second of the two Books of Kings and then on to Chronicles. After Solomon, the empire was broken up into North and South. In the North, there were twenty kings, all bad. None good, as a consequence of their failure to follow God, they were overrun by the Assyrians. In the South, there were nineteen kings, with only seven of them being good.

When Zedekiah was king in Jerusalem, he “rebelled against the king of Babylon…[Nebuchadnezzar] came with all his army against Jerusalem…and they built siegeworks against it round about.” 2Kings24.19-25.2

“The famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then a breach was made in the city; the king with all the men of war fled by night…and they went in the direction of the Arabah.” 2Kings25.3-4

Zedekiah and his men were cornered in the desert, his sons executed in front of him, then he was blinded. The last thing he saw was the murder of his sons, the thing he remembered until he died .

At that point, the remaining people were enslaved by the Babylonians for 70 years.

The two books of Chronicles tell the same story as Kings, except from the religious point of view. They discuss the Levites and their duties, the story of the Ark coming to Jerusalem, David’s worship in Thanksgiving, David’s charge to Solomon, David’s words to the people, David’s prayer to God and ends with the captivity because of unfaithfulness. The second half of Chronicles covers the building the Temple of God, the idolatry and religious reforms and tells of the keeping the Passover and ends with when the seventy years of captivity are completed and the people return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.

Next week we will talk about the books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther.

Jack Arnold read this morning’s Epistle, which written in the First Chapter of the Epistle of Saint James beginning at the Seventeenth Verse. James tells us we are the pinnacle of God’s creation, destined to be the steward of His world, thus we should be considerate of what we do and let ourselves become open to His Word:

EVERY good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Today’s Gospel was written in the Sixteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John beginning at the Fifth Verse and forms the basis for today’s sermon:

JESUS said unto his disciples, Now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Sermon – The Holy Spirit convicts the world
From today’s Gospel, “Jesus said unto his disciples, [the Holy Ghost will come to] reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment”

He was sent to bring both comfort and understanding.

Understanding of the true meaning of sin, not being of one with God. Sin is the symptom of separation from God. The evidence of that separation was, and still is, not believing that Jesus is the Christ.

Understanding of Righteousness, to understand that Jesus was going to the Father to prepare the way for us to be one with God.
Understanding of Judgment, to understand that “Satan is already convicted.”

Do you believe in Jesus? Do you understand that:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3.23

You, therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5.48

As Jesus shows us the way, we see in Jesus the ultimate in putting God first, the “perfect self-sacrifice.”

The word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1st Corinthians 1.18

When Jesus left here for heaven, He returned to the Father to prepare the way for us, to make our way clear. When the world was busy condemning Jesus, they did not see they were condemning themselves.

And this is the judgment:
That the light has come into the world , and men loved darkness more than light .
John 3.19

When we have a “problem” in our life, what do we do to cure it? Usually, we treat the symptom and avoid the cause. In all cases the problems have a cause, the cause is the imbalance in life caused by attempting to revolve our life around something other than the natural center of life, God.

Let your life revolve around God and be at one with your world.

Just in case you haven’t gotten the point, both Mayans and cats thought they were the center of the universe. They weren’t, although cats have not yet conceded the point.

Birthdays and Anniversaries
There were no reported anniversaries today. We celebrated Holly Lizak’s 62nd birthday today.

After Church Hospitality
Much like Bilbo Baggins , Holly Lizak put out a feast in honor of her birthday. There were egg salad sandwiches and curried chicken ones, too; grapes and some nice Deacon cookies.

Command Master Chief Brewer Macauley made great coffee. Father Acker managed to get up early enough to make his famous low carb lemonade.

New Nametags
We had no new nametags today.

People in our Prayers
If you are on our prayer list, or you have submitted a person for us to pray for, please update Father Acker in person, by telephone or e-mail. It helps to be able to pray specifically for these individuals including their specific needs; plus if they get better, it is good to give thanks!

Please note that on the green or orange cards at church, you can ask that those to be prayed for have their names disseminated to the “prayer team”, those names will be said in church and appear here. Or, your can ask that the names and purpose be kept confidential, then only Father Acker will know to pray for them.

Travel
Ken is on travel this week .
Tim, Jan, Chris, Stephanie, Alex and Andrew are on travel this week.
Tracie and Warren are on travel this week.

Healing
Caroline (age 10 leukemia reoccurrence), Betty, Annie, Salvador (cancer), Betty, Marge, Uni, Bethany (collision), Greg (shoulder surgery), Kathy, Richard, Christian, Trish, Marie, Wanda, Sarah, Tina, Mark, Lois, Jennette, Linn, Gary, Delores, Anna, Ruth, Theresa, Don (post surgery), Melanie, Connie, Tom, Crystal, Thomas, Hadley, Diane, Norm, Gregory, Terri, Mary, Edward, Bert, Jesusa (difficult pregnancy), Sheila, Michele, Marybeth (broken foot, stroke), Bill (infection), Bruce, Susanne, Paul (stroke), Ralph (eyes), Allison (kidney), Bill (ETOH poisoning), Fran (eye)

Kay Denton (Mrs. Kay) – Hospitalized with heart, kidney and lung difficulties with fluid buildup on the lungs and what may be a form of septic arthritis. Please pray for the fluid to dissipate and for her heart to regain regularity. Also, please pray for her to regain her positive attitude. As always, she retains her trust in the Lord, she is just a bit down on things of this earth. Pray also for Mrs. Kay’s family and her close friend Len who are under great stress that they might also keep their trust in the Lord.

Guidance
Christiana, Alexander, Breyana, Vie, Asha, Cory, Heather, Holly, Ken, Maruja, Stella, Shelly, William, Joe, Alexander, Jonathan, Phil, Sandy, Larraine, Brad, Brian, Cindi, Uni, Jennifer, Greg, Ed, Ruthie, Rick, Carol, Susan, Curtis, Stephen, Donny, Chris, Andrew, Keith, Jeff, Penny, Sara, Mark

Homebound/Aged and Infirm
Mary, Donna, Betty, Noko, Adelaide, Evelyn, Lorraine, Ellie, Walter

Armed Forces & Contractors
Tillman, Patrick, Justin, Tim, Evan, Jim, Jason, JR, Matt, Phillip

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.

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.

I’d like to get a different point across or announce something
If you have a different point of view, I would be happy to give you room to get your point across. While this publication is my perspective on events, I recognize not everyone may agree and that some people would like to express their own opinion.

If want to write an article or make an announcement, please forward your item to the Beadle (with a note as to whether or not you would like editing help) to the following address: thebeadle@mac.com.

Epistle Readers
We post the list of Epistle Readers in the Beadle’s Report each week so you can either plan your attendance or your pre-reading as the spirit so moves you.

Date Reader

27 April 2008 Alice Acker
4 May 2008 Emilie Springer
11 May 2008 Alex Springer
18 May 2008 Jack Arnold
25 May 2008 Jan Macauley

The near future, as well as Next Sunday
Next Sunday is the Fifth Sunday after Easter, commonly called Rogation Sunday. What does this mean? Come next Sunday and find out.

What about the sermon? Being Eastertide, 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 pick up where we left off in the Old Testament with Ezra or will Father Acker lose his place? What about Job? Will he overshoot all the way to Matthew?

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!

Alternate Sources of The Beadle’s Report

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 a single photograph and simple text is available at:
http://thebeadle.blogspot.com/

or with one photograph per issue and colorful text 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