The Third Sunday after Easter

Today was the Third Sunday after Easter. After last week’s winter weather, we had a moderate Santa Ana. The sunrise temperature on Mount Olympus was 72°F, by the time church ended the mercury had climbed to 91°F. With several of our members on travel, we ended up with 20 people present for the service.

Free Teen Guitar Class – Part Deux
As you may recall, the first Sunday of each month, Father Acker’s Free Teen Guitar Class (www.freeteenguitarclass.com) provides our music. Even though this was the second Sunday, three of the kids came in early to play the gathering and closing songs.

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 second of the two Books of Kings. David died, was replaced by Solomon, who died and was replaced by one of his sons, Rehoboam. As you may recall, after a reasonably good start, Solomon succumbed to the temptations of this world. His son Rehoboam was bad right out of the box. Solomon’s lieutenant Jeroboam came to him saying:

“Make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve you.”

Showing just what he was made of, Rehoboam replied:

“My father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”

This led to the great Civil War of 930 BC. With Jeroboam, sided the ten tribes of the north, with their capital in Samaria. On Rehoboam’s side in the south were the two tribes of Benjamin and Judah, with their capital in Jerusalem.

Being precluded from coming to worship in Jerusalem as called for by God, Jeroboam’s people managed to find another golden calf to worship.

Of course, communications being what they were at the time, not everyone worshipped precisely the same golden calf.

For roughly a hundred years from 930 BC to 710 BC, there was no united kingdom, there were numerous not only separate and non-unified, but rather hostile to each other kingdoms. For over a hundred years of that there was a civil war amongst the people.

Over the years there were 39 kings, twenty in the north and nineteen in the south. Not much good came out of them, all twenty in the north were bad and of the nineteen in the south, only seven were rated as good. The land was divided, divided against itself one might say.

Nature abhors a vacuum, and so did Sennacharib, King of Assyria, who came out of the north sweeping all before him until he came to Jerusalem where he found Hezekiah, one of the few good kings in the south.

The Prophet Isaiah told Hezekiah:

Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard…Behold I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land…Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 2Kings19.6-7,10

And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacharib, King of Assyria departed and went and returned, and dwelt at Ninevah. 2Kings19.35-36

The kingdom was safe for the time. Next week we will finish Second Kings and start in to Chronicles

Dru Arnold read this morning’s Epistle which came from Second Chapter of the First Epistle of Saint Peter beginning at the Eleventh Verse:

DEARLY beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

Today’s Gospel started in the in the Sixteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John beginning at the Sixteenth Verse:

JESUS said to his disciples, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

Sermon - Christ in the First Person
For us to attain success in our execution of the great commission to SPREAD THE WORD, we need live our lives with Christ in our lives. We need to let Christ in to our lives, to let His Word be our guide. There is a tendency these days for people to believe that within each of us is God; a desire to believe that each of us has within themselves the necessary moral compass from which we can navigate our lives. Many “churches” advocate looking to within.

In the words of the song, “Christ within us.” A nice concept, but wrong. The words of the song, “Christ within us,” refers to the letting Christ into our lives to guide us. The Bible gives no credence to the thought that Christ is somehow buried in us and merely needs to be found.

We need to let Christ in to our lives as a point of reference, a lodestar by whom we can navigate our lives towards that heavenly shore.

Spreading the Gospel requires each of us to plainly live as Christians and testify to others the value of such a lodestar in our lives. To be the New Man of Saint Paul’s letters, putting off the old. Not looking for God within our old, but rather putting on the new and following the new map with the new compass.

The central act of worship in our Christian lives is Holy Communion, being at one with Christ:

[Jesus] died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 2 Corinthians 5.15

With Christ in your life, speak unto others of the benefits you have gained from His guidance.

Birthdays and Anniversaries
There were no reported birthdays or anniversaries.

After Church Hospitality
Martha Stevens brought manifold goodies today: lovely cinnamon rolls, grapes and several types of vegetables. Very nice! We got done with the service a bit late (six minutes to be precise), but we still had plenty of time to talk and enjoy the great snacks!

Command Master Chief Brewer Macauley was travel; Barista Ben Lizak stood in and 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)

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

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

20 April 2008 Jack Arnold
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 Fourth Sunday after Easter.

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 Second Kings or will Father Acker lose his place? What about Ezra? Will he overshoot all the way to Job?

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