Second Sunday after Trinity

Today was the Second Sunday after Trinity Sunday.  Last week was winter, back to lat spring, early summer this week. It was 58°F at sunrise on Mount Olympus and 75°F by the time church was over. With several people on travel, we had 21 people present for the service.

The electronic version of this report will be late. Father Acker’s computer died earlier in the week and the Beadle’s computer is just now getting back on line. Thus, there was much confusion at the service, the songs that were supposed to be in the bulletin were not, numbers were transposed and the like. All that having been said, we found songs with words and figured out where others really were. All worked out well in the end. Nonetheless, it seems likely Father Acker will be working on a computer exorcism format shortly.

Free Teen Guitar Class
In addition to being the Second Sunday in Trinity, it was the first Sunday of the month, the Sunday Father Acker’s Free Teen Guitar Class www.freeteenguitarclass.com provides the music for the service.

Timing was great as our organist was on travel for the week! With three gathering songs and the usual hmns spots to fill Ashley Turner, Jack Arnold and Father Ironhand did a great job of providing music!

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

Today we moved on to Son of Songs, or as Father Acker referred to it, Solomon’s Greatest Hit! Although Solomon ended up with 700 wives and 300 concubines in the name of diplomacy, his only true love was his first. By the time he realized that, it was too late. The Song of Songs was written at the end of his life. The book is in one respect love poetry, a tribute to the unity of husband and wife. In another respect, it is a story of God’s love for us, requited or not.

The story line:

• She meets the young shepherd.
• They fall in love.
• He leaves with a promise to return.
• She despairs with his long absence.
• Shouting “King Solomon is returning.”
• She sees in him that first love of the young shepherd.
• He takes her to the palace where the song is sung.

Jumps around and is full of flashbacks like a pulp fiction novel. It is also the story of God’s love for us:

• Even when we fail, God loves us
• As Paul tell us, it is the relationship of Christ and His Church
• Communion of Christ and Us, His Beloved

But, what of Solomon? He meets a tragic end, seemingly separated from God. Heartbroken by what he has lost, in his life without God, he like Ecclesiastes goes to his grave crying:

Meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless.

Speaking of next week, we will be covering Ecclesiastes, and we know it is out of order.

Back from his heart attack of nine days ago and fresh out of angioplasty with three brand spanking new stents, full of richly oxygenated blood, just as he did on this Sunday last year Ben Lizak read the Epistle, which came from the Third Chapter of St. John‘s First Epistle, beginning at the Thirteenth Verse.

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of com-passion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

John gave us God’s commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. We are exhorted to love one another not in word only, but in deed and in truth. We are to carry out the word we have been given, not just to repeat the words.

Actions speak louder than words. If we are to lead people to Christ, we must be in front of them showing the way.

Today’s Gospel started in the Fourteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, beginning at the Sixteenth Verse. This is another of Jesus’ stories. This one is of a rich man who made a great supper; a thing of great value in times of hunger.

Acertain man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

Are we like the busy people, are our lives so filled with important activities that we have no time to come to the Lord’s Supper? Think about that when you set your bedtime on Saturday, think about that when you schedule the outing for Sunday morning.

Sermon – The Great Dinner Party
Like the certain man who made a great supper, God sends out invitations to all. Just as the great man’s party did not make some people’s priority list, so God’s party does not make many people’s top 10. Some are too busy to respond, others come back with lame excuses for not being able to make the party, others say they are coming, then no-show.

In a world hungry for meaning, God offers a veritable buffet of epicurian delights. Yet those who need the nourishment the most are too busy to come. Thus, their hunger will be unquenched and they will perish while the banquet goes unattended due to lack of interest.

God is clear, He wants His house full.

• You are hungry;
• Dinner is here, ready and, in fact, on the table;
• Here is not the place for saints, but rather for sinners who would like to be saints;
• No matter how good looking you are, it isn’t because you’re good;
• We are here because we know we need God;
• God asked and we come to His table

Feast or Famine – Your choice!

Birthdays and Anniversaries
There were no reported birthdays or anniversaries today.

After Church Hospitality
Alice Acker brought the goodies this morning, there were freshly cut up oranges and Milk Chocolate Pound Cake. Both were great. The MCPC was better with coffee, the oranges were better without coffee!

The Command Master Chief Brewer was back on the job, the coffee was exceptional. Father Acker managed to get up early enough to make his famous low carb lemonade.

Snacko Jan Macauley asked that the upcoming after church goodies providers be listed in the Beadle’s Report to make it easier to remember:

Date Name
8 June 2008 Stephanie Boyd
15 June 2008 Jan Macauley
22 June 2008 Martha Stevens
29 June 2008 Opportunity Open
6 July 2008 Holly Lizak
13 July 2008 Opportunity Open

New Nametags
We had no new nametags today.

People in our Prayers - http://www.blessedtrinityprayerteam.blogspot.com/
Prayer is an extremely important activity.
It is not that God knows not our needs, for He surely does.  Yet, Jesus commanded us to ask God for those same needs.  In addition to the obvious of asking God for help, offering thanksgiving and the like, prayer helps us focus our thoughts on how we might do God's work.

The Prayer Team of the Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity was established to help our members and fellow Christians pray for those in need and to give thanks as well for the blessings we have been granted.

Who can be on the list?  Do I have to be a member of the Blessed Trinity Church to be prayed for? No!  The only qualification to be on the list is that you want our prayer team to pray for you.  We are Christians and are happy to pray for you, no matter who you are.  If you want help from God, you are our kind of people.

What is the commitment from the prayer team?
Each member of the team will pray for the desired outcome at last once per day.

How do I get myself or someone else on the prayer list?
You can email one of the prayer team leaders: Greg - gnchase@cox.net or Dru - dru@descansorodents.com, or call the church office at (619) 722-1772 or fill out a prayer card at church.

What should I ask for?
Depends on what you want.  Some people merely want God to be asked to heal their ills and be mentioned by their first name, others want a specific outcome and / or have more of their personal information known to the team.  Ask for what you want.  It is your desire and need for prayer the team is attempting to meet.  For typical examples, see the list below.

Updating the Team
If you are on our prayer list, or if you have submitted a person that you have asked us to pray for, please update one of the team members or Father Acker in person, by telephone or email.  It helps to be able to pray specifically for these individuals including their specific needs; plus if they get better, it is nice 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, you can ask that their names and purpose be kept confidential, then only Father Acker will know to pray for them.

Travel
Ken is on travel this week.
Jan and Stephanie are on travel this week.
Traci and Warren are on this week.
Marianne and Betsy are on travel this week.
Father and Alice are on travel this week.

Healing

 Caroline (age 10 leukemia reoccurrence), Betty, Annie (diabetes), Salvador (cancer), Betty, Marge, Uni, Bethany (collision), Greg (shoulder surgery), Karl, Kathy, Christian, Marie, Wanda, James (diabetes), Frank+ (brain tumor), Sarah, Tina, Mark, Lois, Jennette (altzhimers), Gary, Delores, Anna, Ruth, Theresa, Don (post surgery), Melanie, Connie, Tom, Crystal, Thomas, Hadley, Diane, Norm, Gregory, Terri, Mary, Edward, Bert, Carmen, Yolanda, Jodi, Ken, Sheila, Nancy, Leucrecia (cancer), Michele, Marybeth (broken foot, stroke), Bill (infection), Teiko, Ernie, Ray, Tamara, Betty, Hazel, Richard, Bruce (heart attack), Susanne, Paul (stroke), Ralph+ (eyes hip), Allison (kidney), Bill (ETOH poisoning), Fran (cataracts)
, Joy

Ben Lizak came back from walking with Holly on Friday morning when he felt clammy and had a tightness in his chest. Holly took him to the Emergency Room at Kaiser where they found he had a heart attack. After a "shot" of nitro, he felt much better. They admitted him and are doing tests. He seems to be doing fairly well. Please pray for Ben's complete and rapid recovery and for Holly, Ryan and Ashley's peace of mind and soul while they help Ben with his recovery.

Al is recovering from a heart attack. Please pray for his safe and successful recovery and also for his family.



Mary Parker was in the hospital with an infection. She was released to her home on Monday, 26 May 2008, Memorial Day. Please pray a prayer of thanksgiving and continue to pray for her full recovery and that she might be able to stay home.



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.

Joy – She has a reoccurrence of abdominal cancer, which is non-operable. She is currently undergoing radiation treatment. She and her family ask your prayers for the treatment to do good and for her to tolerate it better. More importantly, she asks God’s help to deal with the pain and discomfort while keeping a positive attitude during what is a very trying time.

Nicole Ethridge - age 27, mother of two - Has a form of liver disease which is causing her liver to shut down. She is near dialysis and would like you to pray for her disease to go into remission so that she can keep off dialysis and avoid a liver transplant. She asks that you pray for her continued faith and good spirits, as well as strength to take care of her children.

Guidance

Lloyd & Jennifer, Bob to be guided to church
Ashley, Breyana, Vie, Asha, Cory, Heather, Holly, Ken, Maruja, Stella, Shelly, Jerry, Martha, Matt, Marci, Nicholas, Carmen, Mary, John, William, Joe, Alexander, Jonathan, Phil, Sandy, Larraine, Brad, Brian, Cindi, Uni, Jennifer, Greg, Ed, Ruthie, Margie, Phyllis, Walter, Doris-June, Rick, Carol, Susan, Curtis, Stephen, Donny, Chris, Eric (job), Andrew, Keith (job decision), Jeff, Penny, Sara, Mark

Economic Guidance and Assistance
St. Andrew’s Academy (Lake Almanor, CA) Father Brian Foos (headmaster) – Please pray for help and guidance for the school which is under severe pressure from economic down turn.
 You can pray and turn your heart towards this problem. If you can do something concrete to help them, contact Father Acker.

Homebound/Aged and Infirm

Mary, Donna, Betty, Noko, Adelaide, Evelyn, Lorraine, Ellie, Walter (skilled nursing)

Armed Forces & Contractors

Tillman, Patrick, Justin, Tim, Evan, Jim, RJ, Matt, Phillip, Tim, Oscar, Julian, Steven (US Army – Bagdad, Iraq), Joe (USAF - Ali Al Salem AB, Kuwait)

Needs Employment

Stephen Pappin is looking for a job in the electronic power supply field and asks you pray for him to be guided to an opening where he can fit in, do well and help them prosper.

Thanksgiving

Fran gives thanks her eye problems are now down to only relatively mild cataracts and those appear to be operable.

Completion of military service for Jason & Matt

RJ and his entire unit returning from Iraq without casualties

Greg and Diane Chase give thanks for their son Nelson’s graduation from the University of San Diego.

Ben Lizak gives thanks for the successful angioplasty and great recovery he has made so far.

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.

Alpine Anglicans having fun and supporting our community at the same time
Our church has been sponsoring The Pine Valley Players, a local group of Christian homeschoolers who have been studying theater and Shakespeare in particular. On Saturday night, the group put on the Shakespearean play, Twelfth Night. Elizabeth Barrett and Jack Arnold from our church had major roles.

More photographs of the play can be found at www.AlpineAnglican.com/play.htm.

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.

St. Andrew’s Academy
Our diocese is the sponsor of St. Andrew’s Academy (Lake Almanor, CA), the Headmaster Father Brian Foos left a successful aerospace career to become a priest and establish the school. The school, a K-12 operation with about three dozen students, runs on a shoestring budget, about $150,000.00 per year for the entire thing. The product is superior, the students rank in the high nineties percentile of graduating seniors. These kids are our future. They are the future of the church and the school needs to keep turning them out, not away. The economic downturn is crippling them. They have a budget shortfall of about $30,000.00.

As many of you know, the diocese’s 18 parishes had talked about contributing the money previously set aside to fund attendance at the APA Synod, which we will not be attending, and the annual diocesan meeting which has been converted into an electronic meeting, to help Bishop Boyce with the cost of attending GAFCON in Jerusalem.

Bishop Boyce feels strongly enough about the importance of St. Andrew’s academy that he has asked that those funds be donated to the school instead. Bishop Boyce is willing to spend his own money to go to GAFCON.

There are 18 parishes in the diocese. There is a $30,000.00 shortfall. If each parish carried its share, that would be $1,666.67 per parish. We are the smallest parish in the diocese. We have made the commitment to send the school $2,000.00 and send Bishop Boyce the $1,500.00 we had budgeted for Synod travel to him to help cover his expenses at GAFCON.

Each member of the congregation is asked to donate what they can. No one should donate more than they can comfortably afford. Remember the “Widow’s Mite.” Give what you can, that is all. No more. If you cannot afford more than a single penny that you picked up in the parking lot. That is more than enough.

If the tiny little parish with the big name of Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity can do their share, how about the rest of you?

Keeping Up to Date with the Parish and the World
In an effort to keep us in touch with each other and the Christian and non-Christian world, Father is posting updates at the Thursday Evening News, oddly enough on Thursdays. This is a nice mid-week update for us, drop in and take a look. It is also linked to from the various Beadle’s Blogs.

http://thursdayeveningnews.blogspot.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
8 June 2008 Holly Lizak
15 June 2008 Fran Dexter
22 June 2008 Alice Acker
29 June 2008 Tim Macauley – Saint Peter’s Day, the Fisher of Men, read by the fisherman himself!

Parish Youth Camping Trip
The parish is planning a youth camping trip for summer. The thought so far is to have a Friday and Saturday night camp out at a local facility. We will meet at the Alpine Community Center parking lot on Friday morning, then take transport to a local camp area, which has not yet been solidified. We will drop our gear at the camp, then head out on a hike to lunch. After lunch, we will hike towards a pickup point, where we will join our transport back to the camp. The kids will finish setting up camp and cook dinner. After dinner, there will be some traditional camp activities and then to bed. Up early on Saturday morning, breakfast and off on another interesting hike to lunch. Again, back to camp in time to make dinner, more traditional camp activities and then to bed. Sunday morning will bring early rising for our Sunday service, breakfast and breaking camp. We expect to be back to the Alpine Community Center parking lot by about 1400 (2:00 pm) on Sunday, so everyone can go home and get some rest!

If you are interested, contact one of our hand picked volunteer Camp Masters:

Don Patton dpatton@cox.net
Mike Springer mspringer8@cox.net

Right now we are in the initial planning stage. We have located a couple of potential campsites and are looking for head counts and blackout dates for our kids. Once we know who wants to go and when they can make it, we will set the date and pick the spot. Then, we will open up the signup to other Anglican parishes.

The near future, as well as Next Sunday
Next Sunday is the Third Sunday after Trinity. Come next Sunday and see if Father Acker finally tells us what the Green Season means.

What about the pre-service class, will Father Acker lose his place or will he pick up where he left off? What about the sermon?  Will he preach on the Gospel or something all together different? 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