Third Sunday after Trinity

Today was the Third Sunday after Trinity Sunday.  The weather was almost perfect, with a sunrise on Mount Olympus of 55°F; by the time church was over and the FTGC setup done we were at 77°F. With several people on travel, once again we had 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

Today we moved on to The Prophets, four major books (Isaiah, Jeremiah with Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel) and twelve minor and much shorter books). The prophets reveal prophecies in the present, verified in acts past. There are often short, medium and long term meanings to the writings. Some of the prophecies are easier than others to grasp: if you keep doing bad things, bad things will happen to you. Pretty easy to figure out, but unpopular to say. Often the prophecies were thought of as doom and gloom, but many times they were a reflection of the Glory of the Lord.

The prophets had windows through eternity in which their prophecies could be read, the current time, some time in the future and the end time. Yet Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

For instance, take Isaiah 7.16-17:

Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted. The Lord is going to bring on you, on your people, and on the whole royal family, days of trouble worse than any that have come since the kingdom of Israel separated from Judah—he is going to bring the king of Assyria.

Three horizons for these verses:

• Current
o Mrs. Isaiah has a child {Immanuel}
o Before he is 6 or 7 (age of reason)
o Kings of Israel & Syria wiped out by Assyria
o Worst time since the Civil War
• Future
o God would act again on a larger scale
o Birth of the Messiah
• End Time
o God will complete His plan of Salvation

Next week will bring a summary of Father Acker’s attendance at the Forward in Faith meeting in Saint Louis. If we are lucky, we will find out that Forward in Faith is moving forward, if not we will find they at dodging the questions of our time. Don’t miss next week.

Holly Lizak read the Epistle, which came from the Fifth Chapter of St. Peter‘s First Epistle, beginning at the Fifth Verse. Peter asks us to cast our care on God, to let him carry our worries, to trust in him that we might do what needs to be done here on earth, rather than to worry. He admonishes us to “be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking who he may devour”. A powerful visual to remind us to, Trust in God and dread nought.

“All of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

ALL of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Today’s Gospel started in the Fifteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, beginning at the First Verse. This is a story of Jesus, rather than one of his stories. The Pharisees were appalled that those who were particularly sinners in their very qualified eyes were attracted to Jesus and even worse, he talked to them, even breaking bread with them. To the Pharisees, Jesus told the story of the shepherd who loses a sheep and searches for it. When he finds it he carries it back to the flock on his shoulders. He goes on to tell the story of the woman who loses a piece of silver and turns her house inside out to find it. That story ends in a very interesting word play in English, “Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece (peace) which I had lost.” Jesus ends the story with, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Having said that, there is also joy when we do not sin, but choose God’s way. And we enjoy it more also.

“Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”

THEN drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes mur-mured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

Sermon – The Servanthood of Jesus

From today’s Epistle:

All of you be subject one to another, and clothed with humility.

Jesus’ message is about:

• Washing Feet
• Going after the Lost
• Sweeping until it’s found

Jesus calls us to be God’s servants, not people’s doormats. We are to do what is needed because it is needed, not for what we can get from it. Because it is needed, not because it pays well. No “Scratch my back & I’ll scratch yours.”

In particular deacons are called to service, they are to be Icons of the Servant Christ, setting aside self-interest, doing for the benefit of others. They are to demonstrate their love for the beloved of Christ; to have and display a genuine love for the lost.
In other words, if it was for Jesus not about Me, then how much more for us.
It is about Him and His will.

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

After Church Hospitality
Today we had planned on not having any post service goodies as the Free Teen Guitar Class (FTGC) practice was to take place at the Community Park with a post practice potluck brunch. That fell through as the park had been rescheduled for a wedding. The FTGC had their practice in the Church Auditorium.

Thus, in the spirit of, “Desert first, no telling what will happen later!” Alice Acker brought out the cranberry pound cake and sugar free ginger cake that was planned for the post FTGC potluck lunch for post service snacks.

Your Beadle reports both were excellent! The cranberry pound cake was particularly lovely.

While we are on the subject of this morning’s goodies, we might as well talk about the brunch. Anglicans like to think we have a great church, with great theology, but one thing we are absolutely certain of, we can cook!

For lunch today, we had and in no particular order:

• Fresh fruit salad, with grapes, strawberries and watermelon;
• Blueberry muffins (huge and lots of blueberries, and moist, too!)
• BBQ chicken
• Southwest Salad
• Deviled eggs
• Strada Alpha
• Strada Bravo
• Strada Charlie

Your Beadle can assure you, based on personal and individual sampling, that each of the items was at worst really great.

After church goodies providers as currently signed up:

Date Name
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 one new nametag today.
Sefire Bahaa

Sefire has lived in the San Diego area for quite a while, but moved to Alpine about a month ago. She came looking for the church that used to come after us, but thankfully found us instead. She had a good enough time to say she would see us again soon.

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, Alex, Chris and Stephanie are on travel this week.
Traci and Warren are on this week and should be in church on Sunday
Marianne and Betsy are on travel this week.
Ben and Holly 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, Kai

Evelyn Hunt is just not feeling right. She has generalized shaking, pressure in her head, blurred vision, nausea and fatigue. They have not been able to determine the cause of the problem. Please pray for a determination of the cause of her problems, a cure and a cessation of the symptoms.

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.

Surgery
Fran Dexter is having cataract surgery on one of her eyes on Monday, 9 June 2008. Please pray that God will give her strength to deal with the anxiety as she waits for the surgery and also for a successful surgical result, as well as a full and rapid recovery.

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
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.

Patty - Evelyn Hunt's daughter – gives thanks for a successful surgery on Monday, 2 June 2008, an early return home and continued recovery from the surgery.

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.

Free Teen Guitar Class
Father Acker’s Free Teen Guitar Class www.freeteenguitarclass.com is the opening act for the first Summer Concert in the Park on 29 June 2008. In a fit of organization, we had a pre-show practice to get our roadies checked out in setting up the equipment, doing sound level checks and the like. In addition, the FTGC got a chance to practice a few songs. 

We had a great time, you can find more pictures on the site:

http://www.freeteenguitarclass.com/20080608ftgc/index.html

As you can see, the FTGC had a great time, and so did the rest of us. The band’s new shirts aren’t in yet, but the Roadie’s pass shirts made it!

Oh, yes and the food. See the goodies article above. If you missed lunch, very sad for you!

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

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. We have a tentative date of 15, 16 and 17 August 2008, that is Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

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 Fourth 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