Trinity 18 September 29, 2024 – Bulletin

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

September 29, 2024

THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTION.
ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!

LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.

GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS.

In today’s Gospel lesson, the Lord gives us the Summary of the Law of Moses which we know so well from the service of Holy Communion  in The Book of Common Prayer. This Summary of the Law of Moses is the foundation for our worship and spiritual life, and contains the whole meaning of out lives. But , as Jesus pointed out to the scribe, the Law is unable to establish the kingdom of God within  and among us. This kingdom , in which the power of sin, death, and the devil has been defeated, is something we receive through the death and resurrection of the God/Man Jesus Christ. It’s why Jesus immediately directs our attention to the premier Messianic Psalm,  Psalm 110, where we discover that the Messiah , Jesus, is David’s “Son” with respect to His humanity, and David’s “Lord” with respect to His divinity, and thus our Savior! In our Epistle reading, St. Paul shows how it is that we are sustained in spiritual life and holiness by our union with Jesus Christ. 

THE LESSON : 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

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Trinity 17 September 22, 2024 – Bulletin

SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

September 22, 2024

THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTION.
ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!

LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.

GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS

“What God has done for us in Christ, He intends to do in us and through us.” This pretty much sums up the theme of Trinity season. In the Incarnation, the Eternal Son and Word of God, who is Jesus Christ, united Himself to our lowly human nature, thereby exalting or “lifting” us up to Himself, in a communion of love. In our Epistle lesson St Paul sets out the implications of this “lifting up ” for the character of our relationships with each other.  And in our Gospel lesson St. Luke gives us a picture of how it is that through the Incarnation Christ has healed our human nature, in which we take on the character of Christ which is humility.

THE LESSON : Ephesians 4:1-6

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Trinity 16 September 15, 2024 Bulletin

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

September 15, 2024

THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTION.
ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!

LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.

GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS.

In today’s Gospel lesson , St. Luke describes the miracle of the raising of the dead of the son of the widow of Nain. Miracles in the New Testament are not understood in the modern sense of a suspension of the “laws of nature” but rather a manifestation of the loving, life-giving power of God which upholds our lives and that of the universe moment by moment. In this miracle, the power of God meets the depths of human need and desperation. In our Epistle reading from Ephesians St. Paul prays that we ourselves, in our weakness and desperation,  would know this power working within us, so that we might be filled to the brim with His fulness, so that God would be glorified. 

THE LESSON : Ephesians 3:13-21

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Trinity 15 September 8, 2024 Bulletin

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

September 8, 2024

THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTION
ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!

LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.

GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS.

Back in 1979, Bob Dylan, famously wrote,

You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

Bob Dylan’ lyric was a riff off today’s Gospel where Jesus gives a name to the devil that we invariably serve if we are not serving Christ: it is money or as the older translations have it, “Mammon. Unlike Christ, “whose service is perfect freedom”, service to Mammon is perfect slavery, filling us with anxiety in a never ending search for financial security. As an antidote and alternative to the anxiety stemming from the false worship of money,  Jesus invites to consider the birds and the flowers and in  so doing place our trust in God’s providence. In our Epistle reading, St. Paul shows us how, in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer,  “In a world where success is the measure and justification of all things, the figure of Him who was sentenced and crucified remains a stranger and is at best the object of pity. The world will allow itself to be subdued only by success. It is not ideas or opinions which decide, but deeds. Success alone justifies wrongs done. . . . The figure of the Crucified invalidates all thought which takes success for its standard.”

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Trinity 14 September 1, 2024 Bulletin

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

September 1, 2024

THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTION.
ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!

LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.

GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS.

Our Epistle and Gospel lesson for today continue the theme of spiritual life which we have been exploring these last few weeks. The Gospel lesson tells the story of Christ’s healing of the 10 lepers, which is for us a picture and promise of the power of Christ to heal not only the seemingly incurable diseases of our bodies, but more importantly the diseases of our souls.  This is what is given to us to experience and receive by faith through our participation in the sacramental life of the Church. What kind of diseases are we talking about? In today’s Epistle reading St Paul describes the “leprous condition” of self-conceit, or vain-glory, and envy, which wrecks such havoc in our relationships, and is healed through the acquisition of humility and the practice of thanksgiving.  

THE LESSON : 5:25-26, 6:1-5

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Trinity 13 August 25 2024 Bulletin

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

August 25 , 2024

THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTION.
ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!

LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.

GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS.

The long season of Trinity sets before us the goal and purpose of the Christian life, which is to share and participate in the Divine Nature ( 2 Peter 1.4), which  Christ has revealed as self-emptying love. (Philippians 2.7). In our Epistle reading for today from The Letter to the Galatians, St. Paul sets before us both the obstacles that stand in the way of reaching our goal, the satisfaction of self centered desires, and the means of attaining our goal: spiritual life. Our Gospel lesson is the Good Samaritan which not only sets before as picture of the human conditi0n, but also how it is that Christ has come among us in his mercy heal our souls and bodies of the wounds of sin, that we might truly embody God’s mercy and become a neighbor to those in need.

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Trinity 12 August 18 2024 Bulletin

TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

August 18 , 2024

THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTION.
ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!

LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.

GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS.

Dejection or accidie, where we lose all hope and just give up, is a real killer in the spiritual life. What is the source of our hope in the impasses, box canyons , and seemingly hopeless situations of our lives? Our hope is in the power of God as demonstrated in today’s Gospel lesson from Mark 7 where Jesus opens the ears and looses the tongue of the deaf and dumb man. This is the Gospel of which we have become ministers, which  St. Paul describes as a ministry of spirit which gives life and makes us participants in the glory of God. 

THE LESSON : 2 Corinthians 3:4-11

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Trinity 11 August 11, 2024 Bulletin

ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

August 11 , 2024

THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTION.
ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!

LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.

GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS.

How is it that The Book of Common Prayer understands sanctification, our becoming holy, as God is holy? Our Collect today points to the mercy and promises of Good whereby we run “the way of God’s commandments”, “obtain his promises,” and thus are “made partakers of God’s heavenly treasure.” In other words, justification is the means of our sanctification. In our Epistle reading for today from 1 Corinthians 15, St. Paul  reminds us of the Gospel message on which we take our stand and by which we are saved. In our Gospel reading for today Jesus tells the story of the publican, who for all his sin, trusted in God’s mercy , and was justified, in contrast to the Pharisee, who trusted rather in his religious and good works

THE LESSON : 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

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Trinity 9 July 28 2024 Bulletin

NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

JULY 28, 2024

THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTION.
ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!

LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.

GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS.

In the classical Christian understanding, the human soul possesses three aspects or powers: the rational ( the mind) , the desiring ( the will), and the incesive (the heart) . In the properly ordered human soul, the three powers work together to fulfill the commandments of God. The mind conceives of the good, the will desires the good, and the heart frights for the good. Sin has disordered the human soul, whereby the mind is drawn away from divine to purely human concerns, and we end up desiring and pursuing the wrong things to our destruction. IN the season of Trinity we are discovering what it means for us to put the house of our souls in order.  Our Epistle reading from 1 Corinthians 10 St. Paul recalls the example of the Israelites in the desert who gave free reign to their disordered sensual desires for food and sex, which Paul identifies as idolatry or false worship, and makes us liable to judgement.  It is for this reason that in today’s Collect we ask God to give us the spirit to think such things as be rightful, and his grace to desire and accomplish the good. Our Gospel lesson for today tells the story of the unjust steward who is commended for his prudence, for using this worlds goods in such a way as to be received into the eternal habitations.

THE LESSON : 1 Corinthians 10:1-17

I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Neverthelesswith most of them God was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to dance.” We must not indulge in immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents; nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let any onewho thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, shun the worship of idols. I speak as to sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 16:1-10

Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.”  And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternalhomes. ‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.

PARISH LIFE NOTES

RECTOR’S VACATION. Claude will be away from the parish from July 28- Aug 18. For Pastoral emergencies place call Revd. Winna Martin at 306-536-4308.

WORSHIP THIS WEEK

Morning Prayer: Monday to Friday at 8.30 a.m.

Evening Prayer: Wednesday at 5.30 p.m.                                                                                

Trinity 7 July 14 2024 Bulletin

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

JULY 14, 2024

THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTION.
ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!

LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.

GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS

Bob Dylan famously wrote, “You may be an ambassador to England or France. You may like to gamble, you might like to dance. You may be the heavyweight champion of the world. You might be a socialite with a long string of pearls. But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed. You’re gonna have to serve somebody. Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord. But you’re gonna have to serve somebody…” It’s an idea which Paul articulates in today’s Epistle lesson. As those who have been baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ, we  have been set free from our slavery to sin, and now become slaves to righteousness.”  But how is that God nourishes us and sustains us in our life in Christ? The chief way is by means of the Holy Communion. Our Gospel lesson for today tells the story of the feeding of the 4,000, where Jesus took, gave thanks, broke and distributed the seven loaves and a few fish, which is for us an image of the Eucharistic feeding we experience every Sunday, whereby our souls and bodies strengthened and preserved unto eternal life.

THE LESSON : Romans 6 :17-23

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