Scripture:
Acts
16:9-15 • Psalm
67 • Revelation
21:10, 22-22:5 • John
14:23-29 or John
5:1-9
What is God's peace, the peace Jesus gives us? See The Rev. Rick Morley's "a peace of marvel - a reflection on John 14:27. In these days of mindless, cowardly violence inflicted on innocents, can we find Serenity in Chaos (by The Rev. Steve Goodier)?
Reflecting on John 5:1-9, Kyle Childress in "Courage to be Whole" asks "Do we fear the cure more than the illness?" Bill Coffin said that if it is hell to be guilty, it’s certainly scarier to be responsible – response-able – able to respond to God’s call, able to respond to the word and love of Jesus. When we cease being a victim – “I can’t get to the water Jesus; there’s always someone else who gets there first” – and start being responsible then our legs are strong enough for us to walk beside others who are in pain and need help. Our arms are empowered to embrace our enemies and the outcasts. We no longer make excuses; instead we walk forward to new life in Jesus Christ and go to work serving, healing, hoping, and living a life of joy and fullness.
What role, if any, does hospitality have to do with God's peace? In "Mi Casa Es Su Casa,"The Rev. Larry Patten says we can learn a lot from Lydia, the first European woman to be baptized, who said to Paul "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my
home."
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference."
- The Serenity Prayer
Reinhold Niebuhr
Scripture: Acts
11:1-18 • Psalm
148 • Revelation
21:1-6 • John
13:31-35
In this Sunday's gospel lesson, Jesus gives us a new commandment, "that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."
From the tragedy in Boston, the stories of the dead and wounded, heroes and helpers, and of the alleged perpetrators continue to emerge. The preliminary scoop is that the surviving Chechen, accused of causing death and mayhem by using a weapon of mass destruction faces the possibility of a death sentence, if convicted. He is also an American citizen, and allegedly influenced by the radical Islamic beliefs and practices of his brother, killed in a shoot-out. Possibly a "Judas" in our midst.
What are we do with "Judases" in our midst? See "Evildoers," by Nancy Rockwell for one perspective. From the standpoint of Jesus' new commandment to us, what about the death penalty? (If there is a discussion, please keep it faith based, and not politically, or "legally" - how's that coming from a lawyer?
Do we have a God, or make God, too small? See "A God Too Small” by The Rev. Steve Goodier.
What does Jesus mean with his new commandment - to love one another just as he has loved us. Consider what Peter Woods says in "Boldly Going Where No Love Has Gone Before."
How should we interact with other religions? Dr. Jan Love offers one consideration in "Encountering Other Religions."
It should be an interesting discussion this week! Join us as we meet in the classroom across from the lounge in the undercroft of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 405 B Street, St. Albans, parking behind the church.
Scripture: Acts
9:36-43 • Psalm
23 • Revelation
7:9-17 • John
10:22-30
This week we consider the raising of Tabitha (Dorcas), which means gazelle - a graceful little deer, at the behest of Peter, the 23rd Psalm, a reading from Revelations in which the Lamb shepherds his sheep to the water of life where God will wipe away every tear, and the story of Jesus who knows his sheep, protects them, and tells us that he and the Father are one.
We learn more about how we are to feed and care for the Lord's sheep. In "I Should Call No Man Unclean," Daniel Clendenin tells us where Peter stayed after the raising of Tabitha when he had his vision of the unclean animals, which helped the Christians in Jerusalem to accept Paul's mission to the Gentiles - in the home of Simon the tanner, considered impure according to Jewish law.
From "little lambs" to dear little deer-like Tabitha, a disciple, The Rev. Christopher Burkett shows us how we are to minister to and love each other, with the focus on the person and acts of Tabitha, who was raised from the dead in his "Terms of Endearment."
Tabitha koum.
Scripture: Acts
9:1-6, (7-20) • Psalm
30 • Revelation
5:11-14 • John
21:1-19
We continue with the Easter experience this week. In John 21, we are treated to an Easter breakfast by Jesus. Jesus gives us another "Resurrection" lesson in his dialogue with Peter, who denied Jesus three times before the crucifixion. Jesus gives Peter a new hope, even in Peter's apparent distress, when Jesus tells Peter to "feed my sheep," after asking Peter if Peter loved him. Easter gives us the opportunity to pick up the broken pieces. What does that mean to you? See "Picking Up the Broken Pieces" by Dan Clendenin.
What does Jesus mean when he says "feed my sheep?" See "Love Me? Feed My Sheep"by The Rev. Bob Stuhlmann, and "The Work of Easter" by The Rev. Kay Sylvester.
Finally, we can learn a lot about ourselves, and what it means to be Easter people by reflecting on the life and person of Peter. See Frederick Buechner's "Peter."
We also read about the conversion of Saul (Paul) at Damascus. Talk about a turn around!
