Grace and Peace:
Once again, the joyful celebration of the birth of Christ our Lord is upon us. As we entered the Season of Advent, we were called to pause from the often rushed preparations for Christmas and reflect on where we were at in our Christian journey - maybe even discovering that we had temporarily slid off the path.
Yet, it seems that the Holy Spirit has a way of finding us and nudging us until we pay attention and return to the journey. But we are not alone in this and it is important for us to take a look around and seek out those who are in need of a kind word, a visit, or some other gesture of kindness at this time of year.
Remember God says: “Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be afraid for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”
Isa. 41:10
Our Christmas Eve service begins with Carols at 10:15 pm with the Holy Eucharist beginning at 10:30 pm. It will be our opportunity to pause in this often rushed time of the year to focus on the Reason for the Season.
The following Sunday, December 30th, worship will be at our regular time, 10:30 am. It will give us another opportunity to hear beloved Christmas Scriptures and sing favorite Carols being the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas.
May the grace and peace of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit bring us all joy as we await the coming of Christ! Merry Christmas to all.
Yours in Christ
The Rev. Donald R. Perschall
Rector
Our Standing Announcements:
1st Sunday - Potluck Lunch following Mass
2nd Tuesday - Episcopal Church Women
3rd Monday - Vestry Meeting - 5:30 pm
Next Sunday: The Third Sunday In Advent - Rose Sunday
9:30 am Older Children’s and Adult Sunday School; Choir Practice
10:30 am Holy Eucharist & Younger Children’s Sunday School - Coffee Hour
Mon. Office closed
Wed 5:30 pm Holy Eucharist and Healing Service - supper and study to follow
Sunday: The Fourth Sunday In Advent
9:30 am Older Children’s and Adult Sunday School; Choir Practice
10:30 am Holy Eucharist & Younger Children’s Sunday School - Hanging of Greens & Coffee Hour
December 24th Christmas Eve Mass 10:30 pm
*****************************
From this week's Sermon:
I always enjoy the scripture readings from the Prophets during the season of Advent. Some of the best and most inspiring words of Scripture are found here. Last week, we read from Isaiah about beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. A wonderful, hopeful vision.
Today, we read from Isaiah chapter 11: The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. This is a scene that makes it into many of our Christmas cards. It is a scene of peace.
Did you see the news report this week about a a tiger is raising a group of piglets at a zoo near Bangkok. The piglets were nursing from their adopted mother who seemed perfectly content with the whole thing. The piglets actually wore little tiger-stripe costumes. It’s not something you see every day, but it’s a picture of living together in peace.
This morning we lit the second Advent candle, the candle of Joy. This is a season for thinking and reflecting on what brings Joy into our lives. And one of those things that brings Joy into my life is the message of the angels “Peace on earth, good will to all people.”
But while we may talk and sing of Joy and Peace, there is an elephant in the room. Or to be more accurate, there is a locust-eating, camel skin-wearing, fire and brimstone preaching Prophet in the room named John.
Sometimes you have to wonder about our Lectionary. We have this Old Testament reading and beside it the Gospel reading of this crazed wild-eyed prophet, calling the religious leaders a “brood of vipers.” These two scenes seem to be worlds apart. A picture of peace on the one hand and an angry guy in the wilderness pointing out sin and calling for repentance on the other. How do we reconcile these Scriptures? We are left to wonder if we wouldn’t be better off putting John somewhere else, anywhere else but on the Sunday we light the candle of Joy?
Well, there is a tension, to be sure. My first instinct was to just not deal with John today. There is plenty in Isaiah’s prophecy to occupy us fruitfully without having to wade into John’s diatribes. But after thinking about it, it struck me that such tension is where we live a lot of our lives, and perhaps considering both of these Scriptures together would be profitable.
Let’s be honest: facing tension and turmoil is as much a part of the holidays as fruitcake and the barking dog version of Jingle Bells. This is a time of Joy, a time for family and friends, a time for celebration, but it is also a difficult time and a time of competing feelings.
This is a time for joyful celebrations, but it is also a time when losses are deeply felt. For those who have lost loved ones, the Christmas Season may not be so joyful. There are those for whom this will be the first Christmas without a loved one, and it will be a very different Christmas. Joy will be rather muted. And for some, it will be all they can do just to get through Christmas.
This is a time when we send cards with sentiments like “Joy to the World,” but we make these proclamations in the midst of a very violent world. We may speak of “peace on earth” when we don’t really feel it in our hearts. We speak of Joy while we deal with anger and conflict - Peace while we live with anxiety and tension.
Some of us will join with family at Christmas. But sometimes, these family get-togethers are not exactly all Joy. Some of us will find ourselves walking on eggshells - some of us will have to bite our tongues at times - or will be left feeling a lot of stress just getting ready for such events. It seems to be part of the deal.
And of course conflict is never far away. Yesterday the Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, California - with 173 lay and clergy convention delegates voting in favor, and 22 against - removed itself from the Episcopal Church and became a Diocese in the Province of the Southern Cone. Undoubtedly this will be followed by punitive actions ecclesiastical and civil against them.
And then there are the feelings of conflict within us too: we feel joy and sadness, excitement and loss, hope and despair, seemingly all at the same time.
So maybe it is appropriate that this morning we have John on the one hand and Isaiah on the other. Isaiah holds out the Peaceable Kingdom where Joy and Peace may be found while John reminds us that maybe the problem isn’t ‘out there’ but ‘in here’ after all. Maybe, in order to get to the peaceable kingdom, we need to repent.
John was quite a sight: he ate honey and locusts, dressed in camel hair, and called people to turn their lives around. He preached out in the wilderness and people flocked to him for baptism. But when some of the religious and political leaders came to him, he let them have it. “You brood of vipers!” he said. Not exactly joyful, peaceful words. And he told them, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” Or in other words: “just saying the right words won’t cut it - show by your lives the change in your heart.”
Maybe this is actually what we do need to hear - because if true Joy and Peace is to be found, then other contrary things will have to be moved out of the way. We will have to prepare the way of the Lord because there is a mess to clean up. And since we are all a part of the mess, since we all have those things in our lives that need to be cleaned up - those ugly things that we all need to let go of - then John’s words are necessary for us to get to Isaiah’s vision. Maybe we need to do some repenting in order to help bring about God’s Peace that we may experience His Joy.
In closing, before we all start looking for a place of escape - let me remind us all that God’s Peace and Joy are not to be found in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. God’s Peace and Joy are to be found in the midst of all those things - but because of Jesus within us, we still have calm in our hearts. Conflict and turmoil are a part of life - they are both around us and within us. And yet – and yet even in the midst of the storm, God is still there for even in the darkest night, God’s light comes when we least expect it, a Child is born, bringing us the opportunity of Peace and Joy.
1st Sunday - Potluck Lunch following Mass
2nd Tuesday - Episcopal Church Women
3rd Monday - Vestry Meeting - 5:30 pm
Next Sunday: The Third Sunday In Advent - Rose Sunday
9:30 am Older Children’s and Adult Sunday School; Choir Practice
10:30 am Holy Eucharist & Younger Children’s Sunday School - Coffee Hour
Mon. Office closed
Wed 5:30 pm Holy Eucharist and Healing Service - supper and study to follow
Sunday: The Fourth Sunday In Advent
9:30 am Older Children’s and Adult Sunday School; Choir Practice
10:30 am Holy Eucharist & Younger Children’s Sunday School - Hanging of Greens & Coffee Hour
December 24th Christmas Eve Mass 10:30 pm
*****************************
From this week's Sermon:
I always enjoy the scripture readings from the Prophets during the season of Advent. Some of the best and most inspiring words of Scripture are found here. Last week, we read from Isaiah about beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. A wonderful, hopeful vision.
Today, we read from Isaiah chapter 11: The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. This is a scene that makes it into many of our Christmas cards. It is a scene of peace.
Did you see the news report this week about a a tiger is raising a group of piglets at a zoo near Bangkok. The piglets were nursing from their adopted mother who seemed perfectly content with the whole thing. The piglets actually wore little tiger-stripe costumes. It’s not something you see every day, but it’s a picture of living together in peace.
This morning we lit the second Advent candle, the candle of Joy. This is a season for thinking and reflecting on what brings Joy into our lives. And one of those things that brings Joy into my life is the message of the angels “Peace on earth, good will to all people.”
But while we may talk and sing of Joy and Peace, there is an elephant in the room. Or to be more accurate, there is a locust-eating, camel skin-wearing, fire and brimstone preaching Prophet in the room named John.
Sometimes you have to wonder about our Lectionary. We have this Old Testament reading and beside it the Gospel reading of this crazed wild-eyed prophet, calling the religious leaders a “brood of vipers.” These two scenes seem to be worlds apart. A picture of peace on the one hand and an angry guy in the wilderness pointing out sin and calling for repentance on the other. How do we reconcile these Scriptures? We are left to wonder if we wouldn’t be better off putting John somewhere else, anywhere else but on the Sunday we light the candle of Joy?
Well, there is a tension, to be sure. My first instinct was to just not deal with John today. There is plenty in Isaiah’s prophecy to occupy us fruitfully without having to wade into John’s diatribes. But after thinking about it, it struck me that such tension is where we live a lot of our lives, and perhaps considering both of these Scriptures together would be profitable.
Let’s be honest: facing tension and turmoil is as much a part of the holidays as fruitcake and the barking dog version of Jingle Bells. This is a time of Joy, a time for family and friends, a time for celebration, but it is also a difficult time and a time of competing feelings.
This is a time for joyful celebrations, but it is also a time when losses are deeply felt. For those who have lost loved ones, the Christmas Season may not be so joyful. There are those for whom this will be the first Christmas without a loved one, and it will be a very different Christmas. Joy will be rather muted. And for some, it will be all they can do just to get through Christmas.
This is a time when we send cards with sentiments like “Joy to the World,” but we make these proclamations in the midst of a very violent world. We may speak of “peace on earth” when we don’t really feel it in our hearts. We speak of Joy while we deal with anger and conflict - Peace while we live with anxiety and tension.
Some of us will join with family at Christmas. But sometimes, these family get-togethers are not exactly all Joy. Some of us will find ourselves walking on eggshells - some of us will have to bite our tongues at times - or will be left feeling a lot of stress just getting ready for such events. It seems to be part of the deal.
And of course conflict is never far away. Yesterday the Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, California - with 173 lay and clergy convention delegates voting in favor, and 22 against - removed itself from the Episcopal Church and became a Diocese in the Province of the Southern Cone. Undoubtedly this will be followed by punitive actions ecclesiastical and civil against them.
And then there are the feelings of conflict within us too: we feel joy and sadness, excitement and loss, hope and despair, seemingly all at the same time.
So maybe it is appropriate that this morning we have John on the one hand and Isaiah on the other. Isaiah holds out the Peaceable Kingdom where Joy and Peace may be found while John reminds us that maybe the problem isn’t ‘out there’ but ‘in here’ after all. Maybe, in order to get to the peaceable kingdom, we need to repent.
John was quite a sight: he ate honey and locusts, dressed in camel hair, and called people to turn their lives around. He preached out in the wilderness and people flocked to him for baptism. But when some of the religious and political leaders came to him, he let them have it. “You brood of vipers!” he said. Not exactly joyful, peaceful words. And he told them, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” Or in other words: “just saying the right words won’t cut it - show by your lives the change in your heart.”
Maybe this is actually what we do need to hear - because if true Joy and Peace is to be found, then other contrary things will have to be moved out of the way. We will have to prepare the way of the Lord because there is a mess to clean up. And since we are all a part of the mess, since we all have those things in our lives that need to be cleaned up - those ugly things that we all need to let go of - then John’s words are necessary for us to get to Isaiah’s vision. Maybe we need to do some repenting in order to help bring about God’s Peace that we may experience His Joy.
In closing, before we all start looking for a place of escape - let me remind us all that God’s Peace and Joy are not to be found in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. God’s Peace and Joy are to be found in the midst of all those things - but because of Jesus within us, we still have calm in our hearts. Conflict and turmoil are a part of life - they are both around us and within us. And yet – and yet even in the midst of the storm, God is still there for even in the darkest night, God’s light comes when we least expect it, a Child is born, bringing us the opportunity of Peace and Joy.
Our Standing Announcements:
1st Sunday - Potluck Lunch following Mass
2nd Tuesday - Episcopal Church Women
3rd Monday - Vestry Meeting - 5:30 pm
Next Sunday: The Last Sunday After Pentecost - Feast of Christ the King
9:30 am Older Children’s and Adult Sunday School; Choir Practice
10:30 am Holy Eucharist & Younger Children’s Sunday School - Coffee Hour
Mon. & Tue. Office closed
Wed 5:30 pm Holy Eucharist and Healing Service
Birthdays: Nov. 26th Laura Berry, Nov. 27th Mona Berry
Next Sunday: The First Sunday In Advent
9:30 am Older Children’s and Adult Sunday School; Choir Practice
10:30 am Holy Eucharist & Younger Children’s Sunday School - 1st Sunday Lunch to follow
December 6th Angel Tea with Mrs. Stanton
December 8th Advent Quiet Day at St. John's Corsicana 9am - 2pm
1st Sunday - Potluck Lunch following Mass
2nd Tuesday - Episcopal Church Women
3rd Monday - Vestry Meeting - 5:30 pm
Next Sunday: The Last Sunday After Pentecost - Feast of Christ the King
9:30 am Older Children’s and Adult Sunday School; Choir Practice
10:30 am Holy Eucharist & Younger Children’s Sunday School - Coffee Hour
Mon. & Tue. Office closed
Wed 5:30 pm Holy Eucharist and Healing Service
Birthdays: Nov. 26th Laura Berry, Nov. 27th Mona Berry
Next Sunday: The First Sunday In Advent
9:30 am Older Children’s and Adult Sunday School; Choir Practice
10:30 am Holy Eucharist & Younger Children’s Sunday School - 1st Sunday Lunch to follow
December 6th Angel Tea with Mrs. Stanton
December 8th Advent Quiet Day at St. John's Corsicana 9am - 2pm
Our Standing Announcements:
1st Sunday - Potluck Lunch following Mass
2nd Tuesday - Episcopal Church Women
3rd Monday - Vestry Meeting - 5:30 pm
Mon. Office closed
Wed 5:30 pm Holy Eucharist - Supper - Study: "Gifts of the Holy Spirit"
Next Sunday: The 24th Sunday After Pentecost
9:30 am Older Children’s and Adult Sunday School; Choir Practice
10:30 am Holy Eucharist & Younger Children’s Sunday School - Reception and Lunch to follow
from this weeks Sermon: The Art of Blessedness
Not long ago, I was reading the account of the experiences of a patient with heart disease. While his life was dramatically affected but his illness, he made a very real choice not to become enslaved by his disease - unlike so many others who become bound by other circumstances they face in life - he chose to live each moment. One statement that he made, made quite an impact on me when he said: "Freedom doesn’t mean you get to choose what happens to you. But you do get to choose how you react to it.... and life depends upon choice."
So often in life we don’t get to choose what happens to us. We do, however, get to choose how we react to it. We can focus upon our emptiness and our loss or we can choose to see that which we do possess. Jesus didn’t say "choose to be poor," but rather said, "amid your poverty remember, you possess the Kingdom." Jesus didn’t say "choose to be mourners," but rather said, "amid your grief, remember, the Comforter is here." Jesus didn’t say "choose to be downtrodden," but rather, "amid your meekness, remember, the whole Kingdom is your inheritance." There is blessing in the choices we make, in how we respond to life’s broken edges that cut and tear the very fabric of life. In other words, things don’t always have to be as they appear to be in the life of one of God’s Saints.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" That’s getting things down to a pretty basic level. We all know to a certain extent what it’s like to be hungry or thirsty - and while we may never have been truly without food nor have experienced life threatening dehydration - all have felt the pangs of hunger and thirst at some point - and I am not just referring to what we stuff into our mouths because there are many types of hunger, and a variety of ways of satisfying that thirst. That’s where the choice behind this beatitude is.
The Prophet Isaiah spoke of ways of satisfying hunger and thirst that don’t really satisfy, asking "why do you spend your money, your time, your energy on things that only leave you as hungry and thirsty as when you started to eat or drink them, perhaps even more so?" Does it really satisfy hunger, for instance, to bite into pornography, or does it only leave us feeling even more empty than before? Quite often addictions, no matter which drug we speak of, often begin because we think they’ll satisfy the thirst within, but they never do.
Just like those preoccupied with wealth, or occupational or societal success can be as poor as any street person, unsatisfied and ever more hungry. Why waste yourself on bread which isn’t bread? That was Isaiah’s question. There is a blessing in such a choice.
Jesus said “blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” The Lord’s Prayer amplifies this Beatitude for us when our Lord taught us about forgiving who have somehow stepped over the line in our lives. How quickly we rush over the words "as we forgive" in that prayer. Forgiveness is never an easy process. We don’t get to choose the ways in which we are wronged. And it happens all the time. Yet we do choose, how we will respond to it, and there is freedom in that choice. On the other hand, we can choose to become enslaved by bitterness. I’ve known a lot of people lost in that wilderness.
When Jesus said "Blessed are the pure in heart" He wasn’t calling us back into a spiritual naivete where everything could be cured by a cookie and a nap. He was and is urging those who hear Him, in holiness, to choose to open their arms.... to take a risk. To be genuine, to approach others without mixed motives or hidden agenda, to be on the outside the same as the inside.
Now, the blessing behind this beatitude, the direction toward which Jesus is pointing, becomes possible when we choose to no longer nurse our wounds, to no longer see only the tainted aspects and failures of others and even ourselves, and choose instead to focus upon God and what God perfect in us.
Finally, Jesus said: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Who amongst us can deny the need for peacemaking in our very broken world. Every Christian has the responsibility to truly live out the Gospel in their relationships - where the blessings of peace follow : marriages and families are strengthened, healthier churches emerge, and a thriving, gospel-centered ministry based on Jesus own example is found.
It’s more than interesting, how Jesus is calling us to live - possessing the Kingdom of God, comforted by His presence, enjoying the great riches of His Kingdom, hungering for what is really good, being full of mercy, being pure in heart and instruments of God’s peace. This is how the great Saints of the Church have always lived with open arms and open eyes, heads raised high, they became the salt of the earth, the light of the world. That’s the blessing of such a choice - such a life. And may it be so for us also. Amen!
1st Sunday - Potluck Lunch following Mass
2nd Tuesday - Episcopal Church Women
3rd Monday - Vestry Meeting - 5:30 pm
Mon. Office closed
Wed 5:30 pm Holy Eucharist - Supper - Study: "Gifts of the Holy Spirit"
Next Sunday: The 24th Sunday After Pentecost
9:30 am Older Children’s and Adult Sunday School; Choir Practice
10:30 am Holy Eucharist & Younger Children’s Sunday School - Reception and Lunch to follow
from this weeks Sermon: The Art of Blessedness
Not long ago, I was reading the account of the experiences of a patient with heart disease. While his life was dramatically affected but his illness, he made a very real choice not to become enslaved by his disease - unlike so many others who become bound by other circumstances they face in life - he chose to live each moment. One statement that he made, made quite an impact on me when he said: "Freedom doesn’t mean you get to choose what happens to you. But you do get to choose how you react to it.... and life depends upon choice."
So often in life we don’t get to choose what happens to us. We do, however, get to choose how we react to it. We can focus upon our emptiness and our loss or we can choose to see that which we do possess. Jesus didn’t say "choose to be poor," but rather said, "amid your poverty remember, you possess the Kingdom." Jesus didn’t say "choose to be mourners," but rather said, "amid your grief, remember, the Comforter is here." Jesus didn’t say "choose to be downtrodden," but rather, "amid your meekness, remember, the whole Kingdom is your inheritance." There is blessing in the choices we make, in how we respond to life’s broken edges that cut and tear the very fabric of life. In other words, things don’t always have to be as they appear to be in the life of one of God’s Saints.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" That’s getting things down to a pretty basic level. We all know to a certain extent what it’s like to be hungry or thirsty - and while we may never have been truly without food nor have experienced life threatening dehydration - all have felt the pangs of hunger and thirst at some point - and I am not just referring to what we stuff into our mouths because there are many types of hunger, and a variety of ways of satisfying that thirst. That’s where the choice behind this beatitude is.
The Prophet Isaiah spoke of ways of satisfying hunger and thirst that don’t really satisfy, asking "why do you spend your money, your time, your energy on things that only leave you as hungry and thirsty as when you started to eat or drink them, perhaps even more so?" Does it really satisfy hunger, for instance, to bite into pornography, or does it only leave us feeling even more empty than before? Quite often addictions, no matter which drug we speak of, often begin because we think they’ll satisfy the thirst within, but they never do.
Just like those preoccupied with wealth, or occupational or societal success can be as poor as any street person, unsatisfied and ever more hungry. Why waste yourself on bread which isn’t bread? That was Isaiah’s question. There is a blessing in such a choice.
Jesus said “blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” The Lord’s Prayer amplifies this Beatitude for us when our Lord taught us about forgiving who have somehow stepped over the line in our lives. How quickly we rush over the words "as we forgive" in that prayer. Forgiveness is never an easy process. We don’t get to choose the ways in which we are wronged. And it happens all the time. Yet we do choose, how we will respond to it, and there is freedom in that choice. On the other hand, we can choose to become enslaved by bitterness. I’ve known a lot of people lost in that wilderness.
When Jesus said "Blessed are the pure in heart" He wasn’t calling us back into a spiritual naivete where everything could be cured by a cookie and a nap. He was and is urging those who hear Him, in holiness, to choose to open their arms.... to take a risk. To be genuine, to approach others without mixed motives or hidden agenda, to be on the outside the same as the inside.
Now, the blessing behind this beatitude, the direction toward which Jesus is pointing, becomes possible when we choose to no longer nurse our wounds, to no longer see only the tainted aspects and failures of others and even ourselves, and choose instead to focus upon God and what God perfect in us.
Finally, Jesus said: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Who amongst us can deny the need for peacemaking in our very broken world. Every Christian has the responsibility to truly live out the Gospel in their relationships - where the blessings of peace follow : marriages and families are strengthened, healthier churches emerge, and a thriving, gospel-centered ministry based on Jesus own example is found.
It’s more than interesting, how Jesus is calling us to live - possessing the Kingdom of God, comforted by His presence, enjoying the great riches of His Kingdom, hungering for what is really good, being full of mercy, being pure in heart and instruments of God’s peace. This is how the great Saints of the Church have always lived with open arms and open eyes, heads raised high, they became the salt of the earth, the light of the world. That’s the blessing of such a choice - such a life. And may it be so for us also. Amen!
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