April 2024
Spirit of the Eagle
St. John the Evangelist ACC
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for
April 2024 from Father Tim
April 2024 begins in Eastertide and along with the Easter Sundays includes two days of obligation, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (8th-transferred) and Saint Mark, Evangelist (25th). This month I would like to write a few lines about our March Lenten Season and Holy Week services at Saint John’s. They were beyond wonderful this year. Praise and glory be to God. Participation at each service was amazing (even the weekday participation was up). Also, those of you who worked behind the scenes went the second mile at every service. Those of you who labored to make the church beautiful proved you understand “the beauty of holiness.” Parishioners attended more services during this year’s season than any prior season over the last seven years. This past Easter Sunday was the largest attendance since 2017. Praise and glory be to God. All of this is the result of your growing sanctification. God bless all of you. In the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew it is written “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Christ is not speaking about the Eastern Church, the western Roman Church, or any particular branch of the Protestant Church. The Church of that verse is made up of all the true believers in Jesus Christ, those who repent of their sins, those who flee to Christ Jesus by faith, those who are made new creatures by Him. Do we belong to the Church which is built ‘upon’ this rock? Yes, we do. The Church mentioned in that verse is no material building, it is no building of stones placed together by hands. It is the company of men and women like you, a peculiar people, God’s elect, receptors of His grace, washed in Christ’s blood, born again, becoming more sanctified every passing day, that makes far less show than any visible Church in the eyes of the world, but is of much more importance in the eyes of God. This is the body of Christ. His flock. This is “the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” and “the blessed company of all faithful people. Saint John’s is The Church upon the Rock. Each of you are precious and honorable in the sight of God. I pray that your April is a shower of blessings. ~ Father Tim
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Is there someone in your life who does not attend church? Someone who could benefit from worshiping with “the blessed company of all faithful people?” Do they know what holiness, sanctification, or becoming a new creature really mean? If not, April is a beautiful month to invite them to church with the new life of Spring emerging afresh all around us. ~ Father Tim
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We don’t come to church, to be a church. We come to Christ, and then we are built up as a church. If we come to church just to be with one another, one another is all we’ll get. And it isn’t enough. Inevitably, our hearts will grow empty, and then angry. If we put community first, we will destroy community. But if we come to Christ first and submit ourselves to Him and draw life from Him, community gets traction. ~ C.S. Lewis, 1898-1963, British Writer, Literary Scholar, & Anglican Lay Theologian
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Did you know?
Did you know Saint John’s ‘Baby Bottle Campaign’ raised $491.00 for CareNet Pregnancy Services of NKY in March? Did you know our Book of Life Club will be discussing The Way of the Pilgrim, translated by R.M. French? Did you know that we are moving forward on our final stain glass window protection and improvement in 2024? Did you know we have a new Landscape Company, Nature’s Touch, for 2024?
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Saint John April Ordo Kalendar
Wednesday, the 3rd of April at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sun., the 7th of April, at 10:30 AM, Easter I Mass, Low Sunday
Wed., the 10th of April, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sat., the 13th of April, at 2:00 PM, The Usual Suspects Club, Bible Study Lineup
Sat., the 13th of April, at 3:15 PM, The Book of Life Club, The Way of the Pilgrim
Sun., the 14th of April, at 10:30 AM, Easter II Mass, Good Shepherd Sunday
Wednesday., the 17th of April, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 21st of April, at 10:30 AM, Easter III Mass, Vestry Meeting
Wednesday, the 24th of April, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 28th of April, at 10:30 AM, Easter IV Mass
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It must not content us to take our bodies to church if we leave our hearts at home. ~ J.C. Ryle, 1816-1900, Anglican Bishop of Liverpool
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Objection: I can profit as much by staying at home and reading the Scripture or some good book; it is the word of God which they preach, and it is that which I read at home. The books that are written by learned men are better than the sermons that are preached by our ministers.
Answer: What foolish pretences are these against the plain command of God and our own necessary duty! When God hath appointed you your duty, will He allow you to forsake it upon your own reason, as if you were wiser than God, and knew what will profit you better than He? ~ Richard Baxter, 1615-1691, English Church Leader & Theologian
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April Birthdays & Anniversaries
Madeleine Miller – Birthday – April 15
Judy Adams – Birthday – April 19
Carol Petrie – Birthday – April 22
Mike & Julie Murray – Anniversary – April 28
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Why should we want to worship Jesus well?
It gives expression not merely to our sense that we have received salvation from Him, but also to our appreciation of what it cost Him to procure this salvation for us. It is the name specifically of the Christ of the cross. Whenever we pronounce it, the cross is placarded before our eyes and our hearts are filled with loving remembrance of not only that Christ has given us salvation, but that He paid a mighty price for it. ~ B.B. Warfield, 1851-1921, American professor of Reformed theology at Princeton Seminary
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Our public assemblies were then beautiful; the congregation was alive in God’s service, everyone earnestly intent on the public worship, every hearer eager to drink in the words of the minister as they came from his mouth; the assembly in general were, from time to time, in tears while the Word was preached; some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others with pity and concern for the souls of their neighbors. ~ Jonathan Edwards, 1703-1758, American Revivalist Preacher, Philosopher, & Theologian
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On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read… Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead. ~ Justin Martyr, AD 100-165, Early Christian Apologist & Philosopher
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When you were born, your mother brought you to church.
When you were married, your wife brought you to church.
When you die, your friends will bring you to church.
Why not try coming to church on your own sometime?
~ James Denny, 1856-1917, Scottish Theologian & Preacher
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The seeking of Jesus Christ and the quest for chivalry combined lead directly to one place only: Anglican-Catholicism. Courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help and defend the weak and the poor. Welcome to the Anglican Catholic Church. ~ Father Timothy Butler