Spirit of the Eagle – May 2016

Spiritual Tidbits for May from Father Tim

Eastertide is almost complete. Ascensiontide, WhitSunday, and Trinitytide are coming this May in quick succession! Again, as we put April behind us, God continues to bless us in many ways. Our church continues to show modest growth through 2016, and we recently completed the expensive (and much needed) electrical updating of the church porch, narthex, nave, chancel, and sanctuary. Our new hanging fixtures are especially beautiful. We have accomplished several acts of wonderful charity and outreach as well. Yes, with God’s help, we have advanced far this year. And as we continue to advance through the remainder of 2016, we should not wish for anything except the will of God to lead us higher. Let’s be sure we joyfully abandon worldly ways out of a deep love for God and all our fellow men. As we make room in our life after baptism for the indwelling of the Holy Ghost — and thus through our adoption to sonship, we are crucified with Jesus, laid in the tomb with Him, and rise and ascend with Him spiritually by imitating His way of life in the world around us. Yes, don’t hold Him down where we are, but rise and ascend with Him. We worship the God who with terrible power hovered over the waters, the God of right authority who walked over water on the earth, the God above who is Infinite Dominion containing all things seen and unseen. I hope and pray your May is blessed threefold by the dew from heaven. ~ Father Tim

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When your hands untie these strings,
Think you have an Angel by th’ wings.
One that gladly will be nigh,
To wait upon each morning sigh.
To flutter in the balmy air,
Of your well-perfumed prayer.
These white plumes of his he’ll lend you,
Which every day to heaven will send you:
To take acquaintance of the sphere,
And all the smooth faced kindred there.

~ George Herbert (1593-1633), Welsh poet, orator, and Anglican priest. The Temple

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Mother’s Day

Don’t forget Mother’s Day is Sunday, the 8th of May. We will be having a special Mother’s Day Coffee Hour on the 15th of May. Please stay after Mass and celebrate with all of our special Moms of Saint John’s. The Men will serve this day!

One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters. ~ George Herbert

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Elspeth Grace Sams Baptism

Please join us on WhitSunday, the 15th day of May, as Elsie Grace Sams, the daughter of Joel and Brittany Sams, receives the Holy Sacrament of Baptism right after our Holy Eucharist concludes. We will have a special cake in the parish hall to celebrate this wonderful blessing.

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May Spirituality Class

Please join us on the 22nd of May after Holy Communion as we continue an in depth study of The Revelation of St. John The Divine. Many people today regard Revelation as the hardest book in the New Testament. It is full of strange, lurid and sometimes bizarre and violent imagery. As a result, many people who are quite at home in the Gospels, Acts and Paul find themselves tiptoeing around Revelation with a sense that they don’t really belong there. But they do! In fact, Revelation offers one of the clearest and sharpest visions of God’s ultimate purpose for the whole creation, and of the way in which the powerful forces of evil, at work in a thousand ways, can be and are being overthrown through the victory of Jesus the Messiah and the consequent costly victory of his followers. Please come and bring a friend to visit our parish!

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Ministry for Children

There will be two Ministry for Children classes this month; one on May 15th (taught by Mary Akhtar) and one on May 22nd (taught by Savannah) of after Holy Communion. It is designed for age 2 through 12 years. We have purchased new Sunday school curriculum that flows with the church year and the 1928 BCP. Please make every effort to bring all children in your family for these fun and educational classes. The children will participate, enjoy, and learn the foundation and building blocks of the Christian faith through bible stories and created crafts. Crafts and refreshments are provided, and we still need a couple more volunteers who have a desire to teach children the foundation of our faith to step forward and help!

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It was the whole Trinity, which at the beginning of creation said, “Let us make man”. It was the whole Trinity again, which at the beginning of the Gospel seemed to say, “Let us save man”. ~ J. C. Ryle 1816-1900, Anglican Bishop of Liverpool

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Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and then I will show you a man that can comprehend the Triune God. ~ John Wesley 1703-1791, Anglican Priest and founder of Methodism

May Birthdays & Anniversaries

Abigail Evans – Birthday – May 4
Maria & Mike Whalen – Anniversary – May 8
Kacy Robbins – Birthday – May 9
Carol & Bob Petrie – Anniversary – May 9
Donna Lipscomb – Birthday – May 10
Steve Marvin – Birthday – May 12
Judie & Rich Boughner – Anniversary – May 15
Natalie Evans – Birthday – May 16
Mike Murray – Birthday – May 16
Myrna Richtor – Birthday – May 16
+Fr. Richard Bryant – Birthday – May 17
Kim Marshall – Birthday – May 23
Judy Hiltenbeitel – Birthday – May 26