Faith-ing
“And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’”
We have heard it said that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of these not seen. Faith can do more than we believe is possible and faith can lead us from our deepest pain into hope that life is worth living and that the world is good despite evidence to the contrary.
Thinking of faith reminds me of a joke my father told me many years ago. There were two boys who went to visit their grandfather and the grandfather took them up to a barn in his field. When the first boy looked into a stall in the barn he saw it piled high with manure and he turned to his grandfather and said, “This is horrible, it’s just a giant pile of horse “poop” (substitute color expletive)!” But the second boy looked into the stall and turned around and grabbed the manure fork and started clearing. His brother asked him if he was crazy and the second boy said, “Heck no, with this much horse “poop” (insert color expletive), there is a pony in here somewhere!!”
Now that, is faith.
With faith, as it has been said, we can hope for water when we are dying of thirst in the desert, we can believe in rain when the soil of our soul is dry and parched. Even as we find ourselves rejected and close to the end of all endurance like this woman in Sunday’s Gospel (above), faith will drive us to reach out and grab onto even the fringe of hope. Faith is trusting that God has already provided that which we are currently without, we just haven’t seen it yet.
Faith is what gives us an inward trust when outwardly the world is blowing to pieces right in our hands. Faith is when we believe that God’s goodness, justice, and mercy can be trusted, even as it is being withheld by those who are afraid to love, afraid to forgive, afraid to throw open wide the portals of God’s love to all and say come on home, we’ve been waiting to welcome you.
Faith is the very being of God’s promises.
Sometimes we confuse faith and belief.
Belief is wonderful, but it is a pale thing when compared to faith. Belief asks us to consider: is this true? Faith demands transformation and action.
It calls us out of ourselves and into participation with God. Faith, well-lived, will change not only our own lives, but the lives of those around us.
Faith is a verb.
In the English language, we do not have a verb for faith. But when we are fully alive and engaged in living a life where God’s hope can be experienced through our actions, we are “faithing.”
Yes, faith is an inward assurance, but it is also an outwardly living reality. As I read somewhere recently, “Inwardly faith says we shall overcome, outwardly faith will tell us to march toward Selma—or wherever it is today that people are being oppressed or ill-treated.”
Faith radically changes what we perceive, how we “see.” Faith gives us sight beyond what can be seen with the naked eye and fills our senses with God’s beauty. It takes the image of a world swirling in chaos and translates it into a creation of God. To the naked eye, there is trouble all around, but to the eyes of faith, grace is everywhere.
Jesus tells us that when the lamp of the eye is dark, all we can see is darkness. It can become a habit to see some things or some people in our lives with suspicion or fear. We train our hearts to see failure where there is triumph and destruction when a new creation is emerging. Losing the eyes of faith can create mean people; jaded eyes see only what they want to see.
Faith is what saves us from that sad reality. Faith does not ask us to pretend that all is well or to live life looking through rose-colored glasses. Faith does not ask us to ignore our own pain or the pain of others. Faith asks just the opposite. Faith helps us see the world as it is and love it anyway. Faith calls us to bear God’s beauty and truth into all of the wounded places of our lives.
Faith asks us to see the world through God’s eyes. It asks us to see our neighbors and those we fear or something we see darkly and look again—look and see with God’s love and the light streams through.
Inwardly faith moves hearts, outwardly faith moves mountains.
Faithing is something we can all do individually or together. As the great Curtis Mayfield says,
People get ready there's a train comin'
You don't need no baggage, just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket, just thank the Lord…
Keep the Faith,
Mother Stephanie+
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Congratulations to our OFFICAL Rector!
We are thrilled to announce that following a period of discernment, the Vestry has unanimously called Mother Stephanie Parker as the Rector of St. Paul’s. An Installation service will be planned and announced in the future. Congratulations Stephanie!
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Let's Create a Homecoming RAINBOW!
Get your first edition, colorful
St. Paul's Homecoming 2021 T-Shirt NOW!
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T-Shirts are $15.00 each and all proceeds, after the cost of the shirt, will benefit out Crisis Assistance Ministry.
There are two ways you can order:
Option 1 - You can now order online at the link at the bottom of this announcement that will take you to our at our St. Paul's Homecoming Webstore. Order now through July 4th!
Option 2 - There will be a sign up sheet at church starting this Sunday. The last day to sign up at the church is July 3rd. Please make all checks out to St. Paul's Episcopal Church with the memo "T-Shirt" on the memo line.
The shirts can be picked up at Cook's Sports in Wilkesboro starting July 16th at 12pm until July 17th at 5:30pm, regardless of which ordering option you choose. Shirts that have not been picked up by the deadline can be picked up the next day, July 18th, at the Parish Picnic.
Do not let a lack of funds keep you from sporting this very fashionable item that everyone will be wearing this season. Just contact Mother Stephanie and she will hook you up!
Questions???Call or text Nancy Scroggs @ 336-262-2223
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Save the Date!
St Paul's Homecoming
July 18th
Plan to join us for this very special day of
Celebration!
Reconnect as we
gather as
ONE Community
with
ONE Service at 10 AM
followed by
Food
Music
Games
and
LOTS of Fellowship
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Mark Your Calendars
Genesis Bible Study
Wednesdays
12-1
Beginning
August 11th
through
September 22
The First book of the Bible contains so many of our best known and most beloved stories, many of them familiar since childhood. But do we really know the power and purpose of these stories as intended by their original Hebrew writers and storytellers?
Join Mother Stephanie on a 7 week adventure through the first nine chapters of this beautiful scripture and learn that the human journey is never far from the presence and love of God.
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We are excited to announce that starting Sunday, July 4th at 3pm, Christ the Liberator will be returning to St. Paul's for worship in the chapel. Christ the Liberator services, led by Pastor Brandon Anderson, will be held weekly. |
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Have any empty egg cartons?
Samaritan Kitchen has an immediate and ongoing need for empty egg cartons. They are fortunate to have a donor of eggs every week that have to be put into cartons to pass out to our hungry neighbors.
You can drop them off at Samaritan Kitchen or bring to Church and Glenn Smith will pick them up and deliver to Samaritan Kitchen.
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UPDATED 6-24-21
COME and WORSHIP!
We must still wear masks, especially for congregational singing, and we must still refrain from the Common Cup during Eucharist, but all other restrictions are lifted.
We will be releasing NEW GUIDELINES prior to Sunday, July 4th!
WE MISS YOU! We invite you to come back and join us for in person worship! Services will be held at their regular times of
8:30 and 10:30.
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Join us for Worship on YouTube or click on the link on our website! |
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CARE & FEEDING FUND
Offering Hospitality in Time of Need
Thank you for your generosity! $1250.00 so far...
And thank you to Gwen Temple and Carol Canter for fulfilling this needful ministry!
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Hospitality is a primary call of faith community. We all have times in our lives when circumstances overwhelm our basic needs and that is when the the care and feeding of our members becomes a paramount need.
There are many in our church family that could use and appreciate a meal. Since COVID, our Feed My Sheep Teams have been inactive.
Until such a time when we can get those teams up and running we are starting a Care & Feeding Fund.
We have received $1250 worth of donations towards our Care and Feeding Fund. A special thank you to those who contributed.
If you would like to donate to this fund by writing Care and Feeding Fund in the memo line of your check, we will purchase food and deliver to our parishioners in need.
Donations can be mailed or dropped off by the church office. And again, please make all checks out to St Paul’s with the memo of Care & Feeding Fund.
Thank you!
Carol Canter
Gwen Temple
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Ongoing Ministry Opportunities Below!
Listed below are on-going opportunities to give, participate, and serve at St. Paul's. We don't want these ministry activities to become "wallpaper" as they do change slightly from time to time so check in each week and see what invitation to serve might be calling your name!
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SHAWL MINISTRY
“You created every part of me, knitting me in my mother’s womb.
For such handiwork, I praise you. Awesome this great wonder!”
Psalm 139:13-14
The prayer shawl collection at St. Paul’s is very low.
Prayer shawls are made to provide warmth, comfort, healing, and peace to those who may need it.
If anyone is inclined to knit or crochet a shawl and would like to donate it to the churches shawl collection, donations can be dropped off at the church office.
A special thank you to those who have made and donated shawls in support of our ministry.
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The Aug/Sept/Oct issues of Forward Day by Day are now in the mailbox by the front door of the office, as well as the May/June/July issues.
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UPDATE
New Vestry Minutes have been added. April's minutes are now available!
Click button to go directly there
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Readers
June 27 - Laurie Love (8:30)
June 27 - Dick Sloop (10:30)
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Altar Guild
June 27 - Mary Anne Caplinger & Tom Carnes
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Birthdays:
June 26 - Cynthia Hartley
June 27 - David McNeil
June 29 - Carol B. Canter
June 30 - Stephen Reid
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Anniversaries:
June 26 - Ray & Ricki Barger
June 27 - Bailey & Julie Koch
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Prayer Requests
or by calling the office during regular office hours.
Bulletins are printed on Thursday mornings and requests submitted after that time will not be in the printed bulletin for that week, but may still be spoken. Prayer requests received by noon on Wednesday will be included in the weekly e-newsletter.
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Please remember in your prayers: All who are ill or unemployed and those who are on our prayer list.
Short-term
Sadie Broome, Lucca Hailey, Doug Johnson, Lorraine Little, Jen & Cliff McElroy, Becky Mullins, Kris Riley, Tara Riley, Jeff Smith, Susan Whittington
Long-term
Jim Andrews, Ken Asel, Pam & Robert Baugh, Thomas Dellinger, Tina Duncan, Mary Hawkins, Cynthia Hill, Bob & Donna Webber
Armed Forces
Let us pray for the safety of all our troops, especially Cole Griffith, Zach Necessary, Walker Pardue, Philip Southwell, Mark Stone, Jason Westmeyer, and all others who serve in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the world.
Please send to the church office the addresses of troops with connections to
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The Lessons for June 27, 2021 |
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Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15; 2:23-24
God did not make death,
And he does not delight in the death of the living.
For he created all things so that they might exist;
the generative forces of the world are wholesome,
and there is no destructive poison in them,
and the dominion of Hades is not on earth.
For righteousness is immortal.
God created us for incorruption,
and made us in the image of his own eternity,
but through the devil’s envy death entered the world,
and those who belong to his company experience it.
Psalm 30
Exaltabo te, Domine
1 I will exalt you, O Lord,
because you have lifted me up *
and have not let my enemies triumph over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried out to you, *
and you restored me to health.
3 You brought me up, O Lord, from the dead; *
you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.
4 Sing to the Lord, you servants of his; *
give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.
5 For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye, *
his favor for a lifetime.
6 Weeping may spend the night, *
but joy comes in the morning.
7 While I felt secure, I said,
"I shall never be disturbed. *
You, Lord, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains."
8 Then you hid your face, *
and I was filled with fear.
9 I cried to you, O Lord; *
I pleaded with the Lord, saying,
10 "What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the Pit? *
will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?
11 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me; *
O Lord, be my helper."
12 You have turned my wailing into dancing; *
you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.
13 Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing; *
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks for ever.
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2 Corinthians 8:7-15
As you excel in everything-- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you-- so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something-- now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has-- not according to what one does not have. I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written,
“The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little.”
Mark 5:21-43
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
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St. Paul's Episcopal Church | 336-667-4231 | [email protected] | https://stpaulwilkesboro.org |
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