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A Message from Jack Kamps,

Gideon's Garden Director

Sunday was the feast day of St. Luke, physician and evangelist. Luke was a companion and disciple of the apostle Paul, a fellow apostle and traveler. The gospel of Luke and the book of Acts—both written at the very end of the first century (~80–90 CE) and considered by biblical scholarship to be a continuous, two-volume text (called "Luke-Acts")—are commonly attributed to St. Luke, though the author of Luke-Acts is not named in either volume.

Not much is known about Luke the physician, if one attempts to look beyond the details mentioned in Luke-Acts regarding its author. However, Luke is generally considered to have been a Gentile or a Hellenized Jew, due to details about Luke the physician mentioned throughout the Greek Testament, as well as the rhetorical style and focus of Luke-Acts, indicating an author highly educated in the Greek style with an expansive salvation theology.

Themes of hospitality are also central to Luke-Acts' theology: meals are the place where God’s extravagant kin-dom is declared and enacted by Jesus and his followers. And within this expansive and extravagant kin-dom, those who have been exalted shall be humbled, and those who have been abased shall be lifted up. In Joel Schoon-Tanis' book 40: The Gospels, the artist's eight pieces depicting the Gospel of Luke all include mountains and valleys, using for interpretive key the words Jesus' cousin John quotes from Isaiah,

'Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'

(Isaiah 40:4,5, qtd. in Luke 3:5,6)

Matters of poverty and wealth are central to Luke's Gospel. At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus reads from the Torah scroll,

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor."

(Isaiah 61:1, qtd. in Luke 4:18)

Mary's Magnificat appears in Luke (1:46–55), as does Jesus' pronouncement that "you cannot serve both God and wealth" (16:13). In stark contrast to the rich young ruler who approaches Jesus and refuses the kind of discipleship Jesus requires (18:18–25), Zaccheus the tax collector follows in St. Matthew's footsteps, abandoning his post, giving half his ill-gotten wealth to the poor and returning fourfold what he had extorted while on the job (19:8). Jesus' disciples are invited into voluntary poverty and communal sharing as a way of showing solidarity with their impoverished neighbors—most notably, the women among their number contribute generously to the common purse (8:1–3).

Luke's Gospel has often been called the "Gospel of the poor," since it brings forth more clearly than Matthew, Mark, or John the notion of "God's preferential option for the poor." You may have heard this particular phrasing of the longstanding Christian principle, coined by a Jesuit priest in the 60s and popularized by Dominican priest and theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez in his book A Theology of Liberation. Perhaps in honor of this feast day you might read some of Gutiérrez's work and see what the MA chapter of The Poor People's Campaign has going on and contribute to their ongoing activism in our communities.

Cheers,

Jack

SERMON 10-18-26

WEEKLY SERVICES

Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost

October 25, 2026, 10:00 AM

Berkshire South Community Center

Great Barrington, MA

For Zoom, Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Passcode: 917937

Contemplative Eucharist, Wednesday, 10:00 AM

Grace Church Chapel

67 State Road, Great Barrington, MA

In-person and on Zoom

For Zoom, Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Passcode: 917937

Centering Prayer, Thursdays at 5:00 PM

67 State Road, Great Barrington, MA

Office Hours

The Grace Church Office is open

Mondays - Thursdays from 10am to 4pm.

Come by to pray at the chapel or to have a cup of coffee with us!

GIDEON'S GARDEN

Our flock of chickens has been enjoying all the loose soil and dropped veggies as the volunteers and I have been pulling this season's plants out of the field! As of this morning, the short side of the field has been emptied of annual vegetables and their companion flowers, and we're almost through with the long side. None too soon, as the overnight temperatures continue to drop and I look ahead to putting volunteer hours on pause after next Friday, Oct. 30.

Last Friday morning, while waiting out the rain, I met up with our friends over at ExtraSpecial Teas to talk through how this season's programming went, and what we'd like to do together next season. This Friday will be their final volunteer visit with us for this season, and I'm excited for us to plant the seed garlic harvested and sorted from what was planted at the garden last fall (along with some new varieties I picked up last month at the garlic festival).

Next Monday (Oct. 26), it will be time to take down the big tent and put it away for the season. If you would like to come out and assist with the disassembly, please stop by! There will be two more open volunteer time slots after that, so feel free to come and assist with fall cleanup as well.

-Jack Kamps, Gideon's Garden Director

Volunteer Hours at Gideon’s Garden:

Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 9am–Noon

I WANT SOME FRIENDS

Books & Bread

November 11th at 6:00PM

Join us for appetizers and a discussion of

Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

Questions? Contact Peter Kirchoff

OPPORTUNITIES to GIVE or VOLUNTEER

Berkshire South

Winter Coat Drive

Join the campaign to collect and distribute over 1,000 coats and cold weather gear to the community! Help keep others warm by donating gently-used coats, hats, mittens/gloves, scarves, boots, snow pants, and blankets. Find collection boxes throughout the Southern Berkshires, including the primary drop-off location in the lobby of Berkshire South Community Center. The public is welcome to select items for free at the distribution event.

For questions regarding the coat drive, please email skandt@berkshiresouth.org

Donations Accepted Aug 31 - Oct 21

Giveaway Event: Oct 23, beginning at 4:30pm

Lee Food Pantry

Saturday, October 31st is the fifth Saturday of the month and it is Grace Church's turn to staff the Lee Food Pantry!

If you are interested in volunteering please contact Sue Gore at:

LeePantry@graceberkshires.org

Or, click the button below to donate directly with Credit/Debit or Paypal

Donate Here!

SUNDAY MORNING

The Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost

Love and peace messages on the John Lennon wall in Prague

Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God

This tune O heiliger Geist, comes from Geistliche Kirchengesang 1623 and was harmonized by Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750.

Text is by Johann Niedling 1602-1668 a German church educator, hymn writer and librettist. It was translated by John Casper Mattes 1876-1948

The version above is beautifully done but only includes verses 1 and 3 of 4. The complete text is below

1 O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God,

In every need Thou bringest aid,

Proceeding forth from God’s great throne,

From God, the Father and the Son;

O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God.

2 O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God,

Increase our faith in our dear Lord;

Unless your grace the power should give,

None can believe in Christ and live;

O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God.

3 O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God,

Make us to love your sacred Word;

The holy flame of love impart,

That charity may warm each heart;

O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God.

4 O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God,

Enlighten us by that same Word;

Teach us to know the God's radiant love,

Lead us to Christ who reigns above:

O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God.

John Cheek Music Director.

LET US PRAY

Praying for each other and for the needs of the world is a vital mission of Grace Church. To add a prayer request to this list, please contact the Church Office

office@graceberkshires.org or by phone 413-644-0022.

We supply this list so you may contact members of our congregation who are at home or in a nursing facility. Please hold in your prayers and reach out as you can.

BLAKELY, Rosemarie

BREASTED, John

McCURDY, Deborah

GRACE CHURCH

Please include in your daily prayers this week:

Members of the Parish Family: Richard Starr; Kirk and Connie Garber; David Pixley; Cathy Haywood; Edna Leavenworth; Pennie Curry; Aicha and Matt Marcos; Rick and Sue Gore, and the Haywood family; Louise Peterson; Charlene Peet; The Rev. Marc Britt; Anne Andrews; George Raymond; Dindy and Mark Anderson; Linda White and her grandchildren, Claire, Mark, and Johnny; David Hamill; Rosemarie Blakely.

Others we Love: Aya Abdallah and Frank Zimmerman, son and daughter in law of Janet Zimmerman; Pat Murray, grandmother of Caroline Murray; Lenny Clough, brother-in-law of Dindy Anderson; Judy Davis, grandmother of Jacob Greer; Lisa Solomon, friend of David Pixley; Jack Starr, father of Richard Starr; Julia DePeyster, friend of Lea Richardson; Ada Gómez, mother-in-law of Rev. Jimmy; Cynthia Griesing, Holly Murray’s mother; Doreen’s sister, Linda Manardi; Paul, neighbor of Gina and Phil; Susie, Mike, and Emily Silver; Fran Hunt, Anne Andrew's sister; Michal Snyder, Dessida's sister; Anne Kistrup and Pam Reed, Lynn Walker's friends; Susan Bunce, Mary Booton's sister; George Laye; Fleming Rutledge; Tania Guerrero and her baby daughter Eugenia Marie Ayala Guerrero; David Rodriguez Ovalle, Sergio Rodriguez's father; Richard Cherneff; Cynthia Griesing, Holly Murray's mother; Bishop Michael Curry; Sara Miles and her wife Martha; Jerry and Karen Ericson; James Driscoll; Livia Driscoll; Deborah McCurdy.

Those who have died: Doug Happ, Lorraine Colombo, Lisa Leavenworth, Fred Harris, Dick Rutledge, Dale Peterson, Hawa Kiebre and Salif Tiri Ouedraogo, mother and father of Aicha Marcos; Kathy O’Brien, Pennie Curry’s sister; Paul Haywood, Sue Gore’s brother; The Rev. Donna Larson former Rector of St. George's; Hannah Peabody, Caroline Murray’s friend; The Rev. Donald Peet; Pamela Drumm.

Our world: For the people of Iran, Lebanon, Haiti, Palestine, Israel, Ukraine, the Sudan, and all other places of violence and war, that peace and justice may prevail, and human fear and suffering diminish. For all victims of hatred in this country; for all victims of gun violence and also for those who inflict gun violence on others. For all who are alone, afraid, or despairing. For prisoners, unhoused people, newly arrived immigrants, and all our neighbors, near and far.

The many ministries of our local community, especially for our partners at St. Paul's and the Rev. Samuel Vaught, the Rev. Jane Tillman, and the Rev. Libby Wade; Christ Trinity and the Rev. Erik Karas; the Mampong Babies' Home; and The Rt. Rev. Miguelina Howell, our Bishop.

The many ministries of our local community

Especially for our partners at St. Paul's and the Rev. Samuel Vaught, the Rev. Jane Tillman, and the Rev. Libby Wade; Christ Trinity and the Rev. Erik Karas; our Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Miguelina Howell; and the Mampong Babies' Home.

And we offer thanks: for all those celebrating birthdays or anniversaries this week.