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The Episcopal Church
of the Resurrection
1433 NW R.D. Mize Road, Blue Springs, MO
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Weekly e-mail
Thursday, December 2, 2021
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Second Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 5, 2021
Holy Eucharist Rite I at 8:00 am
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 am
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Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish sisters and brothers
The eight-day Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah or Chanukah commemorates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where according to legend Jews had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt. Hanukkah, which means “dedication” in Hebrew, begins on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar and usually falls in November or December. Often called the Festival of Lights, the holiday is celebrated with the lighting of the menorah, traditional foods, games and gifts.
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Newcomers Class starts this Sunday |
NOW THROUGH DECEMBER 19 AT 9:15 AM ON SUNDAYS
Those new to the parish and those simply interested in learning more about the Episcopal Church and specifically the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection are welcome and encouraged to attend classes at 9:15 am (between services) in the undercroft. Even if you have attended previous classes, all are welcome!
Who are Episcopalians and what are the unique spiritual traditions in this branch of Christianity? Come find out!
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Please make your pledge today |
COMMITMENT SUNDAY IS DECEMBER 12
“Keep awake!” Jesus tells us, as if we could possibly let ourselves sleep right now. This year, full of plot twists has not given us a chance to rest. Staying vigilant has been standard operating procedure since the first cases of COVID-19 started making news. This was followed quickly by economic unrest and work disruptions, changes of our routines. Suddenly our living rooms were classrooms and our kitchens stocked snacks for quick meals between web conferencing. Our summer was marked by political upheaval, demonstrations for justice, natural disasters of every kind – more sleepless nights. Thank you for the words of advice, Jesus, but keeping awake has not been a problem this year.
But I don’t think Jesus was worried about our sleep cycles; rather, his words were a caution to stay focused, to pay attention. Further, I believe Jesus was not asking us to merely pay attention to the news cycle, to the obvious events that shape the big moments in the world around us, but to notice the subtleties, the patterns of behavior, the nuances.
Advent is a subtle season. Its quiet refrain offers us hope and patience in equal measure. Around us it is characterized by a frenzy of shopping and planning; but deep into the darkening evenings and cooler days of the Northern Hemisphere, or fully into the languid heat and brightening skies of the south of our globe, there is a silent stirring of movement and of expectation, as the things we have planted deep, begin to take root and find the light. Those small moments, the delicate actions and thoughts of Advent, open our hearts to see that faint light as it breaks through the chaos of our culture.
These are the gifts of the season: patience, hope, anticipation, and like every perfect gift, these presents bestow on us just what we need when we need it most. In a season marked by the opposing forces of starkness and extravagance, God’s generosity appeals to us in the simplicity of God’s desires for us: to be patient, to live in hope, to anticipate the freedom that will unshackle us from oppression. “And what I say to you, I say to all: Keep awake!” |
2021 Contribution Statements are available at the Church to verify your contributions to-date and remember your 2021 pledge amount.
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Christmas Movie this Friday, December 3 |
SHOWING AT 7:00 PM
Siblings Kate and Teddy Pierce hatch a scheme to capture Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. When the plan goes awry, the kids join forces with a somewhat jolly Saint Nick and his loyal elves to save the holiday before it's too late.
Everyone is invited for a Christmas movie celebration in the Undercroft on Friday, December 3 to see “The Christmas Chronicles”.
This movie is fun for ALL ages, even adult kids! Snacks will be provided..
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DOK seeks donations for adopted family |
WITH YOUNG CHILDREN
The Daughters of the King has "adopted" a young family this Christmas season to assist them in getting established in a home and to have gifts for Christmas,
Please check out the gift requests. See a member of the DOK to help with your generous gift.
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Monday Matters Reflection |
BY REV. JAY SIDEBOTHAM
From November 29, 2021
Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way. -I Corinthians 12:31
There are few practical roadmaps to show us how to generate and integrate grace in our lives. When I decided to make grace my touchstone, I unknowingly fell back on flawed Christian teaching that has left many of us throwing up our hands and declaring grace an unachievable and impractical goal. I imagined that by engaging in Olympian amounts of prayer, meditation, church attendance, and consumption of spiritual texts I would be so filled up with the love of God, I’d just overflow with the stuff. I’d be a veritable human Pez dispenser of grace. The contempt coursing through my veins would drain out of me, and I’d be a new person. I’ll cut to the chase. It didn’t work. -Kristen Powers, Saving Grace
We do not become righteous by doing righteous deeds but, having been made righteous, we do righteous deeds. -Martin Luther
There are only two kinds of [men]: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous. -Blaise Pascal
Inner righteousness is a gift from God to be graciously received. The needed change within is God’s work, not ours. The demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from the inside. We cannot attain or earn this righteousness of the kingdom of God; it is a grace that is given. -Richard Foster
Exceeding righteousness
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. -Matthew 5:19-20
When I embarked on a journey through the Sermon on the Mount, I knew there would be Mondays that would leave me saying, “Huh?” Today’s one of those days.
Let’s get right to it, with that bit about righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees. As I scanned commentaries, I found I’m not the only one who finds this perplexing. The whole narrative of the gospels seems to be that the scribes and the Pharisees, the really religious people of the day are clueless. (Let’s just say I hear that as a caution to those of us who serve as clergy.) Little children and promiscuous persons and tax collectors and outsiders have more understanding of the kingdom than religious leaders. Is Jesus saying that we need to try to be more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees, whose hypocrisy is in plain view? Are we supposed to follow their script when Jesus has called them blind guides and whited sepulchers? That’s one possibility.
Another possibility is that Jesus is asking disciples to consider these questions: What race are you running? In what stream are you swimming? What do you think will get you where you want to go? What do you value?
If you want to play the scribes and Pharisees game, which is to try to get your theology right, try to get your practice right, try to cross every “t” and dot every “i”, to never make a mistake, go for it. But that’s a big mountain to climb, that teeth-gritting effort to be a spiritual super-hero. Trying to make sure we get it all right can be a rat race and it’s been noted that the problem with winning a rat race is that at the end, you’re still a rat. We can enter into that kind of righteous rat race, if we so choose. It can all be so exhausting.
But there is another way, which in my mind is what the Sermon on the Mount is laying out for us. That way says that the way to the righteousness of spiritual over-achievement is simply the way of love (which is the commandment Jesus embraces). It begins with understanding righteousness not so much as a moral checklist as a matter of relationship, being rightly related. And that way (St. Paul called it a more excellent way in the lead-in to his hymn about love in I Corinthians 13) exceeds the righteousness of scribes and Pharisees. By way of a sneak preview, the verses we’ll look at in the coming weeks talk about lives lived in righteousness. Jesus says it’s not as much a matter of outward actions as it is a matter of the heart that sets us in right relationship with God and with each other.
If this is indeed what Jesus had in mind (and folks, I could be wrong), then we are called to pursue a righteousness that comes by faith in the power of God’s grace to make us what we were created to be. It begins by recognizing that we can’t do this on our own, by our own willfulness. We need help because we will fall short. It continues with expressions of gratitude (which we observed over the past weekend) that it’s not all up to us. We will with God’s help. And then it finds expression in the practice of love of God and neighbor, the two being inseparable, the two commandments that sum up all the law, even the least of the laws. That practice is a reflection of the grace that has been shown to us. When we all get around to that kind of practice, I imagine that is what the kingdom of heaven will be like.
Give it some thought, give it a shot this first week of Advent.
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CSL Holiday Meals and Christmas Store |
DONATIONS NEEDED
The Blue Springs Community Service League (CSL) has asked our help this year to provide Thanksgiving and Christmas meals to those in need. They ask you please give donations of stuffing, instant potatoes, canned green beans/corn/yams/fruit, jiffy corn muffin mix, pie filling, pie crusts and gravy. We will collect these items at church and take them to CSL.
CSL will also be sponsoring their annual Christmas store for the needy on December 16. There will be tree in our Narthex beginning November 21 for parishioners to select a gift tag and purchase gifts to be returned to church no later than December 8.
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Vestry Nominations Still Open |
SEEKING CANDIDATES NOW
Anyone interested in serving on the Vestry should contact a member of the Vestry nomination committee (Les Woodward, Jim Gilligan, Bill Carle or John Biggs) before the end of the year.
The Vestry is the board of directors for the parish and is comprised of lay people who represent the parish as a whole in decision making, planning and communication. If you have questions, please talk with any current Vestry member or Fr. David.
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR
12/08 Wednesday: 7:00 pm Vestry Meeting
12/11 Saturday: DOK Christmas Potluck
12/16 Thursday: 11:30 am LunchBunch at Conns
12/18 Saturday: 10:00 am DOK Meeting
12/19 Sunday: 11:30 AM Coloring of the Church
12/21 Tuesday: 1:00 pm Book Club
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Collecting clothing for Afghan refugees |
PLEASE BRING TO CHURCH SUNDAY
Kansas City will be welcoming approximately 550 Afghan refugees in the coming months. St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church, 16808 Holmes Road, Belton, MO is partnering with KC for Refugees to distribute contributions of winter clothing to refugees.
Please no more household items. Bring your contributions to church this Sunday and we will make sure they are delivered to St. Mary Magdalene for distribution.
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Remember to wear your name tag |
HELP US WELCOME VISITORS
Help us remember who you are and make it easier for folks to identify you! Please wear your name tags, located next to the hallway windows in the narthex.
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Volunteers needed to serve on Sundays |
LECTORS, ACOLYTES AND EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS
If you would like to be a lector and/or eucharistic minister, please contact Diane Gerlach at 816-896-2875.
Please contact Lisa Twitty at 913-485-7150 If you would like to serve as an acolyte.
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Bible Study every Wednesday at 1:00 pm |
STUDYING THE BOOK OF EXODUS
Please join us every Wednesday afternoon for Bible Study from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm.
Our current focus is the book of Exodus and we'll soon be moving on to the book of Leviticus.
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