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Greetings!
This Sunday in worship, we hear Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount that are both comforting and challenging: "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. . . . Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
The words remind that anxiety undermines and weakens our spiritual lives. When we focus on our own needs and troubles, God is easily replaced by worry, and God's gift of abundant life slips away. But how can we give up our anxiety and fear? Worship is a good place to start. Come on down to church this Sunday and give all of that stress up to God in prayer.
If you haven't checked a calendar, you may not realize that Easter is as late as it can possibly be: Sunday April 24th. So Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, is Wednesday March 9 (my 52nd birthday--no cake for me!). Services are at 8 AM, 12 Noon, and 7 PM.
On the following five Wednesdays--March 16, 23, 30, April 6 and 13--we gather for Lenten Evening Program. Each evening begins at 6 PM with soup and bread (bring other stuff, if you wish, but not desserts), a 6:30 program and discussion, and at 7:30 PM, evening worship in the church.
Our presentation will begin with an exploration of the King James Bible, which is observing its 400th anniversary. Remembering that most of the English-speaking world had never read the Bible, nor knew its transformational power in 1611, we will unlock the King James' language and ideas that revealed God's message of freedom from tyranny and oppression and the power of the individual to be worthy to stand before God on her or his own.
This coming Friday, March 4, we have two spectacular concerts in Christ Church. First, at 8 PM, the Poor Richard's String Quartet will perform two clarinet quintets by Brahms and Golijov. Admission is free. At 9:30 PM, as part of the Blindspot festival, our own Parker Kitterman plays new music on the Curtis Memorial Organ.
I continue this Sunday at 10:10 AM the six-week all parish confirmation class. We've been having fun, so why not join us?
Maybe you can join in the next shelter meal? Join the employment seekers support group. Help provide a Mardi Gras party for the families of the St. Barnabas Shelter. Details in the weekly announcements.
Timothy Safford
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