Collect for the week of Advent 3
Stir up thy power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and,
because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let thy bountiful grace and mercy
speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee
and the Holy Ghost, be honor and glory, world without end. Amen.
Readings for December 20th / Advent 4
Micah 5:2-5a
Psalm 80:1-7
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-55 +++++++++++++++++
Next Vestry Meeting Tuesday, Dec. 15th 6pm at Canterbury.
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Christmas Poinsettias - If you would like to offer thanks or a memorial for someone or something you can do so by making a $15.00 donation for Christmas Flowers. Sign-up on Sundays or for more info contact Roseddy Montgomery.
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Christmas Pageant (December 24th - at the 5pm Christmas Eve Service at RTS)
To participate or volunteer and rehearsal schedule Contact Heather Starr
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CHRISTMAS SERVICES
Christmas Eve / Dec. 24th
5pm Pageant & Eucharist at
Reformed Theological
Seminary
8pm Feast of the Incarnation
Holy Eucharist Rite II
(with incense) at the Chapel at Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center
10am Christmas Day Eucharist December 25th at Reformed Theological Seminary
Our last Sunday Service at RTS will be on December 27th
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Coming in January -
Dave Ramsey's
FINANCIAL PEACE UNIVERSITY
Contact Sue Grosso
(more details soon)
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THE CANTERBURY FUND... January
3rd we begin our worship in the chapel at Canterbury. This move will
be exciting; it will come with some cost. I am asking you to consider
a special financial gift to Church of the Incarnation Please make checks payable to Church of the Incarnation, mark them Canterbury Fund. You can drop them in Sunday's offering or mail them to Church of the IncarnationP.O. BOX 623302
Oviedo, FL 32762-3302If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me: jon@incarnationoviedo.com |
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Dear Friends,
We are in a new year - church year that is, as of three weeks ago. In about three weeks the rest of the world will celebrate the New Year on January 1. I have a deep sense of hope and expectancy as we enter a new season of our mission and ministry. I am amazed at all that has happened in the last month or so and the opportunity to grow that awaits us as we move onto Canterbury's campus. (See about "Moving Days" below)
Advent is a season of preparation - making ready to celebrate the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus into the world as well as longing for His second coming. No doubt some of you are ready for the holiday - gifts are wrapped, decorations are set, you even have your holiday menu purchased and planned. Others have not yet begun. I am reminded of the parable Jesus tells in Matthew 20...
""For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.'So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.'And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.'And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house,saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.'But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?'So the last will be first, and the first last."" (Matthew 20:1-16)
There is a lot we can glean from this story but I will make one simple point. Some come prepared to Christmas, some do not - It is not when you enter the service of the Lord, the issue at hand is that you COME. Jesus invites us to a celebration, a new life, hope, joy, peace, faith and love - to experience His generosity. May we approach Christmas - the Feast of His Incarnation, the new year, the move to Canterbury, our growing ministry and all God gives us, expecting to encounter the Lord and be changed. SO COME!!!
in the mission, JD+Fr. Jon / Vicar A Few Things...What a great Advent III Sunday! Thanks to The Rev. Dr. Reggie Kidd our guest preacher for a wonderful message. (I regret we did not get the audio - technical difficulty - so if you missed it you will need to ask someone who was there) You can check out Reggie's ministry at: www.reggiekidd.comThanks to Sue Grosso, Lynda Piercy and all those who contributed to making our "Lessons and Carols Party" such a great time of fellowship. A special thanks to the Hines Family Drama Troupe for adding such fun and meaning to our gathering. MOVING DAYS - We will have two different moving days. December 21 we will move some
Mission House (things needed for our worship) and all of our Christian
Formation items from RTS (primarily the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
materials and furnishings) On December 28th we will finish the move
from RTS taking all of our items and furnishing from the Fellowship
Hall at RTS. We need some help and if you are able you can sign up on
Sunday or email Shelly to let us know you can assist. ( shelly@incarnationoviedo.com) With year end comes the
closing of our financial books and to receive tax credit for your
contribution all gifts must be postmarked or received by December
31st. With the move and expansion of our ministry there are many needs
and I would ask you to consider gifts to the church as you are able, to
our operations and to the Canterbury Fund (see left column). Christmas in the City
Sunday, December 20th 1-5pm an opportunity to be part of impacting & transforming our community. Let's make Oviedo
into the Kingdom of God!!! (at least for these few hours) For more Information contact Carolyn Polomski
Our
very own children's Choir singing at Christmas in the City at the
beginning of the event 1pm. Come and support them in this ministry.
I commend this outreach to you and will tell you if you want to
experience the JOY of Christmas it is in part done so by giving. Give
yourself, involve your whole family, in this opportunity to make a
difference with love for others. You can volunteer on line - click here |
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THE CANTERBURY FUND... January 3rd we begin our worship in the chapel at Canterbury. This move will be exciting; it will come with some cost. I am asking you to consider a special financial gift to Church of the Incarnation Please make checks payable to Church of the Incarnation, mark them Canterbury Fund. You can drop them in Sunday's offering or mail them to Church of the IncarnationP.O. BOX 623302 / Oviedo, FL 32762-3302If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me: jon@incarnationoviedo.com
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