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3rd Sunday of Advent
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Next Sunday's Lections
4 Advent | |
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Canticle 15
Romans 16: 25-27
Luke 1: 26-38
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Upcoming Events
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Taize Candlelit Prayer Services
Wednesdays in Advent
6:30 pm in the Chapel
(see article to right)
Greening of the Church and Chapel After the 10:30 am service next Sunday, December 18
Pageant Dress Rehearsal Friday, December 23 at
10:00 am
Christmas Services Christmas Eve Family Service with Pageant
December 24, 5:00 pm
Midnight Mass with incense
December 24, 10:30 pm
Christmas Day
December 25, 9:30 am
in the Chapel
Fish Fry Food Bank Fundraiser
Friday, January 13
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Regularly Scheduled
Worship Services
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Weekdays
Monday thru Friday
Food Bank
open
10:00 am - noon
Wednesdays
Tabitha's Treasures
10:00 am
in Roberta's Hall
Prayer Shawl Ministry
Morning Prayer
2nd and 4th Wednesdays
in Roberta's Hall
at 12:00 noon
Holy Eucharist
1st, 3rd, and 5th Wednesdays
in Roberta's Hall
at 12:00 noon
Thursdays
Men's Bible Study
7:30 am in the Library
Choir Practice
7:00 pm in the Choir Room
(once per month during the Summer)
Weekends
Saturdays
Holy Eucharist
5:00 p.m.
(Chapel)
Sundays
Holy Eucharist
8:00 a.m.
(Chapel)
Breakfast
9:00 a.m.
(Parish Hall)
Christian Formation
9:30 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Adult program
in Roberta's Hall
Holy Eucharist
10:30 a.m.
(Church)
Sunday School
10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
K thru 4th grade -
Alleluia Chapel Program
in the Children's Chapel
Combined Prayer Ministries
Meeting for Study and Prayer in the Library
The first and third Sunday of each month after the
10:30 service.
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Email Archives
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Previous "Good Shepherd News" emails
More Details Link
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Sermons on iTunes
| | | Sunday sermons are posted on the Good Shepherd website and at the Good Shepherd podcast page in iTunes -
Click Here
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Church of
The Good Shepherd's
Facebook Page
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 Church of the Good ShepherdRevealing Christ's Love Caring for the sheep. Searching for the lost.331 Lake Avenue, Maitland, Florida, 32751407-644-5350 www.goodshepherdmaitland.com
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 "The Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and release to prisoners." Isaiah 61:1 |
Dearly Beloved in Christ,
In announcing the discovery by NASA of a new, possibly habitable, planet named Keppler 22b, the news commentator opined that this represented hope, perhaps a place to escape the world's current woes and start over! He was serious! And, of course, not the first to think that there was a possibility that mankind could engineer a utopia - a perfect place.
Certainly as far back as Plato people have thought to devise perfect societies, some have even tried to put them in place - none have succeeded. For the reality is that we take our humanity with us wherever we go, and that means we take our sin with us. Saint Paul puts it this way "there is none without sin, not one." And Saint John in his first epistle writes "if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." We bring our sinful humanity even into the church. L.L. Nash aptly wrote: "The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints."
Humanity will never be able to engineer a perfect place. But there is a perfect person who will change the place where you are - and it is the celebration of his first coming that we await this Advent season. The only one who can truly "bring good news to the oppressed, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoner."
During his many years of imprisonment because he was a Christian in China under Mao Tse Tung, Pastor Chen Min Lin was sent to work in the prison cesspools. Being assigned this work detail was normally a death sentence because of the infections that proliferated in that rancid, stinking place. But to Pastor Lin it became like a garden of life and light. On his second day in the cesspool as he prayed to the Lord for protection he realized that he had been given the blessing of solitude for the first time since he had been imprisoned. And he began to sing and worship, softly at first and then loudly, with tears streaming down his face:
"I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses.
And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and tells me I am his own.
And the joy we share, as we tarry there none other has ever known"
"When he finished singing each verse and chorus right there in that festering, rancid cesspool he seemed to smell the fragrant aroma of the Rose of Sharon, there, in that awful darkness he seemed to see the dazzling splendor of the bright Morning Star."
There is no perfect place that we can engineer, but there is a perfect One who wades into the darkness and stench of our own individual cesspools transforming them with his fragrance and light.
In the Peace, Grace, and Love of our Lord, Rev'd Sarah+ Some of you have asked me about the song I shared during last Sunday's sermon: "I Will Change Your Name." Following is a link to where I purchased the song on iTunes: I Will Change Your Name by Marilyn Baker in The Ultimate Collection Also ... I am exploring ways of getting the Church's profile higher up in the search engines on the internet. One way might be for you to follow this link and write some reviews CitySearch |
 Christmas Gifts for Homeless Teens This year we hope to provide gifts for the homeless teens of Covenant House through our annual Christmas gift outreach ministry. - and thank you as always for your generosity in caring for those in need.
DEADLINE FOR GIFTS - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18
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Greening of the Church and Chapel  We will be "greening" the church and chapel on Sunday, December 18 after the 10:30 am service. We will start in the chapel while the children rehearse in the church. Lunch will be at around 12:30 in the Parish Hall after which we will move to the church to decorate there as we sing some carols.
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 Advent Taize Candlelit Prayer Services Wednesday Evenings during Advent
December 14, December 21 at 6:30 pm.
Join us in the Chapel each Wednesday in Advent as we quiet our hearts by spending time in silent prayer; singing the meditative songs of Taize; and hearing the voice of the Lord in his Holy Word.
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CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE
Click Here
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Vestry Nominations
At the Annual Parish Meeting on Sunday, January 22nd, after the 10:30 am service, we will elect 5 members to the vestry (3 to a 3-yr term and 2 to a 2-yr term). The Rector and Treasurer are currently compiling a list of eligible people according to the parish by-laws (article V, Section 3): "The Rector and Treasurer shall establish a list of possible candidates who are eligible in accordance with Canon XVII, Sections 2 and 3 of Canons of the Diocese of Central Florida, as amended Jan. 20, 2000." For more information on National and Diocesan Canons on Vestries, and information on vestry responsibilities taken from publications sponsored by The Episcopal Church click here.
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PARISHIONER PRAYER NEEDS
Mary, Brenda, George, John, Heather, Bob, Karen, Terri, Jack, Cindy, Donna, Abbei, Elizabeth, John, Sallie, Tim, Jim, and Roy
LONG TERM PARISHIONER PRAYER NEEDS
Grover, Ival, Marion, Chet, Stan, Jack, Mike, Suzee, Lillian, Keisha, Jamie, and Jeanie
LONG TERM FRIENDS AND FAMILY PRAYER NEEDS
Fr Dick Grant, Lew, Kailee, Paul, Duncan, Alan
NON-PARISHIONER FRIENDS AND FAMILY PRAYER NEEDS
Doris, Anna, Louise, Karl, Marilyn, Kathy and David, Fred, Keith, Jeff, Kelly, Andrew, Thu, Herb, Kim, Kristina, Christi, Eric, Ruth, Doris, Bob, Paula, Keith, Brent, Debra, Virginia, Robert, Frank, Debbie, Paul, Andy, Pat, Tony, Tom, Don, Megan
MILITARY PERSONNEL AND THEIR FAMILIES
Zachary Adam Copes, Isaac John Copes, Christopher and Brigitt Kincaid, Justin Moye, Danny Graham, Hugh Darville, Chuck Gitschlag, Rory Patrick Coleman, Dennis Glasgow, Duncan Hanton, William Underhill, Taylor Lee OUR COLLEGE STUDENTS AND SEMINARIAN
Michael and Ryan Guerdan, Lindsey Nicolle, Allen Booker, Robert Borr, Matthew and Sarah Pierce, Robin Campbell, and David Bumsted.
FOR THOSE GRADUATING
For Keisha Moore who graduates from UCF this coming Friday
THOSE CELEBRATING THEIR BIRTHDAYS
Jean Wadill, Irene Burgess, Tina Guerdan, Ben Santiago
THOSE CELEBRATING THEIR ANNIVERSARIES
THOSE WHO ARE TRAVELING
PRAYER REQUEST LINK: click here for link
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