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From the Vicar...
How much more!
Jesus is a person of prayer. This is most clear in Luke's Gospel. While all four of the Gospels write of Jesus praying, it is Luke who makes sure that we know Jesus was in prayer all the time, and particularly before every major event in his ministry. In the section from which we read this Sunday, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem for the last time. He will die when he gets there.
After being apart for a time of prayer, one of his disciples asks him, "Teach us to pray." Some of his disciples had also been disciples of John the Baptist and so it is perhaps not surprising that the disciple says, "Teach us to pray as John taught his disciples to pray." John had given a formula for prayer to his followers and now they want the same from Jesus.
Jesus does give them just what they ask for, but he gives them more. First, Jesus gives his disciples the prayer we have come to know as the Lord's Prayer - the Our Father. Jesus teaches them a specific, very simple way to pray. Not a lot of words, convincing God to act on our behalf, but a simple prayer. The most amazing thing about the prayer though is that it begins by addressing God as Father. It begins with a relationship and a close relationship at that. After teaching the Lord's Prayer, he is not anywhere near finished with teaching his disciples how to pray.
Jesus continues with a story. A man has a friend who comes at midnight in need of a place to stay. The man wants to host his friend, but he has no bread in his house. The would-be host goes to the home of another friend and knocks on the door. It is midnight. This friend is asleep, already tucked into bed with his whole family. The host in need of bread knocks and calls out, "Give me three loaves of bread. A friend has come and I need to take care of him." The man awakened at midnight says basically, "No way. I'm not getting up. I'm not giving you any bread."
Jesus is teaching here from the lesser to the greater. If your friend, who is nowhere near like God, would, if you kept asking him, give you what you ask for, how much more would God give you what you need. If the imperfect friend would wake up in the night and give you what you ask for, what about God who was never asleep to begin with. How much more will God take care of you!
Jesus goes on saying, "Ask and it will be given. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. For anyone who searches finds, anyone who asks receives, anyone who knocks finds the door opens for them."
The thing that God has been wanting you to search for, the thing that God has wanted you to ask for, the thing that God has been wanting you to knock at the door to receive is God's own Spirit in your life. Now is the time to say, "Lord, forget about the stuff I have been asking you for, what I really want is you in my life."
Fr. Chip
Outdoor Eucharist and cookout at Trinity next weekend!
Sunday, July 31 at 11 a.m.
On Sunday, July 31, Trinity Church will host an outdoor Eucharist and cookout (members of both churches welcome). The service will be at 11:00 a.m. in the shaded courtyard beside the church. The cookout will follow on the lawn. Bring your lawn chair and a side dish or dessert to share. Hot dogs, hamburgers and beverages will be provided.
In order to have enough for all attending ***Please RSVP ***by Wednesday, July 27, indicating how many from your household are coming to trinity55ad@gmail.com.
Oh, and as for a rain date...we won't need one. It never rains on our cookouts! (If, ahem, it does, we'll come inside.)
Our guest celebrant this Sunday...
We welcome Fr. Bill Gannon this Sunday
We are delighted to welcome the Rev. Bill Gannon as our guest celebrant at both churches this weekend. Fr. Bill was Trinity's interim prior to the establishment of our Shared Ministry, and is a familiar face to many at Christ Church as well. A retired priest from the Diocese of Newark (N.J.), Fr. Bill makes his home in Bedford and has been active in both supply and interim ministry since returning to his native New Hampshire several years ago.
Our Shared Ministry Cycle of Prayer
Each week, in both of our churches, we pray for one ministry we share and one or two households in each church. About once every six weeks, we will instead using the Shared Ministry Collect we prayed throughout the opening months of our Shared Ministry.
In our prayers the next two weeks, we give God thanks for...
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July 24
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Our music director,Alexis Zaricki; Chuck & Susan Ott; Roy Thomas
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July 31
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Our Shared Ministry administrator, Nita Niemczyk; Shirley Phillips; Angie & Ike Twombly
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July 23 & 24
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The Rev. Bill Gannon celebrates Eucharist at both churches - normal schedule
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Sun., July 31
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8:45 a.m.
10:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
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Said Holy Eucharist at Trinity Church
Said Morning Prayer at Christ Church
Outdoor Eucharist and cookout for members of both churches - Trinity Church
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Saturday 5 p.m. services will continue throughout the summer at Trinity Church.
As fall approaches...
We're looking for some help with our Saturday service
We're coming up on the third anniversary of our Saturday service at Trinity - and by every measure, it has been a success. That said, we are always looking for "new faces" to offer various aspects of the service so we don't have to rely on the same small group each week (grateful as I am for their service!). If you can help in any of the following ways, be in touch with me:
- A Lector for the scripture passages each week (they're the same as Sunday's readings the next day).
- An Intercessor to lead the Prayers of the People.
- Ideally, it would also be nice to have a second Eucharistic Minister to bear with the cup the weeks Ginnie-Lee can't be here.
I'd be more than happy to train new persons from among those who attend these services to serve in these various roles - or to invite someone who attends Sunday morning to help out, say, once a month.
Many thanks - and do come join us some Saturday. It's a quiet, relaxed service, and the folks who come seem to enjoy it.
Fr. Chip
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