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This Week at St. Bart's 
June 15, 2016
A Message from the Reverend Andy Dunks

The Gospel, the Garden, the Quiet Time

"Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "Speak." "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." 
(Luke 7:36-43, last Sunday's Gospel reading)

Those who are forgiven much...

It seems to me that Christians can wander off the path in two opposite ways:  We can be complacent, lazy and uninterested in holiness because "God loves me just as I am".  That's true, but He also loves us enough to be satisfied to leave us flailing about in our sin.  Parents who never challenge their children to fully grow up are not loving parents but bad parents, and Christians who never look seriously at their own sins [including sins of omission] are bad Christians.  The woman from the gospel above had certainly looked very hard at her own need for forgiveness.  Had she not taken full responsibility for her sins, she could never have felt the joyful freedom of reconciliation to God that she so clearly demonstrated through her tender devotion to Him.  If we refuse to acknowledge we are ill, we won't seek the treatment that makes us well.  If we never weed the flower garden, then very soon we will not have one, but only a patch of weeds.  When we refuse to acknowledge the burden of our sinful habits, we won't take the steps needed to be rid of them, and we will never have real joy.

...love much.

On the other hand, once we are determined to deal with our own sins, we can very quickly make the opposite mistake, refusing to bask in the presence of the One who always accepts our repentance, loves us unconditionally, and invites us to sit and enjoy His presence.  Instead, we look for the next sin to repent of or the next challenge to be met, for there will surely be one.  If all we do is weed the flower garden, and lament over the parts of it that aren't turning out quite as we had hoped, that we should have planted differently, then what's the point of having a flower garden at all?  We can so easily turn a thing of beauty meant for our enjoyment into an unending and impossible job.  Our relationship with God always needs tending, just as a garden does.  But it is also a thing of beauty given for our joy, and unless the weeds of our sins are desperately tall, we must also take time to give thanks for it, indeed to revel in the glory of it, as that woman did at the feet of Jesus. 
Mission
Our mission is to seek, serve, and celebrate Christ in every person. 
We invite the community to worship with us, to share our gifts, and to grow in Christ's love. 
In This Issue
 
 
Join our Email List
Web Site
Email
Phone
804-740-2101
Street Address
10627 Patterson Ave.
Henrico, VA 23238
 
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 29626
Richmond, VA 23242
 
Father Dunks's
contact information
Cell: 804-937-7145
dunks.andy@gmail.com
What do you need to do more of today, in the "garden" of your walk with Christ?  To get to the weeding, or to stand in awe of the beauty of His love and His work in our lives?  Either way, it would be good to be in the garden.

Blessings,



This Sunday

  8:30 AM     Holy Eucharist, Rite I
  9:30 AM     Adult Sunday School 
10:30 AM     Holy Eucharist, Rite II
  5:30 PM     Sudanese Service
Annual St. Bart's Picnic

St. Bart's annual picnic this year will be held on June 26 at Deep Run Park. We
will start to gather at 10:00AM. 
Our service will start at 10:30AM. We have
reserved 
shelters 4 & 5 at the park. 

Lunch and games after the service. Please invite family and friends to join us.

Hamburger, hot dogs, buns, condiments and paper products will be provided.

Please bring a dish to share with others. See suggestions for the type of dish
to bring using the initial of your last name:
A-C  -  desserts
D-O -  drinks
P-Z -   side dish

Bring games to play after lunch.

As usual our 8:30 AM service will be held at the church.
Outreach Opportunity 

Care Packages for Marines Overseas
 
We will once again be collecting gifts for our adopted Marine platoon from now through
July 4th. There will be a box near the front door of the church for you to deposit your
donations.
 
What you can do to help: Write a card or letter, in a sealed envelope marked "To any Marine".
 
Purchase the following items:  baby wipes, powdered drink mix or Gatorade in single-
serving packets, disposable razors, toothbrush and toothpaste, mouth wash, shaving
cream in squeeze containers,  "power bar" snacks, trail mix packets, and magazines
appropriate for young men. Bulk purchases are great, as long as they can be broken down
into sealed individual packets suitable to fit in a soldier's back-pack, e.g. NOT a big box of
1000 baby wipes, but rather 20 small travel-packs of 50.
Financial Information 
Year to date 1/1/2016 - 4/30/2016

                                      Actual               Budget              Difference     
Pledges                      $38,252.00      $42,910.04      -$4,658.04     89.14%
Total Income               $41,074.75      $46,189.60      -$5,114.85     88.93%
Total Expenses             $43,857.44      $48,205.55      -$4,348.11      90.98%
Net Income                -$ 2,782.69     -$  2,015.95      -$   766.74

Pledges are still behind so far this year. It would be great if everyone would try
to catch up their pledges before the summer gets here.

Expenses are still under budget so the bottom line does not look too bad.
Coffee Hour  

Please consider signing up to sponsor coffee hour after a 10:30AM service. All
you have to do is bring goodies to share, stay and enjoy the company and then
clean up afterwards. This time gives us the opportunity to get to know other
members and welcome visitors.

There is a sign up sheet on the bulletin board. 
Spiritual Formation Groups

Starting within the next few weeks, most of our small groups will
begin new series.
 
This would be a great time for you to join if you'd like to experience
learning, prayer and fellowship with other church members. Feel free
to bring a friend too!

Monday Night Group (at St. Bart's)

The Monday Night group meets at the Church from 6:30-8:00pm. 

This group will begin a video series, Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus in which
a Biblical scholar takes us on a tour of the Holy Land sites mentioned in the
Gospels.

Wednesday Morning group (at St. Bart's)

The Wednesday Morning Group meets at the church for prayer and study from
10:30-11:30AM.

The Wednesday 10:30am group and Sunday School (9:30am): Will discuss "what
would happen to you if you died having neither been a particularly bad person,
nor a particularly good one? C.S. Lewis answers this question through a delightful
and thought-provoking novel, The Great Divorce.
First Sunday Food Donations for the Hungry
 
We continue to collect food donations on the first Sunday of each month.
If you forget that scheduled collection date, just add your donations
to the 
box to the right of the door anytime. We are currently delivering
the food to the Lamb's Basket Food Pantry in the Lakeside neighborhood. While
they accept any canned or packaged, food, items they regularly distribute to
each family the following products:
 
Pasta sauces
Soups
Beans
Vegetables
macaroni and cheese boxes
dry pasta
fruit (they have a goodly supply of fruit right now.)
 
In addition, they offer choices of juices, staples such as cooking oil, condiments
and a shelf of toiletries, detergents and paper goods. On my last delivery, they
mentioned they were low on baby food.
 
They would also like to have a steady source of fresh eggs. Due to our storage
constraints, I purchase eggs on the way to deliver the food. If anyone wants to
donate cash for eggs, I would be happy to add that to my donation.
 
Thank you for your support of this outreach project.
Family Bible Devotionals 
 
June 19 - June 25

Jesus Returns: Marriage Supper of the Lamb, Last Judgement, and New
Jerusalem(Rev. 19:6-16; 20:11-15; 21; 22:1-5, 16-17).

Jesus Storybook Bible, p. 342 (Rev. 1, 5, 21, 22)
 E100, #99 & 100
Bible  Story Handbook, Ch. 175.
Memory: Rev. 19:6b-7 (start at "Hallelujah").
St. Bart's Youth Group

Calling all youth 13 years and older to join our youth group. The meetings
will be held on Sundays at 6PM. We will continue to meet twice a month on
the second and fourth 
Sundays. Together we will explore the bible and see
how it can apply to our daily life. We will also be talking about 
how we can
help the church and community.

We would like to provide dinner for the youth group on the Sundays
we meet. 
Please call Marlaina Knowlton at 804-897-1495 if you could
help with dinner any Sunday. 
We will place a sign up sheet on the
bulletin board. Please consider helping by signing up. Thanks. 
Prayer Request and Answered Prayers
Prayer Requests:

This week we are praying for:  Arlene, Autumn, Audith, Betty Sue, Betty P.
Betty W., Bill, Carole, Carolyn, Carter, Cathy, Christy, Cierra, Clara, Claudine,
Diana, Dorothy, Don, Donna, Ethan, Frank, F.G., Ginny, Harlow, Hayden, H.B.,
Jane, Jeanne, Jennifer, Jimmie, Joyce, Julia, Kathy, Kelly, Kent,  Klaire, Kym,
Laura, Lexie, Lilliam, Linda, Maggie, Martin, Michael, Mindy, Molly, Nick, Okpil,
Paige, Paul, Rob, Robert, R.W., Sarah, Sebastian, Terry, Thomas, Tony, Tukie,
Vonie.
On the Horizon
Thursday, 6/16 - 7:30PM
Choir Practice

Monday, 6/20 - 6:30 - 8PM
Prayer Group

Wednesday, 6/22 - 10:30 - 11:30AM
Prayer Group

Sunday, 6/26
St. Bart's Annual Picnic at Deep Run Park