John 8:21-32

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you
continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know
the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (8:31-32)

Jesus is in a verbal wrestling match with the crowds about his
identity. Jesus speaks of his divine identity, but his hearers think
in human terms. Jesus turns and speaks directly to believers. His
words are an invitation challenging them a step further.

What is it to truly be his disciples? Disciples make a practice of
continuing in God’s word. They are practitioners of the word. It is
through this continuing action that believers become disciples. They
grow in the knowledge of Christ.

In human terms, skills strengthen and mature with practice. Further,
through the practice of discipleship, our hearts, minds and souls are
transformed spiritually. We grow into the freedom of the divine
life of Christ.

This life that we share with Christ is a life of generosity, service and
healing. It is the work of salvation, reconciling a world in need—the
freeing of souls and the liberation of bodies.

—Karen Montagno

Psalm 81

Sing aloud to God our strength;
shout for joy to the God of Jacob.
Raise a song, sound the tambourine,
the sweet lyre with the harp.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our festal day.
For it is a statute for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
He made it a decree in Joseph,
when he went out over the land of Egypt.
I hear a voice I had not known:
“I relieved your shoulder of the burden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I rescued you;
I answered you in the secret place of
thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Selah
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you;
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of the land of
Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
(81:1-10)

Psalm 78:1-39

... we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the
Lord... (78:4)

The seventy-two verses of Psalm 78 are worth reading aloud.

Like an action-adventure drama, there are ominous clouds and
pillars of fire, food from heaven and water in the desert, hail and
thunderbolts, lying and rebellion, forgiveness and betrayal, testing
and deliverance.

We expect this kind of story at the movies, with a hero and a happy
ending.

But the Psalm, like life, is more complex—and more honest,
perhaps. Violence comes in cycles; destruction grows. Glimpses of
redemption seem dwarfed by famine and death, hunger and captivity.

And there are haunting questions: Does God’s wrath cause
suffering? Or do we? Why are some rescued, while others die?

Can we still speak of glorious deeds? Can we do them?

When our children ask us, what will we say?

—Josh Thomas

Adult Continuing Formation Session 2

10:00 am (Session 2: Jesus)

7:00 pm – (Session 1: God - rescheduled due to last week's inclement weather)

Conference Room

Please consider the following reflective questions before coming to our group conversation. They are intended to open your mind, memories, and emotions regarding some aspects of this session’s topic. They are not intended as homework, to research, nor are there “right” answers. These are for your preparation alone unless you wish to share them. Consider keeping a private journal of your answers. These are just to get you primed for the subject of the day, to use our time together to its best advantage.

Why does Jesus matter to you (if he does)?

What does Easter mean to you?

What does it mean to you to respond wholeheartedly to Jesus’ call to “Follow me”?

What difference does it make to you that Jesus was a faithful practicing Jew?

How has the relationship with the “after Easter” (or post-Easter) Jesus changed your life?

Jeremiah 7:1-15

For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act
justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan,
and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not
go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this
place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors for ever and
ever. (7:5-7)

The people in Judah like to imagine that the presence of the temple
will protect them. It is all that matters, they believe. Jeremiah
comes along and shatters the illusion. The truth, he explains, is
that what matters is how you treat those who are weakest and most
marginalized in society.

Aliens—immigrants—matter because they have no support networks
in the place where they are settling. In Jeremiah’s society, the
fatherless mattered because they lacked the traditional support
network for survival; it was the father that provided food and
housing. The widow mattered because she had lost her
husband and was alone.

Let us all pause today and think about those in our society who are
weak and who lack a voice. Let us commit afresh to praying for
these marginalized ones and doing everything we can to provide
support for them.

—Ian Markham

Jeremiah 6:9-15 (Third Sunday of Lent)

But I am full of the wrath of the Lord; I am weary of holding it in.
Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the gatherings of
young men as well; both husband and wife shall be taken, the old
folk and the very aged…For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely. (6:11, 13)

This reading from Jeremiah is one I would rather avoid because it
discusses the wrath of God. Isn’t the nature of God love? In a word,
“Yes”—and that is why God is angry: “They have treated the wound
of my people carelessly.” God is the lover of the wounded, the one
who rises in defense of the poor.

As God’s children, how do we follow this example? We all pray for
peace, but our words are not enough. How can our actions become
a living prayer—not to avoid God’s anger, but to live in our identity
as God’s followers? Halfway through this holy season, there is still
time for us to “turn and live” more fully into God. Exploring the needs
within 10 miles of our parish communities, or supporting people living
in poverty worldwide through Episcopal Relief & Development, are
ways to begin.

—Joy Daley

Jeremiah 5:20-31

“…they have grown fat and sleek. They know no limits in deeds of
wickedness...and they do not defend the rights of the needy.” (5:28)

It is tempting to hear Jeremiah’s words and be absolutely sure who
he is talking to in our day. But Paul’s keen observation in Romans
brings our self-righteousness to its own judgment: “we all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

The challenges faced by the poor have multiple causes, and long term
development efforts by Episcopal Relief & Development attempt
to address some of the root causes of poverty.

What was absolutely clear in Jesus’ ministry is that he wasn’t terribly
interested in why the man was born blind, why the paralytic couldn’t
walk or why the 5,000 had nothing to eat. He simply healed and fed.

So, too, is our calling.

—Duncan Gray III

Luke 1:26-38 (Feast of the Annunciation)

The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be
born will be holy; he will be called Son of God…For nothing will be
impossible with God.” (1:35, 37)

The Old and New Testaments are filled with accounts of visits from
angels. In the Annunciation story, God sends the Archangel Gabriel
with a message for Mary. Gabriel conveys God’s message that Mary
is chosen to bear God’s Son. The angel’s visit changes Mary’s life
and changes the world for all time.

We don’t hear much about angels today. In the West, the very notion
of angels has been largely defined by the media and actualized in
gift shop “tchotchkes.” If angels visit us, in our dreams or even our
waking hours, we aren’t talking about it.

Yet, Gabriel’s parting words to Mary remind us that “nothing will be
impossible with God.” In each of us there exists the potential not
only to receive visits by angels, but even to serve as messengers of
God.

Like Gabriel’s life-changing, world-changing effect, each of us has
the potential, and baptismal call, to change the world. It is us, God’s
contemporary angels, who can heal a hurting world. The Holy Spirit
bestows the resources, the will and the responsibility upon us at our
baptism.

A hungry child…a struggling woman, afraid for her life…a young boy,
forced to hold a rifle…all are waiting for an angel.

What will it take for you to be the angel?

—Bonnie Anderson

Jeremiah 4:9-10, 19-28

My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent; for I hear the sound
of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Disaster overtakes disaster, the
whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my
curtains in a moment. (4:19-20)

Jeremiah is like a person who has just read the newspaper or
watched the evening news. One disaster builds upon another. His
heart races. He feels the ruin as if it were his own. Reading the
latest news, many of us have the same reaction.

The continual pace of human suffering, much of it caused by our own
hands, is staggering. One might be tempted to simply turn away.
Nothing seems to quiet the pounding of our hearts. Jeremiah can’t
turn away. He cannot be silent.

Spiritual connection to creation and each other will disturb our
silence. During Lent, the Spirit groans within us along with creation.
Its groans drive us deep into human wilderness in search of
reconciliation. In the wilderness, we walk with Jesus. We learn the
power of one small act to shatter silence—in witness to the truth of
God’s voice calling us to wholeness and reconciling love.

—Karen Montagno

Adult Continuing Formation Session 1

NOTICE:

TONIGHT'S CHRISTIAN EDUCATION CLASS IS CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS!

John 5:1-18

After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem
by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Bethzatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. (5:1-9)

Jeremiah 2:1-13

... Thus says the Lord: I remember the devotion of your youth, your
love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not
sown. (2:2)

Ages after the Exodus, God is still wondering where we went.

With God’s help, our ancestors traveled through pits and darkness,
across deserts and rivers. But when they arrived at their hoped-for
destination, they made a mess of it all. Faced with the promise of
life, they ran away, chasing “worthless things.”

It’s easy to focus on that mess—in our lives and in the world.
The news tells us about life gone wrong. In Lent, too, our self examination
can reveal addictions and wounds and injustices, and
our still-pointless search for worthless things.

But God remembers when we were faithful, when we did follow,
when our love was pure and strong.

Can we remember, too?

—Josh Thomas

Adult Continuing Formation Session 1

Embracing an Adult Faith: What it means to be a Christian

Session 1: God

March 23, Wednesday, 10am or 7pm – Conference Room

Please consider the following reflective questions before coming to our group conversation. They are intended to open your mind, memories, and emotions regarding some aspects of this session’s topic. They are not intended as homework, to research, nor are there “right” answers. These are for your preparation alone unless you wish to share them. Consider keeping a private journal of your answers. These are just to get you primed for the subject of the day, to use our time together to its best advantage.

• What is your experience of God this week?


• What words best help you express the reality of God in your life?
  


• In what ways have you experienced and understood God at various stages of your life?


• What riches grow out of your relationship with God at this time in your life?


• What hymns, prayers and other writings express most accurately your experience of God?

John 4:27-42

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and
to complete his work.” (4:34)

Jesus was a Jewish rabbi who had violated an important custom of
his time: he had dared to talk to a woman in public. Naturally, this
caused consternation. Jesus explains that his mission is to meet the
needs of those around him. And it is this service—this mission—that
sustains him.

All of us are called to serve others. We live in a world of need—
people are coping with injustice, hunger, war and disease. As
Paul tells us in the book of Romans, it is a privilege to meet needs.
Creating space in our lives to help others is at the heart of the
Christian faith. And sometimes such service creates consternation.
At such moments, we need to keep our eyes focused on the labor,
the ministry and the difference we are making in caring for others.

—Ian Markham

Second Sunday of Lent

Mark 3:31-4:9

“…And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds
came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not
have much soil…and since it had no root, it withered away. Other
seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and
it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth
grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a
hundredfold.” (4:4-8)

A few years ago, I was at a workshop during which participants were
asked to enact the Parable of the Sower in silence. I remember how
liberating it felt to throw those imaginary seeds with abandon, to be
fully engaged in the process without much concern for what was
happening to the seeds.

If we are to be responsible stewards, some caution is called for in
deciding what we do with our resources—where and with whom we
share our wealth. On the other hand, overcaution causes us to hold
back what we may be called to freely give. We sometimes forget
that the outcome of our deeds is really none of our business when
it comes to Kingdom work. Healing a hurting world calls us beyond
caution. When we join in the work of liberating others, we too
are freed.

Let anyone with ears to hear, listen!

—Joy Daley

Matthew 1:18-25 (Feast Day of St. Joseph)

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name
him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” (1:23)

It was a crazy dream—one that seemed to relieve Joseph of his
great concern over Mary, but that hinted at something far greater
than an ill-timed pregnancy. This child will be called “Emmanuel,
God with us.” The naming of this miracle announces the uniting of
heaven to earth so that God’s holiness will be known in human flesh.

No longer would human flesh be understood as anything less than
holy. From this moment on, no one could be disposable; all have
transcendent and eternal value because He is Emmanuel.

The widow and orphan, the sick and destitute, the refugee and the
prisoner, the invisible and the forgotten—all bear the divine image
and are dearly loved by Joseph’s son. Care for me, says Jesus,
through your care for the least of these.

—Duncan Gray III

Hebrews 4:11-16

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from
marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
(4:12)

The authors of Scripture show a frequent interest in the heart,
using the word to describe the will both of God and of humans.
Deuteronomy speaks of “circumcision of the heart,” a concept that
St. Paul repeats centuries later. Hebrews tells of “the intentions of
the heart,” and of how Jesus strips away our pretenses. John the
Baptist, while not mentioning the heart directly, says that his joy has
been fulfilled by the advent of Jesus the Messiah.

When Scripture mentions the heart, I hear this chanted phrase from
Eastern Orthodox worship: “Wisdom! Let us attend!” At the mention
of the heart, I sense the Holy Spirit drawing near, and inviting me to
draw near, to impart what God wants from me: in my mind, in my will,
in my daily choices, in my actions. And I hear two words from revival
hymnody: trust and obey.

—Douglas LeBlanc

Bishop Gibbs Visit

The Right Reverend Wendell N. Gibbs, Jr. will be visiting the CORe on Sunday, March 20, 2011 as part of his three year parish visitation. Below is the schedule of events:

8:00 am - Bishop Wendell Gibbs and his wife, Karlah will arrive.

8:15 to 9:00 am - Bishop meets with Vestry and key leadership.

9:10 to 9:40 am - Bishop meets and teaches the children in Sunday School room. *Parents in attendance. Please be on time.

10:00 am - Holy Eucharist II

Reception to following the service in Stewart Hall.

We are looking forward to the Bishop's visit and worshiping together.