P.O. Box 548, Colorado Springs, CO 80901
www.graceepiscopalcolosprings.org
grace.episcopal.church@gmail.com
719/328-1125
Book of Common Prayer page 187
Note that there will not be a brown bag book group meeting this week. Brown bag will resume on Tuesday, February 12th. Rehearsals for all adult and youth choirs have also been displaced by the Ash Wednesday services.
| Saturday, February 2 | The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple | |
| Sunday, February 3 | Adult Education | 11:30 am |
| Middle School Youth Group | 11:30 am | |
| Choral Eucharist at FCC | 12:45 pm | |
| Guest Homilist, The Rev. Linda Seracuse | ||
| Children's Sunday School | 1:30 pm | |
| Tuesday, February 5 | Holy Communion | 10:00 am |
| Father Michael's Bible Study | 10:40 am | |
| Pancake Supper Hosted by the Youth Group | 5:30 pm | |
| Grace Notes Handbell Choir | 7:15 pm | |
| Shrove Tuesday | ||
| Wednesday, February 6 | Imposition of Ashes and Holy Communion | 7:00 am |
| 12:00 pm | ||
| 6:30 pm | ||
| Nondenominational Ash Wednesday Service at Shove Chapel | 9:00 pm | |
| Thursday, February 7 | Healing Service | 12:00 pm |
| Sunday, February 10 | Adult Education | 11:30 am |
| High School Youth Group | 11:30 am | |
| Choral Eucharist at FCC | 12:45 pm | |
| Children's Sunday School | 1:30 pm |
To see this in a printable calendar layout, click here.
An excerpt from Fr Michael's sermon on January 27th. Click here for a complete version.
In our epistle reading on the Third Sunday after the Epiphany (1 Corinthians 1:10-18), we learned of divisions in the church at Corinth. The apostle Paul—it’s founder—makes an appeal for a common faith and in a common vision for their church.
This is similar to the appeal we made to you last Saturday night, at our annual parish meeting. There, we affirmed that our common faith would be based on the essentials as revealed in the Creeds. We also affirmed that our common vision is to be a Christ-centered, biblical, and liturgical expression of the body of Christ in Colorado Springs, which seeks to share with all Christians in Holy Communion and purpose. And, we envisioned a traditional, yet friendly and welcoming, Episcopal parish with a classical Anglican ethos that is rooted in the ancient traditions of historic Christianity, meeting the needs of “seekers” and our current membership in the new millennium.
Unfortunately, in our text today, St Paul has heard that their factious behavior had reached the level of recrimination; thus, there were “quarrels” among them.
He presents three rhetorical questions, to which Paul expects, a negative answer:
The sarcasm, of course, is biting!
To put loyalty to a leader above fidelity to Christ is simply unacceptable to St Paul.
And, although St Paul probably baptized the first converts in Corinth, his prime mission is to teach the faith; not baptize—so we read in verse 17:
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
This was also our point, when at our parish meeting we asked the question: “Who are we following?” To which we affirmed, that Jesus Christ is our chief Shepherd who, in the 23rd Psalm, provides green pastures (a place to feed); still waters (a place of safety); and paths of righteousness (a place for right relationships with God and each other).
We also affirmed that we desire to live out the wonderful imagery of this beautiful psalm—reflecting our desire to be a bold, loving, and caring community of believers who are willing to give themselves as Christ's shepherds to the “un-churched” in Colorado Springs and to one another within the universal body of Christ.
In our Epistle today, St Paul teaches a Gospel that relies—not on eloquent wisdom, that appeals to human reason, with clever arguments and rhetorical speech—but, on the power of the “cross of Christ” as the only legitimate means for convincing people. St Paul knew that if he were to win people over to the Gospel with mere persuasive words of wit, someone—more persuasive than he—could come along and win them over them over to something else. Therefore, St Paul clearly wants to win them to Christ and not to himself!
He wants people to respond to his preaching—not with words that commend him (such as, “what a wonderful preacher!”) rather, with words that commend Christ (such as, “what a wonderful Savior!”)
As the hymn rightly proclaims, so we should all sing:
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, Where rivers of pleasure I see.
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love, And covers me there with His hand.
St Paul simply concludes in verse 18 of our text, that to those who hear the message and do not accept it and trust in it, it is “foolishness”, but to the faithful (“to us who are being saved”) “it is the power of God.”
(Click here to read The Power of God by Stephen Taylor.)
In order to celebrate a year when so much has happened, we will return to Shove Chapel at Colorado College for Palm Sunday and Easter. Services on those days will be at 11:00 am. Additional services during Holy Week, including Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil will also be at Shove. Watch for specific schedules in Tidings.
With as much going on as you can read about in Tidings each week, we've determined that we need a second computer in the office. If you have an older model and were looking for a place to donate, please contact Junior Warden David Watts. This is an unbudgeted expense, so we are really hoping someone in the parish will be able to help.
From a note received from Ecumenical Social Ministries this week:
Thank you once again for all the volunteer help and the food donations provided by everyone during the Christmas season. Because of your generosity we were able to distribute approximately 270 holiday food baskets to the needy in our community! All told, for Thanksgiving and Christmas we were able to give away about 600 holiday food baskets – thank you!!!
However, many people in our community come to our doors every day seeking help with emergency food supplies and other needs. Ron, the Food Pantry Director, notes that the pantry shelves are looking bare. In addition the normal items we always need, we are very, very low on the following: canned corn, canned fruit and canned pork & beans.
In addition, our clothing closet could always use warm coats and jackets (clean and wearable); blue jeans; warm mittens, gloves, socks, scarves and hats. Our household closet is need of pots and pans as well as warm blankets and fleeces (clean and useable).
If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Christine Bucher at 228-6781.
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