In his book, “The Hole in our Gospel,” Richard Stearns writes:

“What does God expect of us?  A simple question, but is the answer so simple?  What is the Christian faith about?  Going to church every Sunday, saying grace before meals, and avoiding the most serious sins…or does God expect more?”

We are Christians, but what does that mean exactly?  To even be Christians we must first believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  That in itself is no small idea.  If it is true, it changes everything, because if Christ is God, then all that He said and did is deeply significant to how we live our lives.  So we believe.  But God expects more.

And so the question, “What does God expect of me,” is a very profound one…not just for me, but for everyone who claims to follow Christ.  The Bible speaks a great deal about what is expected of us. How we are to treat each other, to love and to forgive.   And scripture speaks also to what is not expected.  Chapter 7 of Matthew is very clear... “Do not judge others.”  We seem to want to do God’s job for Him.  Really, He does not need our help.

We bring the lessons of the secular world into the church,i.e., hate, gossip, pride and conceit, when in fact we should be taking the lessons of church into the world…love , compassion, being non-judgmental.

As we look at the character of God, we see the expectation, our values, and how we are to live in the world.  So how are we to live in the world?  What kind of relationship are we to have with holy God? What is God asking for, really, from you and me?  Much more then church attendance.  More than prayer too.  More than belief, and even more than self-denial.  God asks us for everything.  He requires a total life commitment from those who would be his followers.  He calls us to be His partners in changing our world, just as he called the Twelve to change their world two thousand years ago.

As you prepare your hearts for yet another year, please consider being intentional in what you pray for, and who you want to be…

I close with this from St. Francis:

We speak with our lives

     A story is told that Francis of Assisi once invited a young monk to join him on a trip to preach in a nearby town. The monk was honored to even be asked and readily accepted the invitation. All day the two monks walked through the streets and alleys of the town and even ventured into the suburbs. They rubbed shoulders with hundreds of people. At the end of the day the two headed back home. The young monk was puzzled that Francis had not even once addressed a crowd, nor had he talked to anyone about the gospel. Greatly disappointed, his young companion finally said to Francis, “I thought we were going into town to preach.”

Francis responded, “My son, we have preached. We were preaching while we were walking. Many saw us and our behavior was closely watched. It is of no use to walk anywhere to preach unless we preach everywhere as we walk!”

Have a blessed 2012!

In all my love,

Father Rex

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR

MUSICAL FELLOWSHIP

COME—ALL YOU ENJOY SINGING TO OUR LORD

JOIN-IN THE JOURNEY-Beginning November 4^th.

ALL-MUSICAL VOICES WELCOME

When: Wednesday evenings 6:45 – 7:30

Where: Church Sanctuary

How Long: 7 weeks

WHAT MUSIC CAN

Be Offered for the Seasons of Advent and Christmas.

For Information contact Henrietta O’Neill

     For the Beauty of the Earth

“Eucharistia” is a Greek word meaning “Gratefulness” or Thankfulness”---and Folliot Sandford Pierpoint (1835 – 1917) wrote this most beautiful hymn.  He intended the hymn to be sung during the service of “Holy Eucharist” or Holy Communion” as many of us call it. 

Not only are we grateful for God’s gift of His Son – whose death and resurrection we remember by the bread and wine of communion – but we are grateful for all the other gifts of God’s love by which we are surrounded every moment. 

Look up the Hymn 416 – What are some of the specific gifts named in the stanzas of Mr. Pierpoint’s hymn.  You may notice that the words chosen were simple, every day words for the text. 

It may be that each time we partake of communion we not only think of our gratitude for Christ but of our thankfulness for All the gifts of beauty, of time, and of love with which God fills each day. 

Blessings to all,

Henrietta O’Neill

Giving What You Have

Do you remember the story of two country boys talking, and one asked, “Billy Bob, if you had a million dollars, would you give me half of it?” Ole Billy Bob replied, “Lee Roy, you know I would.” So Lee Roy questioned again, “If you had a thousand dollars, would you give me five hundred?” “Lee Roy, we have been friends for over twenty years,” said Billy Bob, “and you know I would give you five hundred dollars if I had a thousand.” Well, Ole Lee Roy scratched his chin and asked, “If you had two hogs, would you give me one?” Billy Bob shouted loudly, “That’s not fair. You know I have two hogs.”

Have you ever heard people say something like that? I have heard many people say if God would let them win the lottery, they would give half of it to the church, spend a lot on helping the poor, and live on the rest. We all need to understand that God never requires of us to give what we do not have. His requirement is that we give to him what we have.

When we give time, talent, and money to God, it is blessed. There is in Malachi 3:8-10 a blessing and a curse. The curse may be the absence of the blessing. When something is blessed, it simply means it has the capacity to do more than it would normally do. So which would you rather have: ten dollars blessed of God because you gave the tithe, or ten dollars without the blessing of God because you did not give the tithe? The real question is: Can ten dollars blessed do more than ten dollars not blessed? The answer is ten dollars not blessed can do only what ten dollars can do in our economy. Ten dollars blessed of God can do what GOD CAN DO. I am not one of those claim-it-and-name-it guys, but I am saying you can claim what God has named. So give what you have and not what you don’t have. Then you can claim God’s blessing.

TBA