Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11
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Fr. Scott's sermon discussed the Epistle lesson for the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity (Ephesians 6:10 - 20 BCP p. 219). St. Paul, under house arrest while awaiting trial in Rome, imagines how the armor protecting Roman soldiers is similar to the spiritual armor Christians need to survive spiritual warfare. Christians are at war with the prince of the air and need to properly defend themselves. With the Grace of God, Christians can protect themselves and go on the offense, reclaiming territory for our King.
Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God including:
-girting our loins in truth because we cannot move quickly without walking in truth
-the breast plate of righteousness because we are crippled by guilt and shame if the devil takes our righteousness
-protecting our feet with the Gospel of peace
-the helmet of salvation which protects us from the devil's knockout blows because our final salvation is dependent on Him.
All of this armor is passive, working by virtue of being worn. The shield of faith and the sword of the spirit are active weapons and essential for Christians to wield. A shield must be held up to protect us, just as our faith must be active and alive so we can march against the enemy. Also, as the shields in the Roman phalanx protected both the holder and the man next to him if the line held, Christian faith is strengthened when we stand together. Lastly, we are given our tool to take the fight to the enemy, our sword. A Christian who does not wield the Word of God cannot progress against the enemy and is putting their brothers and sisters at risk by 'breaking ranks'.
St. Paul is telling us that we are at war with evil forces outside of ourselves and we have the tools to defend ourselves. First put your armor on daily - our Anglican tradition gives us the daily office to prepare us for the day. St. Paul emphasizes Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Faith, Salvation and the Word - seek these things. 'Praying always' is St. Paul's recommendation to us - find time everyday to read God's Word, sharpen your sword and shine your shield. Fr. Scott invited us to renew our pledge and commitment to the Lord God, to put on our armor, pull out our sword and take the fight to the enemy. We know who wins in the end, let us fight till He calls us home.
Please find Fr. Scott's complete sermon at the 29:05 minute mark at the following link:
Thank you Fr. Scott, for the thoughtful and motivating sermon.
During Christian Education Fr. Scott, Scott, Sue, and Rose Marie led us through the parts of the service we are singing next week during the All Saints Day celebration. The additional singing includes the Sursum Corda, the Sanctus, and the Lord's Prayer among others. Thank you all for helping create what will be a beautiful service next Sunday!
After services, Sue and I provided lunch including Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders, salad, Sue's home made hummus and lots of chocolate treats! Several people asked that I post the slider recipe! The complete recipe is at the following link - I used approximately 1.5 times the cheese and meat called for (because more is always better!) and I didn't have any sesame seeds to sprinkle on at the end.
Enjoy!!!
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All Saints Day - a Big Day!
We are celebrating All Saints Day on Sunday, October 31 - Halloween. Fr. Scott shared the following thoughts:
Everyone knows about Halloween but few know where it comes from. Halloween or Hallows Eve is a shortened name for All Hollows Eve. Hollows is another name for saint so we finally arrive at All Saints Eve as the original name for Halloween. The day after Halloween is the day we are celebrating called Feast of All Saints. During this celebration we are thanking God for all His holy ones throughout the ages both known and unknown. So, we can remember everyone that God has called to be His both officially like St. Paul or St. Peter and the unofficial ones like your godly grandma or super Christian father. Everyone that has accepted Christ and have gone before us and passed away in the hope of the Resurrection are remembered this day. The color of the day is white because we are thankful that God has given us such good examples to follow. In addition to the All Saints celebration we will commemorate our new memorial garden after the service!
As part of the celebration, Scott and Sue are sharing their amazing musical talents during the service!
At the end of the service, we are dedicating our completed Memorial Garden. Earl has worked very hard for almost three years constructing the Memorial Garden. His work includes building the rock wall, landscaping the area, and fabricating & installing the cross for the Memorial Garden.
Everything looks beautiful! Thank you Earl for the years of hard work creating our Memorial Garden!
After the service and the Memorial Garden dedication we are having a light luncheon. Claudia is coordinating the food for us and is asking anyone coming to bring one of the following dishes. Please let her know what you plan to bring so we don't have too much duplication!
chicken salad croissants
other sandwiches
veggie tray with dip
fruit tray
deviled eggs
tray with cheese, crackers, & pickles
hummus with pita or other chips
guacamole with chips
other finger foods
cookies
dessert bars
Thank you Claudia for taking on this task!
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All Souls Day - Commemoration of All the Faithful
At 3 pm on Tuesday November 2, Fr. Scott will celebrate All Souls Day at the church.
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Big 'Thank You's' to everyone who came out to help with the fall yard and maintenance work! The weather this Saturday was perfect.
Lots of weed wacking, raking, weed pulling and mulching!
Agnes helped watch Amber and Audree while Fr. Scott and Maryl finalized Fr. Scott's office!
The church looks great going into fall! And after all that hard work, we ate pizza and Teresa's homemade pumpkin/pecan cake and socialized!
On our way out, Teresa captured this beautiful photo of our steeple in the autumn afternoon sky!
Thank you to everyone for all your help!!
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I received an update from Fr. Dennis this week! Starting on October 24, he will be one of the supply priests at the re-start of St. Mark's in Wytheville, VA. He has asked for our prayers as they begin this work to re-establish St. Mark's. May God bless him and watch over him as he journeys to and from Wytheville. May God bless the people at St. Mark's as they begin their journey.
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This Christmas St. Peter's is supporting the Marine's Toys for Tot's program.
Below is a link to the Johnson City Toys for Tot's FAQ's. They do not provide a list of recommended toys, instead ask us to use our judgement in selecting toys for 5 -12 year old children. The toys must be new and unwrapped.
Our collection box is in the parish hall in the basement. We will collect toys through Sunday, November 28.
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Teresa sent information on this upcoming movie about CS Lewis. The website describes the movie as follows:
An elder C.S. Lewis looks back on his remarkable journey from hard-boiled atheist to the most renowned Christian writer of the past century.
The Most Reluctant Convert features award-winning actor Max McLean as the older Lewis and Nicholas Ralph – breakout star of PBS Masterpiece’s All Creatures Great and Small – as young Lewis. Beautifully filmed in and around Oxford this engaging biopic follows the creator of The Chronicles of Narnia from the tragic death of his mother when he was just nine years old, through his strained relationship with his father, to the nightmare of the trenches of World War I to Oxford University, where friends like J.R.R. Tolkien challenge his unbelief.
This movie is showing at the AMC Classic Theater (1805 North Roan Street, Johnson City, TN) on Wednesday, Nov 3 at 7 pm. Several of us plan to attend and will meet outside the theater before the movie. We recommend buying tickets ahead of time! Please let Teresa know if you plan to attend so we will know to look for you!
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