Seven
Mission Goals for 2007
1.
An active youth ministry in place by the end of the year
2.
Hosting a quarterly Friends and Family Sunday (where we
invite non-believing family and friends to church)
3.
100% parish participation in the Franklin Graham festival
(i.e. everyone gets trained and brings a non-believing friend
to the festival itself)
4.
The vestry is seeking100% participation in Bible Study.
5
At least 30 new believers by this time next year.
6.
An active discipling program by the end of the year with
at least 4 leaders in discipling relationships.
7.
gathering at least 100 people for worship every Sunday.
Dear
Good Shepherd,
Good
Morning, sorry this is getting out a bit late but there
is alot of good stuff, so please read.
WEEKLY
ARTICLE
What
is the Trinity?
by
the Rev. Matt Kennedy
This
coming Sunday is traditionally set apart to celebrate and
contemplate the Trinity.
The
most common way to articulate the reality of the Trinity
is to say that God is: One in Being and Three in Person.
That
formula is both true and a bit difficult to understand.
The concept of the Trinity is, rightly, called a mystery.
To say that something is a "mystery" is not necessarily
that it is utterly incomprehensible. Rather a mystery is
something that is perhaps apprehendable but not fully understandable.
You can see it and know it. It makes sense. It accords with
reason. But you cannot grasp it in its fullness. In this
sense the Trinity is most definitely a mystery.
The
mystery of the Trinity is an apprehendable mystery because
it based on God’s own revelation of himself in the
Bible.
The scriptures teach that God is One:
“Hear O Israel the Lord Your God, the Lord is One.”
(Deuteronomy 6:4),
And
they reveal that there is only One God: “Yahweh,
He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there
is no other." (Deuteronomy 4:35)
But the bible also tells us that there are three distinct
personalities within the Godhead.
The Father is God. The Son prays to the
Father and worships him:
“After
Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father,
the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify
you. For you granted him authority over all people that
he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought
you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to
do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the
glory I had with you before the world began.”(John
17:1-5)
The Son is God. He is the “Word made
flesh” in John 1:14 who, according to John 1:1,
was not only “with” God in the beginning but
who “was” God.
"In
the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the
Word was God." (John 1:1)
The Holy Spirit is God. He is the Counselor
or Advocate the Son promises to send to his disciples:
But
the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send
in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you
of everything I have said to you. 27Peace (John 14:26-27)
And he is the Divine Spirit who reveals the heart of God
to believers:
“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.
For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things
of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the
spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows
the things of God except the Spirit of God.” (1st
Corinthians 2:10)
There is, then, only one God, but he is revealed
to us in three distinct Persons.
The
Persons, moreover, are not different "modes" of
being. God does not, in other words, show up as the Father
and then transform into the Son and then transform into
the Spirit in accordance with the circumstance.
He
is always God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit at the same time. We see this truth especially in
passages where the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all present
and relating to one another. The Baptism of Jesus is a great
example:
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and
was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming
up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the
Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from
heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well
pleased." (Mark 1:9-11)
One way to think about this concept, though no illustration
is ever perfect, is to imagine three blank sheets of typing
paper. The three sheets are distinct. And yet all three
sheets of paper are equally “paper.” They are
of the same substance. They are One substance. But they
are three distinct pieces.
Again,
no illustration is perfect including the one above. They
all tend either to emphasize the distinctness of the Persons
and fail to do justice to the onenness of God's being. Or,
they focus on God's oneness and neglect the Persons and
their distinct roles. I think my illustration does not quite
do justice to God's oneness.
Why is this important? It’s difficult to count the
reasons. Everything about God is important but the fact
of the Trinity is especially so. Almost every major cult
and heresy begins with a mischaracterization or misunderstanding
of the nature of God.
But rather than enumerating the reasons why it is good for
us to know that God is Trinity, I will simply leave it at
this:
God
wants us to know him as he really is, not as we might imagine
or want him to be.
The
fact that God has revealed himself to a sinful and fallen
world in this way is a breathtaking display of grace. it
is an underserved gift worth all of the treasure in the
world and, most certainly, worthy of our earnest contemplation
and praise.
UPDATE
CONTENTS
FRANKLIN GRAHAM FESTIVAL
DISCIPLING COURSE
SERMON
SERIES
THANK YOU FOR HELPING THE PARISHIONER IN NEED
OPERATION ANDREW: THE LAST CALL
HELP
SUNDAY
MORNING PRAYER
SOFTBALL AND PARISH PICNIC
WALKABOUT OPERATION ANDREW
CANOE RACE
ECW
LUNCHEON
ADULT EDUCATION SERIES: HERESIES AND CULTS
BIBLE STUDIES
NEWS
FRANKLIN GRAHAM FESTIVAL: The
Festival is finally here. After two years of preparation
and prayer, it is finally time. The Festival will run for
three days beginning Friday (June 9th), Saturday and Sunday.
The Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night sessions
start at 7:00pm, but I’d be there much earlier. I
would say about 6:30 if you are hoping to find a seat and
earlier if you are a counselor. The kids Festival
is on Saturday morning starting at 9:00am. If you are in
the choir be there at around 8:00pm.
If you are bringing a guest, remember that each night the
festival is essentially the same. The only difference will
be the music not the message.
The
message will be the basic gospel of salvation: We have all
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God sent his
Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, bearing our punishment.
God calls everyone to repent and surrender their lives to
Christ so that his sacrifice can count on your behalf.
Pick
a night most convenient for your guest. It might be effective
to invite people and go with the attitude that you are “just
checking it out.” That way your guest will not feel
like you are waiting for him or her to respond in any specific
way.
In
any case, if you would like a ride for you and/or your guest
but cannot find one, please tell Anne or me and we'll help
you out.
DISCIPLING COURSE: Thank you to everyone,
and there were a lot of you, who signed up for the discipling
course. The first session starts Sunday night (June
3rd) at 5:00pm and will last for exactly one hour.
Please be there if you signed up. This is a vital ministry
for the growth of God’s kingdom and for your own growth
as both a disciple and a discipler. Both Anne and I will
be there.
This first week Anne will outline a little bit about what
discipleship means and how the program will be structured.
We will meet together (men and women) but as we progress
along, in general, men and women will meet separately. Also,
this first time, please bring your questions about Counseling
at the Festival or any other issues or problems you have.
We will spend the last few minutes calming everyone’s
nerves and covering that nice little pamphlet you all got
at the Life and Witness Courses and will be using to Counsel
at the Festival.
Anne is very excited about this new ministry and I believe
it will strengthen and equip Good Shepherd in the year to
come.
SERMON SERIES:
If you were here this last Sunday, you know that we have
just began a sermon series based on Acts chapter 2. We only
made it through verse 1 last Sunday, so if you missed it,
you’ll still be able to catch up. The series has to
do with God’s purpose for the Church and our role
in it. The first sermon should be posted this week on the
website sermons page.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE PARISHIONER
IN NEED: Your generosity is both pleasing to the
Lord and essential to the parishioner in need. Thank you.
OPERATION ANDREW: THE LAST CALL This is
the last week for Operation Andrew. You’ll notice
that the Franklin Graham festival is our primary vehicle
for evangelism this year. In fact we’ve poured a great
deal of time and effort into this for the last two years.
But now the question comes down to obedience. Are you ready
to follow the Great Commission?
If you have not already done so, this is the week
to ask the people you have been praying for to come to the
Festival. I have spoken to a number of people recently
who’ve told me that the people they might invite will
only say “no.” If this is the way you are feeling
too, well, let me ask you: what do you think you’ve
been praying for? The purpose of prayer in operation Andrew
is to ask God to soften the hearts of the people on your
list. God uses our prayers to work in the world. He doesn’t
have to use our prayers, but he does. So when you pray,
pray with confidence that God can do what you ask. And then,
finally, act. Take the step of faith and ask the people
on your list if they will attend one of the nights of the
Festival.
Again, everything comes down to trust and obedience. Do
you trust God? Do you believe that he can work
in hard hearts? The test for trust is obedience. Obedience
means that you take God at his word and act. Obedience
requires trust and trust requires obedience. I
pray that you will both trust and obey the Lord and invite
non-believers to hear the gospel at the Festival.
HELP: There
is something missing at Good Shepherd. It turns out that
while there are more people in the parish than ever, there
are fewer and fewer people willing to be readers, acolytes,
take cleaning duties, work at the Shepherd’s Bowl,
help count money on Sunday morning or serve in any way at
all. We are missing people willing to serve.
We were not saved into the Body of Christ to sit in a pew
every Sunday and then rush home. We were saved into a Body
to share in the mission and work of Christ. Take a moment
and read through 1st Corinthians 12.
If you are a member of Good Shepherd, you should
have at least one volunteer service or role, something
you do to help build up the body and to glorify God. If
you are not sure what you should do or how best to help,
the best way to figure this out here is a list of ministries
you can join:
If you are already volunteering please be there when you
are scheduled and don’t always get a substitute. Frequently
one or two people end up doing the jobs that others have
committed to do. This is simply unkind. Please put others
first.
Ministries:
Acolytes (one Sunday a month)
Altar Guild
Nursery (desperate need…especially
for the 8:00am service)
Sextant (cleaning duties with a team on
a weekly rotation)
Shepherd’s Bowl (on a team, one Thursday
a month)
Teller (help count and record offerings
after the 10:30am service)
Lay Eucharistic Minister (help lead worship
and distribute communion)
Ushers
& Greeters (should be once a month if everyone
shows up when assigned)
Readers
(Approximately once a month at the 10:30am service)
SUNDAY
MORNING PRAYER: Please don’t forget this
prayer group. Last Sunday I noticed that the number of people
praying had significantly decreased from the original 7
or 8 to about 3 in a rushed sort of silence. Please, this
is a vital need and a vital ministry. The prayer group only
meets for 15 minutes…from 10:15am to 10:30am in the
library before the service. But, as I said, it is vital.
Prayer is the means or the way God chooses to act in this
world and, especially, in the Church. Please join in.
SOFTBALL and the PARISH PICNIC: Rabbi Ron
said that some of his people are interested in challenging
us to a series of softball games this summer. I told him
that we'd be happy to beat him. I also invited them to join
us at the annual parish picnic where we can have our first
game. The Picnic is scheduled for Sunday June 17th
at Cole Park. The service starts at 11:00am.
Lunch afterwards
Everyone is asked to bring drinks for themselves (non-alcoholic
please) and a dish to pass.
WALKABOUT OPERATION ANDREW: The Walkabout
to hand out Festival invitations door to door is scheduled
for tomorrow at 12:30pm. We'll meet at the church and probably
be finished around 2:00 or 3:00pm. We need all the help
we can get.
CANOE RACE: Anne has written an article
and posted some photos of the race here:
http://undercurrentofhostility.blogspot.com/2007/05/four-men-in-some-boats.html
ECW
LUNCHEON:
The annual ECW lunch "out" is scheduled for June12 at 12:30
at the Park Dinner. All are welcome to come!
ADULT EDUCATION SERIES:
HERESIES AND CULTS Have you ever wondered
how to speak to a Jehova’s Witnesses or what to think
of the Mormon church? This class will provide an overview
to the beliefs of several cults and religious sects and
show how to speak effectively to those who are caught up
in them.
This first session will primarily be introduction but we
will start to look at the Watchtower Society also known
as the Jehova’s Witnesses.
BIBLE STUDIES: Keep your ear to the ground
this week The festival may cause some calendar changes.
HAVE YOU…. shared your faith with a friend? The vestry
has challenged all of us to share our faith in Jesus Christ
with at least one non-believer each month.
Good News for the Week
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given
to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to
the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)
Don't
forget to....BRING A FRIEND TO CHURCH!
Daily Schedule for the week of Sunday June 3rd 2007 TRINITY
SUNDAY
Monday:
pastor's day off
Tuesday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
9:00 a.m. Tuesday Morning Bible Study
6:00 p.m. First Light Bible Study
Wednesday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
Thursday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
5:30 p.m. Shepherd's Bowl
6:30 p.m. New Beginners Bible Study
7:30 p.m. Choir Practice
Friday
6:30 a.m. Men's Breakfast/Bible Study
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
Pastor's sermon prep day
7:00pm FRANKLIN GRAHAM FESTIVAL
Saturday:
9:00AM
FRANKLIN GRAHAM FESTIVAL FOR KIDS
10:00 a.m. Women's Bible Study
4:30
p.m. Hebrew Class
7:00pm
FRANKLIN GRAHAM FESTIVAL
Sunday
June 10th, 2007
8:00am Holy Communion II and Sermon
9: 15-10:15 a.m. Christian Education for all Ages
10:30 am Holy Communion II, Music and Sermon
7:00pm FRANKLIN GRAHAM FESTIVAL
God bless you all
In Christ,
Matt+
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