Our Rudder

In today’s sermon Father John discussed how Paul’s message in this week’s passage from his letter to the Romans applies to us today. He noted that the past few weeks’ readings from Romans have been more theological in spirit, but Romans 12:9-21 provides a list of what we should be doing and how we should live our lives…in fact, he said he had read that this reading has 36 imperatives for us to follow!


Father John then described how these imperatives are particularly important for Christians in times of change or uncertainty…they can serve as a guiding light for a congregation like ours which is in transition…even with Fr. Chris’ impending departure, we do not need to worry about being rudderless.


Paul is showing us what it looks like to be a community of faith. He tells us to “cling to what is good,” and in what is arguably the most important message in the passage, Paul tells us to “be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” Contrary to this teaching, Fr. John points out that when things get tough for us as individuals or even as a congregation, it is not uncommon for people to focus on ourselves. Instead, our direction should be clear with our future depending on our ability to follow Jesus’ example and being “devoted to one another in love…honoring one another above ourselves.”


Submitted by M. White

Altar Flowers for August

August 7
The Altar Flowers ar given to the Glory of God and in thanksgiving for the birthdays of Michael, Eric, Marilyn, Don, Taylor and Ed by Ed and Marilyn Lanctot.

Flower designers: Louise Yardumian, Joanne Turrell and Angela Fleece.
 
 
 
August 14
The Altar Flowers are given to the Glory of God and in loving memory of Fran Futch by Dr. Bill Futch in loving memory of Mary elizabeth Lewis Tucker and, in thanksgiving for Betty Jean Miller and Jacob McCartney Walters by Wendy Gardiner Lewis

Flower designers: Elizabeth Walters-Alison, Joanne Turrell and Vicky Steinwender.


August 21

The Altar Flowers are given to the Glory of God and in thanksgiving for the anniversary of Eric and Taylor and Ed and Marilyn by Ed and Marilyn Lanctot.

Flowers designers: Mary Jane Cartier and Carol Burgess.


August 28

The Altar Flowers are given to the Glory of God and in thanksgiving for the baptism of Coleton Allen and Wyatt Brooks Ritch by C.O. and Joanna Ritch.

Flower designer: Keith Tulloch

Faith, Trust and Risk

The Reverend Douglas Scharf joined us from Holy Innocents’ Church in Valrico, FL today and gave a sermon on the nature of Faith.  He began by describing his experience at his first camp where he encountered the "trust fall" as part of a low-ropes course.  He recounted that familiar, scary sensation when his feet left the platform before he felt the reassuring arms of his fellow campers.  Father Doug described that moment of no-return as embodying the nature of faith.

Fr. Doug then turned his attention to today's Gospel reading, Matthew15:21-28.  The story of the Canaanite woman who knelt before Jesus is a story of faith.  In fact, Fr. Doug pointed out that this is the only story in the Bible where a person's faith was described as "great."  He then pondered what it means to live lives full of faith and concluded that the essence of faith is trust without reservation...and without trust, there can be no relationship.  The Canaanite woman's kneeling before Jesus is a literal position of trust and Fr. Doug notes that this is just the position in which we often find ourselves.  This is especially true for times when we are gripped by fear and uncertainty...like the woman pleading for her daughter's sake, all we can do in these cases is put our trust in Jesus. 

Fr. Doug then explained that trust requires taking a risk...trust without risk isn't really trust.  We are all inclined to latch onto what is safe and comfortable, but Jesus asks that we trust with complete abandon and surrender.  The Canaanite woman was risking shaming herself kneeling at the feet of a Jewish person knowing that Jews despised her people.  She demonstrated her trust in Jesus even when Jesus was uncharacteristically indifferent to her first requests as the disciples were asking that she be sent away. 

Fr. Doug concluded by explaining that God calls for faith grounded in radical risk-taking...do we trust Him with our whole lives?  We are standing on the edge of our own "trust fall"...Jesus is calling for us to fall into his loving arms with the promise that he will never let us go. 

Submitted by M. White

A Conversation with Dee McMahon

I am so privileged to have the opportunity to visit with members of St. Thomas to talk and share Life Journeys. Today was special because I had never had the pleasure of just visiting with Dee and it was a delight.

Dee’s mother was from Tampa and her father was from Lakeland. After they were married they moved to St. Petersburg and found St. Thomas Church. This was in the early sixties. Dee was born in St. Petersburg and baptized into the Episcopal Faith at St. Thomas.  When Dee was nine years old her parents were divorced and they went to different churches but Dee never left St. Thomas.  She and her husband, Bill, were married at St. Thomas by Father Christopher Thompson. Dee’s roots are very deep in St. Petersburg and St. Thomas Church. Bill and Dee now have two beautiful daughters.

It was no surprise when she told me that when she is at St. Thomas doing her work or attending meetings she always has a sense of Peace.  It is more a feeling within of warmth and serenity.

Her father passed away when she was twenty years old and although he and her mother had divorced when she was nine, he had a great influence in her life.  Her mother’s parents, who lived in Portland Oregon, had also had a big impact on her life. She and her brother spent their summers in Portland
doing a lot of fun things with the grandparents.

In 2008 she had been working in Wholesale Sales at Sun Trust Bank and when returning to work after her maternity leave, the market had changed and she was out of a job. This created serious problems for the family and some very great hardships. However, Dee was always spiritually connected to God and she never let go during this time. She believes that this difficult experience caused her to become a better listener to God. She says that now she lets Him lead. It was difficult letting go and letting God be in charge.  Dee is after all is a leader, but God had the plan or the blue print. He leads. When we let Him lead everything falls into place.  Soon a position was open at St. Thomas and she now works a schedule that fits perfectly with her family’s schedule.

Just another example where all things work together for good.

In March, her husband Bill lost his job and The Prayer line was praying that a door of opportunity would open for Bill. Dee didn’t know this, but she wanted to share with me how that door opened.
She said that after Bill spoke to the Wednesday night group, Stan Shaver called Bill and suggested that he should contact Ceridian where his son Frank works. Stan didn’t know if they were hiring or not, but he thought it wouldn’t hurt to try. Bill did as Stan suggested and he got the job. He now works with Frank.

This, says Dee, is how God works through our St. Thomas family.  I am sure the Prayer Group would want me to thank Stan for being an instrument in bringing about the answer to our prayers.  I am reminded of the song “I sing a song of the saints of God, for the Saints of God are folks just like me, and I mean to be one too.  Isn’t it amazing how opportunities are right there in front of us every day? If we act on them it can make such a difference in some ones life.

Thanks Dee for taking time out of your busy schedule to share thoughts with me today.

Mary Hochadel
July 26, 2011
The St Thomas Blog

Sermon Notes: Miracles

Father John's sermon was based on today's gospel reading from Matthew 14:13.  He started by noting that it features the only miracle reported in all four gospels.  Jesus had just heard from the disciples of John the Baptist that he had been executed by Herod and was attempting to "withdraw by boat privately to a solitary place." Father John noted that John was not only the person who announced Jesus' coming, he was also his cousin and his senseless death (see versus 6-11) clearly saddened Jesus.  Fr. John pointed out that Jesus often retreated into solitude when he needed time for reflection and renewal, but in this case, his reputation did not allow for this and he had thousands follow him.
 
In spite of his situation, Jesus had compassion (Fr. John noted that interestingly "compassion" is derived from"compassio" which means "with bread") on the crowd and healed the sick.  Then his disciples, who Fr. John reflected often seemed preoccupied with worldly things, told Jesus to send the crowds away so they can go to local villages and buy food.  Jesus responded that this wasn't necessary and asked them to gather what food they had yielding five loaves and two fish.

Father John then observed that we all have to come to our own conclusions regarding the nature of the miracle that followed, but that he knows that while God could have obviously multiplied the food to provide for the crowd, he believes that the nature of the miracle has its roots in the generosity of the people who were acknowledging gratitude to Jesus for their healing.  As the food was passed, many of the people were making net contributions to the baskets because they had likely brought food for themselves.  The miracle is manifest in the fact that it is normally our nature to take rather than give and in that situation, you might have expected a crowd this large to have taken more than they needed at the moment because food was a much more precious commodity then and they could have used what they took the next day. 

Father John reflected on how fortunate we are that so few of us have experienced literal hunger, but discussed the joy that comes from not worrying about the future, counting on and knowing that God will provide for our needs each day.  He reminded us that the Lord's Prayer requests that He "give us this day, our daily bread," and reinforced that "bread" for us is more likely not actual food.  But since we all face worldly and spiritual trials, and that if we can shift our focus in terms of what we should be seeking from God to just what we need in terms of our daily sustenance, we can all experience miraculous lives in the spirit of the fish and loaves story.   

submitted by M. White

Altar Flowers for July

The Altar Flowers are given to the Glory of God and in thanksgiving for their 30th anniversary by Jack and Mary Jane Cartier.

Flower designers:  Pam Holley and Vicky Steinwender.



July 10
The Altar Flowers are given to the Glory of God and in loving memory of Dick Merriman by Gloria Ellinwood and Richard G. Merriman Family.

Flower designer:  Keith Tulloch


July 17
The Altar Flowers are given to the Glory of God and in loving memory of William F. Warner, Jr. by Burrage and Mary Lou Warner.

Flower designers:  Elizabeth Walters-Alison and Caron Burgess.


July 24
The Altar Flowers are given to the Glory of God and in loving memory of Esther McLeod Shaver by Stan Shaver.

Flower designers:  Deenie Miller and Vicky Steinwender



July 31
The Altar Flowers are given to the Glory of God and in loving memory of Helen and Bob Evans by Anne Morgan.

Flowers Designers:  Elizabeth Walters-Alison and Linda Sordan.

Patience and Hope

July 17 Sermon Notes

Father Chris opened this past Sunday's sermon by explaining that typically, the Collect for each Sunday represents a good summary of the lessons from the Bible planned for the day.   While this Sunday's Collect expresses a true and beautiful sentiment, Fr. Chris reflected that the primary theme that all the lessons shared is the importance of patience and hope for what God has in store for us.

In Genesis 28:10-19, we have the story of Jacob's ladder which reveals a connection between heaven and earth. Even with God's promise to always be with us, life is full of disappointment, pain and tragedy...it requires patience and hope. The Psalmist describes a restlessness regarding what we want to be and our dependence on God to lead us and our hope for the everlasting. Similarly, the lesson from Paul's epistle to the Romans ends with the theme of hope and patience:

"For in hope we have been saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

Finally, the Gospel reading from Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 is a parable imploring us to live lives of faith with patience. All of the lessons show us that we have to be at peace with things in life that we don't fully understand.

Father Chris then suggested that we consider where we feel the need to be most patient and write our own collect for today's lessons...a collect is comprised of two parts: 1) a prayer praising God; and 2) a supplication for patience in the area where we most need it. He closed with a quote from Teresa of Avila:

"Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee; All things pass; God never changes. Patience attains All that it strives for. He who has God Finds he lacks nothing: God alone suffices."


submitted by M White