Posted by stpauls on July 11, 2010 under Bible Readings, Webmaster Blog | 
Colossians 1:1-14 ~ Bible Reading for July 11, 2010
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Posted by stpauls on under Bible Readings, Webmaster Blog |
Amos 7:7-17 ~ Bible Reading for July 11, 2010
This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel;
I will never again pass them by;
the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said,
‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel must go into exile
away from his land.’”
And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
“Now therefore hear the word of the LORD.
You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
Therefore thus says the LORD:
‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land shall be parceled out by line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”
Posted by stpauls on July 4, 2010 under Webmaster Blog |
The 10:00 a.m. congregation at St. Paul’s Church on July 4 was treated to a service followed by a concert that raised the roof off the rafters!
It began with New Zealand’s finest secondary-student singers, 54 of them, all part of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir, singing the Kyrie, the Sanctus, and the communion anthem during the service.
The choir prepares to sing an anthem during communion.
Sharing “the Peace” in St. Paul’s can be a long, chatty affair! Long enough to greet some of the students.
For the choir’s concert, Musical Director Andrew Withington (M Mus, Auckland, and Mus B, Canterbury, New Zealand) chose a half-hour program from the students’ varied repertoire of almost 30 pieces – all memorized by heart. The list ranges from Schütz’s setting of Psalm 100 to a New Zealand folk song, “Rise Out Your Bed,” set for the choir by Richard Oswin.
The last couple of songs in this memorable concert were traditional Maori pieces complete with poi choreography, lead by some of the Maoris in the choir. 
Reminiscent of the opening of an All Blacks rugby game, these songs included guttural shouts that looked and sounded as though they were connecting the singers to Mother Earth.
What a wonderful end to the week! St. Paul’s congregation thanked the choir with enthusiastic applause, which of course lead to an encore. You guessed it! “I Got Rhythm!” by George and Ira Gershwin. And indeed they have – rhythm, talent, enthusiasm, and a truly gorgeous sound!
After lunch at St. Paul’s, the students set off for concerts at Granville Island in the afternoon and Ryerson Church in the evening.
The group is on its way up to Powell River where they will compete in the International Choral Kathaumixw against choirs from around the world from July 6 to 10, 2010. The last time they came to Canada for this international gathering, they won 1st place in the Youth Choir category, 1st place in Adult Mixed Choir, and 1st place in Folk and Cultural Traditions.
Thanks to Dianne Warren, St. Paul’s choir director and organist, for arranging this wonderful visit; thanks to New Zealand Secondary Students Choir, for coming to St. Paul’s to share your talents. And good luck in Powell River!
Photos and article by Nina Shoroplova, Webmaster
Posted by stpauls on under Sermons |
“I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice” (Ezekiel 34: 16). So you better not be fat or strong.
I spent a good fair amount of visits as you may recall to the United States, trying to remind the Americans that Christianity is a late comer to these shores, and that Palestinian Christianity is where it all began; that is where I come of course. (Those of you who do not know me would have figured that out from my accent.) Especially in Texas, I had on a couple of occasions to remind some Bible-belt folks that we did not receive the Christian faith in Palestine from Dallas, and that Jesus was born in Bethlehem – remember that! On several occasions, I thought secretly to myself: there is no point in converting the Americans, if one can help it. But, now, here I am in Vancouver, celebrating Peter and Paul your patron, but suspecting that the hard work is again being done by someone else – albeit by an Americanized German: Fr. Markus Dünzkofer. I presume that you have not forgotten him.
The history of this great church, where plenty of hard work is unmistakably being done now is unmistakably an intriguing part of the beginnings of the Church in this relatively recent city of Vancouver. Do help yourselves to some brochures in the back and have a little read. Unlike the Church in England, which goes back a fair bit further in time, you did not have the pleasure and the excitement of burning heretics, of evil priests and bishops, the remarriage of divorcees, and the excommunication of charioteers, and such like remote issues. You have the more sober remembrance of the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway and their workers with some beginnings in Yaletown and later movement to the newly developed West End. The Church became a friendly place for many around, and a centre for the community on different levels.
A time came, however, when you thought that the Christian civilization of this community was coming to an end with the demographic changes around, and the movement of communities especially those well established families and their no-longer existing lovely homes, which were replaced with high rises. You thought the barbarian atheists were on their way in and nothing stood between the Church’s culture and disaster. But, few would doubt that there was a feeling of hope and a new beginning with the great incumbency of Fr. David Crawley, who made it clear that the Church cannot close the doors that Christ has opened widely to all, inviting the community around to come and be part of this great witness to the gospel’s stability in the midst of the uncertainties of this age.
There is nothing more apt to be celebrated today as we recall the two apostles Peter and Paul, two very different apostles, with different missions, who are both needed to fulfil the mission. “Feed my sheep,” said Jesus to Peter. He did not say argue with my sheep about the correct theological version. Feed my sheep. My sheep hunger for the truth, they hunger for a word of trust, and hope and love. Do not argue just get on with it.
But, Peter here is paying off for his threefold denial earlier, giving his threefold affirming of his love to Jesus. Like Peter, the Church that is us constantly lives between denial of Jesus and love of Jesus. We all chose with whom we belong. Surely with those whom we consider worthy, pure and respectable. We can say I have tried to be generous and tolerant to the unfortunate: to the whores and collaborators, the Jews, the Muslims, the blacks, the homosexuals and the handicapped, the mass of people who do not have my liberty. I am nice to them, and I deplore prejudice. So don’t embarrass me, really. Remember I am not one of them, and I cannot be held responsible for the bad taste of their suffering. You must remember that they haven’t had our advantages, and they are bound to be a little shrill. But, you and I can disagree in a civilised way. I am one of you, really; I am not with Jesus. The torchlight in Pilate’s court is making me sweat. I do not really know the man.
And then we have Paul, who in today’s letter to Timothy is exhorting his hearer to proclaim the message and do the work of an evangelist. But, he also reminds him that the Church, as with Peter, is the place where failure and sin and utter unpredictability is to be found. It is not the gathering of the righteous, but sinners, who have itching ears (check if your ears are itching), and who accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires. God does not promise that we shall be protected from events and disasters, and that we shall be in control. But, he tells us that his promise and presence will remain untouched by events. And we have to learn this day by day, century by century. It is a story of cross and resurrection, which the apostles had to carry. We cannot tell how human sin will interrupt the work of God, because God does not force his gospel on anyone. But, equally we cannot tell when and how resurrection comes. In the darkness of failure, the cross is planed; he shares the dark and carries the cost. There is always a divine action working away. So Paul says: “be sober, endure suffering, carry out your ministry fully.” We do not know when the light will come, but we know that darkness will never extinguish it.
To look at the Church’s past, including this Church’s past, is never to look at a golden age, but to see this truth of the unending renewal with which comes the unending presence of the crucified and risen Lord. So when the Church flourishes, we give thanks. When our church struggles, we praise God for his faithfulness to us in our failure. And when, as often, we see both together, we know that our heart must be with God, who is greater than our success or our failure, who is simply there, given to us in Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Anglicans, not least in this diocese, are perplexed about mixed messages – messages of growth and new initiatives; but, also fears of division, not knowing where to look for unity. But, if we keep our gaze on God’s fidelity, a fidelity amply shown in the history we celebrate in this Church, we shall have something to say that is far more than our story, our successes, or our failures. We are commanded to speak of a God who restores his sheep as we heard in Ezekiel. We have no choice but to announce this, as Fr. Crawly and others have done. Peter meets the risen Christ, and, as we say at the Easter Vigil: In his hands, are all times and ages: in his hand, our past, present and future. He restores all things. Come let us receive him. Amen.
Posted by stpauls on under Bible Readings, Webmaster Blog |
John 21:15-19 ~ Gospel Reading for July 4, 2010
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.)
After this he said to him, “Follow me.”
Posted by stpauls on under Bible Readings, Webmaster Blog |
2 Timothy 4:1-8 ~ Bible Reading for July 4, 2010
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Posted by stpauls on under Bible Readings, Webmaster Blog |
Ezekiel 34:11-16 ~ Bible Reading for July 4, 2010
For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
