MAY 2017
For the Journey . . . .
Remember how he told you, while he was
still with you in Galilee: “The Son of Man
must be delivered into the hands of sinful
men, be crucified and on the third day be
raised again.” (Luke 24:6b)
Recently, scientists have discovered an
Earth-size planet 500 light years away that
orbits a star in the habitable zone—a range
of distance from a star where liquid water
might pool on the planet's surface. The
planet, Kepler 186-f, orbits its star once
every 130 days and receives one-third the
energy that Earth does from the sun, placing
it near the outer edge of the habitable zone.
Kepler 186-f has stimulated scientists to
search out whether they might find signs of
life among the rocks of this planet. What if
they did? How would such a discovery
change your life?
Luke tells us of a discovery of new life within
a rock tomb by some women who were,
ironically, on a death search. On the first day
of the week, very early in the morning, the
women took spices and went to Jesus’ tomb.
There was no time lose! Jewish burial rites
called for anointing the dead body with
spices to hasten decomposition and cut
down the smell. Two years later, they could
return to gather the remaining bones and put
them in a stone box called an ossuary.
The women knew that after three days a
dead body would start to swell and leak; their
morbid chore could get ugly. No doubt this
concern weighed heavily on their minds but
the Jewish Sabbath prevented them from
attending to Jesus’ body any earlier. So for
three days they fretted: Would they arrive in
time? How badly would the body have
decomposed? Even as they approached the
tomb, they worried about how they would
gain access.
Once they arrived, the women learned that
all of their worry and effort was needless.
Two angelic messengers told them that
Jesus had risen. And then they added,
“Remember how he told you while he was
still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man
must be delivered into the hands of sinful
men, be crucified and on the third day be
raised again.’” The women would have
expected an empty tomb if they had
remembered what Jesus told them.
We have the benefit of Jesus’ words handed
down in the bible. We can choose to ignore
them and spend our lives carrying burial
spices to empty tombs. Or we can remember
the things he told us and save ourselves a lot
of useless worry and effort that rob us of the
abundant life.
Were scientists to discover life on a planet
500 light years away, it would have little
effect on our everyday lives. But the
discovery of new life made by those women
continues to change lives today. It also
validates all that Jesus taught during his
short ministry of three years. So the angelic
messengers’ words hold meaning for us:
Remember how he told you while he was
still with you in Galilee. They are words of life
for those with ears to hear.
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
“Following Christ, Developing His People, Reaching Out to the World”
Gordon+
Vestry Report - April Meeting
The vestry postponed its April meeting by
one week for lack of a quorum. *At the
meeting, Becky Smith reported on our
upcoming June 10th parking lot sale where
parishioners are invited to bring their wares,
price them and sell them for their own benefit
or donate proceeds to the church. *The
vestry approved the purchase of insulation to
be installed in the storage room on May 13th.
*Fr. Gordon is looking for helpers to plan and
implement a Vacation Bible School to be
held in July. We would like to provide
transportation for children who need it. *We
have heard nothing further from the
Episcopal Church on their demand for
certain items that we retained. *Judy
McCaleb and Pat Sunda are looking into a
location for the October Quiet Day. *Fr.
Gordon reported that we have hired Shaudell
Morton to provide custodial services on two
Fridays each month. *Finally, Candy Gilb
suggested a presentation of the Nicene
Creed for a future Sunday service.
GODZ KIDZ
Nannette Beaumont
During Godz Kidz this past month, the
children have embraced the season of
spring, correlating “new life” to the
Resurrection of Jesus. We were blessed with
the presence of fifteen children during our
Easter Godz Kidz Sunday School. They
enjoyed our annual craft of making butterflies
with paint on their hands and feet. During
the lesson, the children discussed the
importance of being humble and the humility
shown by Jesus through washing His
disciples’ feet. The children made their
traditional pastel colored Easter flowers for
the cross presented at the altar. A jubilant
Easter egg hunt followed the Easter service
with a vast amount of candy, two dollar bills,
stickers, and exciting special gifts.
DELEGATE TRAVEL
What a special blessing it is that the Bishop
chose one of Christ Church's parishioners to
be the Dioceses' delegate to the Annual
Provincial Assembly.
As you are aware, there is no money in the
Diocesan budget for travel to the Assembly.
Please consider helping by donating to this
very important fund. It doesn't need to be a
large donation (of course those would be
accepted gratefully) since every donation is
one step closer to fulfilling the need.
PARKING LOT SALE
Becky Smith
Saturday, June 10th 9 AM to 1PM.
The guidelines are simple. Price your items,
bring your items, sell your items (you will be
your own cashier making it easy to
negotiate), remove your unsold items, keep
the proceeds or donate to the church.
Tables & chairs will be set out for you in the
parking lot at 7:30 AM on Saturday. If you
have a pop-up or shade umbrella please
bring it for your own use.
Please let me know how many tables you will
need – large table, card table, share a table.
Contact me if you need assistance getting
your items to the church.
We need volunteers to get tables ready to
move on Friday and to put everything away
on Saturday afternoon. Please email at
[email protected] or call me at 683-5084 with
questions or to volunteer.
Christ Church Financial Report
January - March 2017
Budgeted
Actual
Income
20,642
16,716
Expenses
20,637
11,697
“Following Christ, Developing His People, Reaching Out to the World”