 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Friday, December 3, 2022 Last minute notices before Sunday The readings This week’s Readings:1 Advent for the OT St Nicholas for the Epistle and Gospel Isaiah 11:1-11 A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  1 John 4:7-14 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. The Gospel Mark 10:13-16 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.  Children and those who are “like” children You probably know how children fight on the playground or in your house. If you do, you know they also have the capacity to forgive quickly, to let things go, because they don’t want to be lonely! Children know it is better to ty to do this life together than alone – Little children come easily to love. It is natural for them. They delight easily, They wonder at everything. They laugh easily. And they aren’t afraid of lions or bears, either. But to be “childish” – is not the same. It is to be petty, to remember past offenses, for live afraid, to refuse to be reconciled. It is never to grow up into adult child-likeness. We remember St Nicholas this weekend, who was generous to children and to others because of Jesus – as we celebrate the confirmations and receptions of some teenagers and adults.Each of you have child-like hearts, open and welcoming of others, of freedom and peace and joy – and hope. May the rest of us join you in this season of wonder to live as children: as counter-cultural, empire-rejecting, peace-bringers and joy-makers. Share Your Christmas There should be more “angels ” on the WalMart tree today. We are responsible for 113 children ages 10-12. Any wishes you can fulfil now and bring Sunday will help us plan for next week. Please also sign up, if you haven’t, in the parish hall, for some time to assist with distribution Dec. 14-15. Potluck Please remember that we have limited space in the refrigerator – but we will try to accommodate whatever you bring that needs to be kept cold. We do have 2 ovens and two stovetops to keep food warm, and if you have food in a crockpot we have plugs around the kitchen to help you with that -It’s going to be a good day, whatever the weather! |
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