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Written by Fr. Kevin Warner
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Wednesday, 03 March 2010 |
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Rector's Message
In my last column for the Mini I used the
title "Kevin's Kerygma." Many of you have
asked what the work kerygma means and
why I use it. Aside from the fact I find alliteration
alluring, the work kerygma works
nicely with what I hope I am doing in my
article. The word comes from the Greek κήρυγμα and means "proclamation." It
was because of Jonah's kerygma that
Nineveh repented, and it is my hope that these articles are
more aptly described by this title than the other one I used
to use: "Rector's Ramblings." I will leave it to you to decide.
Have you missed me yet? Last Sunday I was with the
vestry on retreat at Prince of Peace Abbey. We had a
marvelous, Spirit-filled weekend and grew closer to God
and one another. We agreed that this parish must have
Jesus Christ as its head, and be Scripture-led in its decisions.
We adopted unanimity as our decision making tool,
and agreed to rework our mission and vision statements.
Finally, Ray Fletcher was elected as Jr. Warden.
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Written by Fr. Kenneth Simon
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Wednesday, 03 March 2010 |
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Assistant Rector's Message
During the vestry retreat I was reminded
of a conversation I had a few years ago with an
elderly gentlemen while I was
serving as a chaplain at
Pomerado Hospital. During the
course of our conversation he
informed me that thirty years
ago he had stopped attending
church. He said that when he
was going through a difficult
time in his life, after the death of
his mother, the members of his church turned
their backs on him and ignored him. He felt depressed
and completely alone. He then made
the decision to stop attending church, because
he felt the church was filled with hypocrites, who
constantly talked about love, but failed to actually
demonstrate it.
The conversation reminded me that a
true faith in God is something that is visible by
all. It is displayed in our expression of love for
God and our neighbors. When we fail to show
the love of God to others, we are truly deceiving
ourselves, because faith is more than saying
that we believe in God. Faith is manifested in
our actions and caring for one another. We
have been called to spread the gospel message
and to share the love of God. We cannot claim
to be disciples of Christ if we don't model our
lives after him.
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Written by Fr. Kevin Warner
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Tuesday, 16 February 2010 |
Rector's Message
CRYING OUT TO GOD, or prayer as it is sometimes also
known, is a biblical principle that is repeated all
throughout scripture. We see kings, priests, prophets,
slaves, soldiers, shepherds, merchants and even pagans
(remember Nineveh and Jonah?) cry out to God, finding
Him strong to save and deliver. During this Lenten season,
I will be leading a course on prayer as part of the
Centerpoint Wednesday evening series.
This class is designed to teach us how to seek the Lord in earnest, for help in
the day of trouble and to seek His face for wisdom and guidance in times of
need. From the Book of Joel we will learn the divine strategy and how to respond
when we encounter a day of trouble and judgment from God. The
prophet calls the nation Israel into a season of fasting, prayer and "crying out
to God"; the gathering of solemn assemblies to seek God's mercy and pardon.
We can learn much from this chapter in Israel's history.
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Written by Fr. Kenneth Simon
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Tuesday, 16 February 2010 |
From the Assistant Rector
The season
of Lent is now upon
us, and we once
again have the opportunity
through
prayer, fasting, and
worship to enter
into the saving
events of Holy Week. Lent recalls
Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness
as he prepared for his
ministry in the world. As
Christians we are called to follow
his example as we enter
into this season of reflection
and prayer.
Over these next couple
of weeks we are encouraged to
look inwardly and closely examine
ourselves and our relationship
with God. We will reflect
on the things in our lives that
hinder and prevent us from
growing closer to God. We are
encouraged to uncover the areas
in our lives that need
changing through the healing
power of the Holy Spirit. Lent is
the time for us to seek God's
mercy and ask for his forgiveness
for things we have done
and things we have left undone.
To examine what it truly means
to be a disciple of Jesus and
how we live that out in our
everyday lives.
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Written by Fr. Kevin Warner
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Friday, 22 January 2010 |
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Awesome is a word that is frequently overused.
It has as its root, awe meaning "an
overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration"
or "fear: a feeling of profound respect
for someone or something" as in "the fear of
God." The suffix -some is merely the way
some nouns are transformed into adjectives,
as in "characterized by a specified quality,
condition, or action." Hence, awesome is a
word that should be reserved for an unusually
tremendous occurrence or feeling, which has to do with
being overwhelmed, particularly by an experience of God.
I just had an AWESOME weekend; I was at YouthQuake!
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