Readings for the Second Sunday of Easter: May 1st, 2011

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

E-bulletin

For the next few Sundays we will be gathering new "undies" to pass along to the women of Rahab's Sisters. If you are able to purchase a package or two of undies, please drop them off in the narthex or at the Mothers' Day Tea. Your support is much appreciated!!

Thank you to Michelle Horgen and the entire choir for the most amazing music this Easter. What a treat it was both at the Easter Vigil and Easter morning. Wow!!

One Easter Memorial dedication came in too late to be mentioned in the Easter Day bulletin: Muriel Hager gave to both the flower and music programs, in memory of her husband, Don, and in thanksgiving for their marriage.

Sermon: Easter, The Very Rev. Anthony Thurston

I want to welcome you to St. John’s this morning. Easter is the feast of feast in the Christian year.

A full church is a great sight. The question that we might ask ourselves is what brings us here today.

Why are we here?

Is this really a day of joy and gladness? Is it really the feast of feasts?

Many of us are here today because we want to have a genuine religious experience—and what better day to have such an experience than Easter. Spring is here, flowers are blooming and, unless it rains for a whole lot longer, we’re able to come out of our winter cocoons and experience the joy of this season.

But none of these things is what Easter is about. The Resurrection event is an event having nothing to do with nature. I love the season of spring and I love being able to be outdoors. And each of these things is fine as long as we don’t get them confused with the real thing. Because the Resurrection was, in every sense, contrary to nature—the Resurrection was anything but natural or predictable.

Readings for Easter Sunday: April 24th, 2011

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

E-bulletin

FLOWERS AND GREENS NEEDED TO DECORATE THE CROSS ON EASTER! Oh, it is soooo beautiful! You’ll want your child’s picture in front of it every year!! What is it? The annual flowering of the cross which happens every Easter at St. Johns. Do you have greens or flowers in your yard that you could bring in on Easter? On that day the children in our church will weave these greens into the wired casing encompassing our fabulous cross. All those little hands are anticipating buckets of flowers and green. It takes heaps of flora but the end result will be a magnificent spectacle to behold.

TULIPS ARE HERE!
If you ordered Tulips from Megan for the March for Babies fundraiser, they will be available at church Thursday evening at the service and will be at the church office Friday to pick up.

Sermon: Palm Sunday, The Very Rev. Anthony Thurston

Over the last several weeks, during this season of Lent, we have been talking about God—who do we think God is? And what is our relationship to God. I’ve tried, over these weeks, to challenge us to look at our lives with God from the standpoint of our spiritual lives—and from the viewpoint of our community here at St. John’s.

But today is Palm Sunday—a day of celebration—some might even say a party day. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a colt and “the whole town” we’re told, celebrates his coming—the crowd goes wild with excitement! But the more that the townsfolk celebrate him, the more the authorities begin to plot against him.

Why? It’s obvious—the authorities believed he was making a bid for political leadership, a bid to be the king.

Kids Club Went Swimming!

We had a great time at the pool on April 16th.....hope you can join us again on May 7th, 12:30pm at North Clackamas Aquatic Park!

Readings for Palm Sunday: April 17th, 2011

The Liturgy of the Palms

Matthew 21:1-11
When Jesus and his disciples had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, `The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately." This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
"Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
"Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!"
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."

Church School Easter Update!!

DON’T LET IT BE KNOWN……..

The Easter Bunny is hopping around church trying to find people to fill plastic easter eggs with trinkets, coins, and/or goodies. It would be most gracious of you to pick up a bag of empty plastic eggs, fill them with secret treasures, and return them to the Sunday School on Palm Sunday. They will magically reappear on Easter hidden in the most unusual places around church for our little ones to delight in finding.


FLOWERS AND GREENS NEEDED TO DECORATE THE CROSS ON EASTER

Oh, it is soooo beautiful! You’ll want your child’s picture in front of it every year!! What is it? The annual flowering of the cross which happens every Easter at St. Johns. Do you have greens or flowers in your yard that you could bring in on Easter? On that day the children in our church will weave these greens into the wired casing encompassing our fabulous cross. All those little hands are anticipating buckets of flowers and green. It takes heaps of flora but the end result will be a magnificent spectacle to behold.

E-Bulletin

Church School News: Bring your family, friends and neighbors! The Church School group will be meeting at North Clackamas Aquatic Park this coming Saturday, April 16th at 12 noon for a day of fun and swimming.
Admission is: $3.99/3-8yo child, 4.99/9-17yo, $6.99/adult 18+ Buy one, get one free coupons can be found in family publications at your local library or at some grocery stores.
Children ages 3-8 must be accompanied in the water by a responsible supervisor (13 years or older) at a 3:1 ratio.
Hope to see you there!

Scrip update: Linda will be out of town this Sunday. Scrip will resume on April 24th. If you placed an order this week, it will be waiting for you in the church office on Sunday!

Church School Newsletter

The Spring 2011 Church School Newsletter can be viewed by following this link.

Sermon: Lent 5, The Very Rev. Anthony Thurston

Today we’re beginning to close in on the sermons for Lent. And Holy Week and Easter begin just a week away. Last week I spent some time talking about several spiritualities that are helpful and even crucial to our life together as a Christian community. And I suggested that certain beliefs that we have as Christians are also crucial in moving our lives to Christian action.

One of the problems that many people have with Christian beliefs is that they don’t know what those beliefs are for. They may know what the belief is, but are not sure what the belief itself is meant to do or why it is important to hold that belief. After all, everyone has beliefs of one sort or another and in many ways we do not often understand what they are for and how they may work.

Readings for the Fifth Sunday in Lent: April 10th, 2011

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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ADULT ED, 9:00 a.m. During Lent, we will look at the last week of Jesus’ life as recorded in the Gospel of John. This Sunday, Fr. Ric Simpson will lead a discussion about parts of these scriptures: John 18 & 19.

There will be a Mother’s Tea Planning Meeting on Sunday, April 10th at 9:30 a.m. in the Guild Room.

Palm Cross Making Session –Saturday, April 16th beginning at 10:00 a.m. in the Parish Hall. Bring your ideas, comments, and question. No experience needed to make palm crosses. Illustrated directions provided. It’s easy! We’ll have coffee and goodies available. Hope to see you there!

Sermon: Lent 4, The Very Rev. Anthony Thurston

This has been a difficult week to read the paper. Home values are still going down; our legislature has finally stopped debating whether to give additional benefits to the unemployed in Oregon. Japan is languishing over the earthquake and tsunami and nuclear issues as well as dealing with the thousands and thousands that are either dead or missing.

All of these issues and events remind us starkly that moments of wholeness are few and far between and fragmentation in our world is something we are all living with each day. Lives once carefully constructed have become fragmented and torn asunder. How is God present in the midst of these fragments? Or maybe the question should be—can we spot any simplicity—any easier way—to live in the midst of all the things that go wrong in our lives and in the world?

This is the fourth of our sermons on God for this season of Lent. And today I want us to look at the ways in which our participation in this community of faith can assist us in looking at God’s plan—and when I use the word “plan”—I don’t mean the precise or exact way that God would have us live—I believe that God doesn’t have any exact way that each one of us should live—God doesn’t have a unique plan for each one of us as individuals. Otherwise none of us would have free will. But what I do mean is how does the practice of belief in God help us to do, and to be, and to live?

Calling all kids......Join us on Easter Sunday - APRIL 24, 2011!

9:30am Easter Egg Hunt* starting in the Parish Hall for children up to age 11. Donations for the Easter Egg Hunt gladly accepted!

10:00am Special joint Easter Sunday School and Flowering of the Cross

Don't forget to bring flowers and clippings from your yard for the cross!

If the weather is decent, we will take pictures of each child next to the Flowered Cross outside after the service.

We would like to fill the eggs with stickers, trinkets and wrapped goodies and need all donations back by Palm Sunday.

You can help in many ways:
1) Take home some plastic eggs, fill them and return them to church (we will have empty eggs in the NarthexApril 3rd & 10th),
2) Fill your own plastic eggs and bring them to church or
3) Drop off plastic eggs, stickers, trinkets or other wrapped goodies.

We could also use baskets. Sue Hiscoe has graciously agreed to collect donations for us in the office during the week or you can give items to one of the teachers any Sunday before Palm Sunday. We truly appreciated your help with this last year and know that the kids really enjoyed it!

Readings for the Fourth Sunday in Lent: April 3rd, 2011

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.