FATHER MARK’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
I miss you all terribly and it has been so great to see some of you in-person, even masked! It has started to feel more and more like “church” lately. We've had a setback for sure, but we are making it, and we will be back in the sanctuary and praying and singing and (gasp!) maybe even shaking hands someday! GINA’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
Did you know???? The Thursday Announcements are posted every week on our website, too? Just go to www.saintf.org , then click on “PARISH NEWS”. So, if you misplace your email or lose the mailed copy, you can still access the information. Happy Birthday!! Happy Anniversary!! Elsi Nielsen September 6 Clark & Amy Wisniewski September 4 John & Peggy Wymore September 5 Prayer Requests: The prayer request sheet is still just outside the office in the church and is updated weekly. Anyone may still email your prayer requests to me at [email protected]. If you do not have email, just call the church and leave a message. Since, I am back in the office, the requests must be received on by Wednesday at the latest, for them to be included in the Sunday Bulletin for that week. If the request is received after Wednesday, they will be added to the next Sunday Bulletin. We will follow the same process and keep the names on for two weeks. Once the prayer request is received, it is added to the prayer list and then I email the names to have them added to the Prayer Chain and to the Daughters of the King. Daily Devotion for Thursday September 3, 2020 Rules for Relationships The 5 Steps – Pause * Listen * Think * Pray * Go Pause Some pride themselves on being rule-followers. Others see rules as made to be broken. Think of these “Rules for Relationships” like a ruler – helping us get things straight, connecting two points, allowing us to be level and aligned. When it comes to loving one another, God knows we need every tool we can get! Listen The commandments, Don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t desire what others have, and other commandments, are all summed up in one word: You must love your neighbor as yourself. Romans 13:9 Think Do you remember when you first learned the Ten Commandments? One Sunday School teacher I know calls them “The Ten Best Ways to Live.” In today’s text, Paul says that those last five commandments God gave to Moses can be summed up in how we care for our neighbor. Don’t cheat, don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t try to get what’s not yours. These laws are both literal and figurative. We may pride ourselves on not being murderers, but Jesus says that even hating your brother in your heart is the essence of killing. Even looking at someone lustfully is the essence of adultery. Without God’s grace, these can be hard commandments to follow! But Paul says it really comes down to loving our neighbor as ourselves. You wouldn’t want someone to cheat off your test at school, so you choose to keep your eyes on your own work. You wouldn’t want someone to break the rules during a soccer game, so you play fairly too. It’s important to see that loving your neighbor as yourself only works when you actually do love yourself. Cari Pattison Pray “God, help me believe the truth about myself, no matter how beautiful it is.” Amen Marcrina Wiederkehr Go Being human together can be hard. Be gentle with yourself. Be generous to others. Love might require effort. It might mean saying “no”. It might include “I’m Sorry,” Or “I don’t know”. And when it comes to down to it, loving your neighbor as yourself simply means paying attention to what you feel and need and offering the same to another person. Go in love, and God be with you. Gina’s Office Hours Tuesday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Wednesday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Thursday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Comments are closed.
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February 2025
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