The Weekly 07/28/13

All Saints’

The Weekly WWW.ALLSAINTSCARMEL.ORG

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost • July 28, 2013

Praying in the Power of the Spirit

By The Rev. Rick Matters One easy way to appreciate prayer is to recognize that it is an act of love. Like love, prayer is giving our self to God. We offer our thanksgiving and praise, and we offer our time, which is one reason we start the week by worshiping together. When we pray for others we create love triangles between ourselves, God, and those for whom we pray.

Because God both contains and transcends cause and effect (as well as time and space!), prayer involves the giving and receiving of love, rather than getting our way or being rewarded by God. The sure and certain answer to prayer is to receive the Holy Spirit, which is nothing less than God’s living presence in our lives. This means that when we pray, God prays with us. The Christian life becomes a tangle of love triangles: thanks be to God!

Scripture Lessons Today Genesis 18:20-32 Psalm 138 Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19) Luke 11:1-13

Scripture Lessons for Next Week Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23 Psalm 49:1-11 Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21

Recommendation:

Giving to All Saints’

By The Rev. Rick Matters

Giving is an act of prayer to the extent that we give of our self to Christ for the sake of others. Since money is an extension of ourselves, when we give, we are giving part of our self to God. Generous giving expresses our gratitude and draws us closer to God. Your pledges and donations empower our ministries. Our vestry’s budget needs at least an additional $20,000. So if you have not pledged, please do so—pledge forms are located in the back of the church and at the office. If you have pledged, prayerfully stretch your joy by giving an extra gift.

All Saints’ • The Weekly

Persistence in Prayer

By Robin Denney

Many people do not develop a regular habit of prayer because they feel like they don’t have the right words to say to God. Others pray only when they have a great need. It seems that the disciples also were apprehensive about prayer, because they came to Jesus and asked him how they should pray. Jesus gave them the words to pray, the Lord’s Prayer, but he also told them a parable about persistence as an example of how they should pray. Persistence is not about convincing God to change God’s mind, it is about being present with God long enough and often enough so that we feel in our hearts that we have a relationship with God. Through coming before God again and again, with words, with questions, and with silence and awe, we soak in the presence of God, and we begin to see the answers to those prayers and questions, in ways we never expected, throughout the day. To fuel that kind of persistence in prayer, we must deeply desire, in our hearts, that closeness with God. A good first step is to pray that God would plant that desire in your heart.

Prayerful Relationships

By The Rev. Rick Matters

Often we think of prayer as talking to God. A step in spiritual maturity comes when we appreciate listening as prayer. It is an obvious fact easily overlooked: if I always talk, but never listen to another, our relationship is weak.

How do we listen to God, who is present as spirit and truth?

Part of the answer is to embrace the uncertainty of not knowing, but trusting. Another answer is to listen to God in the Word and Sacrament of the liturgy. A third way of listening to God is through other people.

Conversatio is a form of dialogue that intentionally involves listening to God by listening to others (you can learn more by attending the September festival). The Ice Cream Sunday earlier this month provided another opportunity to listen to God through others. Be sure to read the accompanying list of comments from that meeting, about how God would be pleased have us improve or expand our ministries. Continue to listen, and join the next conversation in September.

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Highlighted Events and Meetings JULY 29AUGUST 4

All Saints’ Camp out at Santa Lucia

AUGUST 3

All Saints’ Annual Picnic at Santa Lucia

AUGUST 13

Buildings and Grounds Meeting

AUGUST 21

Friends of St. Benedict

AUGUST 28

Vestry Meeting

All Saints’ • The Weekly

Building of God’s Kingdom

By Robin Denney

“Your vocation is where your greatest passion meets the world’s greatest need,” (Theologian Frederick Buechner). God calls us each individually to the work of building God’s Kingdom on earth. Day by day we love each other and God with our hearts, minds, and strength. From time to time we find ourselves out of step or in times of change, wondering what God is calling us to. I’ve found this quote from Buechner helpful in focusing my prayer about God’s call in my life. Our hearts are filled with passion fueled by our talents and interests, and by the injustices and pain in the world that make us angry. In discerning God’s call to us, in life changing decisions, and daily decisions, spending time in prayer is critical. In prayer we hold these things, the passions and pain of our hearts and the world before God, and we listen, again and again. And though we might not hear specific direction, we find God’s answer in different ways: in scripture, in the Spirit which drives us onward, and in the peace which passes understanding that dwells in our hearts.

The Praying Church

By Greg Troxell

We are blessed in the Episcopal church with the prayers of the people found in the Book of Common Prayer. The forms help us to pray for ourselves, our families and the world. Yet what is a prayer if there is no faith?

Effective prayer, brings us into the presence of God. Sometimes our prayers are not answered the way we would like, sometimes the answer is delayed, but whether answered or not, our prayers offered in faith, increase our relationship with the Lord Almighty and place us in alignment with his purposes.

In today’s reading from Colossians we are reminded that Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection settled any questions of his divine authority in the spiritual realms. When we pray, we must exercise our faith, rooted in scriptural truths, divine promises and our personal knowledge of the Jesus character and authority. When we pray in the power of the spirit it is not the verbalization of a wish, but soulful and joyous surrender to the will of God. Let us pray.

WWW.ALLSAINTSCARMEL.ORG

Announcements Monday: The annual parish campout will be held at our Santa Lucia campground from Monday, July 29, to Monday, August 5, with the parish picnic on Saturday and the regular Sunday Eucharist offered at 11:00 a.m. Sign up with Izzi Shillinglaw (373-7570) to camp for the full week or just overnight.

You’re also welcome to come for the day for planned events, or just to enjoy the redwoods and Big Sur River.

Wednesday: Bible study from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. in Grant Hall.

Saturday: parish picnic at Santa Lucia— The annual picnic in Big Sur will be held this Saturday, August 3, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Games and activities will complement the potluck lunch at noon, with a barbecued main dish provided.

Healthy Saints hike—Join your friends on Tuesday, August 13, from 9:00 a.m. to noon to hike at Glen Devon Ranch.

Spaces are limited, so sign up soon with Mother Cynthia at thevicarofbigsur@ gmail.com.

All Saints’ Episcopal Parish Ninth and Dolores PO Box 1296 Carmel, CA 93921 Phone: 831-624-3883 Fax: 831-624-1459 www.allsaintscarmel.org

Summer Choir begins August 4, and is open to anyone who might like to sing, but cannot commit to full choir membership.

The anthems are easy and fun, and you’ll sit in the congregation and come up just to sing the anthem. Rehearsals begin at 10:00 a.m. in the music room, before each 10:30 a.m. service in August. All are welcome!

Episcopal Church Women—On Saturday, August 17, the diocesan ECW presents Our Gifts & Joy from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s, Salinas. Contact Diane Lovelace at 408-263-8945 or DiLovelace@aol.com.

Women’s Retreat: Building a Sacred Space—Join Mother Cynthia on Saturday, August 24, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at our Santa Lucia campground.

The $15 registration includes snacks and presentations; bring a bag lunch. RSVP to Mother Cynthia at thevicarofbigsur@ gmail.com.

Ministry of hospitality—You’re invited to open your home to a participant at the September 27-29 Festival of Christian Spirituality. All meals are provided at the festival. If you have a spare room and would like to participate in this ministry, contact Father Rick or the parish office.

Lost & Found—Several earrings, jackets, wrist watches, and eyeglasses have been found over the past year. You are encouraged to recover them in the parish office soon, because they will be disposed of on August 15, 2013 if not claimed by then.

Sunday handout deadline—To be included in next Sunday’s handout, your announcement must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. on the preceding Wednesday. Contact Andrea Matters at andreamatters@gmail.com or 624-3090.a