Brotherhood of St. Andrew Meeting – 04/09/11

After our customary breakfast, and approval of the last meeting minutes, we had our ministry team presentations.

John Phipps discussed the Dallas Assembly Website – brothersandrewdallas.org. Also, he discussed the excellent presentation on prayer by Fr. J.D. Brown of Holy Trinity at the Dallas Assembly meeting. This is an excellent resource for our current study.

Jon Browne brought up the Dallas Assembly Golf Tournament for the Habitat For Humanity. The Assembly is looking for additional sponsorships as well as players.

Specific to Projects and Events, Charlie Turner reported that the Bowling Party fell short of expectations as there were a number of no-shows. However, those who participated had a great time.

Our collection for the Prison Ministry was taken.

We have scheduled and initial tickets purchased for the Frisco Rough Riders Game on May 28. Cost is $17.25 per head and includes food. This event is open to the entire parish. Watch for further details in the Church Service Bulletin.

The Ascension BBQ is scheduled for June 2. Ben Moore and Bud Marecek have volunteered to take the lead on the food prep. Notices will be put in the Church Service Bulletin.

The Brotherhood has decided that all funds collected over costs will be put toward funding for the Peru Mission Trip.

The Kairos Week event is the second week of May, culminating with the closing ceremony on May 15. Jeff Wright and Tony Gerber are leading our delegation with Tony Federico, and Gahre Pascale participating this year. Robby Gerber will be leading a delegation to the Sunday closing after the 10:30AM service on May 15. Those interested should contact Jeff Wright and Tony Gerber for necessary paperwork to participate.

Phil Wylie finished up our current study program with “Creating A Prayer Ministry in Your Church”. Many thanks to Jeff Wright and Phil for their shepherding us through this study.

Due to scheduling conflicts with Kairos and others, our next meeting will be May 21. This will be a BYOB (Bring Your Own Breakfast).

Dallas Assembly Meeting – 3/26/11

The Brotherhood of St. Andrew Dallas Assembly held their quarterly meeting March 26, 2011 at Holy Redeemer in Irving. Details are available here.

Highlights of the meeting included an excellent presentation by Rev J.D. Brown of Holy Trinity on Meditation on Prayer. We recommend this to all members of Holy Nativity.

The Beginning

So this is my new blog. I’m not sure how exactly I’m going to use it. I will definitely be posting my sermons on the sermons page and articles that I write for the newsletter, etc. here. Other than that, we’ll see.

Stay tuned.

Brotherhood of St. Andrew Meeting – 03/12/11

After our customary communal breakfast, The Brotherhood continued it’s studies of “When God’s People Pray” by Jim Cymbala. Today, Phil Wylie headed the session on “Why Prayer Matters”.  Again, the personal stories conveyed in this series are quite moving and motivational. A lengthy discussion and personal experiences was interspersed with the video.

Our business portion of the meeting involved final plans on the Brotherhood Bowling Party (March 26) and a Frisco Rough Riders outing on May 28th. The outing will be open to  all – details to follow. We also took up our monthly collection for the Casey Miner Beto Prison Ministry.

The Brotherhood of St. Andrew is open to all men of the parish. We welcome you to join us in our monthly meetings and participate in our Christian growth.

We meet every second Saturday of each month. Our next meeting will be April 9, 2011 at 8AM in the Parish Hall. Come join us!

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper

Tuesday, March 8th 5:30 – 6:45 pm the EYC will be sponsoring the annual Pancake Supper. Donations are accepted with all proceeds going to the Vacation Bible School as a gift from the EYC.

Please come and join us!

Vacation Bible School Donations

I recently posted about the Vacation Bible School program charging for each child to attend. This has been an on going subject forever and God has always provided for us every year. The Bible says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  Luke 11:9

The VBS meeting on Saturday proved that a number of people are asking God for help in this matter. There are a number of people that have already started donating to this ministry, however; we are only half way to achieving our goal.

This is our Ministry and we do not charge for a ministry, and “Gods word is not for sale”.  I believe these people, that I have quoted, are right. I believe that we can achieve our goal and show the world that we may be a small church but beliefs are strong and we know that God will provide.

Therefore instead of charging for our Ministry we are going to have a donation drive. If you would like to donate for a child to go to VBS this year, you can come by the table in the Narthex; donate and sign you name on a paper child that we will be displaying in the hallway. The cost for a child to go to VBS for the week is $50 but we will accept any and all amounts.

Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26

Blessings, Carolee

Brotherhood Bowling Party

Come join the Brotherhood for a night out of bowling!

March 26, 2011, 8PM

Plano Super Bowl
2521  Avenue K
Plano, Texas 75074
972-881-0242

Cost is $12 per person which includes 3 games including shoes. An additional $3.50 per person will get you food.

Please RSVP to the church office so we can get a headcount.

Two Sons Have I Not

The Holy Nativity Players will be presenting the one act play Two Sons Have I Not – Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants by Kenneth E. Bailey on March 11, 2011 at 7PM in the Parish Hall. (Please note – this is a change in location)

Where is the Cross in the Parable of the Prodigal Son? For centuries, Muslims have used the father’s forgiveness to question the need for a mediator between humanity and God. Kenneth Bailey presents this parable from a Middle Eastern perspective and, in doing so, powerfully demonstrates its essentially Christian message. In it he highlights the underlying tensions between law and love, servanthood and sonship, honor and forgiveness that grant this story such timeless spiritual and theological power.

Admission is free and there will be light refreshments in the Parish Hall afterwards.

Please contact the Church office for any additional details.

Brotherhood of St. Andrew Meeting – 02/12/11

After our customary communal breakfast, The Brotherhood continued it’s studies of “When God’s People Pray” by Jim Cymbala with Jeff Wright leading. Today’s session focused on the relationship of the word of God to our prayers.

This series has been a great program with unanimous approval of the quality and relevance to our spiritual lives. A portion of each week’s study centers around a personal experience of a member of Cymbala’s church – The Brooklyn Tabernacle. These have proven very moving, inspirational and have generated much insightful discussion in our group.

We have 3 remaining sessions in this program and have found them so rewarding that we are looking at our next program to be another series from Cymbala.

Our business portion of the meeting centered on our continued support of the Kairos Program. We now have 3 brothers actively participating in the program – Jeff Wright, Garhe Pascal and Tony Federico. The Brotherhood has approved sponsoring the program costs of 3 of the 4 participants in the next Kairos encounter on May 15, 2011.

We also took up our monthly collection for the Casey Miner Beto Prison Ministry.

In addition, the Brotherhood approved the sponsorship of ten (10) children in this year’s Vacation Bible School.

The Brotherhood is also planning an outing with the Frisco Rough Riders.

Upcoming Brotherhood activities for all Church members include the Ascension BBQ (June 2, 2011), and our annual Bowling Party (TBA). Stay tuned for details.

The Brotherhood of St. Andrew is open to all men of the parish. We welcome you to join us in our monthly meetings and participate in our Christian growth.

We meet every second Saturday of each month. Our next meeting will be March 12, 2011 at 8AM. Come join us!

Sermon for Palm Sunday, Year A

The Palm Sunday service always gives you a workout. We start with the triumphant procession into Jerusalem, waving Palms and crying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”. And then we end up crying, “Let him be crucified!”. We play a role in both of these dramas, because we find both of these reactions in ourselves.

When Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the donkey, he is sending a clear signal. In fact, he was not the only person ever to do this. Other people who claimed to be the Messiah did the same thing, because the verse from Zechariah was understood to be a Messianic prophecy. “Lo, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on the foal of an ass.” Jesus is proclaiming for all to hear, “I am the one! I am here!  And it is time to save God’s people!”

And the crowd understands this. They don’t shout, “Hosanna to the great teacher who works miracles!” No, they shout, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” And who is the Son of David?  Messiah, the anointed king who will deliver God’s people and drive out their oppressors.

Jesus even begins well, by the crowd’s standards. As Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the story, the first thing he does after this is to drive the oppressing money changers out of the temple. He has come as a conquering king to his rightful inheritance. And he will set things in order.

But the distance between “Hosanna!” and “Crucify him!” is not very far. Why do the people turn against him within the week? Why do we turn against our Lord who saves us?  St. Matthew gives us a hint. When the other people in the city ask, “Who is this?” the people singing his praises answer, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth.”

Now prophet is not the same thing as Lord, even if we’re still thinking in terms of a merely human Lord. The Lord requires allegiance. The Lord requires obedience.  The Lord need not do what you want him to do the way you want him to do it. Instead, you are required to conform yourself to his way.

So Jesus goes into Jerusalem, drives the money changers out of the temple, heals the sick, and argues with the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. That’s all great, but where’s the beef? Where’s the coup attempt? Where’s the Jewish state? Where’s the solution to all my problems?

We so often want Jesus to save us from everything “out there”. But Jesus came to save us from everything “in here”, in ourselves. We want him to fix our circumstances, and instead he tries to fix us. He starts to overturn all of our carefully controlled and managed lives. He requires us to change and to do whatever he asks, rather than fulfilling our own desires and confirming our way of doing things. And “Hosanna!” turns to “Crucify him!” in a heartbeat.

But Jesus is not daunted by our petty revolts. He does what he came to do.  Because he is God, he does not need to grasp at power or authority. Instead, he empties himself of divine power. He who requires obedience of us is himself obedient all the way to death in a slave’s execution. He who could have simply unmade the world in an instant instead offers himself as the means to remake it.

We are without excuse. If Jesus can give up the very splendor and omnipotence of being God to die on the cross for us, then we can certainly allow him to help us give up our own petty ambitions and desires in order to live with him.