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Thursday, February 18, 2016

The White Rose


Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

18 February 2016

Events occurring on this date in 1943 provide an extreme example of the contrast between a worldview which is centered on God’s will and one centered on the exaltation of human will (indeed, of the “triumph of the will”).  Those centered on God’s will included the circle of students (and a philosophy professor) at the University of Munich, who came to be known as the “White Rose”.  These Christians spoke out against the Nazi policies under which the mass killing of those with development disabilities, Jews and Poles were murdered, and on this day they were arrested by the Gestapo, to later be beheaded.  And the contrast on this date in 1943?  This was provided in the speech given by Joseph Goebbels, propaganda chief for the Nazis, in which he proclaimed the need for “total war” in light of the regime’s first admission that Germany had suffered serious military defeats.

Those who looked to God to reveal truth spoke out and acted to proclaim the truth.  Those who looked to the supremacy of human will spoke out and acted to further a lie, and continued to focus on destruction and evil.

The 18 February 1943 contrast is, of course, extreme.  What about the contrasts in our own lives?  The temptation is always present to each of us that we are at some level sovereign.  We have enough experience of life to know that we cannot just get our way, and that if we attempt to just get our way this will lead to conflict in relationships and at work.  But it is all too easy, even in being realistic about how successfully we might impose our will, to just be “realistic,” and so to view life as no more than a series of pragmatic trade-offs, in which we try to get what we want, and are prepared to “cut the best deal we can get”.  Such pragmatism is not the same as recognizing that God’s will is sovereign, and that our identity is formed by how we discern God’s will and then do it.

In this Lenten time, may our prayer be that we may ever seek God’s will, discern His will, and do it.  In this we will be blessed; we will be blessed to discover that God’s will so far exceeds our own expectations that the choice between my will and God’s will is revealed as just one more temptation.

  

Grace abounds:  Please thank:

§  Kevan and Traci Revis, and Leslie Kohler for the Sunday coffee hours.



Call for Contributions:  If you have a spiritual reflection to share, or want to point your fellow worshippers toward a resource, submit your contributions to Fr. Karl (by email) by Wednesday in the week of publication.



Creative Learning:  In a 2009 study Jackie Andrade, a psychology professor at the University of Plymouth in England, designed an experiment to show whether doodling actually benefited attention and memory.   The results showed that the control group that was allowed to doodle while listening to a message remembered 29% more information than did the control group that was not allowed.

When I learned of this study, I wondered , “Can doodling help engage my Sunday School class?”  Every child has a different learning style.  If you’ve ever had the pleasure of teaching kids between the ages of 7 and 12, you understand that their attention spans are, well—let’s just say it can be tough to keep them all engaged at the same time!  But, I’m happy to tell you that kids can be engaged. 

The kids are so engaged that I recently added two more tables to our room, to accommodate the growing number of kids attending each week and their need for personal space to create.  I’ve seen a crossword puzzle made with words from our lesson and a calendar-style page filled with numbers important to God (3, 7, 40).  I’ve seen Jesus depicted  as a superhero and a ninja (Ninjas for Jesus, was the title).   I’ve seen Him riding on what I believe was the Millennium Falcon and I’m pretty sure I saw St. Michael (or some angel with really big wings) holding a light saber doodled this past week!

All this creativity is sparking amazing conversations, as well.  Just last Sunday, my daughter Chase came running in from her snow fort to ask, “Mom, is there any chance that Judas is in Heaven?  Could Jesus forgive even him?”  Talk about a teachable moment!  Hours after church, she’s still thinking about the lesson, yet if you saw her in class, she’d be doodling away, seemingly paying no attention to what I’m saying.

Our Grace Church kids are doodling Jesus into their lives! 

This brings me to a request:  If you have extra paper/poster boards/paper plates/anything creative to write on lying unused  around your house, please consider donating it to my class.  We’ll learn great things through it!  Thank you so much.



Keep Calm and Doodle On  (Nicci Beeck, 2nd-5th Grade Sunday School Teacher)



Music this Week: The Second Sunday in Lent



Prelude                Chant chérubique                                        Nicolai Tcherepnin

                             Élévation                                                   Camille Saint-Saëns

Introit                 Plainsong.  Antiphon:  Call to remembrance



Tract (choir)         Psalm 25:16-21                                                          Plainsong

Offertory

Hymn 448             “O love, how deep, how broad, how high”   Deus tuorum militum

Communion

Motet                    Dear Lord and Father of Mankind                   C. Hubert H. Parry

         

Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways;

          Reclothe us in our rightful mind; in purer lives thy service find,

          In deeper reverence, praise.

         

          In simple trust like theirs who heard, beside the Syrian sea,

          The gracious calling of the Lord, let us, like them, without a word,

          Rise up and follow thee.

         

          Drop thy still dews of quietness, till all our strivings cease;

          Take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess

          The beauty of thy peace.

         

          Breathe through the heats of our desire thy coolness and thy balm;

          Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire, speak through the earthquake, wind, and

fire,    O still, small voice of calm.

                                                                                          John Greenleaf Whittier

Closing

Hymn 142             “Lord, who throughout these forty days”                    St. Flavian

Postlude              Fantasia & Fugue in C Minor                    Johann Sebastian Bach



Parish Notices



§  Adult Education: Discipleship – as Ethics and Evangelism. Sunday we will continue with the second class in a three-week exploration of what Jesus intends for his followers in these two specific areas, with an intention toward faithful and imaginative obedience for us today.  This series is presented by our Seminarian, Ryan Pollock.

§  Compline: Sunday, February 21, we will meet at 6:30 p.m. in St. Nicholas Hall for a simple chili supper and salad hosted by our Organist and Choir Master, Ben Dobey. Please sign up on the sheets in the Narthex so Ben will know how much food needs to be prepared and if you would like to supply bread, butter or a dessert, or help with clean-up. At 8:00pm the Schola Cantorum will sing Compline, a beautiful restful service full of candles and music.

§  Lenten Meditation Booklets are available on the table in the Narthex.

§  Stations of the Cross and Simple Suppers: We will continue this program on Friday, February 26th meeting at 5:15 p.m. for a prelude of Lenten organ music followed at 5:30 p.m. with Stations of the Cross. Afterwards a simple supper will be hosted in the parish hall with a presentation and pictures of Jordan, Israel and Palestine by the pilgrims who went to the Holy Land. Please sign up on the sheets in the Narthex so we will know how much food needs to be prepared.

§  Nashotah House: continues its Lenten Program this Wednesday, February 24th lead by Dr. Travis Bott – “The Psalms and Christian Worldview”.  For more information on the Nashotah House Lenten Program please see the notice board in the Narthex.

§  The 30 Hour Famine is an international event started by World Vision, an
organization attempting to eradicate global poverty and hunger in Jesus'
name. This event will begin at 6 pm on Friday, February 26 and end at 6 pm on Saturday, February 27, at Grace Episcopal Church. Yes, it's only 24 hours If you'd like to do the full 30 hours, feel free to make lunch your last meal on that Friday.

YOU MUST SIGN UP FOR THIS ONLINE! www.styg.com/signup is the place to go. The cost of the event is $10, which helps cover the cost of juice as well as some of the supplies we need. If cost is an issue, please let us know, but we hope $10 won't be a problem. The 30 Hour Famine is an overnight event where 6th - 12th grade students come together to learn, pray, fast, have fun, serve, and lots more. We do not eat during the event until the very end. Why? Because we are attempting to not just learn about global poverty and hunger but empathize, sympathize, and realize what it means to be hungry. Fear not, we will drink water and fruit juices so no one will be dehydrated. But you will be hungry by the end of this.

§  Thirty Hour Famine Volunteers needed: to prepare dinner for conclusion of the Thirty Hour Famine. We need a group of volunteers to supply dinner or participate in the preparation of the dinner.  Please sign up on the sheets in the Narthex.

§  Sunday School Snacks: Ms. Nicci and Ms. Andrea's Sunday school classes are in need of donated non-perishable snacks.  Each class consists of a prayer around our classroom altar followed by snack and craft time.  Having snacks to offer during this time is a wonderful opportunity for the classmates to serve each other and come together in fellowship.  It would be wonderful if anyone who is willing could place non-perishable snack options such as applesauce, goldfish cracker bags, fruit cups, as well as juice boxes, in our craft room to replenish our supply. Thank you!  

§  SCIO Program Top 3 In-Kind Needs: SCIO is in need of (1) Spaghetti sauce, chicken/vegetable broth, (2) Tampons, Conditioner, and (3) Pledge, Windex, bathroom cleaner.  SCIO is a spiritually based organization of faith communities in Sheboygan County. If you would like to learn more about SCIO, please see the brochure on the noticed board in the Narthex.

§  Bible Challenge: Grace Abounds launched The Bible Challenge on Monday, January 4, 2016. If you take this challenge, you will find that in one year you will read all of the Bible! This will require less than an hour of your time, six days a week. A schedule of readings will be provided on the parish website, along with weekly study summaries and a weekly video summery of the readings. If you need a good study bible for the challenge, contact the parish office. When we immerse ourselves in Scripture, the mantle of the Lord does fall upon us. We are equipped to discern God’s will and to lead others to know and love and serve the Lord.

§  Coffee Hour Schedule: There is a sign-up sheet for hosting coffee hour in 2016. If you would like to host, please sign up for either 8:00 a.m. or 10:15 a.m. If you have any questions, please see Mary Massey. Thank you so much.

§  Flower Schedule for 2016: Giving the gift of flowers is a wonderful way to remember a loved one or to offer thanksgiving for your blessings. If you wish to sign up for a specific Sunday, the Flower Schedule is available on the table in the narthex. More than one person can sign up for each Sunday.

§  Something Extra for Grace: Envelopes are available in the pews if you are moved to give an extra gift, beyond your pledge or regular plate donation, toward the life of the church.  Gifts are tax deductible if you write your name on the envelope.

§  Like Grace Church on Facebook

§  Follow Grace Church on Twitter: @GEC_Sheboygan

§  We Are on Itunes! Check out the new podcast!!!







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