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Thursday, December 5, 2013

The Christ Himself the Cornerstone

Grace Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes
5 December 2013

Unless the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it.
But, built on the sure foundation
of the apostles and prophets,
the household is joined and rises,
a holy temple to the Lord.
With Christ Himself the cornerstone,
blessed are they that dwell in the house.
They will evermore praise Him, and say
“His mercy endures, forever!”

These words (paraphrased from Scripture) were set to music twelve years ago in connection with the celebration of the centennial of a parish.  But the words instruct us here and now, as well.  When we discern God’s will, and do it, He will bless us.  Unless we do our Lord’s will, we labor in vain. 
In this Advent season, in a time when we pray that, by God’s grace, we may so turn to Him that we may greet His coming with joy, may we be so Christ-centered that any and all other matters and worries are encountered only through the lens of grace.  As we gather this Sunday to revisit in lesson and song the record of God coming among us, let us keep Christ as our one focus.  May this be a blessed Advent!  May Jesus Christ ever be our sure foundation!

Grace Abounds:  Please thank Mary Massey for the wonderful coffee hour this past Sunday.

Call for ContributionsIf 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 (noon) each week.
An Advent Meditation from Bobbi Kraft:  Being joyful at this time of year is hard for me.  It used to be easy.  As a kid, I remember baking cookies, making gifts, wrapping them, practicing for the Christmas pageant…so much excitement and anticipation.  As a parent, I remember baking cookies with my girls, making gifts with them, reading Christmas stories each night to them…so much excitement and anticipation seen by me through their eyes.  “Traditions”.  Then one day five years ago it all changed for my girls and me when our family was broken apart. Suddenly, our “traditions” were cast asunder. 
We’re not alone.  There are many who find this season of Advent difficult for a variety of reasons; death, divorce, health crisis, joblessness, financial hardships.  They too want to be joyful, but it’s not easy.  Finding ways to accept the “new” or “current” when we hunger for “tradition” is difficult.  We all just want it to be easy.  In response, some get depressed, others get angry.  Personally, I struggle with “Advent Anger”.
How wondrous that Advent is the beginning of our church year.  Wondrous too that morning prayer for Monday and Tuesday of this week had us reading Psalms 1, 2, 3, 5, & 6.  If you haven’t read them yet, please do.  So much strife, hunger, anger, and yearning found in them.  “Hearken to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I make my prayer to you.  In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; early in the morning I make my appeal and watch for you.” Psalm 5:1-2.
It’s given me great comfort to know that our church year and advent begins with our cries for help.  Suddenly, I’m reminded that it’s okay to occasionally feel angry at what is gone from our lives because I can, as found in so many psalms, cry to my Lord for help.  We each make our appeals to God and watch.
In the collect, we are instructed to “cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light”.  Such wondrous instructions for each of us as we begin this new church year, this Advent, this new life.  For those of us who struggle with depression and anger during this season, casting away the darkness can be difficult.  Yet we yearn to put on the armor of light so that we can not only make it through the season, but also be joyful and joyous at the knowledge that we have a risen Lord who hears our voice. 
We have each other…the body of Christ on earth is His church.  Pray for one another.  Pray for those who are suffering with depression and anger that they may be able to cast away the darkness and put on the armor of light.

Advent Lessons & Carols will be offered, again, this year on Sunday, 8 December, at 4 p.m., followed by High Tea.  This is an ideal introduction to Anglican piety, as well as just a wonderful opportunity to gather in worship.  This year we are inviting community leaders from outside the parish to serve as our readers.  Please invite your friends to join us!

Small Group Discussions:  Small Groups with questions reflecting on the lessons for the Day will be held between services and after the 10:15 Service this Sunday, the Second Sunday of the Month, as usual. 

Episcopal Youth Community:   In film school we will be finishing Apollo 13, and with it our discussion of courage in the face of danger, team work, and dealing with disappointments. In the last weeks of this calendar year we will finish our film, and then we will have a service project and team building exercise, and we will finish with my own compilation of "A Very YouTube Christmas" and we will discuss the way Christmas is being portrayed in our culture with both Christian and secular examples.
Have a happy Advent!                                    ―Nick

Music this week:

Prelude                        Partita on ‘Comfort, comfort ye my people’               Pachelbel
Entrance Hymn 76      “On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry”
Offertory Hymn 75     “There’s a voice in the wilderness crying”
Communion Motet      Isaiah the Prophet                                                       Early American
Comm. Hymn 67        “Comfort, comfort ye my people”
Closing Hymn 73        “The King shall come when morning dawns”
Postlude                      Toccata on ‘Winchester New’                                     Neswick

Lessons & Carols at 4 p.m.

Prelude                        Benedictus                                                                   Karg-Elert
Introit                          I look from afar                                                           Palestrina
Entrance Hymn           “O come, O come, Emmanuel” verses 1-4
Genesis 3:8-15, 22-14 O Sapientia                                                     Plainsong
                                    Adam lay ybounden                                        Ord
Hymn                          “Creator of the stars of night”

Isaiah 40:1-11             Behold, a Star from Jacob shining                  Mendelssohn
Hymn 75                     “There’s a voice in the wilderness crying”

Jeremiah 31:31-34       O radix Jesse                                                   Dobey
                                    E’en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come                  Manz

Isaiah11:1-9                Isaiah the Prophet                                           Early American
Hymn 73                     “The King shall come when morning dawns”

Zechariah 9:9-10         O Oriens                                                         Dobey
Hymn 444                   “Blessed be the God of Israel”

1 Thess. 5:5-11            O Rex Gentium                                               Dobey
                                    Come, thou Redeemer of the earth                  arr. Willcocks

Luke 1:26-38               The Blessings of Mary                                     Appalachian carol
Hymn 265                   “The angel Gabriel from heaven came”

Matthew 1:18-23        O Virgo Virginum                                           Dobey
Hymn 59                     “Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding”

Mark 1:1-15               
Hymn 56                     “O come, O come Emmanuel” verses 5-8
Hymn 57                     “Lo, he comes with clouds descending”
Postlude                      Toccata on ‘Veni Emmanuel’                         Carter

Parish Notices

§  Second Sunday Small Groups: Small groups will meet between services at 9:00am and after the 10:15 service on Sunday. Questions will be provided to reflect on the lessons for the Day. Please meet in St. Nicholas Hall and the groups will be divided up and rooms will be assigned.

§  Advent Lessons and Carols: Sunday, 8 December, a festival of Advent Lessons and Carols will be offered at Grace Church, beginning at 4:00 p.m. The festival prepares us for the coming of the Messiah by following the scriptural record through nine lessons, each followed by a seasonal carol offered by choir and congregation. The choir will also offer seasonal anthems, and music will include Dr. R. Benjamin Dobey on organ. The service is followed immediately by a High Tea reception. The offering taken will go towards the Salvation Army Emmaus meals. There will be works of art by emerging artists in Croatia on display. Proceeds from the sale of this art will go towards the ministry to at-risk teens in Osijek, Croatia. Missionaries Aaron Horvat and Winnie Coleman-Horvat are with us today to enjoy fellowship and answer questions about this ministry.

§  Stewardship: If you received a pledge card and haven't responded yet, please do so. Even if your response is that you don't have a 2014 pledge, we still need to hear from you as soon as possible. We are in the process of assembling the 2014 budget and need your pledge information. Starting the week of December 1, members of the Vestry will be personally contacting parishioners who haven't responded. Thanks in advance for your assistance and for supporting Grace Church.

§  Salvation Army Adopt a Family Gift tags: Thank you to all who participated in Adopting a Family, the response has been overwhelming and there are many families who will benefit.  Please return the gifts to Grace Church by today, December 8th. If you have any questions please call Nancy Yurk at 453-9948.

§  Youth and Children’s Choir: Youth and Children’s choir rehearsals for the Christmas Eve service are at 5:30-6:00pm beginning this Wednesday December 4th, downstairs in the choir room. Additional rehearsals will be on December 11th and 18th these will be just before the Pageant rehearsals.  The final rehearsal will be Sunday, December 22nd at 9:00am. The choir is open to 2nd graders through high school, and will sing for the 4pm service on Christmas Eve.

§  Christmas Pageant Rehearsals: will be on Wednesday December 4th, December 11th and 18th starting at 6:00p.m. The rehearsals will begin in the church and then go downstairs for costumes. Participation is open to youth of all ages. The Pageant will take place during the 4:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Mass. Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex. If your child would like to participate but cannot make rehearsals please note that on the sheet or call the office.

§  Director Needed: If you would like to spend some time with shepherds and angels have I got a job for you! A volunteer or two are needed to direct the Christmas Pageant. The more help keeping little feet in place the better. Please speak with Pat Ford Smith or Nicci Beeck.

§  Christmas Castle Volunteers: Tuesday, December 17th from 1:00 – 3:30pm help make Christmas merry for hundreds of children this year by volunteering. As a volunteer you will have the opportunity to walk the aisles of the “toy store” with clients to help them find the perfect gift. The Christmas Castle is located on the west side of Memorial Mall in the old Walgreens’s. Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex.

§  Christmas Joy: is scheduled to meet on Thursday, December 19th at 11:00 AM in the church kitchen. At that time we will assemble winter greens and flowers and bag cookies, and then make deliveries (there is a sign up sheet in the narthex.) We need helping hands and money (to buy for packaging supplies and flowers.) Can you bake, make a delivery or help arrange? Please join us for this fulfilling ministry to our shut-ins. They will appreciate it. If you have questions please call Barb MacEwen at 467-6909. 

§  Study/Discussion Group: This group decided to study of Galatians. They plan to meet after the 10:15 service starting December 1, hoping to meet every two weeks in the conference room.  Contact people are Mary Massey and Fr. John Ambelang.

§  Canticle of Christmas: Mark your calendars for the Lakeshore Chorale & Lakeshore Youth Chorale Christmas Concert. Sunday, December 8, 2013, 2:00 p.m. at St. Peter Claver Church, 1444 South 11th Street, Sheboygan. Lakeshore Chorale & Youth Chorale celebrate the Christmas season with a variety of holiday music, an audience sing-along, and conclude with a reception of punch and Christmas cookies! $15.00 adults; $8.00 students OR included in Season Ticket.

§  Meals On Wheels Christmas Cookies: Meals On Wheels volunteers will be delivering a box of homemade cookies to our clients again this Christmas season. (As many of you know, for some clients, this is the only gift they will receive). So all we need are the cookies.  If you would like to donate some of your goodies to our project please call or email Maureen at Meals On Wheels at 451-7011 or client1@shebmow.org. We have cookie drop off sites in both Sheboygan and Plymouth and we will be packaging cookies on the 17th of December.  Your response in the past has been overwhelming and we cannot thank you enough for your continued support.



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