Fr. Pete has recorded a video talking about the coming Day of Pentecost View and listen here. And read on for the text of the video. Aloha! Welcome to St. Timothy’s! You and I are about to experience one of the most important feast days in the church year. No, it’s not Christmas. Nope, not Easter. It’s Pentecost! The day we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell within every believer. Last Sunday was Mother’s Day, and we honored our mothers with red roses and loving prayer. It was also the Sunday after the Ascension of Christ, when Jesus returned to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. Together we considered Psalm 1, and we thought about the path of life we are following. The psalmist gives us guidance to make sure we find the right path and stay on it throughout our lives. Of course, we all take detours, usually painful ones. But, we learned that the more we walk in the way of righteousness, the more we’ll be able to see all the pieces of life make a little more sense… the more we can trust God to work out the messy parts of our lives… and the more the psalmist’s promise to yield good fruit in our lives can come true, as we’re planted by streams of living water. This Sunday we’ll hear the account of the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. That word “Pentecost” means “50th day,” and it’s used in both the Old and New Testaments. In the New Testament it refers to the coming of the Spirit on the Jewish feast day of Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. On Pentecost, Jesus’ promise to send an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, comes true for each of us. The Spirit dwells within our hearts to guide us and care for us, if we’re open to that. And the Spirit draws and gives life to the body of Christ in the world, the church—including St. Timothy’s! In fact, some call the Day of Pentecost the birthday of the church. I like what Pope Francis said about the Holy Spirit in his book Encountering Truth: “To put it simply: the Holy Spirit bothers us. Because he moves us… he pushes the Church to go forward. And we are like Peter at the Transfiguration: ‘Ah, how wonderful it is to be here like this, all together!’… But don’t bother us. We want the Holy Spirit to doze off… we want to domesticate the Holy Spirit. And that’s no good, because he is God, he is that wind which comes and goes and you don’t know where. He is the power of God, he is the one who gives us consolation and strength to move forward. But: to move forward! And this bothers us. It’s so much nicer to be comfortable.” Food for thought as we prepare for this day! And as the Day of Pentecost is a perfect day to do so, we’ll also renew our own baptismal vows as we baptize our beloved triplets, Ruthann Natalie, John Murphy, and Joy Elizabeth Ridge. Please pray for them and their parents, Sara and Francis, as they are welcomed into Jesus’ spiritual family. I hope you’ll join us on Sunday morning at 9 in the Chapel, or worship with us on Facebook Live. The liturgical color for Pentecost is red, so if you can, please wear red this Sunday! I am praying for you, dear sisters and brothers, and I ask for your prayers for St. Timothy’s, our dedicated staff, and our devoted lay leaders. May God bless you all! Come, Holy Spirit! Aloha ke akua, Fr. Pete+
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Fr. Pete has recorded a video talking about the coming week at St. Tim's, which includes Ascension Day on May 9th, and Mother's Day on May 12th. View and listen here. And read on for the text of the video. Aloha! This Sunday is a big day! Yes, I know you’ve all been waiting for the 7th Sunday of Easter! And it’s Ascension Sunday. And—oh yes! Most importantly, it’s Mother’s Day! We want to honor all our mothers this Sunday with a special prayer and a little gift of love, and we hope folks will bring some treats for our fellowship time after worship—maybe something your own Mom would make? Ascension Day is Thursday, May 9. This day, according to the “Episcopal Dictionary of the Church,” marks the occasion on which the risen Christ is taken into heaven after appearing to his followers for 40 days (you can read about this event in Acts 1 and Mark 16:19). The Ascension marks the conclusion of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. It’s the final elevation of his human nature to divine glory and the near presence of God. We affirm the Ascension in our creeds. While we won’t have a service on Ascension Day itself, we will celebrate the Ascension of Jesus on Sunday. I hope you will be mindful about the Ascension and consider what it means that the risen Jesus was taken up into heaven, where he is now and forever, and that someday we will all join him there. Last Sunday, we continued our journey through John’s gospel with Jesus in the Upper Room with his disciples. And we considered three things from John 15: First, we asked: Where do you most feel at home? Where is home sweet home? It can be any place we feel safe, welcomed, comfortable, and loved. Jesus invites us to make ourselves at home in his love. (I shared with you needlepoints of one place I call “home” in my heart, in Virginia; I thought both were done by my mother, but it turns out the one on the left was done by my cousin Beth, who with her family spent some time with us several summers there when we were growing up!) Second, we asked, How is Jesus challenging you to do something big for love? And third, Can you hear Jesus calling you his friend? Because you are! Let’s let these words from Jesus spur us to serve our hurting world with his love. This Sunday the sermon will focus on Psalm 1, and we’ll consider the path of life we are following—is it the right one? If not, how do we find our God-given path? I hope you’ll join us on Sunday morning at 9 in the Chapel, or worship with us on Facebook Live. Looking ahead, on May 19 we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended to fill all the believers. And it’s a day we will renew our baptismal vows as, through baptism, we welcome John, Joy, and Ruth Ann Ridge into the family of Jesus! Please keep them in your prayers. I am praying for you, and I ask for your prayers for St. Timothy’s, our dedicated staff, and our devoted lay leaders. May God bless you all! In the love of our Ascended Lord, Fr. Pete+ P.S. I’ve written an overview of St. Timothy, our patron saint, for our website. Please click on the link under “About.”
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