A postcard from the Last Sunday after the Epiphany 02/27/22
It is good to be back.
I am so thankful for the folks that helped get me back to church. Baptizing three people was a wonderful way to close out the season after the Epiphany. Baptisms reveal our identity in Christ as beloved children of God, and they reveal the foundations of what we believe as Christians.
Baptism is also a sign of defiant hope. We live in a world divided. We live in a world where the death toll of the pandemic no longer shocks us. We live in a world where we can watch in real time on our phones the start of a war. In that world, through grace and in defiant hope, we gather as a community to welcome new members into the body of Christ. And when we do so, we proclaim again that Christ has defeated the power of sin and death, and that the principalities of this world do not have the final say.
And for that (for the final time before Lent), we say Alleluia!
Pray for Ukraine.
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Michael Curry, our Presiding Bishop, have asked for Episcopalians and Anglicans to pray especially for Ukraine and its people.
God of peace and justice,
Composed by Archbishop Justin Welby and Archbishop Stephen Cottrell.
we pray for the people of Ukraine today. We pray for peace and the laying down of weapons. We pray for all those who fear for tomorrow, that your Spirit of comfort would draw near to them. We pray for those with power over war or peace, for wisdom, discernment and compassion to guide their decisions. Above all, we pray for all your precious children, at risk and in fear, that you would hold and protect them. We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
A sermon at Messiah, Heflin:
Principal text: Luke 9:28-43a
Coming next
- Mar. 2 – 12 noon at the Church of the Messiah, Heflin – Ash Wednesday
- Mar. 6 – Vocare 22 @ Camp McDowell – 1st Sunday in Lent
- Mar. 13 – St. Barnabas, Roanoke – 2nd Sunday in Lent
- Mar. 20 – St. Paul’s, Greensboro – 3rd Sunday in Lent
- Mar. 27 – Church of the Messiah, Heflin – 4th Sunday in Lent
Notoriously Episcopalian 