Saint Paul s Epistle. Bring your backpacks! Living the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ.

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1 Saint Paul s Epistle (318) August 2017 Living the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Martin s Musing 2 Sean Duncan 3 Calendar 4 Sunday School 5 Ministry Spotlight 6 Ministry Spotlight 7 Member Spotlight 8 Parish Life 9 Readings / Flowers 10 Prayer List 11 Bring your backpacks! Please join us Sunday, August 13 for the blessing of the backpacks during our worship service. Come celebrate the beginning of a new school year. For students, teachers, and administrators We hope to see you there! 1

2 Dearly beloved of Christ Jesus, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. St. Paul, writing the Epistle to the Romans, presents his case for faith in Jesus Christ. As with the second lesson from yesterday (8:26-39), St. Paul seems to be back in the courtroom where he had been before prosecuting cases in favor of the Jewish Law. This time he is defending the case for Christianity. As with many trial lawyers, he gets into a rhetorical rhythm with four questions back to back. While the answer is understood, the answer is obvious. The believer in Christ is seen as God's elect, God's chosen. He asks: Who can be against us? Who will bring charge against us? Who will condemn us? In each of these questions, he supposes the answer- NO ONE. After all God is the justifier; Jesus is the one who died, was resurrected and intercedes for us; the Holy Spirit has poured out the love of God in our hearts. The fourth question is the pivotal question, the one that cements the other three: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Once again the answer is NO ONE. Even in the face of gargantuan forces: hardship, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, his answer is, "No. We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us." When mountainous bills, unfulfilling jobs, the IRS are breathing down our throats; when the medicine is not touching the pain; when our families, friends, and colleagues are being downright ugly; when our grief is overwhelming; we claim that even in the face of all of this, we are more than conquerors through our faith in Jesus. When these things happen to us, it does not negate the presence of God in our lives, it cements it. We claim that Jesus doesn't take our trials from us, He loves and sustains us through them. This allows us to make the claim that as believers in Jesus Christ we are indeed more than conquerors over all the forces that seek to separate us from Christ's love. St. Paul ends this passage by affirming that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus. We are indeed more than conquerors because of our belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Praise be God- this is true. Just a thought. Your Brother In Christ, Paul 2

3 A MESSAGE FROM SEAN SEAN DUNCAN Dear St. Paul s Family, It is a great joy to finally be here in Shreveport! Let me say first that we have felt so welcome by everyone at St. Paul s. My wife Amber and I want to communicate our gratitude for all the gifts and housewarming presents that we have received. It is truly a blessing to us! We are privileged to serve in a church which displays such generosity. Thank you all. I have been thinking recently about Christian Education, as it is the main portion of my responsibilities at St. Paul s. Psalm 78 has been particularly formative in my mind. Psalm 78 is a historical psalm; it was created to recount the history of God s people and the ways that He has blessed them. It begins with a mandate: We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. All that we know and cherish about our faith has been kept and passed down to us from one to another. All of the Christian Education opportunities at St. Paul s, from Sunday School to Children s Church, King s Club to bible studies, are meant to pass on from generation to generation the wondrous deeds that God has done in Jesus Christ. If you are not a part of our Christian Ed, please consider joining us. If you are, take some time to thank those volunteer teachers who give time and energy to serve. They are a blessing to all of us. Jubilate Deo, Sean Duncan 3

4 CALENDAR AUGUST 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :00 PM Vestry Meeting 8 9 5:15 PM Wonderful Wednesdays :00 AM Summer School Kick off & Breakfast 6:00 PM- Contemporary Service :15 PM Wonderful Wednesdays :45 AM Worship leaders Meeting 12:00 PM Gift Shop Christmas Teaser 6:00 PM Vestry Meeting 5:15 PM Wonderful Wednesdays Day school -1st day 4

5 SUNDAY SCHOOL ADULT & CHILDREN S SUNDAY SCHOOL BLAST OFF AUGUST 13TH 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM COME FOR BREAKFAST & MEET YOUR TEACHER Sunday School - 9:30 AM - 10:15 AM WE WILL ALSO TAKE THIS TIME TO HONOR JO ANN ROSE AS OUR RETIRING CHRISTIAN EDUCATION DIRECTOR 5

6 MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT As most of our Parish know, many others and myself have been very involved in our hands-on ministry of feeding some of the homeless of the Shreveport-Bossier areas. We have been about this work for many years with the blessing and financial support of the St. Paul's Family. We meet each Thursday in the Parish Hall and prepare food bags for distribution at Hope Connection on Levy Street. We also take plastic bags, used bath towels and travel sized personal items to the homeless. If you are cleaning out your old bath towels, bring them to us. If you travel a lot... the shampoo and lotions provided in your hotel rooms would be greatly appreciated by our friends. Recently our ministry has recently received wonderful gifts from Jo Ann Rose and Vacation Bible School. The children learned about what ministry is... Showing our love for others through gifts and care. They with their family's assistance brought personal care items such as deodorant, bath soap, wash cloths, etc. these gifts were put together by JoAnn and some of St. Paul's youth. Not only did they furnish enough for 64 individual packs but enough shampoo, soap, razors for us to replenish bathing supplies at Hope Connection. Please be assured that each and every gift provided was passed forward, nothing was discarded. We are a part of Matthew 25 and are both inspired and humbled by the opportunity to serve our Lord Jesus by helping our friends in need. Hope Connection has worked faithfully to get many of the homeless in our area out of the camps and into housing. As they say at Hope Connection... Homelessness is complicated. A person doesn't lose family support by making one error. The people we have chosen to serve are not always attractive and this makes our ministry all the more important, challenging and rewarding. The blessings we have personally received through their appreciation is humbling... Remember there but through the grace of God could we be, or our child, or our neighbor or our friend. Thank God for his blessings and our great Church for its love and generosity. Blessings, Amy Prather Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me MATTHEW 25:40 6