Sunday 29 th May 2016 Mt. Carmel Also known as Antelope-Nose, Har Karmel, Holy Headland, Jebel Kurmul, Mar Elyas, Mount of User, Rosh-Kedesh Geographical Significance Here the southern side of Mt. Carmel near the coast can be seen. Mt. Carmel was most significant in ancient times as a barrier to traffic along the coastal plain. The 1500-foot high limestone mountain impeded armies and merchants traveling to the Jezreel Valley. Symbol of Beauty Biblically, Mt. Carmel is referenced most often as a symbol of beauty and fertility. To be given the splendor of Carmel was to be blessed indeed (Isa 35:2). Solomon praised his beloved: your head crowns you like Mount Carmel (Song 7:5). But for Carmel to wither was a sign of devastating judgment (Nahum 1:4). Elijah's Contest This is probably the best view of the area of Elijah s contest, assuming tradition is correct. The monastery of Muhraqa is at the top of the hill, but tradition places the contest slightly lower near a spring. The crowds of Israelites would have filled the spacious territory around to see whose God would win. Elijah's Victory The statue at the Carmelite monastery reflects the Lord s victory over the prophets of Baal. Shortly after fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, altar and even the water, Elijah had the prophets of Baal slaughtered at the Brook Kishon something which should have happened long before! Text & Images sourced from bibleplaces.com
BOOKS, BOOKS & BOOKS! Well over 1000 second hand books were available at the Book Fest held during Beef Week. Thank you to all how donated and supported. Casino Inter-church Fellowship Invites you to be part of its Quarterly Ecumenical Service to be held at Casino Baptist Church Friday June 3 rd at 10.00am. A small plate of food for morning tea would be appreciated Cursillo Show Your Colours Day Next Sunday June 5 th Morning tea and fellowship meeting to follow the 9.00am service. The Op Shop Shabby Chic High Tea was an enjoyable day. The hall looked amazing, the food was presented beautifully and tasted delightful. Congratulations to all those who cooked for the event. A huge thank you must go to Lis Humphries and Robyn Ind for their tireless running and coordination of the event. Thank you too to our wonderful performers for sharing their talents and skills to provide entertainment to the guests. The takings have been deposited into a safe place. Pew Reflections Second Sunday After Pentecost Sunday 29 th May 2016 1 Kings 18.20-21 (22-29) 30-39; Psalm 96; Galatians 1.1-12; Luke 7.1-10 Having stood on the top of Mt Carmel and looked down over the plain of the Jezreel Valley, one can visualize this confrontation. It was a long walk to the top of Mt Carmel, but Elijah knew it was necessary. He firstly accused the assembly of double standards worshipping God and also Baal and told them to make up their minds. Today, too, so many have double standards. What/who do they actually worship? Money when they need it? Fame when they want it? God when all else fails? But Elijah more than worshipped God. He had such a strong faith, so strong that he set up what seemed an impossibility. Is our faith as strong as that? The Rev Ken Spreadborough, Chair of ABM s Brisbane Diocesan Committee Anglican Board of Mission, 2016
The Decline of the Almighty Dollar. A buck ($1) doesn t go as far as it used to, but it can still buy something special! One hundred years ago, a dollar would've bought you a pound of bacon, coffee and a gallon of milk. It's true: A dollar isn't what it used to be. Today's buck has the same buying power as 4 cents in 1915. But that doesn't mean it's useless, either. There are plenty of items that still cost $1 or less today. We live in a country where a dollar sometimes seems to be irrelevant. However there are many people, in other countries that a buck would mean a lot! Such as; The Solomon s. To the islanders who live in the Solomon s where a buck may not exist, your donation of goods would be gratefully accepted. There is a drop box at the rear of the church if you would like to donate an item that may only cost you a buck! Behind the Big Red Doors One Sunday morning, I stopped in at the Starbucks directly across the street from the Cathedral. The barista asked about my clerical collar. When I told him I worked at the (large neo-gothic) church visible from his workstation, he commented on how nice it was to see it open and lamented that it was usually closed. But it s not, I replied. The Cathedral is open all day, every day, all year long. The Cathedral has large red doors that are swung wide open every day. The interior doors are made of glass, a deliberate choice made during a development project in the late 1980s. The glass doors ensure that, even in the winter, those on the inside can see out and those on the outside can see in. They serve as a reminder that the church lives in the world and lives for the world; they serve as evidence that what we do is not a secret, not private, not ours. And yet my friendly, curious barista barely noticed our presence. And he is not unique. I have ceased to be surprised when people tell me they didn t know there was a church beside the Bay store on St. Catherine s Street, probably the busiest pedestrian street in Montreal. For more than a few people, we are simply invisible, in spite of the fact that the church takes up an entire city block. This invisibility is both a serious problem and a great opportunity. It tells us that the church has become so irrelevant in the lives of many Montrealers that they don t even notice our existence their eyes simply slide off even our most obvious outposts. We may be proclaiming the Good News, but we clearly aren t doing it loudly enough to attract their attention. On the other hand, indifference is not hostility. Some people in church land assume that we know what the world thinks of us. People aren t joining churches because they think Christians are judgmental, hateful, foolish, irrational According to this view, we have to rehabilitate our reputations before we can hope to have anyone pay us any attention. But, while this is certainly true for some people and in some contexts, my barista would suggest otherwise. If we are invisible, we have no reputation from which to recover (or upon which to build). There is now a generation of adults whose parents were not church-goers. In my experience, many of these people are curious about what we do and who we are once they notice we even exist. So how do we get noticed if the wide-open red doors on a city-block-worth of Cathedral don t do the trick? We (together as the Body of Christ and separately as its members) need to boldly-but-humbly introduce ourselves to our neighbours, offering our services and our insights where appropriate, extending invitations and accepting theirs as we share in the work for environmental and human justice and in the common joys of music, art, and community life. We need our walls to be invisible but only our walls. Only then will the church be truly visible and the Good News of the Kingdom impossible to miss. The Rev. Rhonda Water Associate priest of Christ Church Cathedral, Diocese of Montreal.
Collect Second Sunday After Pentecost 29 th May, 2016 Almighty God, who alone can bring order to our unruly wills and affections: give us grace to love what you command and desire what you promise, that, in all the changes and chances of this uncertain world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. For a new Rector Bountiful God, give to this parish a faithful pastor who will faithfully speak your word and minister your sacraments; an encourager who will equip your people for ministry and enable us to fulfil our calling. Give to those who will choose, wisdom, discernment and patience, and to us give warm and generous hearts, for Jesus Christ s sake. Amen. First Reading 1 Kings 18.20-39 20 So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. The people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord ; but Baal s prophets number four hundred and fifty. 23 Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord ; the god who answers by fire is indeed God. All the people answered, Well spoken! 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it. 26 So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, O Baal, answer us! But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. 27 At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened. 28 Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. 29 As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response. 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, Come closer to me ; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be your name ; 32 with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. 33 Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt-offering and on the wood. 34 Then he said, Do it a second time ; and they did it a second time. Again he said, Do it a third time ; and they did it a third time, 35 so that the water ran all round the altar, and filled the trench also with water. 36 At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things
at your bidding. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back. 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt-offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God. Psalm 96 1 O sing to the Lord a new song: sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord and bless his holy name: proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations: and his wonders among all peoples. 4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he is more to be feared than all gods. 5 As for all the gods of the nations, they are mere idols: it is the Lord who made the heavens. 6 Majesty and glory are before him: beauty and power are in his sanctuary. 7 Render to the Lord, you families of the nations: render to the Lord glory and might. 8 Render to the Lord the honour due to his name: bring offerings and come into his courts. 9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of his holiness: let the whole earth stand in awe of him. 10 Say among the nations that the Lord is king: he has made the world so firm that it can never be moved; and he shall judge the peoples with equity. 11 Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad: let the sea roar, and all that fills it: 12 Let the fields rejoice, and everything in them: then shall all the trees of the wood shout with joy before the Lord; 13 For he comes, he comes to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth. Second Reading Galatians 1.1-12 1 Paul an apostle sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead 2 and all the members of God s family who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. 6 I am astonished that you Cont. Over page
From previous page are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel 7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed! 10 Am I now seeking human approval, or God s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; 12 for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Gospel Luke 7.1-10 1 After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5 for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us. 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, Go, and he goes, and to another, Come, and he comes, and to my slave, Do this, and the slave does it. 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. Intercessions Please Pray For: Brian Lister, Bert Shipway, Margaret Jennings, Audrey Parker, Trisha Pearson, Rayda Mison, Jim Sullivan. DIOCESE OF GRAFTON That we may continue to embrace the Spirit of Christ in our time and in our places where God has placed us. Diocesan Vision Statement We are Anglican communities of God s people embracing the Spirit of Christ in our time. We are compassionate signs and channels of God s reconciling transforming mission in the world. Diocesan Prayer Gracious God whose very being is love, who reaches out into the whole of your creation, who came amongst us in Christ Jesus, and who invites us to share in your love; grant us the grace to hear and to listen to your Word, to receive and respond to your call upon our lives; so that enriched and enlivened by the Holy Spirit, we may be compassionate signs and channels of your reconciling transforming love in the world. Amen Please Pray For: for the grace to proclaim the love of God for all people and for the faith to take our place in the life of the church. for those who work to serve our community fire fighters, police and ambulance officers etc. for local and primary industries, that all who help to provide for our community may be blessed.
Visitor Information Corner At St Mark s we warmly welcome all visitors and encourage you to join us in worship and hospitality. At various parts of the service you will be invited to stand, if this is difficult for you please feel free to remain seated. Sharing the bread and wine of Holy Communion is a regular part of our worship. If you receive communion in your own church we encourage you to share communion with us; this includes children. Holy Communion may be received standing or kneeling and will be brought to your seat if required please notify the person who welcomed you upon arrival. Gluten Free wafers are available. Please advise the priest when you approach the alter rail. For more information visit; www.casinoanglicanchurch.org During St Mark s period of transition towards securing a new rector, it would be appreciated if the members of the congregation who possess a name badge could wear them. If you do not have a name badge or have misplaced yours there is a list in the foyer to order a name badge. An order for new badges will be finalised on Monday June 13 th cost $15 each. Please Note: PRINT YOUR NAME EXACTLY AS YOU WOULD LIKE IT ENGRAVED ON YOUR BADGE! Cursillo Fun Day Come, Listen & Live July 2 nd Lennox Head Anglican Church 9.00am till 3.00pm Morning tea & Soup lunch provided, Cost $5.00 All Cursillistas and friends are invited to a day of fun and fellowship. For more details contact Julie Whittaker Looking Forward Sunday July 31 st 8.00am only Op Shop Service Parish Breakfast Liturgical rosters for June are available in the church foyer. Catering June 3 rd (Friday) Debutante Ball Caterers start on Thursday June 2 at 9.00am for preparation. Friday June 3 at 9.00am and 4.00pm A baked meal will be served and home made slices & cakes. What would you like to see; in our parish? A hall that is air-conditioned? Disabled toilet facilities? Youth activities? A positive approach to our existence? This is why we are attempting to form a fundraising committee. Your age or ability does not matter. What we need is people who are prepared to be a part of a think tank to discuss and propose ideas that could assist in raising funds via novel and social activities. At this stage, Joan has had a very limited response from people who are prepared to become involved. Robyn Cooper (June 3) Tickets are $25.00 per person. Contact Sylvia 02 6662 1471
7.00 a.m. Min Word Server Chalice Readers Liturgical Rosters for Week Commencing June 5 th A Battistuzzi T Weir A Battistuzzi & T Weir SERVICES THIS WEEK Sunday, 29 th May St Mark s 8.00am Wednesday, 1 st June St Mark s 10.30 am Sunday, 5 th June St Mark s 7.00am St Mark s 9.00am Bentley 11.00am PARISH DIRECTORY V Hayes & A Battistuzzi Intercessions A Battistuzzi Sidepersons K & A Bailey Readings for, June 5 th 1 Kings 17.8-24 Ps 146 Galatians 1.11-24 Luke 7.11-17 Parish (Locum Tenens) Fr. Doug Bannerman Mobile 0418 182 450 Parish Mobile 0427 813 593 Parish Office Wed Fri 9.30-12.00 Phone 02 6662 1018 39 West Street Casino Fax 02 6662 6655 Postal Address P.O. Box 71, CASINO NSW 2470 Email casinoanglican@westnet.com.au soon to be deleted NEW EMAIL office@casinoanglicanchurch.org 9.00 a.m. Min Word Server - C Server - S1 Server S2 Chalice Readers F Miller C McKenna S McKenna G Phelps F Miller Intercessions F Miller L Humphreys & F Miller Sidepersons P Sullivan & Volunteer Flowers C Ramsey Cleaning C Shields & J Cook Court Care (June 8) N Cooke & A Weston Morning Tea Cursillo St. Mark s Catering Annette Battistuzzi 0457 913 883 St. Mark s Op-Shop Cnr. Centre & Pratt Streets 02 6662 4918 All cheques made out to St. Mark s should be made out to Casino Anglican Parish. The Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted, 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.