Dear Blessed People of the Body of Christ,

Last year I had the odd feeling of not knowing where I’d be in a year.  I needed to be prepared to go anywhere.  I was listening intently for God’s leading.

Now, a year later, I am immensely grateful to be at St. John’s in Corbin.  I LOVE serving as your priest.  I LOVE our worship together in our beautiful sanctuary.  I LOVE our learning together and sharing fellowship.  The home you have prepared for me is spacious and beautiful.  And while I believe I’ll be here with you next year, we really don’t know what we’ll be doing or how our ministry and worship together will look.  We must be both prepared and open to where God will lead and guide us.

Blessings on this Thanksgiving Day!  Happy New Year as we move into Advent, the beginning of our liturgical year.  I leave you with one of my favorite Bible pieces that is the Epistle for Thanksgiving Day:

Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Love, Rebecca

Rebecca’s Schedule

Next week, I will be in Corbin on Friday, December 6.  My sabbath day will be Monday, December 2.  Please feel free to contact me any time, however, by calling 859 -429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Adult Forum:  There will be no adult forum this Sunday.  December 8, we begin our series on end-of-life issues.  Chaplain Alice Tremaine from the Mountain Group of Hospice of the Bluegrass will speak about end-of-life and grief issues.

Lazarus at the Gate, an 8-week series on economic discipleship, will begin at the Adult Forum on Sunday January 5.  If you are willing to lead a session, please let Rebecca know.  The series can be accessed online at http://www.bostonfaithjustice.org/#/discipleship

 Godly Play:  There will be Godly Play classes this Sunday.

Please prayerfully consider how you will financially contribute to the work of St. John’s Church in 2014.  Complete a pledge card today and place it in the offering plate to assist with our planning for the church’s work in 2014. 

This Week at St. John’s

Sunday, December 1
10am – Godly Play (No Adult Forum)
11am – Eucharist – Advent 1
3pm – Make an Advent Wreath
4:30pm – Advent Lessons and Carols Service

Wednesday, December 4:  6pm Worship

Saturday, December 7:
9am – 3pm – Chocolate Fest
2pm – Ordination of Deacon Peter Helman to the Sacred Order of Priests, St. Mary’s Church, Middlesboro

Sunday, December 8
10am – Adult Forum – Chaplain Tremaine, Hospice of the Bluegrass and Godly Play for Children
11am – Eucharist – Second Sunday in Advent
Noon – Vestry Meeting

Flowers for Christmas:  Donations for flowers to decorate the church for Christmas will be received until December 22.  Place your donation in the envelope provided and note if it is in honor or memory of someone.

Reimagine the Episcopal Church:  In 2012, the General Convention created a taskforce to reimagine The Episcopal Church for the future. The members of the Taskforce want to hear the memories, hopes and dreams that people have for The Church. We are trying to reach as many people as we can over the next few months. We will use what we hear to help us shape recommendations for The Church’s structure, administration and governance. To add your memories, go online at http://reimaginetec.org/ or see Rev. Rebecca for a paper copy you can submit.  Deadline is March 4, 2014.

United Thank Offering (UTO) is a ministry of the Episcopal Church for the mission of the whole church. Through United Thank Offering, men, women, and children nurture the habit of giving daily thanks to God. These prayers of thanksgiving start when we recognize and name our many daily blessings. Those who participate in UTO discover that thankfulness leads to generosity. United Thank Offering is entrusted to promote thank offerings, to receive the offerings, and to distribute the UTO monies to support mission and ministry throughout the Episcopal Church and in invited Provinces of the Anglican Communion in the developing world.

Your UTO offerings are collected twice each year.  Each time you feel thankful during your day, put some change into your box.  We will gather these gifts of gratitude in May and begin again for the November offering.

If you need a UTO box, please see Rebecca. 

Hymn Selection Group If you’d like to choose hymns for services, join this group.  You will choose hymns for an upcoming service and then meet with the entire group to confirm the final selections.  See Billy Hibbitts if you are interested. 

Would you like to write Prayers of the People?  If you are interested in writing these prayers (there are resources that can help with this task), please let Rebecca know by phone or email priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Are you interested in assisting with the Sunday service?  Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, Crucifers, Altar Guild Members and choir members are all important for each Sunday service.  If you’re interested in serving, please let Rebecca know by phone 859-429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

• Everlasting Arms, Corbin’s shelter for people who are homeless is in need of men’s razors, deodorant and socks.
• The Food Pantry at Corbin Presbyterian Church is always in need of nonperishable food items.  Vegetables are especially appreciated.

 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Subscribe to our Website Feed!
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Sermon – St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
November 24, 2013
Proper 29, Track 1, Christ the King

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. Col. 1:19-20

Please be seated….

Today is the end of our Christian year.  It is our New Year’s Eve, so to speak.  It is the end of “ordinary time” or the weeks after Pentecost… the green season of the year.  We take stock of our year as Christians.  What kind of year has it been?  What were the highlights of the year?  What lessons have you learned?  How is your faith?  Have you deepened your faith?  Have you started a new spiritual practice?  What is your spiritual condition?

As a conclusion to our Christian year, we celebrate the center of our faith…Jesus Christ, the King.  You’ve probably noticed our readings and hymns have a more than usual focus on Jesus.  In today’s Epistle from Colossians, we receive a blessing wrapped up in a teaching about Jesus.    These words were an early Christian hymn and proclaim Christ as the supreme power over the universe and over the church. 

In addition, we are told we will be changed when we follow Jesus.  We are given strength and we are prepared to endure everything with patience.  Well, at least we hold out that vision for ourselves.  But you must admit that reminding ourselves of the teachings of Christ can help us be more patient.  I know wearing this collar makes me think twice about my behavior….

We hear that our lives have been changed.  We have entered the kingdom of God’s beloved son.  Through Jesus we are restored and through Jesus we experience forgiveness for those things that oppose God and God’s dream for our lives and our communities.  Jesus is the firstborn, the head of the church, the incarnation of God here on earth, the one who brought reconciliation with God.

And in our gospel today, we hear once again, about the depth of God’s love for us.  God deigned to come to earth.  Jesus was born like we all are born, living a human life and ultimately suffering the worst indignities possible.  He was not guilty of any crime, having called people to the life God had continually guided and taught as the best way to live in God’s creation. He came and modeled that life for us.

Now in this gospel today, he is on the cross, suffering indignity after indignity.  And even then, Jesus holds out the vision of forgiveness and redemption.  Even on the cross, Jesus shows the centrality of love in his interaction with the two criminals. 

In 2012, I was blessed to take a trip to Israel.  I attended the Jesus of Palestine course at St. George’s College in Jerusalem, on the grounds of the Episcopal Cathedral.  It was an amazing experience and I regret not having done it sooner.

On our last full day in Jerusalem, we left the college at 5am to walk the “Way of the Cross” or the Via Dolorosa.  We know this pilgrim walk has been done nearly the same for at least 1600 years.  You can read the diary of the pilgrim Egeria, who wrote about her pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 393.  These stations of the cross…we have them up around our sanctuary…we usually pray them and “walk them” here each year.  There I was in the very place.

I want to share with you my reflections from that walk.  Interspersed through the poem are the verses and refrain of the hymn “At The Cross.”  This hymn came to me as we ended our walk at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  I believe it summarizes the joy we feel today as we remind ourselves of the importance of Jesus in our lives.  I invite you to sing along…

To be Sung with the Poem Via Dolorosa

 The LORD of hosts is with us; *
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Psalm 46:4

Last week, while at St. Agnes’ House, I received a call from a social worker.  A mother of a newborn baby and the grandmother needed a place to stay.  We had one room available, but it had a bad odor, which we had not been able to remove from the room.  I told the social worker, the two women were welcome to come and see what they thought.

Sasha, the mother walked gingerly up the front stairs and on to the porch of the house.  She was about 30 with dark hair.  She had had a C-Section only three days before, so walking up stairs was a challenge.  Betty, her mother was in her early 50s with strawcolored, shoulder length hair.  Both women looked tired.  We went to the lovely room with the odor and the odor was gone!  The women were so excited to see the facilities at St. Agnes’ House.  You see, they had slept in the hospital garage the night before.  They were willing to take anything that meant a more comfortable night.

Now, when a little baby is in the the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), you not only need to go every 2-3 hours to feed the baby and be with the baby, but you also can have other calls if a problem arises.  These two women took advantage of a free shuttle to the medical center because they do not have the money for the parking garage, but one day they received a call that they needed to be at the hospital right away — the baby was having problems breathing.  They took their car, but not having the money to park, they thought they found a free space. They hurried up to the NICU and made sure the baby was okay.  When they returned to the parking spot, their car had been towed!  It would cost $124 to get the car out of the impound lot.

There was nothing that could be done.  Where they parked the car was a large corporation, so the employees, I’m sure tired of people using the lot, had done what they were told and towed the car.  There was no warning placed on the women’s car and the signs saying you weren’t supposed to park in those spots were hidden and easily missed.  And with the car in the impound lot a couple of miles away, there was nothing that could be done.  The employee on duty at the towing company had no authorization to release the car without payment.

Imagine…  Your newborn baby is taken 100 miles away from you.  Of course you find some way to drive and be with your baby.  Of course you will even sleep in the parking garage on frigid, cold nights.  You’re in a strange town, much larger than where you came from.  Everything costs more and you don’t have the support system or networks you do at home.  You are truly at the mercy of strangers.  And many are unwilling to show you that mercy….  You cannot find the owners of the businesses and the workers are just trying to do a good job.

Through my discretionary funds from my ordinations, I was able to pay the $124 to get the women their car.  I plan to write to the owners of the businesses and ask them to make a contribution to St. Agnes’ House or find some way to support people who are strangers to Lexington and come here to save their very lives or the lives of a dear, loved one.  I pray for justice and mercy and the alleviation of poverty.

And I cling to this Psalm always:  The Lord of Hosts is With us.  The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Blessings as you finish your week….

Rebecca

Rebecca’s Schedule
Next week, I will be away from Sunday evening until Saturday.  If you have a pastoral care emergency, please call The Rev. Marcia Hunter at 859-269-0209 or on Wednesday call her at 606-678-4262.

Pot Luck Sunday
This Sunday is our pot luck.  Bring a dish to share if you are able.  Join us for fellowship!

Adult Forum
This Sunday we end our series on Radical Welcome.  Rebecca will lead the session on looking to the future.  Sunday, December 1, there will be no Adult Forum.

Godly Play classes are available for children.  Elmer Parlier and Donna Goff will be trained soon to assist.  Training involves serving as the doorkeeper for two sessions and then being supervised as the storyteller for two sessions.  Once you are trained, a schedule will be created that fits your ability to assist. If you can assist, please let Anne Day and Dura Anne know.

This Week at St. John’s

• Wednesday, November 27 – No Service·        
• Thursday, November 28 – No Service
•             2-4pm – Thanksgiving Dinner at the Barn
• Sunday, December 1
  o   11am – Eucharist – 1^st Sunday of Advent
  o   3:00pm – Make an Advent Wreath
  o   4:30pm – Advent Lessons and Carols

United Thank Offering (UTO) is a ministry of the Episcopal Church for the mission of the whole church. Through United Thank Offering, men, women, and children nurture the habit of giving daily thanks to God. These prayers of thanksgiving start when we recognize and name our many daily blessings. Those who participate in UTO discover that thankfulness leads to generosity. United Thank Offering is entrusted to promote thank offerings, to receive the offerings, and to distribute the UTO monies to support mission and ministry throughout the Episcopal Church and in invited Provinces of the Anglican Communion in the developing world.

Your UTO offerings are collected twice each year.  Each time you feel thankful during your day, put some change into your box.  We will gather these gifts of gratitude in May and begin again for the November offering.   

Thanksgiving Dinner November 28, at the Barn, 2-4pm.  A free Thanksgiving dinner will be held at the Barn.  Turkey, Ham, rolls, drinks, pies, mashed potatoes and corn will be provided.  If you’d like to bring a side dish, that would be terrific.  See June Sullivan for additional information.

 Prepare for the Coming of Christ.  On Sunday afternoon, December 1, we will gather at 3pm to make Advent wreaths for our homes.  We will then participate in the evening service of Advent Lessons and Carols at 4:30pm.

 ECW Chocolate Fest, Saturday, December 7, 9am- 3pm.  Plan now to attend this annual holiday event.  Today, November 24, we will dip candy after the pot luck.    

 Hymn Selection Group If you’d like to choose hymns for services, join this group.  You will choose hymns for an upcoming service and then meet with the entire group to confirm the final selections.  See Billy Hibbitts if you are interested.

Would you like to write Prayers of the People?  If you are interested in writing these prayers (there are resources that can help with this task), please let Rebecca know by phone or email priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Are you interested in assisting with the Sunday service?  Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, Crucifers, Altar Guild Members and choir members are all important for each Sunday service.  If you’re interested in serving, please let Rebecca know by phone 859-429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

• Everlasting Arms, Corbin’s shelter for people who are homeless is in need of men’s razors, deodorant and socks.
• The Food Pantry at Corbin Presbyterian Church is always in need of nonperishable food items.  Vegetables are especially appreciated.

 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Subscribe to our Website Feed!
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsCorbin
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Website:  http://stjohnscorbin.org/?subscribe=success#blog_subscription-2
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The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
Sermon – St. John’s Episcopal Church
November 17, 2013
Proper 28, Year C, Track 1

They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat.  Isaiah 65:21-22

Please Be Seated

This morning we are celebrating Native American Heritage Month.  I don’t know about you, as a child I had ambivalent feelings about people who were Native American.  Many of the TV shows I liked portrayed Native Americans as the enemy and out to kill me.  Shows like Wagon Train, especially.  There was also the train ride at Hershey Park, which involved an “Indian attack on the train, with a “rescue” by sheriffs.  There was the family legend that members of our family had come to Kentucky with Daniel Boone and had been killed by Indians.  I was terrified of Indians when I heard those stories. 

At the same time, my father and brothers were part of a YMCA program called Indian Guides and I was fascinated by some of their activities, including camping out and especially starting fires.  There was the Indian School in the nearby town of Carlisle where Jim Thorpe had attended.  And in fifth grade when I studied Pennsylvania history, I couldn’t reconcile the contradiction that William Penn founded Pennsylvania, because I knew there were people living here already.  Here is some of what I wrote:

“Long, long ago before America was found there lived people on the island of America.  There [sic] name was Indians.  The land that was there belonged to them until white people came….” And “The white people kept on taking land from the Indians.  The Indians were moved away from the land.  The government [sic] put them into reservations….  Now the Indians are put into reservations.  Some of the reservations we can see.  We can see and learn things that the Indians did.”

As a child it made no sense how you could discover something where people already existed. 

When I was 14, my family went on a trip to my birthplace in Ft. Smith Arkansas.  I was only six weeks old when we moved from there and my parents wanted to show me my birthplace.  While in Ft. Smith, my parents decided we’d take a trip to Tahlequah, Oklahoma.  This town was built in 1838 as the capital of the Cherokee Nation upon the Cherokee peoples’ forced removal from the east…a removal known as the Trail of Tears, because of all of the death and disease that occurred as a result. Yes, every time I examine a $20 bill, with the image of Andrew Jackson on it, I remember the Trail of Tears.

In Tahlequah I saw buildings of brick, much like the home I lived in.  There were schools.  It looked like any modern town.  At the Cherokee Heritage Center, I saw that the houses I assumed the people lived in were really lived in during the early history of the Cherokee nation.

In Tahlequah, I also saw the play which told the story of the Trail of Tears.  At Thanksgiving time when we studied “Indians” in school, I never heard of the Trail of Tears.  I didn’t know any “real” Indians.  I guess I assumed they’d been killed because they attacked the settlers.  At 14, I never really thought about or totally knew what had happened to annihilate much of the sovereign nations that had inhabited this land.

Now today, we read this passage from the end of Isaiah.  How interesting.  Isaiah is sharing a vision of what it will be like when the people can return to Israel from their exile in Babylon.  These ancient words, also tell us of the vision for our communities right now.  Listen again:

For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth…
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.
No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD–
and their descendants as well.

What a vision.  You will inhabit the houses you build.  Your children will not be born to face calamity.  You will benefit from your work.  You will be able to eat the food you plant.  You will not be in servitude.  You will thrive.  You will be loosed from oppression to enjoy the riches of the land and people.

The native peoples of the United States, I believe, can most likely relate to the longing for the manifestation of that vision.  So much was taken from them or if not taken, at least denied them.  Read about or go to YouTube to learn more about the abuses of the Indian Boarding schools.  They were founded by Christians and  considered more humane than killing Indian people, but they forcibly removed children from their parents and tried to force the culture out of the children.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDshQTBh5d4  Read about the Episcopal church’s mixed history in serving Indian people.  http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/indigenous-ministries  So much done to destroy a people.  So much done in the name of the church and of Christ.

Yet much like the Israelites, the Indian people held on to the vision we see in Isaiah . . .a vision of a land where everyone thrives.  Where people can live out their days and have all they need for life – shelter, food, work, health. 

I have never forgotten that play, The Trail of Tears, because, you see, at the end, there was a powerful telling of the story of the phoenix and a stunning visual of the bird rising from the ashes.  There were drums and music and singing that the people would rise again.  The nation would be resurrected.

We must intentionally look at the history…as shameful and awful as it is.  Remember, the Bible doesn’t mince words, does it?  Because only then will we understand the joy and importance of this Isaiah Vision.  Only then can reconciliation occur.  Only then can relationships be restored.  And only then will we work to insure that people shall build houses and inhabit them; and that people shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

Ken and Shelia Phillips will share some reflections now, which may help us think about how reconciliation can occur.

Surely, it is God who saves me; *I will trust in him and not be afraid.For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, *and he will be my Savior. Isaiah 12:2

In a number of choirs, I have sung these words and every time I read them, I remember singing them.  They stay with me forever.  We become anxious and fearful sometimes.  We face difficult challenges raising children, caring for parents, performing in our jobs, being in relationships.

But this “earworm” refrain continually reminds us as it has reminded people for thousands of years that only God can save us.  Our best efforts fall short.  Yes, there are steps we need to take and we must do our part, but ultimately, it is only God who will provide us relief.  It is only God to whom we can cling.  It is only God who will defend us.

Therefore, with confidence we can trust in God and our fear and uncertainty and anxiety will leave us. Here is a link to a You Tube performance of these words that I remember singing.  It’s a great piece, because it’s done with children and adults.  I hope this becomes an “earworm” for you too.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDic6qQlaG8#t=93

Blessings as you finish your week.

Rebecca

Rebecca’s Schedule:  Next week, I will be in Corbin on Monday, November 18.  Please feel free to contact me any time, however, by calling 859 -429-1659 or rev.myers2013@gmail.com.

Bulletin Link:  http://stjohnscorbin.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Bulletin-10-17-2013.pdf

Native American Heritage Month will be celebrated during our service this Sunday.  Traditions from the Cherokee nation will be included in the service. We will sing Amazing Grace in Cherokee. This is a reminder of our membership in the Worldwide Anglican Communion and that every Sunday, people from many traditions worship Jesus Christ.

You can begin practicing Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace in Cherokee (a phonetic transliteration)

Oo nay klah nah ee oo way gee
Ee gah goo yah hey ee
Nah gwoo joe sah wee oo low say
Ee gay goo yah hoe nuh

A Note on Sunday’s Service
In commemoration of Native American Heritage month we will be gathering in the parish
hall and process to the parlor to begin our service. We will remain in the parlor while Ken
and Shelia Phillips smudge the nave and sanctuary. The smudge used is of the four sacred
herbs to the Cherokee: sage, tobacco, cedar and sweet grass. After the sanctuary and nave
have been smudged you are invited to smudge yourself as you enter the nave by washing
your face seven times in the smoke, an action that cleanses the mind and heart as one
takes in the smudge. The smoke of the smudge carries our prayers to heaven in the same
manner that the Psalmist observes, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before thee, and
the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice!” (Psalm 141:2)

Adult Forum:
This Sunday we continue our series on Radical Welcome.  The topic will be “The Sound of Fear,” led by Bruce Cory.  The series ends next Sunday, November 24, led by The Rev. Myers on “Moving Ahead Together.”

There will be no Adult Forum on Sunday, December 1.  On December 8, we will begin our 3-week series on End-of-Life issues.

Godly Play classes are available for children.  Elmer Parlier and Donna Goff will be trained soon to assist.  Training involves serving as the doorkeeper for two sessions and then being supervised as the storyteller for two sessions.  Once you are trained, a schedule will be created that fits your ability to assist. If you can assist, please let Anne Day and Dura Anne know.

Please prayerfully consider how you will financially contribute to the work of St. John’s Church in 2014.  Complete a pledge card today and place it in the offering plate.  Receiving pledges this Sunday will assist with our planning for 2014.  

This Week at St. John’s

• Monday, November 18, 7pm – Community Thanksgiving Service at Corbin Presbyterian Church
• ·Wednesday, November 20:
  4:30pm – Daughters of the King
  6:00pm – Worship
• Sunday, November 24:
  10am – Adult Forum and Godly Play;
  11am – Worship with potluck following
  Dipping chocolate for Chocolate Fest

 Daughters of the King: Next meeting is Wednesday, November 20, 4:30pm at the church.

Communitywide Thanksgiving Service, Monday, November 18, 7pm, Corbin Presbyterian Church.  This ecumenical service is sponsored by the Ministerium.  The Rev. Myers will be participating in the service.

Thanksgiving Dinner November 28, at the Barn, 2-4pm.  A free Thanksgiving dinner will be held at the Barn.  Turkey, Ham, rolls, drinks, pies, mashed potatoes and corn will be provided.  If you’d like to bring a side dish, that would be terrific.  See June Sullivan for additional information.

Prepare for the Coming of Christ.  On Sunday afternoon, December 1, we will gather at 3pm to make Advent wreaths for our homes.  We will then participate in the evening service of Advent Lessons and Carols at 4:30pm.

ECW Chocolate Fest, Saturday, December 7, 9am – 3pm.  Plan now to attend this annual holiday event.

• Get flyers this Sunday to distribute throughout the community
• Stay after the pot luck on Sunday, November 24, to help dip candy.
• Gatherings for making items are also being held.  See Dura Ann Price or Anne Day Davis if you are interested in helping.

Hymn Selection Group If you’d like to choose hymns for services, join this group.  You will choose hymns for an upcoming service and then meet with the entire group to confirm the final selections.  See Billy Hibbitts if you are interested.

Would you like to write Prayers of the People?  If you are interested in writing these prayers (there are resources that can help with this task), please let Rebecca know by phone or email priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Are you interested in assisting with the Sunday service?  Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, Crucifers, Altar Guild Members and choir members are all important for each Sunday service.  If you’re interested in serving, please let Rebecca know by phone 859-429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Subscribe to our Website Feed!

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsCorbin
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• Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/stjohnscorbin/

The LORD is near to those who call upon him, 
to all who call upon him faithfully. Psalm 98:19

My mother loved the Psalms.  These ancient hymns capture every human emotion.  Some are laments for life as it is.  Some question God’s whereabouts.  Some are songs of joy and thanksgiving.  Even though they are ancient and thousands of years old, we still identify with their words. We understand people have not changed all that much over time.

This verse of Psalm 98 may explain why we cling to the Psalms and why they provide such comfort.  Even in our doubts and even in our troubles, this verse reminds us that God is always near us.  We just have to call.

Reminds me of the song lyrics:

You just call out my name
and you know wherever I am
I’ll come running
to see you again
winter, spring, summer or fall
all you have to do is call
and I’ll be there
You’ve got a friend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qde5NMy7WTU

Remember to just call on God in praise or in challenge.  Blessings as you finish your week.

Rebecca’s Schedule:  Next week, I will be in Corbin on Wednesday, November 13.  Please feel free to contact me any time, however, by calling 859 -429-1659 or rev.myers2013@gmail.com.

This week’s bulletin: 

This Sunday we welcome The Rev. Brandt Leonard Montgomery,

The Rev. Brandt Montgomery

Curate and Assistant Chaplain, University of Alabama.  Father Montgomery graduated from General Theological Seminary in 2012.  At the Adult Forum, he will talk about the Civil Rights movement 50 years.

Brandt currently serves as the Curate at Canterbury Episcopal Chapel & Student Center at the University of Alabama.  After graduating from Talladega High School in Talladega, Alabama in 2003, Brandt enrolled at the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama, from which he received the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Performance, specializing in Trumpet Studies, in 2007.  On May 16, 2012, Brandt graduated cum laude from The General Theological Seminary of The Episcopal Church in New York, New York, receiving the Master of Divinity degree and being named his class’s recipient of the George Cabot Ward Prize for Biblical Reading and Service to the Church.  In addition to Canterbury Chapel, his ministry, thus far, has included service to 6 Episcopal parishes in Alabama, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, and New York.  Brandt was ordained as a deacon in the Episcopal Church by the Rt. Rev. John McKee Sloan, Bishop of Alabama, on Pentecost Sunday, May 27, 2012 and was ordained by the same as a priest on December 2, 2012 at Canterbury Chapel.

Fifty Years Later:  The State of Racism in America: To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and other important milestones in the civil right movement, The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Mississippi will host a 90-minute forum, Fifty Years Later: The State of Racism in America, live-streamed from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral in Jackson, Mississippi, on November 15, at 2 p.m. (EST). You can watch this 90-minute portion and learn more about the weekend conference at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/state-racism

 Please prayerfully consider how you will financially contribute to the work of St. John’s Church in 2014.  Complete a pledge card today and place it in the offering plate.  Receiving pledges this Sunday will assist with our planning for 2014.  

This Week at St. John’s

• Wednesday, November 13:  6pm Wednesday worship
• · Friday, November 15:  2-3:30pm – Livestream of Fifty Years Later: The State of Racism in America (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/state-racism)
• Sunday, November 17:  10am – Adult Forum and Godly Play; 11am – Worship celebrating Native American Heritage Month

 Daughters of the King: Next meeting is Wednesday, November 20, 4:30pm at the church.

Native American Heritage Month will be celebrated during our service next week, Sunday, November 17.  Traditions from the Cherokee nation will be included in the service.  This is a reminder of our membership in the Worldwide Anglican Communion and that every Sunday, people from many traditions worship Jesus Christ.

This Sunday in our prayers of the people, we will remember the Veterans of our parish.  If you have not already signed cards, please do so. 

Communitywide Thanksgiving Service, Monday, November 18, 7pm, Corbin Presbyterian Church.  This ecumenical service is sponsored by the Ministerium.  The Rev. Myers will be participating in the service.

Thanksgiving Dinner November 28, at the Barn, 2-4pm.  A free Thanksgiving dinner will be held at the Barn.  Turkey, Ham, rolls, drinks, pies, mashed potatoes and corn will be provided.  If you’d like to bring a side dish, that would be terrific.  See June Sullivan for additional information. 

ECW Chocolate Fest, Saturday, December 7.  Plan now to attend this annual holiday event.  Planning meetings and chocolate making and craft making will begin soon. 

Hymn Selection Group If you’d like to choose hymns for services, join this group.  You will choose hymns for an upcoming service and then meet with the entire group to confirm the final selections.  See Billy Hibbitts if you are interested.

Would you like to write Prayers of the People?  If you are interested in writing these prayers (there are resources that can help with this task), please let Rebecca know by phone or email priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Are you interested in assisting with the Sunday service?  Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, Crucifers, Altar Guild Members and choir members are all important for each Sunday service.  If you’re interested in serving, please let Rebecca know by phone 859-429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

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Sermon – The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers

Sunday, November 3, All Saints Sunday

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever—for ever and ever. Daniel 7:18

My family went to church every Sunday.  As a teenager, I had come to love church, not only because I saw my friends, but also because I believed in God and in the church.  One Sunday in 1971 or so, we got snowed in at home.  There was lots of snow, probably 10-12 inches, and even though we had a powerful snowblower on our little tractor, the roads weren’t plowed enough to get to church.  In fact, church had been cancelled.

But my father gathered us around our dining room table.  It was a formal dining room with a built-in corner cabinet.  Red wallpaper on the top part of the walls, with a chair rail and painted white below.  High ceilings and big windows with long white curtains with red trim.  We only ate in the dining room on special occasions, usually eating in the kitchen. 

We were having church, so we gathered around the table.  The only thing I remember about the service is my father’s sermon.  He pulled out my mother’s hymnal, given to her in 1966 when she became a Lutheran.  A red leather hymnal trimmed in gold with her name on it.  My father turned to hymn number 547 – Once to Every Man and Nation, the words of a poem by James Russell Lowell… We will sing this hymn later in the service, so the words are printed in your bulletin. 

In Harrisburg in 1971, as in much of the nation, there was great turmoil…turmoil between generations…turmoil over civil rights…turmoil over the Vietnam War…and turmoil over what it meant to be a patriot and whether true patriots criticized the government. 

My father picked this hymn for us his children….to teach us, his children.

• Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,
• In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;
• Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,
• And the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light.

• Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,
• Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just;
• Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,
• Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.
• By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,
• Toiling up new Calv’ries ever with the cross that turns not back;
• New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth,
• They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.
• Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is strong;
• Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong;
• Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown,
• Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.

My father was telling us his children that we always had a choice about where to stand.  Would we stand with God’s truth only when it was easy and prosperous or would we be brave and stand with God’s truth no matter what?  .

And my father’s point to us his children…the thing he wanted us to remember, and which I always have remembered and that guides my life… the thing the good steward always remembers…is the utmost importance of standing up for God’s truth, no matter the cost.  AND the corollary that God’s truth ALWAYS wins.  God’s justice ALWAYS comes into being…

The passage we read from Daniel this morning was written about 200 years before the birth of Christ…over 2,000 years ago.  Daniel has a terrifying vision of four beasts arising out of the sea.  It is believed these represent four kingdoms that would besiege Israel and nearly destroy the country.  They most likely represent Neo-Babylonian, Median, Persian, and Greek empires.  Did you hear that?  Neo-Babylonian, Median, Persian, and Greek empires.  Those empires are not even on our maps today.  Except for Greece, if you don’t study ancient history, you don’t know where they are. They were powerful enough to be terrifying over 2,000 years ago.

And that is the point….  Human kingdoms rise and fall.  There is the continual strife of truth and falsehood.  There is ever the choice ‘twixt that darkness and that light.  Just like in Daniel’s time, it appears that the cause of evil prospers. 

But did you catch the last verse of the Daniel passage we read today?  “But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever—for ever and ever.”  No matter the turmoil or the destroying beasts that arise…no matter.  The kingdom of God is never destroyed… never destroyed.

This passage is both frightening and comforting, isn’t it?  Frightening because sometimes we side with the beasts.  We aren’t always eager to side with God’s truth.  We may be cast out from our friends, family or community.  We may lose our employment.  Some may even die.  We want the easy way…to side with God’s truth only when it is prosperous or easy.

Yet when we are brave…brave like the saints before us who died for the truth…we follow the bleeding feet of Jesus up to calvary…follow that cross we carry in and out every Sunday…the cross that does not turn back, we are bound to Jesus.  We are bound to God.  We are carried by the Holy Spirit to live in God’s truth.  We are given courage and hope because of our unshakeable belief that God’s truth always wins. 

The world as we know it will change and will end.  Our beloved country…our lovely state of Kentucky…this city of Corbin…will anyone remember 2,000 years from now?  The only thing that has stood the test of time…the ONLY thing that will continue is God’s kingdom.

Once to every person and nation comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side… which will be your choice?

Amen