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August | 2007
Our God is Bigger than That
It is amazing, is it not, the human capacity for frequent forgetfulness? How often I manage to learn a lesson only to leave it behind months or weeks (or days!) later. Yet God is Faithful, never tiring of my astounding capacity for ignorance. Instead, He chooses to teach me, again, and again, and again. Last night, God taught me an old lesson another time. When I was a Youth Minister, we took our group to the Billy Graham Crusade at the Alamo Dome. In order to keep track of all of them, we created unique t-shirts only our kids would wear. They were white. Brilliant, I know. You can imagine how many teenagers out of 65,000 wore white shirts that day. Regardless, our white shirts were the absolute best. Across the chest they read, “Our God Is Bigger Than That”. The beauty was the number of people who came up and asked, “Bigger than what?” To which I had taught the kids to respond, “Anything.” Because our Bible Study that week focused on the simple truth that our God is bigger than any and everything. That is what God reminded me last night. He is the God of gods, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. He is the God of Moses, the stuttering whiner who freed God’s Children. He is the God of Jonah, the reluctant prophet who saved a city. He is the God of David, the boy shepherd who slew the giant. He is the God of Mary, the girl child through whom all of creation is born anew. Our God is a BIG God. Our God is indeed bigger than that, regardless of what ever that turns out to be. There is nothing in Heaven or on earth or under the earth that is beyond Him. Paul asks us in Romans 8:35: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
What is bigger than our God? Is loneliness? Frustration? Fear of failure? Of the future? Worry about finances? Is our need for acceptance and belonging bigger than God? Is anger, impatience or addiction? Apathy, angst or our need for control? Then he makes sure we get the answer right by telling us in verses 37-39.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
NOTHING. Nothing is bigger than our God. Not all of life. Not even death itself. Nothing that ever has been, is now, or could ever be has the power to keep the love of Christ from us. Not even our own sin and brokenness. God’s love is bigger than that. If you want to know the depth and power and joy of the Love of a God who is bigger than anything life can dish out, then join us as we seek to know and honor the One who gives more and better life. If you don’t, well, okay. I don’t like it. I don’t think I can accept it. I can’t make you share in God’s mercy. I can’t even make myself. Not my job. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. I’ll work with Him to the utmost of my ability. But I’m not going to worry about it. Because, you see, God is bigger even than that. ~Fr. Jay George
Once upon a time... Every author knows that there are only so many stories to tell. In both the realms of fiction and nonfiction, there are these primary storylines which are told and retold, and the trick isn’t to tell a new story, but to tell an existing story in an original way. And whether it’s life that imitates art, or the other way around—or both—you can observe these stories, these patterns, everywhere, constantly folding and unfolding, in books, in movies, in our lives. The Bible, a.k.a. “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, is really a collection of great stories. You get everything from war to romance, poetry to lyrics, good to evil, Alpha to Omega in just a few thousand short pages. But if you think that the stories of the Bible have only been told once in the history of the world, you’d be mistaken. Like every other story, they are spun and re-spun—not only in print, but also in life. Here’s an example. A few weeks back there was an article in the paper about a woman who was slain at a shopping mall. The other shoppers saw her lying there, bleeding, but walked around, stepped over—one actually even snapped a picture with a cell phone on the way by. No one stopped to help her until it was too late, and so in her mid-twenties, somebody’s daughter, or sister, or wife, or mother, died. You’ve heard that one before. By now it’s been told a million times. But in this particular case, the Good Samaritan didn’t show up…or if he did, he was too late, and it didn’t make the news. There was another story on the radio recently of a man who came across a person in great need and handed him all of the money in his pockets. As it turned out, the man who gave the money was, himself, destitute. The money he’d given was literally all he had. He’d simply seen the other person’s need and put it ahead of his own. Doesn’t that ring familiar? The poor widow who gave her last two cents, right? But in the Bible story, we don’t see what happens to the widow. In the case of the man giving all he had, it turned out that news got out about what he had done, and other generous people stepped in and repaid the man a hundred times over for his kindness. In the Bible story, we just assume that the widow wandered off on her way after leaving the temple. But as the same story unfolded again here and now, the giver who sacrificed everything became the receiver of great blessing, and in doing so, reminded a lot of people about what it is to be selfless. These are only two examples of Bible stories coming to life very recently. And they are being written in some new form, or happening in a neighborhood near you, again, right this second. I would even go so far as to say that sometime in your life, you will be one of the main characters. Maybe that’s just the way it is. Maybe we can’t change the fact that we do and will always come across the same situations again and again. But there is something we can change. How the stories progress, how they end, isn’t just about letting the chips fall. We’ve been given the power to affect that part. When we use our free will, it changes the path of the story. But don’t forget that God, true to his word, didn’t stop at giving us a free will. He also gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit as a way of guiding us in how to use our will for greater good. He even gave us an instruction manual to go along with that, not to mention memory and reason to be able to see the stories unfold in our lives, learn from them, and then move the saga in the right direction in the future. We can’t always make every ending happy in the short term. But our faith tells us that if we align our will with that of God, then all things, all things, will go together for good. “Once upon a time” may have been set in motion by forces beyond our control. But “ever after”… That part is up to us. ~Tracy Donegan, Editor
Rally Day & Bring-Your-Best-Breakfast Contest Get set for August 26th! Come join us at 9:00 for an information-packed morning—and literally see what’s cookin’ at St. Andrew’s for fall 2007. We will start in McKeogh Hall with our 2nd Annual Bring-Your-Best-Breakfast contest followed by a short discussion on what’s brewing for adult Sunday School. From there, we will mosey on over to the youth building as Clark shares what he has in store for the youth and talks about the fall parenting classes. We will then head over to the children’s classrooms to register the kids for Sunday School, meet the teachers and check out the new curriculum. We will dedicate the children’s Bibles in the children’s chapel and if it’s ready—and weather permitting—have a final blessing on our new playground! Get August 26th on your calendar now. You won’t want to miss this!
ALPHA is Back! Program Begins August 22nd The ALPHA program will begin with a kickoff dinner on Wednesday, August 22. Please pray about inviting someone to participate in the Alpha program. If you have already attended Alpha, you could bring a friend to the kickoff dinner to see if he or she would like to continue. We also need ALPHA team members. Please mark Sunday, August 19, on your calendar and plan to attend the Alpha fundraising dinner following the 10:30am church service. Most of all, please pray for the ALPHA program team and participants. Your prayers and your invitations to others are needed! Call Melinda Ingersoll at 379-7387 for more information.
Lord God, Creator of the Universe, God of all time, and God of our time, we give thanks for all the blessings you have bestowed on us, especially the gift of Jesus, Your Son, whom you sent for us and for our salvation. You know already those whom you will call to this ALPHA program. We pray that you will draw them to you and the ALPHA program where they can learn more about You. We pray that you will open our eyes to those around us in need of your message of saving grace, and that you will make us bold for you, in giving the invitation to those we encounter who would benefit. Draw us closer to you so that we may be strengthened for the spread of your kingdom. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Can’t Make it to Honduras? Here’s your chance to get involved in mission work anyway! It’s time to stock up for our mission in Honduras, and it’s easy to get involved. We are in need of toiletries—like toothbrushes and combs—to take on the next mission trip for the people in Honduras. Sometimes the smallest things make the biggest difference to people in need. Bring your donations to church as soon as possible. Contact Bill Campaigne (372-0017) if you have questions.
Women of St. Andrew’s: Be Transformed It may seem like the middle of summer, but fall is just around the corner—and with it comes the Annual St. Andrew’s Women’s Retreat! This year, under the guidance of the remarkable Jamie George, we will be studying the principles of Romans 12:2, so you can look forward to being renewed and transformed! We’ll be staying at the Mustang Island Conference Center in Port Aransas (known for it’s amazing food and quiet stretch of beach). We’ll head to Port A on October 26th and return the 28th, so save the date. More information to come!
Among Our Family ▪Joan and Henry Moore are home from their trip to New York! While there, they worshipped at the beautiful Church of the Transfiguration, better known as “The Little Church Around the Corner”. The church, constructed in stages between 1850 and 1900, has been long associated with people involved in theater—dating back to a time when actors were social outcasts, but found a spiritual haven in this little Episcopal church. And speaking of theater: while in New York, one of the great shows the Moores took in—as did Dorothy and Sid Bauer, Leanne Richey-Boddie during their own visits to the city—was the off-Broadway hit Forbidden Broadway, starring our own James Donegan, son of Benton and Mary Louise Donegan. ▪We’d love to hear about your travels! Let us know where you’ve been and where you worshipped while there. Also, be sure to share your good news—new grandchildren, new homes being built, awards your kids received...anything that you’d like to share with your parish family! Contact Tracy Donegan at Tracydonaub@aol.com. ▪Don’t forget to make a habit of bringing one can every Sunday for the Christian Cupboard. Or how about bringing several cans once a month? However it works best for you, it is a very easy way of making a real difference to the less fortunate people in our community.
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