The Church of the Messiah

As you may have heard, on Wednesday, May 9, Deborah Templeman died of severe kidney failure. The viewing will be Friday, May 18, at Hargage-Giddens on St. John’s Bluff (click for MAP) from six o’clock to eight o’clock in the evening. The following morning, Saturday, May 19, the funeral service will be held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (click for MAP) at ten o’clock. The service will be jointly officiated by Fathers William Jordan and David Paysinger.

Give to the departed eternal rest, O Father;
May light perpetual shine upon them.

Beginning Monday, May 14th, and running for the next six weeks, the women of Church of the Messiah will study the life of King David in an exciting new format.  Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed: A Study of David is a unique Bible study by Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, and Kay Arthur.  The messages presented by these beloved authors are divided into three segments, two lessons from each author. Each segment focuses on the life of David at a different stage of his life: as a young man (sessions one and two by Priscilla Shirer), as a middle-aged man (sessions three and four by Beth Moore), and as a man facing the final third of his life (sessions five and six by Kay Arthur).  The opening session will be at the home of Cathie Shimp.  All following meetings will be at the home of Jill Stafford.  Contact Cathie or Jill for more information.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, this month’s Ultreya meeting has been cancelled. The monthly fellowship will resume on June 12.

April’s Prayer Calendar

April’s E-Newsletter

Sorry for the delay on posting this information. The church recently upgraded the server and the installation to longer than expected.

Join Church of the Messiah as we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ this Sunday. We will meet at 6:45 at our new property for our first ever Sunrise service and then meet at 10:30 at the Chapel at Jacksonville University for our Family Resurrection Day Service. We will see you there to celebrate our Risen Lord!

Commemorate, contemplate, consecrate, and celebrate with Church of the Messiah this Holy Week!  Everyone is welcome!

Maundy Thursday–Thursday Night, 7pm at the Sam R. Marks Chapel:  Join us a we commemorate the Institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper in a service that includes the washing of the feet of the disciples, and culminates with the betrayal and arrest of Our Lord.

Good Friday–Friday from Noon to 3pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (click HERE for map):  Join us as we contemplate the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ for the three hours on which He hung on the Cross.  Drop in for part or stay for the whole service to witness various meditations on the sufferings of the Lord, presentations of worship and dance, veneration of the Holy Cross, and the reception of the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Easter Sunday

Sunrise Service–6:45am at our New Property (click HERE for map): Join as we consecrate the day to Our Lord by greeting the sun on the morning of His most glorious resurrection!  Rise early in the morning on the first day, keep the vigil, find the empty tomb, and take Holy Communion as the sun rises over the first Easter morning on our new property!

Resurrection Day Family Service–10:30am at the Sam R. Marks Chapel:  Join us as we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the most festive day of the Christian year!  This service will include special events for our children including a children’s parade, Easter Egg hunt, and special offertory!

Also Note:

• Child-Care is provided at all services except the Sunrise Service;
• There are no Wednesday Night Services this week;
• Parish Council is cancelled for April.

Palm Sunday, April 1st, 10:30am at Sam R. Marks Chapel, JU
This service will begin outside with the Blessing of the Palms

Maunday Thursday, April 5th, 7:00pm at Sam R. Marks Chapel, JU
This service includes foot washing and the Stripping of the Altar

Good Friday on April 6th, from 12 noon to 3pm
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 2961 University Blvd. N.
Please join us for part or all of this service to meditate and reflect on the love God has shown us through the gift of His Son Jesus.

Easter Sunday, April 8th
He has Risen! He has Risen Indeed!
6:45am Sunrise Service at 576 St. John’s Bluff Rd. N.
bring your beach chair or blanket
bring a flashlight for safety!

Easter Sunday, April 8th
10:30am at Sam R. Marks Chapel, JU
Children’s Easter Parade
Please bring flowers for Flowering of the Cross

Bishop David Simpson receives holy water from Fr. Ed Shiell in order to bless Church of the Messiah's new sign.

Saturday, February 18, was a momentous day for the people of Church of the Messiah.  Bishop David Simpson, Ordinary of Florida, joined with the people of Church of the Messiah and several clergy from throughout the Diocese, in order to bless and consecrate Church of the Messiah’s new property.  In May of 2007, Church of the Messiah sold their previous property and entered into a five year period “in exile.”  The congregation has been meeting in the Sam R. Marks Chapel at Jacksonville University ever since.  In October 2011, Fr. David Paysinger, Rector of Church of the Messiah, in consensus with his Rector’s Council and Bishop, purchased the congregation’s future home on St. John’s Bluff Road North.  The property was heavily forested and had never seen any construction.  It was such “virgin territory” that no postal address was ever assigned and the congregation would have to wait two weeks to learn of their new home’s mailing address.  Of course, that did not prevent the congregation from visiting the property.  “For the last four months we have had prayer walks, prophetic intercessors’ meetings and work days on the property all leading up to this blessing and consecration,” reported Fr. Paysinger.

The service began in the late morning with a seventy per cent chance of rain.  While back-up plans were in the works, Fr. Paysinger faithfully declared, “We are in the thirty per cent!”  There was no rain that morning as Church of the Messiah processed onto their property.  The first stop was the unveiling of the new signage declaring the property to be the future home of Church of the Messiah.  Bishop Simpson blessed the sign and prayed that it would be a testament to those who drove by and that people would be led to the Lord because of it.  Next Bishop Simpson celebrated the Holy Eucharist on the property, a true sign and symbol that the Kingdom of God was being established there.  The people received the Body and Blood of Our Lord and then celebrated the first pot-luck lunch on the premises, by God’s grace, the first of countless to be celebrated on those grounds.

Bp. Simpson, standing beside Fr. David Paysinger, opens the first Holy Eucharist ever celebrated on Church of the Messiah's new property.

During his sermon, Bishop Simpson reminded those present that “this is not a Moses and Joshua return from the wilderness. This is the Children of Israel returning from Babylon.”  The bishop likened the congregation’s time renting worship space to “time in exile” and reminded everyone that “the return from Babylon took many years and came in stages.”  The Church of the Messiah is currently in the midst of a building campaign in order to raise the money needed to begin and complete the construction.  While the service was a time of healing a restoration for many present, one of the most powerful moments came when Earl Shimp, a member of the Rector’s Council, stood and read this prayer:

“May the Lord bless our property, may it never be used for any purpose other than to magnify His name and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to the community and the world, may all those who set food on our property, or even pass by it, be blessed beyond measure with the love and knowledge of Jesus Christ.  May all of us be further strengthened to serve Him in all we do and empowered by the Holy Spirit to resist evil and share in the goodness of the Lord.  I pray we all be Christ’s vessels of sight to the blind, wealth to the poor, words to the deaf, healers to the sick, light to the lost, and fathers to the fatherless,  I pray that the Lord’s plan for this property, as He has known it from the beginning, be totally fulfilled by the decisions, worship, praise, works, deeds, actions, words, prayers and efforts put forth by the believers of the Church of the Messiah from this day forth and forevermore.  May His will be done, on this piece of earth, as it is in Heaven.  God, use this land and these people for Your purpose.  In Jesus name I pray.”

Amen and Amen.

Join Father David and the Church of the Messiah as we observe Ash Wednesday, this Wednesday, February 22. Ash Wednesday is the traditional service which begins the season of Lent, forty days of prayer and fasting which both commemorates Our Lord’s forty days in the wilderness and prepares our hearts to celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The service includes the Litany of Penance, Imposition of Ashes, and the Holy Eucharist. The service begins at 7pm in the Sam R. Marks Chapel at Jacksonville University. Click HERE for directions.  Please note that this service replaces our regular Wednesday night services, which will resume next week.

The Church of the Messiah is blessed to invite you to join us as we consecrate and bless our new property on February, 18, 2012.  The service begins at 11am with a covered dish potluck dinner to follow. Please join us at 576 St. John’s Bluff Road North, Jacksonville, Florida, 32225.  Clergy are invited to vest and wear white stoles.

Please keep in mind:

• Bring lawn chairs.  We will have folding chairs, but they do not work well on soft ground.
• Wear outdoor shoes.
• There is no electricity on the property so do not bring something that needs to be heated.

If you are not a member of Church of the Messiah, please RSVP to the Church Office at 904-721-4199.  Please join us for what promises to be one of the most important services of the year!