The Church of the Messiah

This Wednesday night, May 25th, Bishop David Simpson will visit Church of the Messiah in order to preach, celebrate, and confer the Sacrament of Confirmation on four members of the parish.  Confirmation is the Sacrament where adults who were baptized as children make a mature profession of their faith, are strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and receive an apostolic blessing for increased ministry in the Church.  This is an especially festive occasion for those who have been preparing for many weeks for this night.

Bishop Simpson has been in ordained ministry for over 39 years, with 20 of those years in the Charismatic Episcopal Church  where he has served as the Rector of Church of the Resurrection in Miramar, Florida.  This Fall Bishop Simpson will celebrate his ninth anniversary as the Bishop of the Diocese of Florida.

While in Seminary, Bishop Simpson married his college sweetheart Toni.  They have three grown children and have, as of a few weeks ago, now six grand children!  Join us as we welcome our bishop.  He is sure to bring an inspired Word of God.  The service will begin at seven o’clock and will be preceded by our Wednesday night soup supper from 6:00-6:45.  Childcare is provided during the service.  We hope everyone will join us.  It is going to be an amazing night!  All are welcome!

As most of you know, Brandon Cribbs’ grandmother Sherry Ricker Mills went to be with the Lord on Monday, May 9th.  Funeral services will be held this Saturday, May 21st, starting at 11 o’clock, at St. John the Divine Charismatic Episcopal Church in Palatka, Florida.  For a Map to the parish, click HERE.  The Rev’d Fr. Scott Looker will officiate the service with the Rev’d Deacon Robert Massey delivering the homily.  An obituary for for Mrs. Mills can be found by clicking HERE.  Please continue to keep Brandon and his mother Sheila in your prayers during their time of grief and loss.

Rest eternal grant to Sherry, O Lord:
And let light perpetual shine upon her.

May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed,
Through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

This Wednesday night, May 18th, starting at seven o’clock, Church of the Messiah will continue to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost with a night of extended praise and worship.  While we have spent the last six weeks in the series “Preparing for Pentecost”, we celebrated the feast on Sunday and it was an incredible celebration indeed.  Refusing to limit the celebration to just one day, Church of the Messiah is going continue the celebration by spending a night worshiping the Lord by lifting our voices and praising the Lord all evening long.  Fr. Scott Melanson has even arranged special guests to come alongside and assist and worship team.  The extended praise time will have all of the time normally dedicated to praise and worship plus all of the time usually reserved for teaching and preaching.  We will, of course, still include time for prayer and the Holy Eucharist.  This service is preceded by Church of the Messiah’s weekly soup supper from 6:00-6:45.  Childcare is provided during the service and the service will end by 8:30 in order to accommodate those who have to prepare for work or school the next morning.  Everyone is welcome and invited to join us as we worship the Lord and give thanks for the harvest and breakthrough in our members and in our community.

Wednesday night, at the service to commemorate the Ascension of Our Lord, Fr. Scott Looker called every member of Church of the Messiah to ten days of prayer.  The first chapter of Acts of the Apostles describes how Jesus ascended into Heaven and how, before He was exalted, He said to His disciples, “you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now,” and, “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” (Acts 1:5,8)  The disciples returned to Jerusalem and for ten days “continued with one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14) until the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon them and the Church was changed forever.  Mindful of these Scriptures, and reflecting on the teaching heard in the “Preparing for Pentecost” series throughout April, Fr. Looker called every member of Church of the Messiah “vigorously, earnestly, with intention” to  pray until the Day of Pentecost.  Each member is called to pray:

“For ten days, at some point in time every day, I want every member of Church of the Messiah to be praying that, corporately and individually, we have breakthrough and we have harvest, and that when Pentecost comes, we have more than we can ask or imagine.”

You can hear the entire call to ten days of prayer (< 2 minutes) by clicking the link below.  Pray expectantly for the next ten days and see what glory God will do when the Day of Pentecost arrives!

Wednesday night, at the Ascension service, Fr. Scott Looker called every member of Church of the Messiah to pray daily for the next ten days between the Ascension and Pentecost.  Hear his words from the sermon (<2 min.) by clicking below.

More information will be available in written form on Thursday.  Thank you all for answering the call to prayer!

This Wednesday night, beginning at 7 o’clock, Church of the Messiah will celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven.  More commonly and simply known just as The Ascension, this day commemorates how, forty days after His Resurrection from the dead, Our Lord went out to a mountain with His disciples and was taken up into Heaven.  This is an incredibly important feast in the life of the Church, yet it is often overlooked because of its time in between Easter and Pentecost.

This Wednesday night, Church of the Messiah will celebrate the Feast of the Ascension as part of our regular mid-week worship service.  The worship service will begin at 7 o’clock and will be preceded by our soup supper from 6:00-6:45.  The service is a Eucharistic service complete with praise & worship, intercessory prayers, and Holy Communion.  Childcare is provided during the service time and the service ends by 8:30 to accommodate those needing to prepare for school or work the next day.  The Feast of the Ascension is one of the most important feasts in the Church year.  Join us this Wednesday night and celebrate the incredible occasion with us.

Church of the Messiah’s Easter teaching series continues tonight, Wednesday, April 20th.  In previous weeks Fr. Looker addressed what the Jews expected from the Feast of Pentecost and the overall structure of I Corinthians 12-14 as St. Paul addressed “spiritual matters.”  Tonight Fr. Looker will address I Corinthians 12 in detail, focusing on what it meant to the Corinthian church as well as what it means for us today.

“Preparing for Pentecost” is part of Church of the Messiah’s mid-week worship service.  The service begins at seven o’clock and includes praise and worship, prayer time, as well as the Holy Eucharist. The service is preceded by a soup supper from 6:00 to 6:45.  Childcare is provided for the service and the service ends by 8:30 in order to accommodate the needs of those who have work or school the following morning.  Everyone is welcome.  Join us this Wednesday night as we learn about our spiritual heritage and what Pentecost means today.

This Wednesday night, April 6th, Church of the Messiah will begin their new mid-week teaching series entitled “Preparing for Pentecost.”  As part of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, we believe in the power of Pentecost, but it has been a long time since we participated in a thorough study of the things of the Spirit.  This study help everyone to understand what the outpouring of the Holy Spirit means and how it empowers us today.

“Preparing for Pentecost” is part of Church of the Messiah’s mid-week services and is included in the context of praise & worship, prayer, and Holy Communion.  Prior to the service, from 6:00-6:45 there is a free soup supper for any who wish to attend the service.  Childcare is provided during the service and we are committed to ending the service by 8:30 so that those who have to prepare for work and school the next day may do so.

Join Church of the Messiah Wednesday nights in April and May as we begin “Preparing for Pentecost,” so that, when the great day comes, we are fully ready to receive the power from on high which Our Lord promised.

Holy Week is the most incredible time of the year for churches throughout the world and Church of the Messiah is no exception.  We have amazings thing planned as we relive the events of Christ’s betrayal, death, and, ultimately, Resurrection!  We want you to join us for all of these remarkable services.

Maundy Thursday: Join with us as we commemorate Jesus celebrating the Last Supper with His Disciples on the night He was betrayed.  This deeply moving service includes the once-a-year foot washing service as well as the solemn stripping of the altar in remembrance of Christ’s betrayal.  Prior to the service we will have our regular mid-week soup supper from 6-6:45.  The Maundy Thursday service itself begins at 7 o’clock.

Good Friday:  Without a doubt, one of the highlights of the church year is Church of the Messiah’s annual Good Friday service.  From noon til three o’clock we reflect on the Passion of our Lord taking inspiration from seven different meditations each coupled with solemn prayers and contemplative songs and dance offerings.  The service also includes the reading of the Passion Gospel and the Veneration of the Holy Cross.  While the service is three-hours long, it is structured in such a way as to accommodate those who are only able to attend a portion of the service.  Come for the whole service, come for thirty minutes.  For whatever amount you can attend, you will be blessed.

Easter Sunday: Celebrate with us the most glorious and triumphant of Feasts, the Feast which makes all other feasts possible, the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord!  Death has been defeated and the grave has been overthrown!  The celebration begins early.  Starting at 9 o’clock we will be serving hot cross buns, coffee and tea in the church foyer.  Also during that time, be sure to bring spring flower for the annual “flowering of the cross.”  Help beautify our Easter cross by bring your own flowers to help decorate.  The service itself begins at 10 o’clock and, as always, we pull out all the stops for the most glorious day of the year.  Immediately following the service we will have an Easter egg hunt in the courtyard outside the church.

Everyone is welcome to attend all of our services and childcare is provided at all events.  To help facilitate inviting others to join us, we have created Facebook events for each of these services.  To find these events, simply go to Church of the Messiah’s Facebook page and click on the “events” tab or click on the each event’s bold name.

We received word this morning that Kim Pittman, the sister of Cathie Shimp, has gone to be with the Lord.  She died peacefully in her sleep after a prolonged battle with cancer.  Services for Kim will be Friday, March 11th, at All Souls Anglican Church (click HERE for a map) beginning at 2 o’clock.  We will publicize more information as it becomes available.  Please continue to pray for Cathie and the entire Shimp and Pittman families in their time of loss.

Rest eternal grant to Kim, O Lord:
And let light perpetual shine upon her.

May her soul, and the souls of the the faithful departed,
Through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.