The Church of the Messiah

Holy Week begins this Sunday with the Procession of Palms on Palm Sunday, but it won’t be over until we finish celebrating Easter Sunday afternoon. Don’t miss any of these amazing worship services!

We will not have a service on Wednesday night, April 1.  That’s because we are getting ready for…

Thursday night, April 2, at 7 o’clock, we will observe Maundy Thurday.  This is the annual service where we commemorate Our Lord’s Institution of the Lord’s Supper, Washing the Feet of the Disciples, and ultimate Betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The powerful services continue on April 3 from noon until 3 o’clock with the observance of Our Lord’s hours on His Cross in our Good Friday Service.  This is always one of the most powerful services of the year and includes the Passion Gospel , meditations from both lay and clerical speakers, veneration of the Cross, and Communion from the Reserved Sacrament.

Our celebration of the Feast of the Resurrection begins at 6:45 with a Sunrise Service on our property on St. Johns Bluff Road (click HERE  for a map).  This moving service begins in darkness and candlelight and concludes with the light of the first day shining down on us as we celebrate the Risen Lord by partaking of His Body and Body at the very break of day.

At 10 o’clock our Easter celebration continues (and will for 50 more days!) with our Easter Sunday Family Service.  This will be a service to fully celebrate with Risen Lord and exalt in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We will have special events for our children and a great time is sure to be had by all!

Be sure to invite your friends and family to each of these special events in the coming week!  Church of the Messiah has created a Facebook event for each of these services.  You can go to the events by clicking on their names and invite your friends via Facebook or other Social Media!  Childcare is provided at all services.

There are activities going on everyday this weekend at Church of the Messiah.  The Women’s Ministry kicks things off on Friday night with the movie night when they will watch God’s Not Dead.  The movie begins at 7 pm at the home of Diane Looker.  Snacks and drinks will be provided so just come looking to enjoy the movie.  Then the Men’s Ministry will takeover on Saturday morning with their “Labor of Love” Work Day.  The men will be doing some gardening from 9 am til noon at the home of a family who have recently been under some physical attacks and are dealing with a variety of medical issues.  The men will take a morning and make sure their yard is not one of their issues they have to deal with.  Contact John Cunningham for more information on this work day.  The the whole parish will gather together on Sunday as we begin the observance of Holy Week with the celebration of Palm Sunday!  Be sure to arrive a few minutes early for Church this Sunday morning because we will begin the Liturgy of the Palms in the courtyard in between the churches and process into Church of the Messiah singing Hosannas to the King of Kings!  This is an incredible service each and every year and you will not want to miss it this year.  Finally, Confirmation classes begin after Church on Sunday.  For those attending the classes, we will be going out for lunch following services on Sunday, having lunch together and discussing the topic for the Confirmation Classes.  Those interested in attending please download the New Catechism of Charismatic Episcopal Church (click the link to download).  It’s going to be a busy weekend.  You don’t want to miss any of it!

Today is an incredibly special day.  Yes, though still technically in the middle of Lent, it is the highest feast this side of Easter.  Today is the Annunciation of Our Lord to the Virgin Mary.  It is officially nine months until Christmas today!  Today is the day in the Church when we celebrate the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement of the coming birth of Christ to the Virgin Mary.  This was a day in the history of the world when everything began to change.  This was when the Word actually became Flesh.  This is one of the greatest feasts of the entire Church year and tonight we have an opportunity to gather an celebrate it together.

Please join us tonight at seven o’clock for a special Eucharistic service to commemorate the angelic proclamation which changed the world forever.  Childcare will be provided and we will end in plenty of time to have everyone home in time for work and school in the morning.

This Saturday, March 14th, is Church of the Messiah’s Fusion Service, our monthly young adults’ outreach ministry.  In addition to being an opportunity to reach out to young people and present convergence worship to people who have never experienced it before, this month we have an opportunity to present them with the heart and power of Lent and teach them about preparing our hearts to truly celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ at Easter.

The service is directed towards young adults between the ages of 18 and 35 although “we don’t ever card.”  We serve appetizers at 6:30 and the service begins at 7 o’clock.  Everyone goes out afterwards for fellowship.

For those beyond 35 looking to support the ministry, we are still in need of people to bring appetizers on Saturday evening and to help set up prior to and clean up once the service begins.  If you are willing to help, please contact Amanda Paysinger.

Don’t forget that tonight we “spring forward,” so before you go to bed tonight set your clocks ahead one hour.  If not, you will be an hour late to Church.  If you’re somebody who is late as it is, you might miss the whole thing except that this Sunday we are having our Potluck Sunday and Annual Meeting right after our service.  Go to bed early to make up for that hour of sleep you are going to lose and we will see you Sunday morning!

This Sunday, March 8th, Church of the Messiah will have its Annual Meeting where we will give our yearly financial reports to the congregation.  We will show how we fared in terms of actual spending compared to the 2014 budget and present the 2015 budget as well.  The year we will also be having a Potluck Dinner the same date.  This will make it easier for families will small children (or adults with large appetites) to stay after church for the meeting.  We will serve up the meal between the service and the meeting so children can have their meals and no one will be grumpy.  The church will provide the smoked turkey, so bring side items, desserts and drinks for everyone to share.  When you arrive at church on Sunday, bring your dishes into the kitchen and head into the service.  It’s going to be a great day filled with the Good News first and the great food and great reports!

Starting tonight, Wednesday, February 25, Church of the Messiah will lead a four-part Bible study series on the C. S. Lewis classic Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer.  This will be the second Bible study in our “Lent with Lewis” series after the success of last year’s A Peek Inside the Devil’s Playbook: A Lenten Bible Study Based on The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis.  Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer is a collection of letters written by Lewis to his friend Malcolm on the subject of prayer. During the course of the study, we will address topics including private prayer, corporate prayer, using pre-written prayers, supplication, the Eucharist, and much more.  The book can be purchased through all on-line provided as well as at local book-sellers and is available in electronic formats as well, however having read the book in advance is not necessary for the Bible study.

Our 2nd annual Lent with Lewis Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer begins February 25 and runs through March 18 beginning at 7 o’clock every Wednesday night.  The service ends prior to 8:30 each night so that everyone has time to return home in time for work and school the next day.  Everyone is welcome and childcare is provided.  We look forward to growing with you this Lent through studying prayer together.

An Icon of The 21 Martyrs after the Coptic style of writing icons.

After Fr. Melanson’s prayer prior to to the Eucharist yesterday, many asked about the getting a copy of his text.  For those unfamiliar, last Sunday marked one week since ISIS terrorists martyred 21 Coptics Christians who were working in Libya.  Coptic Christians, or simply Copts, are Egyptian Christian who trace their ancestry all the way back to the first century with St. Mark the Evangelist.  The passage which Fr. Melanson read was written by American author Ann Voskamp and is as follows:

Lord God, it’s been 7 days now since the world first saw The 21,
Since their sacrifice stirred us to live like they kneeled,
to withstand like they stood fast
to be bold like they believed,
to love like they died — Christ-like.

The men of Church of the Messiah are coming together this Saturday morning, February 21st, for our bi-monthly Men’s Breakfast.  Starting at 8 o’clock at Church of the Messiah, John Cunningham and his Merry Men will be up early in the cold preparing all the wonderful breakfast “fixings” that make for a great manly meal as well as a great time of fellowship with the other men of the parish.   After the meal we will spend time discussing ideas for future events for Men’s Ministry and what we would like to do together both for fellowship and ministry outreach.  Bring your appetites and good ideas.  To RSVP or for more information, contact John Cunningham.  There is no cost for the meal, however we will accept donations to offset the cost of the meal.  If there is any money left over after expense have been covered, leftover money will go into the men’s ministry fund for future events.  We look forward to seeing you bright and early Saturday morning!

Beginning Wednesday, February 25, Church of the Messiah will lead a four-part Bible study series through the season of Lent.  Continuing with the success of last year’s A Peek Inside the Devil’s Playbook: A Lenten Bible Study Based on The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, we will host our 2nd annual “Lent with Lewis” and focus on another classic work by the 20th century apologist C. S. Lewis.  In 2015 we will be studying Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, a collection of letters written by Lewis to his friend Malcolm on the subject of prayer. During the course of the study, we will address topics including private prayer, corporate prayer, using pre-written prayers, supplication, the Eucharist, and much more.  The book can be purchased through all on-line provided as well as at local book-sellers and is available in electronic formats as well, however having read the book in advance is not necessary for the Bible study.

Our 2nd annual Lent with Lewis Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer begins February 25 and runs through March 18 beginning at 7 o’clock every Wednesday night.  The service ends prior to 8:30 each night so that everyone has time to return home in time for work and school the next day.  Everyone is welcome and childcare is provided.  We look forward to growing with you this Lent through studying prayer together.