A welcoming, prayerful community devoted to love of God and one another, in Christ.
We heartfully welcome everyone to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church 511 Coley Drive | Mountain Home, Arkansas | 72653 870-425-3560
St. Andrew’s is a vibrant, diverse, and growing congregation in the heart of the Ozarks in Mountain Home, Arkansas. We are located in North Central Arkansas between the beautiful Twin Lakes Region of Bull Shoals Lake and Lake Norfork.
There are many active community outreach ministries at St. Andrew’s, including Angel Food Ministries, Kindness, Inc., Hospice House and Serenity House, ongoing support of area children in need, along with social and educational “inlets.” You may find companionship in a mens’ or womens’ group, crafting such as woodworking or stitching, exercise activities such as gardening, or yoga for balancing your body, mind and spirit. Maybe you’d like to join in the fun of planning and preparing celebratory breakfasts, or our annual Mardi Gras Dinner. Between Sunday worship services, there is an engaging Adult Forum at St. Andrew’s, which explores and discusses a variety of interesting topics through books and DVDs. If you are interested in more formal theological studies, you might want to explore Education for Ministry, a four-year distance learning program from The University of the South, studied weekly at St. Andrew’s. Loving one another, and being fed, healed and reconciled to each other and ALL OTHERS are the core teachings of Jesus Christ. No matter what your current situation is in life, know you may enter as a stranger here, be fed, and leave with new friends.
The word of what Peter had done reaches
Jerusalem even before he does. But instead of
rejoicing, as soon as Peter returns to Jerusalem, the people approach
him and ask, “Why did you go to the uncircumcised men and eat with
them?” Sounds a bit like the questions asked of
Jesus eating with tax collectors and prostitutes – doesn’t it? “Why, Peter, did you eat with those, whom
our tradition knows to be unclean?”The Book of
Acts tells us that Peter then tells them about his vision, and how the
events unfolded.He explains that when he was
talking with the Gentiles, the Holy Spirit descended upon them as it had
upon the apostles.Then he said, “If then God
gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord
Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” That is when it happened – the scripture
says the people were silenced.Once they heard
what Peter had to say, they were silenced!Then,
it says they praised God saying “God has given even to the Gentiles the
repentance that leads to life.”Now, I don’t know
about you, but I would love to experience this in my lifetime – the
silencing of opposing views and the unified praise of God. Imagine hearing that
our bishop had, without consulting with anyone, taken steps to join with
the Baptist, Catholics, Church of Christ or some other denomination and
then told us that he had had a vision and understood this was God’s
desire. The next morning a member of that
denomination came to his door and the bishop knew what he needed to do.After meeting with the leader of this other
denomination, the bishop comes to town and lays these events out for us –
how would we respond?Imagine a leader in either
the democratic or republican parties doing the same.What
would it take for us to respond as the people of Jerusalem did?Now imagine being in a room full of people who
actually listened to the opposing point of view in order to understand,
rather than prepare a rebuttal!We live in a
divided world, a political world where that simply doesn’t happen.We rarely listen to what others have to say and try to
understand the world as they see it. For the followers of Christ in the first century, their
world was also divided.Hearing what Peter said,
being silenced by what he said, meant they had to open their minds to
the possibility that their God was the God of the Gentiles as well.Sure, they may have professed that there is but one
God, but deep down they were bound to believe as we all sometimes do –
that we are the ones who have it right and the others have it wrong. Now I ask you, who
would you rather be in this story – Peter, who had it right, or those
who listened and were convinced by Peter that what he did what was
right?Don’t answer – it’s a trick question.Peter, like the others believed the Gentiles were
unclean – until God intervened.Peter’s
experience in Judea was like Paul’s experience.Paul
persecuted the Jews believing he was doing God’s will, until he met the
risen Christ on the road to Damascus.After
meeting Jesus, Paul understood he had it wrong and spent the rest of his
life spreading the Good News of Christ Jesus.While
in Judea, Peter had a vision and then experienced a series of events
that revealed to him the breadth of God’s love – a love that was
intended to be shared with all nations, all tribes, Jews and Gentiles. Let’s go back, though,
back to when Jesus was with the apostles.It was
his last night with them before his crucifixion and, today’s reading
from John tells us, Jesus issues a “new commandment” to his apostles.He says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love
one another. Just as I have loved you, you also
should love one another. By this everyone will
know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”If you love one another, he says, everyone will know
that you are my disciple.Love one another.That’s it – love one another. Together with Peter’s vision, and with
Jesus’ earlier reminder to love God and our neighbors as ourselves, it
becomes clear – God’s love is greater than we can imagine.Our God is the God of Jews and Gentile, and all that God created
is good – even those sitting on opposite sides of the fence from our
political and theological views. Our instructions are really quite simple –
we have been instructed to love each other. Jesus said “everyone will
know you are my disciple . . .” if you love each other.To
love each other is to proclaim the Gospel – the good news of Jesus
Christ.In Judea, Peter learned that “each other”
included the Gentiles – it included more than his circle of friends.It included loving those who he and his friends had
excluded.So, our lesson for today, our challenge
is no different from those gathered in Jerusalem in the first century
hearing what Peter had to say.It is to look
around us and ask ourselves, who have we excluded?Who
is Christ calling us to accept into our circle?Who
is God calling us to love?
Let us pray.
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the
earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far
off and to those who are near:Grant that people
everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your
fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your
kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.
(Click on the Sermons tab in the left column Index to read other sermons by Father Jim).
Scriptural
Resources The Lectionary “…a
book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings
appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion.” http://www.io.com/~kellywp/
The Book of Common Prayer is
one of the major works of English literature. There are several
dozen versions of the BCP from all over the world:
Any Fifth Sunday of the Month Combined Worship Service is at 9:30 a.m.
The stained glass window in St. Andrew’s nave may be viewed as a type of mandala, or circle of completion, with its symbols drawn from the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible. It is a spiritual teaching tool in a sacred space, useful for focusing attention toward the divine and aiding in meditation.
Meditation at St. Andrew’s
Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m., the Sanctuary is open to anyone who wishes to come sit in Sacred Silence. Whether you have little or none, or
a lot of experience meditating or sitting in contemplation, this is an
opportunity to open to the Word, or learning to wait on the Lord to speak to you, rather than trying to
speak toGod. The library will be
open by 5:15 for any who would like to have a moment to read or talk to another
about the experience of meditation. Toward the fall we hope to offer a monthly Taizé service. Contact Melinda Motley at
405-7121 for more information.
Seminary-Level
Ministry Course Offered to Community
Education for Ministry (EfM) is a four-year extension
program of the School of Theology, The University of the South, Sewanee, TN. It
was designed for the laity of the church to help individuals in congregations
develop a deeper understanding of their faith and knowledge of theology and the
Holy Bible. It encourages lay people to discover and reflect on their call to
ministry in the Christian church, and in the world. The Old and New Testaments,
Church History and Church Theology make up the course of study.
A seminar group of six to 12 students offers a comfortable
environment for each to read, study, raise questions and seek answers to
important faith and life issues. People from different denominations
participate, which provides for very insightful discussions. The class is a
safe place where interactions, challenges and the freedom to express individual
thoughts, questions and beliefs can take place. There are no judgments, only
the opportunity to listen and learn from one another.
An important component of the EfM course is daily reflection
on our lives – how we are fulfilling our Baptism as Christians and how we begin
or continue to fulfill our ministry in the life of our community, within the
influence of our culture.
EfM began at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in September of
1994. There have been 28 graduates and several others who have completed up to
three years of study. Participants have included members from the Disciples of
Christ, the United Methodist Church, the ELCA, Baptist and Roman Catholic
churches, as well as people with no particular church affiliation.
There are over 30,130 graduates of EfM globally. The classes
follow the academic year from September to May and meet for 3 hours each week
for 36 weeks.
New enrollment is open now and limited to eight new students.
Registration deadline is July 19th.
If you are interested in this formal theological study
through EfM, please call Nancy Phillips at 870-453-7093, or Kathy McClellan at
870-430-5071.