November 2015
 




Kierkegaard on Suffering

On The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS), September 11, 2015, Vice President Joe Biden quoted Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)—taking a short line from his 1847 book, The Gospel of Sufferings: “Faith sees best in the dark” (Kierkegaard’s Writings 15:238). He then followed it up by saying that his religious faith provided him with an enormous sense of solace. And toward the end of the interview he added: “I marvel at those who absorb hurt and just get back up.” This was in the response to being asked how he was doing after the untimely death of his famous son, Beau Biden (1969–2015), to cancer.

     In all due respect to our Vice President and in deep sympathy over his loss, and in great appreciation for him lifting up Kierkegaard in such a positive way before our nation, I must say 

he seems to have watered down Kierkegaard at this point. He didn’t mean to say that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. He didn’t mean to suggest that suffering will eventually have a happy outcome that something good will come of it, when he wrote that faith sees best in the dark (Psalm 88:18). No, every cloud doesn’t have a silver lining. What Kierkegaard was saying was that suffering is beneficial just as it is (as in Acts 5:41). Nothing more. And this is something that only can be “understood immediately by faith,” he goes on to add.

 

     Kierkegaard clinches this point at the end by saying: “Just let the suffering increase; it is beneficial to you. The beneficialness is just as I am—I, faith.” This he calls the “narrow road of faith”—for the more faith sees in the dark that suffering is beneficial—regardless of how it turns out—God makes the test “harder and harder” as faith increases, to make it look like the believer should “regret his faith” (KW 15:239).

     This more strident Christian view is the one worth holding on to. Kierkegaard calls it “more perfect than the expectation of a happy ending” because only it can be “done at once.” May we all do just that when we commemorate Kierkegaard on Sunday, November 15th, of this year (as we have done every year at this time since 1980).    

 Pastor Marshall




 




 

Reading Saint Augustine

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Christian Teaching

 

By Pastor Marshall

 

During the summer of 2015, some of us gathered together after Vespers on Wednesday nights to discuss Saint Augustine’s (354–430 AD) treatise On Christian Teachings [De Doctrina Christiana]. I offer here a summary of each of the four books in that treatise, based on the discussions we had. I hope it will be of some interest to those in our church who would have liked to attend but were unable to. (All references to this treatise are from the 2008 Oxford edition, translated from the Latin by R. P. H. Green.)

 

     Book I. Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo, begins by saying suppose we were “travelers who could live happily only in our homeland, and because our absence made us unhappy we wished to put an end to our misery and return there: we would need transport by land or sea which we could use to travel to our homeland, the object of our enjoyment. But if we were fascinated by the delights of the journey and the actual travelling, we would be perversely enjoying things that we should be using; and we would be reluctant to finish our journey quickly, being ensnared in the wrong kind of pleasure and estranged from the homeland whose pleasures could make us happy. So in this mortal life e are like travelers away from the Lord” (Bk I:4). This passage could serve as an elaboration of Colossians 3:2―“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth,” and Philippians 3:20―“our commonwealth is in heaven.” Augustine believed that the holy words of Scripture help us do this―by “taming” the “evil habits” of our flesh (Bk I:24). He thereby encourages us to give up “sticking feebly to temporal things,” and instead “build up… love of God and neighbor” (Bk I:35). When this happens, it is “a sort of death of the soul”―a “dissolution of one’s former mode of existence” (Bk I:28)! This personal transformation marks an important goal or rule when reading the Bible, and shows us what to expect from it when we do―that is, when we go to church to hear “the Biblical text… being read and preached” (Preface 1:1, 5).

 

     Book II. Augustine goes on to say that it is “a wonderful and beneficial thing that the Holy Spirit organized the holy scriptures so as to satisfy hunger by means of its plainer passages and remove boredom by means of its obscurer ones. Virtually nothing is unearthed from these obscurities which cannot be found quite plainly expressed somewhere else [in the Bible]” (Bk II:7). But in those few cases where the obscure, difficult passages can’t be figured out this way, “good and faithful Christians” are free to use “pagan learning” in “the service of the truth” and in “service to Christ”―except for its “superstitious vanities” (Bk II:19)―to further the “preaching of the gospel” (Bk II:40).

     Once this is done, however, it must also be noted that this “pagan learning” is in fact somewhere in the Bible in “remarkable sublimity and… humility” even if missed by the reader the first time around (Bk II:42). Otherwise this pagan learning “puffs up” the Christian making use of it (Bk II:40).    

     That arrogance or “pride” (Bk II:5) would ruin our reading of the Bible since we need to be “docile” toward it (Bk II:7, 9) if we are going to understand it. We need to “ponder and believe that what is written there, even if obscure, is better and truer than any insights that we can gain by our own efforts” from our pagan learning (Bk II:7).

     This docility will make us “die to this world” in order that we might become “so single-minded and purified” that we will not be “deflected from the truth either by an eagerness to please men or by the thought of avoiding any of the troubles” which beset us in this life (Bk II:8). This dying will see to it that while we live “in the temporal order,” we will “fast and abstain from the enjoyment of what is temporal, for the sake of the eternity in which we desire to live” (Bk II:16).

     And so this death and single-mindedness will drive us to “read… all… of the divine scriptures” first (Bk II:8) before we try to tackle any particular tough passage.

 

     Book III. Next Augustine notes that there is “hardly a page in the Bible which does not proclaim the message: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’ (James 4:6)” (Bk III:23)―for indeed, Holy Scripture “enjoins nothing but love, and censures nothing but lust, and moulds men’s minds accordingly” (Bk III:15). This message is designed to liberate us from the “servile and carnal condition” in which we are entrapped (Bk III:8, 20)―“caught up,” as we are, “in the pleasures of the world” (Bk III:18), and unable to rise “the mind’s eye above the physical creation so as to absorb the eternal light” (Bk III:6). Therefore this Biblical message propels us to “destroy and lose one’s current perverse and disordered way of using [our soul], by which one is inclined to what is temporal and prevented from seeking what is eternal” (Bk III:26).

     So one cannot live as if everything were up for grabs―as if justice, for instance, had no “absolute existence but that each race views its own practices as just.” No, the Golden Rule, for example, about treating others as you would like to be treated, “can in no way be modified by racial differences” (Bk III:24).

     That being said, it is nevertheless also the case that polygamy at one time was “not censured by scripture”―the “perfectly blameless practice for one man to have several wives” in order to perpetuate the race―whereas it “cannot be done without lust nowadays.” Therefore in “all matters of this kind actions are made acceptable or unacceptable not by the particular things we make use of, but by our motives for using them and our methods of seeking them” (Bk III:12). In order to clarify these motives, the “person examining the divine utterances must of course do his best to arrive at the intention of the writer through whom the Holy Spirit produced that part of scripture; he may reach that meaning or carve out from the words another meaning which does not run counter to faith, using the evidence of any other passage of the divine utterances” (Bk III:27).

 

     Book IV. Finally Augustine cared not only about how best to “discover” what is in the Bible, but also about how best to “present” what one has “learnt” from the Bible (Bk IV:1)―knowing that the listener of Scriptures not only has to be “gripped” by what the Bible says, but also “impelled to action” (or “obedience”) because of it (Bk IV:12, 26).

     “There is a danger,” however, “of forgetting what one has to say while working out a clever way to say it [arte dicantur]” (Bk IV:45)―by way of, for instance, the use of “elegant variation” (Bk IV:7). Nevertheless, because learning “has a lot in common with eating: to cater for the dislikes of the majority even the nutrients essential to life must be made appetizing” (Bk IV:11)―provided that the eloquence employed is the “more serious and modest kind” (Bk IV:14).

     But by so doing, one cannot use “eloquence in teaching… to make people like what was once offensive, or to make them do what they were loth to do, but to make clear what was hidden from them” (Bk IV:10). Because clarity is what is at stake, “the interpreter and teacher of the divine scriptures… must communicate… and make clear to those who are not conversant with the matter under discussion what they should expect” (Bk IV:4). In order to do this, a “close adherence to the words of scripture is particularly necessary.” And so one must not rely on oneself in these matters because the “poorer he sees himself to be in his own resources, the richer he must be in those of scripture” (Bk IV:5). Therefore the dictum holds: “Eloquent speakers give pleasure, wise ones salvation” (Bk IV:6).

    Because of this any presenter of Biblical truths “should be in no doubt that any ability he has and however much he has derives more from his devotion to prayer than his dedication to oratory; and so, by praying for himself and for those he is about to address, he must become

a man of prayer before becoming a man of words” (Bk IV:15)―knowing that Biblical teaching is “only beneficial when the benefit is effected by God”(Bk IV:17). As such both speaker and listener should strive to be virgins “mentally”―being “lowly in heart,… prudent in mind;… infrequent [speakers], but… diligent [readers],” looking to “God, not man as [one’s] judge of [one’s] heart,… [avoiding] ostentation, [following] reason [rationem sequi],… with no aggression in [one’s] eyes, no insolence in [one’s] speech, no immodesty in [one’s] actions, [with a] gait… not unbecoming, [and when desiring] refreshment it was generally for food to stave off death, not to provide enjoyment” (Bk IV:21).  



 




PRESIDENT'S REPORT.... by Earl Nelson

Recently two events occurred at First Lutheran Church that tell a story.  One was the hymnfest liturgy of September 27th which highlighted the careers of Deacon Dean Hard and Cantor and Organist Andy King.  If you attended this service, which was also followed by a luncheon featuring speeches by both these long-time members of the congregation, and some very delicious food, you already know as much as I do about it.  The heroism of these two in their respective roles is part of what first drew me to First Lutheran Church.  Either of them reading this would probably blush at the word heroism, and say that they have only been doing what they themselves love and want to do.  Nevertheless, it takes a certain courage and conviction to soldier on in musical and liturgical traditions that are everywhere under attack, if they are even remembered, both within and without the church. 

     Orthodox worship, like orthodox faith, is out of fashion, not just here in the Northwest, but everywhere--throughout the world.  But Andy and Dean, and we in the pews in response, do not do what we do at First Lutheran Church out of a desire to be different, or out of stubbornness, but out of love and loyalty.  Most of what Dean does with the choir and the liturgy is somewhat in the background.  Probably the better it is done, the more it is done with easy grace, the more we in the pews can simply be in the liturgical moment.  But when Dean reads the Word, one hears clearly the voice of a man who devotes himself to God’s Word, its power, its rhythm, its otherworldliness.  Andy is both master of a difficult instrument, a musician who can sing Bach through all those pipes and stops, and a consummate church organist, who knows how to lead us in song without overpowering us in the pews, or, for that matter, making us look bad.  He brings out the best in us musically.

     Do we adequately appreciate how extraordinary it is to be able to worship with the musical and liturgical leadership of two such consummate artists?  I suspect it is actually extraordinary on a national scale. 

     Another event, one that took place behind the scenes for most of the congregation, completes this picture.  A couple of months ago, several of us on the Church Council received a letter from retired Lutheran pastor, Jon Nelson, praising the extraordinary devotion of Pastor Marshall to Lutheran orthodoxy which is, and now I am repeating myself, everywhere under attack, if it is even remembered.  Reverend Nelson knows enough about this congregation also to praise the devotion of Sonja Clemente in her work in the front office.  Having known Pastor Marshall over the years, the Reverend Nelson notes that Pastor Marshall has not received a lot of praise (rather the opposite) either from the world or from his Lutheran colleagues for “his staunch, unflinching, full-throated defense of the faith once delivered.”  Pastor Marshall knows better than we whether he has ever flinched, but he has been undeniably staunch and full-throated.  Jon Nelson and his wife Alice have made a donation of $1,000 to help Pastor Marshall with his publication projects for which we all thank him.

     May we all likewise be inspired to respond faithfully as members of this extraordinary congregation both in stepping up to responsibilities and in fulfilling our duties.

 

 



 





STEWARDSHIP

   Grace Through Christ

 

“Therefore since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.”  (Romans 5: 1-5)

These words seem almost too high and lofty for the likes of me and the things I do, even tithing and pledging.  But that would be to underestimate how deeply we are affected by sin, how hard it is to do even small things well and in timely fashion, and how important everything we do is in the eyes of God.  The world doesn’t care in the least whether or how I pledge to my church, if it even knew.  The world will not reward me for it.  We’re all pretty much trained from youth to do things for a reward.  In this passage Paul isn’t thinking about great things in the world’s eyes, but about the seemingly small and private things we do in our own lives every day. 

     Character is how we characteristically behave under stress.  Do we try to endure by relying on ourselves when under spiritual stress, or do we characteristically rely on God?  The sufferings themselves won’t go away.  One follows another.  Either there is already daily suffering in our own lives to teach us endurance, or there is temptation aplenty which we ought to be suffering to resist.  In either case, Paul teaches that we ought to rejoice in our sufferings, because by them we can learn to endure not by relying on ourselves, but on our hope which is in Christ. 

     Apparently, we should rejoice that it is hard to tithe and pledge and give charitably (beyond tithing).  This is hard for us because it means giving away what the world makes us struggle and suffer for.  It is hard to earn and save money.  Both these activities already require virtue, which Paul well knew.  But we learn to save by thinking about ourselves and our families in the future.  We forgo present needs and desires in order to have control over future needs and desires.  But all this is under our own control and for ourselves, at least in principle, while tithing is, in principle, a leap of faith.  There is no worldly reward for tithing.  Instead it makes possible the church we worship in, and the sermons, the liturgy, the music, and instruction for our children.  Do I not profess that these are more important than the world?  Should I not rejoice to give to make them possible?  And what a church we have, how faithful to the Word and the Spirit!

     I do, and yet it takes some effort on my part to “get off the dime,” and work at it, which is to figure out how much 10% is and then get to work budgeting for it.  It doesn’t just involve me, but my wife Carol, and our household.  It’s a big deal to talk with your family about what you should give and how to go about doing it.  It takes time and effort and there may be difficult conversations.  As with any big project, just getting started can be difficult.  But a job never begun will never be completed.

     Yes, initiating a family discussion about tithing might involve suffering, and might be a leap of faith, but it is the kind of thing Paul has in mind in Romans 5, and for those who undertake it there is both potential spiritual reward and the promise of divine help. 

                                    ─Earl Nelson, Church Council




 




November Book

With the Mind:  Readings in Contemporary Theology

3-5 pm in the Church Lounge, Saturday, November 28th

The book for November is The Crucified King: Atonement and Kingdom in Biblical and Systematic Theology (2014), by Jeremy Treat, a former Seattle preacher and now professor of theology in California. He argues two theses in his book. The first is that the only way Jesus opens heaven to sinners is by bearing the curse of God’s wrath when he die on the cross. And the second is that when we believe in this message of salvation we are also obliged to work to make this life now a better place for our neighbors (pp. 138–39).

     A copy of this helpful analysis of the central tenets of Christianity is in the church library. If you would like to purchase one for yourself, contact Pastor Marshall. Feel free to attend our meeting when we discuss the debate in the church today over Christ’s death.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:   JUST A NOTE:  In July, fifty-five raffle tickets for two Alaska Airlines passenger tickets were sold through FLCWS for the W.S. Food Bank.  Over 800 tickets were sold throughout the West Seattle community bringing in over $4,000.  We are very pleased to announce that the winner this year was our own Matthew Kahn!

HOLY EUCHARIST – THANKSGIVING EVE:  Thanksgiving will be observed with Holy Eucharist on November 26th at 7 pm, in the chapel. 

Compass Housing Alliance is in need of Christmas gift items for their housing centers for both men and women. Listed here are the items we will be collecting over the next couple of weeks: gift cards in $5 to $25 increments for fast food restaurants, coffee shops, Target and grocery stores; new sweatshirts (L, XL, XXL sizes with the tags on), underwear, flip-flops, hats, scarves and gloves (in dark neutral colors). New toiletries in small sizes are always needed. Please leave your donations at the office. The items collected will be delivered after Sunday, December 14th.

 

Sign up for the Bartell Drugs Scrip program and designate First Lutheran Church of West Seattle.  4% of your purchases will be automatically donated to the church. 

FLOWER CHART:  There are still a few spaces left for Christmas flowers.  Are you able to share the cost this time? 

FOOD BANK COLLECTION suggested donation for November is holiday foods: canned yams, turkey, gravy, cranberries, stuffing and pumpkin. 





 





St. Nicholas Faire

 

Sunday, December 6th, from 4pm to 7pm

 

The feast day of St. Nicholas is coming soon and preparations are moving full steam ahead.  All we need is YOU!!! And your friends and family to come and enjoy the festivities.  Please plan to join in the celebration.

     We have gift baskets to bid on – kitchen items, “handy-man” tools, coffee, children’s activity books, family fun, games, and puzzles, Italian, wine, baking, and Seahawks gear – just to highlight a few. And we have a couple dozen gift cards to local merchants for purchase, always a good idea for that person on your list who has everything.   Plus a wine toss game and wine tasting.

     Admission, which helps defray any costs of putting on the event, is $5 per person or $15 per family if each attendee brings a can of food, and $10 per person and $25 per family if you do not contribute a can of food for each person. (Just a note that all of this money is usually given to the Helpline and Food Bank, too.)

     Sign-up sheets are now posted in the Parish House on the bulletin board between rooms C & D.  This year we are asking for donations of wine, beer, and/or sparkling cider for prizes in the wine toss game; helpers in the kitchen and at the event; and people to help close the silent auction tables.  It takes a lot of people to make the St. Nicholas Faire a success.  Your willingness to help and support this is very much appreciated. 

     Remember, this is a fund raiser for the West Seattle Food Bank and the West Seattle Helpline.  Every dollar that is contributed will be given directly to these two deserving extended ministries.  But it will not be a success unless you come, bid on items, and have a good time! 

 

See you Sunday, December 6, 2015 from 4 pm to 7 pm!

 

Larraine King


 




 





X All Saints' X

 

On Sunday, November 1st come celebrate All Saints’ Sunday:

8:00 am Holy Eucharist

10:30 am Festival Eucharist


Also, on this day there will be an All Saints' Luncheon following the liturgy, planned and prepared by the November service team. 

     Please sign up on the list posted in the lounge if you plan to come.  A donation of $7 per person is recommended, with a $20 maximum for families.
 


All Saints' Parish Festival Celebration

On Sunday, November 1st, we will gather together to give thanks for our community of faithful, baptized servants of God.

   On this rich day of the church year we gather to remember our calling as God's saints, rededicating our lives to God's service and rejoicing in the ministry of Christ.  This day we also join the Church Catholic in affirming our belief in "the communion of saints" remembering all those faithful who have died in Christ.

     8:00 am Holy Eucharist – chapel

   10:30 am Festival Eucharist – nave

       with Festival Procession.

   12 pm All Saints’ Luncheon

Please sign up on the list

posted in the lounge.

 

CHRIST THE KING

      The season of Pentecost and the Church Year will end with the celebration of the Kingship of Christ at the Sunday morning liturgies, November 22nd.  On this day we strengthen the belief that Christ is above all and that every authority is under Him (Eph. 1.21).  We rejoice that the one who is, who was and is to come (Rev. 1:8) is the King and Lord of all! 

 

ADVENT I

      The season of Advent, the first season of the Church Year, is a time when the church focuses its attention on the Lord’s coming, and our need to repent. 

      Join us on Sunday, November 29th.

    8:00 am Holy Eucharist in the chapel

    9:00 am Adult Education in rm. D

         Advent Faire in rooms 7-8.

  10:30 am Holy Eucharist in the nave

 




 








 




Colossians 1.22

Monthly Home Bible Study, November 2015, Number 273

The Reverend Ronald F. Marshall

Along with our other regular study of Scripture, let us join as a congregation in this home study. We will study alone then talk informally about the assigned verses together as we have opportunity. In this way we can "gather together around the Word" even though physically we will not be getting together (Acts 13.44). (This study uses the RSV translation.)

We need to support each other in this difficult project. In 1851 Kierkegaard wrote that the Bible is "an extremely dangerous book.... [because] it is an imperious book... – it takes the whole man and may suddenly and radically change... life on a prodigious scale" (For Self-Examination). And in 1967 Thomas Merton wrote that "we all instinctively know that it is dangerous to become involved in the Bible" (Opening the Bible). Indeed this word "kills" us (Hosea 6.5) because we are "a rebellious people" (Isaiah 30.9)! As Lutherans, however, we are still to "abide in the womb of the Word" (Luther's Works 17.93) by constantly "ruminating on the Word" (LW 30.219) so that we may "become like the Word" (LW 29.155) by thinking "in the way Scripture does" (LW 25.261). Before you study, then, pray: "Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in Our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen" (quoted in R. F. Marshall, Making A New World: How Lutherans Read the Bible, 2003, p. 12). And don’t give up, for as Luther said, we “have in Scripture enough to study for all eternity” (LW 75:422)!

Week I. Read Colossians 1.22 noting the word reconciled. Who needs reconciling? On this read Isaiah 59.2 noting the words iniquities, separation and hid. Why are our iniquities or sins so damaging to our relationship with God? On this read Romans 14.23 noting the line whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Does this, then, in large part mean that sin destroys or displaces faith in God? How bad is that? On this read Hebrews 11.6 noting the words faith and please. Is reconciliation with God, then, re-establishing God’s pleasure in us? If so, when was he first pleased with us? On this read Genesis 1.31 noting the phrase very good. How long did this last? On this read Genesis 6.6 noting the words sorry and grieved. How long did that last? On this read John 14.23 noting the words if, Jesus, loves and Father. Why did this divine regret on God’s part last so long? On this read Ecclesiastes 9.18 noting the line one sinner destroys much good. Does anyone else need reconciling beside us? On this read Romans 5.9 noting the line saved by him from the wrath of God. So just as Martin Luther thought, both parties – sinners and God – need reconciling (Luther’s Works 26:325). Do you agree, and if so, why?

Week II. Read again Colossians 1.22 noting the line by his death. Whose death are we talking about here? On this read 1 John 2.1-2 noting the words sin, advocate, Jesus and expiation. How does the death of Jesus do this? On this read Colossians 2.13-15 noting the words dead, alive, forgiven, canceled, bond, against, legal, aside, nailing, cross, disarmed and triumphing. How does his death cancel the legal bond that stood against us because of our iniquities? On this read Romans 8.3 noting the line in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. What does this likeness mean? On this read 1 Corinthians 5.21 noting the three words made, no and become. Is Jesus then both like and unlike a sinner at the same time? How can that be? On this read 1 Peter 2.24 noting the line bore our sins. So he was punished for our sin as if he had committed them when in fact he did not. And that’s what it means to say he came for sin in Romans 8.3. He came to be punished for our sins. What does that do for us? On this read Galatians 5.1 noting the word freedom. But from what? Well, being punished for our sins! How good is that? On this read Luke 16.19-28 noting the place of torment unforgiven sinners are headed for. How’s that for a wonderful reward?

Week III. Reread Colossians 1.22 noting the same line by his death. Was this a mean thing for God to make Jesus do? On this read John 10.18 noting the four occurrences of the word I. Read also John 10.30 noting the word one. Note as well the line not as I will, but as you will in Matthew 26.39. Read also Luke 23.46 noting the line Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Why, then, does Jesus use the word forsake in Matthew 27.46? Is that about a breakdown between Jesus and his heavenly Father? On this read Matthew 8.17 noting the words took and bore. So when he cried out from the cross was he really giving voice to condemned sinners and not to his own anguish? If so, there is then no division between the Father and the Son when Jesus cries out about being forsaken. Do you agree? Why or why not? To coax you in the right direction, note the words loves and all in John 3.35.

Week IV. Read Colossians 1.22 one last time noting the word irreproachable. How can we come off looking so good to God? On this read Revelation 7.14 noting the words washing and white. How can the blood of the Lamb do this? On this read 1 Peter 1.19 noting the words precious, blemish and spot. How does his innocence and holiness help us? On this read 2 Corinthians 8.9 noting the trading words rich and poor. Why does Jesus trade with us if it’s not to his advantage? On this read Mark 10.45 noting the words serve and give. Note also the word compassion in Mark 6.34. Are these verses enough to explain how pure believers can become?

 


 










 





X  PARISH PRAYERS  X

Remember in prayer before God those whom He has made your

brothers and sisters through baptism.

Cristian Clemente, Elmer Wittman, The Lawson Family, Florence Jenkins, Bob Baker, Kyra Stromberg, Anelma Meeks, Michael & Eileen Nestoss, Mary Goplerud, Cynthia Natiello, Leah Baker, Peggy & Bill Wright, Bob & Barbara Schorn, Cameron Lim, Ion Ceaicovschi, Luke Bowen, Tabitha Anderson, The PLU Faculty, Christine Marshall, Tina Bagby, Ron & Margaret Douglass, Donna Mullin, Marjorie, Cortney, Mark Mosley, Ken Sharp, David Dahl, Ariel Tucker, Nathan Arkle, Robert Cromartie, Yvonne Rainey, Celia Balderston, Diane Williams, Rick Collins, Renann Taylor, Mike Harty, Jack Feichtner, Paul Volkman, Matt Anderson and the great European migration. 

    Pray for the shut-ins that the light of Christ may give them joy:  C. J. Christian, Louis Koser, Anelma Meeks, Dorothy Ryder, Lillian Schneider, Crystal Tudor, Nora Vanhala, Vivian Wheeler, Peggy & Bill Wright.

     Pray for our bishops Elizabeth Eaton and Brian Kirby Unti, our pastor Ronald Marshall, our deacon Dean Hard and our cantor Andrew King, that they may be strengthened in  faith, love and the holy office to which they have been called.

     Pray that God would give us hearts which find joy in service and in celebration of Stewardship.  Pray that God would work within you to become a good steward of your time, your talents and finances.  Pray to strengthen the Stewardship of our congregation in these same ways.

     Pray for the hungry, ignored, abused, and homeless this November.  Pray for the mercy of God for these people, and for all in Christ's church to see and help those who are in distress.

     Pray for our sister congregation:  El Camino de Emmaus in the Skagit Valley that God may bless and strengthen their ministry.  Also, pray for our parish and it's ministry.

     Pray that God will bless you through the lives of the saints:  Saint Andrew, the Apostle.


A Treasury of Prayers

 

Give me a listening ear―one that does not shrink from your word that corrects and admonishes me. Lay bare the needs of my fellow humans that make my own days uneasy. Force me out of our old ruts and set ways that trap me in my own needs and personal interests. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

            [For All the Saints III:871–72, altered]