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Hey Villagers,
Elliott Cepin was born today, August 22 at 9:44a. He weighed 9 pounds 7 1/2 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches. Wow. Way to go, Sue.
Julie
Village Aug 16, 2005
Mission. The Village's mission is quite simple, offer Christ to world and one another. St. Patrick sums up this idea in his prayer when he writes - Christ behind and before me, Christ beneath and above me, Christ with me and in me, Christ around and about, Christ when I rise in the morning and when I lie down at night, Christ in each heart that thinks of me, Christ in each mouth that speaks of me, Christ in each eye that sees me, Christ in each ear that hears me. At the Village we want Christ to be who we are. We want to offer Him to the world and our community. (1)One way that Jesus engaged the culture around him involved going to parties. For example, after Matthew the tax collector decided to join Jesus and give up his profession, Matthew threw a party at his house and invited all of his tax collecting buddies. Jesus and the disciples went and celebrated with Matthew. I believe that one very good way for our community to engage the world is by throwing parties. On August 27: starting at 5:30pm - Joel and Ryan are throwing a party. This party is open to you and your friends. Ryan is inviting everyone that he works with, and I suspect that Joel will be too. You will have the opportunity to view Ryan's photography and hear Joel play some of his music. This party is a community party and Joel and Ryan will need your help. You can help by praying, bringing really good gourmet food, bringing a gift (they are registered at Target), and inviting your friends.
(2)Jesus also engaged the culture through healing. At the village we acknowledge that the world sucks and it is often a painful place to live. If we are a community that strives to be Christ in the world, we must offer his healing to the world and our community. This fall Julie Brunson is starting a Sexual Abuse Healing Community for Women. If you are interested in being part of such a group, please talk to Julie. This group will start Oct 23, 2005. A similar group for men will also start around the same time. Guys, who are interested or know that they should be part of such a group but don't want to, you need to talk to me. (3)Jesus spent a good part of his time on earth preaching and teaching. Preaching is a way of communicating to people that helps remove their ignorance about the Kingdom of God and teaching is explaining how things work in the Kingdom of God and what is expected etc . . . For the Village, Vespers(Sunday night. Vespers means - evening prayer.) is where the community gathers. If you miss vespers you will find it hard to understand what is going. Rod and I attempt teach about and to what we think is going on in the community. Starting this fall I will be doing my twice a month thing with a few changes. Basically, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month I will host a dinner and discussion at my house. You will need to sign up on the Sunday before each meeting to be part of the meal/discussion. I will announce on the Sunday before what we will be talking about. Stuff we might talk about: How the bible was put together, the trinity, particular passages form the gospels, God, the Holy Spirit, Following Jesus, Mission, Studying Scripture, etc. Also, Jeff and Emily have an on going -open biblestudy/potluck on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month.
Belonging and the Village
Usually, in September we begin a four week series on the Village Values and such, which all leads up to a Belonging service*. This year we are not going to start until the last week of September, and the belonging service may not happen on a Sunday.
*Belonging Service – The Village has a yearly membership/this is my community Service. Each year we do something different to publicly announce that we want to belong to the Village for another year. More details to come . . . .
Pastor Eric |
