October 23, 2008

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

This Sunday we celebrate Gift Sunday. During the offertory procession, we will make our personal pledges of time, talent, and treasure to support the ministries of All Saints Parish. Our gifts are a tangible way of putting our faith into action. As Marianne Evett explained in the inspirational "Celebrate - Give Thanks" stewardship brochure, "We may not think of giving money – or time – to the church as an occasion for joy. Yet giving of ourselves and our substance always has the potential to transform us. It is different from giving to philanthropic institutions (although we do that, too) because it is clearly about responding to God, about responding to God's incredible love with our own. And where there is love, there is a deep sense of thanksgiving and joy.

Pledging, then, is a time to rejoice. A pledge is a commitment in which each of us affirms membership in this blessed community of All Saints, promising to help it fulfill God's mission of peace, justice and compassion. It includes our intent to give money, since that is the way our world works. But it also includes a prayerful consideration of what we might give of our time, using our talents."

Our stewardship commitment begins with a realization of how we have been blessed. Our motivation for giving should be based our need to respond to God's gifts, not on the church's need to receive our gifts. Our stewardship response expresses our faith and gratitude for all that we have received. As we come to recognize the abundance of gifts that God has given us, we are moved to respond generously and lovingly with the gift of our time, talent, and treasure. In this season of thanksgiving, I invite you to join me in making a stewardship commitment to support God's work at All Saints Parish in 2009. Please make your gift joyfully from a sense of God's abundance in your life.

Please click here for more information about "Celebrate - Give Thanks" and stewardship giving.

THEME FOR THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

In a book written several decades ago, M. Eugene Boylan described Jesus as "This Tremendous Lover." Jesus is the embodiment of God's love who showed the world how to love. In today's Gospel, Jesus teaches that love of God and neighbor is the heart of Christian faith. In the Collect, we pray: "Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

In the reading from Deuteronomy Moses ascends Mount Nebo and sees the Promised Land: "The LORD showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain - that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees - as far as Zoar. The LORD said to him, 'This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, "I will give it to your descendants"; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.' Then Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, at the LORD's command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab. (Deuteronomy 34:1-12)

Psalm 90 is a prayer of trust in God's protection: "Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to another. Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and the earth were born, from age to age you are God ... For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past and like a watch in the night ... Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life."

In the epistle, Paul expresses his love for the Thessalonians: "As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us." (1 Thessalonians 2:1-8)

In the Gospel passage from Matthew, a lawyer, asks Jesus a question to test him: "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:34-46)

In worship we encounter the loving Christ and receive strength and courage to grow in our love of God and neighbor. Please join us for worship this Saturday at 5 pm, Sunday at 10:30 am, and Sunday at 6 pm.

Sincerely,

David A. Killian
Rector

EVENTS at All Saints Parish

• For a schedule of worship services, please click here.
• For information about our excellent Church School from pre-school to grade 12, click here.
• Click here to download information about the many adult learning opportunities at All Saints Parish.
• For information about Explorations in Faith that begins on October 1st, please click here.
• For information about the Beacon Street Fellowship for those in their 20s and 30s, please click here.
• To see the current issue of Saints Alive, our newsletter, please click here.
• Please click here for the booklet "Your Kingdom Come" with information on our parish's involvement with the MDGs.

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