Fr. Christopher Leighton - Easter 2012
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Easter 2012 - All Creation Worship Him!
This Easter Sunday we greet you with joy, and we welcome all guests to St. Paul’s celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Together we join with the universe to praise our Creator, Almighty God, and we bless him for the greatest act in the history of the universe. All creation worships him.
“Aleluia, Christ is risen!”
“The Lord is risen indeed, aleluia!”
Today, if you are baptized and you love the Lord Jesus, please come forward to receive communion. If you have not been baptized, we still invite you to come forward for a priestly blessing. If you would like to be baptized please talk to a member of the clergy.
Happy Easter!
Fr. Christopher Leighton
Fr. Jordan Easley
Gripped and Gripping
My exercise routine includes time on an elliptical trainer. These machines are great for an aerobic workout. On the machine are handles somewhat like ski poles. Most of the time my hands hold onto the poles – but for certain periods I grip the poles and mentally fix myself to refuse to let go for 2, 3, 4 or more minutes. It is a task that requires strict discipline. If the music I am listening to contains a song I don’t like, I can’t let go and change it. If I have a thought I’d like to write down (and I get many) while I’m “gripping” the poles, I don’t let go and write it down.
What is worse is that I cannot stop in order to wipe perspiration that is rolling into my eyes and ears. Nor do I release my grip in order to soothe a pain or relieve an itch. It is all part of self-discipline and self-denial.
Whatever you may decide to do for Lent this year, will you decide to be more conscious and deliberate in taking hold of Jesus Christ? “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” [Philippians 3:12b]
Another thought to keep in mind is that the Lord Jesus has taken hold of you as you “grip” him. Matt Redman has a song whose words go like this:
“Oh no, you never let go
Through the calm and
Through the storm
Oh no, you never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, you never let go of me.”
Have blessed Lent.
In His grip,
Christopher
The Rev. Christopher P. Leighton
Rector
What to Like About February
I like the following which take place in February:
• My mother was born
• Two great US Presidents, Washington and Lincoln, were born
• It is the last full month of winter
• The following holy days occur:
2/2 The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
2/3 Anskar, missionary to Denmark c. 855
2/4 Cornelius the Centurion
2/5 The Martyrs of Japan
2/13 Absolom Jones, African American priest, d 1818
2/14 Cyril and Methodius, brothers,
missionaries to the Slavs, 19th Century
2/15 Thomas Bray, priest & missionary to
Maryland, d 1730
2/23 Polycarp, Bishop & Martyr of Smyrna, d. 156
2/24 St. Matthias the Apostle
2/27 George Herbert, priest and poet, d. 1633
• Lent usually begins in February (this year Ash Wednesday is February 22) and it is preceded by Shrove Tuesday.
Please join me in making this month a holy journey of faith and witness – knowing we are part of a great move of God.
Christopher
The Rev. Christopher P. Leighton
Rector
Meeting
A meeting, according to the dictionary, is an act of coming together or assembly of persons for a purpose. It can also describe a body of persons or an assembly for religious worship, for example, Quakers meeting. I like this definition: a meeting is a place or point of contact, junction, union, as in the meeting of two roads or the meeting of the waters.
Today, immediately following the 10:30 service, St. Paul’s will have its Annual Parish Meeting. Let’s anticipate that we will be meeting with God and with one another as we finish the Year of Freedom, 2011, and enter into the fullness of 2012, the Year of Expansion.
At our meeting, we have much to celebrate and to discuss regarding what the Lord has done for us, is doing, and is about to do. As we meet, let us give Him thanks.
See you at the meeting,
Christopher
The Rev. Christopher P. Leighton
Rector