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Welcome to Saint George’s today. We are glad to have you! If you are here for the first time, please stay for the coffee social in the parish hall after liturgy so we can get acquainted.
SCRIPTURE READINGS THIS WEEK
Feb 6th After feast of the Entrance; St. Bucolus, Bishop of Smyrna
2 Peter 1:20-2:9 Mark 13:9-13
Feb 7th After feast of the Entrance; St Parthenius, Bishop of Lampsacus
2 Peter 9-22 Mark 13:14-23
Feb 8th After feast of the Entrance; Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates, the General
2 Peter 3:1-18 Mark 13:24-31
Feb 9th Leave taking of the Entrance; Martyr Nicephorus of Antioch in Syria
1 John 1:8-2:6 Mark 13:31-14:2
Feb 10th Hieromartyr Haralambos, Bishop of Magnesia; Martyr Porphyrius
1 John 2:7-17 Mark 14:3-9
Feb 11th Hieromartyr Blaise, Bishop of Sebaste; Righteous Theodora
2 Timothy 3:1-9 Luke 20:46-21:4
Greeter: Sherry Timofeev Reader: Mikel Hill
Activities/Services this Week
Compline/Akathist: Wednesday February 8th, 6:30 PM, at the church
Great Vespers: Saturday, February 11th, 5 PM, at the church
Family Soiree/Potluck Social: Saturday, February 11th, 6 PM, at the church hall
Last Sunday, January 29th, 44 Adults and 18 youth attended Divine Liturgy.
The Sanctuary Lamp is burning this week for the health of Sophie Timofeev.
All Saints Food Pantry/Gas Cards
During the month of February bring in pasta or pasta sauce in whatever quantity you can afford to donate for the All Saints Food Pantry. On January 31st, 40 cans of soup, 2 large cans of chow mein and a $100.00 donation were delivered to the Food Pantry. Thanks for your help. Furthermore, $73.00 was collected for Gas Cards. With money we had from before, 4 cards were purchased and sent to students. Again, thanks to those who donated!
Family Soiree Potluck
Will take place on Saturday, February 11th, at 6 PM following the Saturday Vespers service. There will fun, games, music, and dancing. The event is open to all (young and old) to attend. Hard copies of a flyer are available in the narthex. RSVP to Anastasia Widmer at 419-490-1332
St. Anna’s Bookstore has expanded the card section to include many reasonably priced options for Birthday, Get Well, Encouragement/Thinking of You, Sympathy and Thank You cards. Stop by and take a look!
The St. Anna’s Women’s Guild will meet on Sunday, February 19th, after Divine Liturgy. The women will also be gathering for their monthly luncheon on Tuesday, February 14th, 12:30 PM, at Burger Bar 4400 Heatherdowns Blvd. in Toledo; phone: 419-724-5844. Make your reservation with Joanne Pentsos by February 12th at 419-698-1884.
"God can save the sinners we are but not the saints we pretend to be." -- Metropolitan Anthony Bloom
Ideas for youth projects:
• Servant Saturdays: Plan a Saturday every six months when your youth group will help people in the parish (elderly, shut-ins, single parents, etc.) Obtain a list of people from your parish priest and call them to ask if they have any tasks your group can do to help them. Make a list of all the people you will be helping along with their addresses and phone numbers, the jobs requested, and estimate of how long it will take to do them, and the number of people needed. Schedule to do it on a Saturday. Meet at the parish with a bunch of bag lunches, transport everyone to their assignment and meet back at the end of the day for pizza and a movie.
• In Search of a Square Meal: Prepare a list of groceries needed to a complete nutritious meal, including dessert. Choose a local agency that distributes food to people in need. Form groups of 4 or 5 (include at least one adult in each group). Give a copy of the grocery list to each group along with cloth grocery bags and a supply of your church’s business card. Instruct the groups to go door to door asking the people to donate one or more of the items on the list. Be sure to supply the people one of the church’s business cards so that they know this is legitimate. Have groups explain that the food is being collected as a donation to (name of the agency with which you are working). Give groups 2 hours to collect all their items. Tell them that they are not to buy anything. When they have completed their list or at the end of 2 hours, have everyone return to the church to gather the food and debrief their experience over pizza and maybe a movie. (More to follow)
Taken from: http://oca.org/news/oca-news/orthodox-youth-month-involving-youth-in-service-to-others
During the week of February 5th we read New Testament passages that describe contrasting groups of people: those who honor God's promise of salvation, and those who abuse it for their own purposes.
Mark 13:1 warns believers to "take heed to yourselves; for they will deliver you up to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them." But when they stand before hostile powers, believers should not be anxious beforehand about what to say. Instead they should "say whatever is given to you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit." Those who do bear testimony, and preach the true Gospel, will be "hated by all for My name's sake." Yet even then there is no reason to turn away from Christ, because God's promise is that "he who endures to the end will be saved." Honoring that promise will lead to the Kingdom, even though the road is rough.
II Peter 2 and 3 describe those who abuse rather than honor God's promise. In the previous chapter, Peter has reiterated the assurance that the Holy Spirit inspires those who preach the Gospel in the right way: "...no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." But he goes on to warn that just as false prophets put forth their destructive teachings in earlier days, "there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled." Peter says that these false teachers have "hearts trained in greed." They are exploiters of others who "despise authority." They are scoffers who cynically ask, "Where is the promise of His coming?" So rather than honor the promise, they abuse it by their ridicule, encouraging others to doubt it. They "entice unsteady souls" to revere them instead of Christ.
What motivates these scoffers? Peter answers when he writes about their greedy hearts and their attitude toward authority. Christians must place God at the center of their lives. They can't be greedy for notoriety, trying to gather personal followers. They can't despise authority, because God asks His people to submit freely to His loving authority. For people greedy for acclaim and who despise authority, submission to God is impossible. It's equally impossible for them to believe God's promise, and honor it. Peter warns us against these people who he says are like "waterless springs." He acknowledges that some things are hard to understand, including Paul's teaching. But knowing this, and knowing that some people will twist the teachings, we can leave their wrong ideas aside and concentrate on growing in the "grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Taken from: http://dce.oca.org/page/bulletins |
