Saint Stephen’s Weekly Prayers for the week of September11, 2022
Good Morning, Saint Stephen’s Church,
From Our Prayers of the People
Anglican Cycle of Prayer: The Church of Bangladesh
Our Leaders: Joseph Biden, President of the United States; Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York State; Gary McCarthy, Mayor of Schenectady
Our Church Leaders: Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury; Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop; Michael G. Smith and Carol Gallagher, Assisting Bishops; and Allison de Kanel, our lay reader
Those who are in need of strength and healing: Mary Ann Harrington, David Humphrey, Marilyn Causey, Eunice Chouffi, Mary Frances Hatfield, Vincent Avila, Priscilla Sprague, June Russell, Bill Frank, Susie Olsen, and Joe White
Those who celebrate birthdays this week: Linda Perregaux and Jo Ann Adams
Those who celebrate baptisms this week: Allison de Kanel and Gerald Perregaux
Those who have died: Ruth Lighthall, Reginald Wilcox, and Mildred Marks
This week’s Lessons
COLLECT
O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
FIRST LESSON
Exodus 32:7-14
The LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, `These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'” The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”
But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, `It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, `I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'” And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
PSALM 51:1-11
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness; *
in your great compassion blot out my offenses.
2 Wash me through and through from my wickedness *
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, *
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you only have I sinned *
and done what is evil in your sight.
5 And so you are justified when you speak *
and upright in your judgment.
6 Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, *
a sinner from my mother’s womb.
7 For behold, you look for truth deep within me, *
and will make me understand wisdom secretly.
8 Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; *
wash me, and I shall be clean indeed.
9 Make me hear of joy and gladness, *
that the body you have broken may rejoice.
10 Hide your face from my sins *
and blot out all my iniquities.
11 Create in me a clean heart, O God, *
and renew a right spirit within me.
SECOND LESSON
1Timothy 1:12-17
I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners– of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
GOSPEL
Luke 15:1-10
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
News and Updates
Music Today
Prelude In Memoriam Martin
Opening Hymn #657
Sequence Hymn #671
The Offertory Beneath the Cross of Jesus Held
Closing Hymn #334
Postlude Toccata Wagner
Current Announcements
Lectors: Joe Pako, Doreen May
Celebrant / Officiant Update for September:
9/11 Mother Sally Heiligman
9/18 Father Marshall Vang
9/25 Allison de Kanel -Morning Prayer Service
10/1-blessing of the pets, Father Marshall Vang
10/2- Father Marshall Vang
10/9- Mother Sally Heiligman
10/16-Father Marshall Vang
10/23- Mother Sally Heiligman
10/30- Allison de Kanel -Morning Prayer Service
11/6- Father Marshall Vang
11/13- Mother Sally Heiligman
11/20-Father Marshall Vang
11/24-Thanksgiving service-Father Marshall Vang
11/27- Mother Sally Heiligman
Today we welcome Mother Sally Heiligman as our clergy.
Parish Faire – We will be holding a parish faire on September 18 after the 9:30 service. Please plan on attending. If you are the head of a group (the altar guild, ushers, foyer group, prayer chain, choir, lectors, hand bells, etc) and would like to have a signup at the faire please let Bethany know at office@st-stephens.church by September 12. Please also include a short paragraph about your ministry for interested parishioners to read.
In addition to the Parish Faire being held on Sunday, September 18, we will also have a potluck / cookout that day as a homecoming celebration to kick off the church’s program year. The church will provide hot dogs, hamburgers, buns, and chips as well as paper products and condiments. There will be a sign-up sheet in the back of the church for the potluck items, and if you would like to help out with set-up, clean-up, and grilling.
Sunday School – We will be starting Sunday school on September 18 during the 9:30 service. Kids will go to the classroom with Bethany Schuldt after the gospel is read. Children of ages 5+ are welcome, and bigger kids are always welcome to help!
Street Soldiers – We will be making lunches for Street Soldiers after the 9:30 service on September 25 in the Parish Hall. All are welcome to help. If possible, please consider bringing an individually packaged snack or fruit / vegetable to add to each bag. We typically make about 25 lunches.
Coffee Hour – Please consider signing up to either make coffee or clean up after coffee hour on the homepage of our website.. Bring a snack to share whenever you can and are willing.
SiCM pantry donations- We are collecting dry dog food and dry cat food this month.. Donations of spices and 8-oz reusable bottles (with lids) are always welcome.
The minutes before and after worship are reserved for meditation and prayerful reflection accompanied by the organ prelude and postlude. We are delighted that our bonds with each other are renewed and strengthened when we come together on Sunday, but we ask that conversation be reserved for spaces outside the Church before and after the Eucharist. Thank you.
Adult Education Opportunities in our area-
| Dean’s Forum Resumes |
| Sept. 13 and 20 | 7:30-8:30 PM on Zoom Dean’s Forum Resumes Sept. 13 and 20 | 7:30-8:30 PM on Zoom The Dean’s Forum, now at 7:30 PM on Tuesdays, resumes on September 13 with a discussion on art. The sculpture of Auguste Rodin is on exhibit at the Clark Institute in North Adams, MA. Cathedral Arts missioner, Brynna Carpenter-Nardone, will discuss his work and connect it to that of a Cathedral artist, Charles Louis Hinton, son of and sometime assistant of Louis Josiah Hinton, who spent forty years carving our Cathedral. With the help of poets, writers, and other characters, the art will tell the story of creativity and faith. Then on September 20, Dean Harding will introduce us to C.S. Lewis’s book, The Abolition of Man, in preparation for scholar Michael Ward’s presentation at the Cathedral on September 24.he Dean’s Forum, now at 7:30 PM on Tuesdays, resumes on September 13 with a discussion on art. The sculpture of Auguste Rodin is on exhibit at the Clark Institute in North Adams, MA. Cathedral Arts missioner, Brynna Carpenter-Nardone, will discuss his work and connect it to that of a Cathedral artist, Charles Louis Hinton, son of and sometime assistant of Louis Josiah Hinton, who spent forty years carving our Cathedral. With the help of poets, writers, and other characters, the art will tell the story of creativity and faith. https://www.cathedralofallsaints.org/events/rodin-and-hinton After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man with Dr. Michael Ward September 24 | 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM C.S. Lewis scholar and author of “Planet Narnia,” Michael Ward returns to the Cathedral to discuss his latest book, “After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man.” Please purchase tickets by 9/18 to ensure you are included for the catered brunch. Michael Ward’s visit is a joint presentation of Albany’s two cathedrals: The Cathedral of All Saints and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. https://www.cathedralofallsaints.org/events/abolition-of-man Annual Bible Symposium: The Rev. Dr. James Haddix on Isaiah November 5 | 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM Please join us for our Annual Bible Symposium with The Rev. Dr. James Haddix and his presentation, “Seeing & Knowing: Isaiah’s Visions of Sight, Sense, and Sound in Shifting Times.” Tickets must be purchased online by Oct. 29 to include lunch. https://www.cathedralofallsaints.org/events/bible-symposium-2022 Alpha Course Two sessions, beginning on Tuesday Sept. 13 | 6 PM, Wednesday Sept. 14 | 10 AM Christ Church Ballston Spa is inviting anyone who is interested to join us for the Alpha course. Even if you’re not sure if you’d like to take the course, you are invited to the first session to see what it is all about. We will be offering Alpha at two different times, Tuesday September 13 at 6:00pm or Wednesday morning, September 14 at 10:00am. Each class begins with a delicious meal and then follows with a teaching. In the last decade or two, Alpha has been the most successful program throughout the world to help people, either for the first time checking out the Christian faith, or for those of the faith to deepen their understanding. Alpha was created by Nicky Gumbel, an Anglican priest, formerly an attorney and atheist. It has been used in many denominations in over 169 countries and translated into 112 languages. There have been over 29 million people who have taken Alpha. The course includes such topics as: Why Jesus? Why did Jesus die? Does God heal today? Why Prayer? Why Worship? Does faith make a difference? and much more. For more information, you may contact the church office at 518-885-1031. The Purpose Driven Life at St. George’s, Clifton Park Thursdays starting Sept. 15 | 9-11am St. George’s in Clifton Park invites you to join us for a study of The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for? What’s the Purpose of Life? At one time or another we have all tried to find the answer to this question. Pastor Rick Warren has updated his famous book on The Purpose Driven Life. We will explore why we were created, why our purpose comes from our belief in God and how this will give us a life of meaning and joy! We just completed our first session and it was a wonderful journey as we explored God’s five purposes for our lives – worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and mission. We will be offering the Bible study again in the fall, starting on September 15th. We will meet for 7 consecutive Thursday mornings from 9-11.We are in-person only, no zoom. If anyone is interested in attending, or would be interested in an evening class, please contact Heidi Bonacquist at parishlife@stgeorgescp.org |
Reminders
Prayerbook Morning Prayer in Zoom – each morning – contact Becky Holder for the link: becky.holder@gmail.com.
Our office email is: office@st-stephens.church.
Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be at your back,
May the sun shine upon your face,
he rains fall soft upon soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.