Sunday Mornings
Bible Study with Deacon Sam
Please join us at 9:30 A.M. in discussing the Bible readings appointed for the day. This Bible study meets in the Conference Room inside the parish office.
Bible Study with Fr. Jim
We are currently studying the Book of Exodus using the Understanding the Bible series published by David C. Cook. We meet at 9:30 A.M. in the Parish Library. Please join us.
Wonders on Wednesdays (WOW)
Beginning September 8, 2010 we meet every Wednesday through November 17. WOW will restart in January through early May. Our program begins at 6:00 P.M. with dessert. Deacon Sam will continue the Bible discussion of the Gospel of John for adults from 6:30 to 7:30 P.M. Everyone is welcome, with or without Bible knowledge. The only requirement is your desire to draw closer to Jesus through studying and sharing thoughts on the things John wrote for us to learn about him. Every week our discussion has the same objective, stated in verse 31 of Chapter 20 of John's gospel.
Young Adult Group
The Young Adult Group meets every Thursday night at 7:00 P.M. in the Education Wing of the Parish for dinner, fellowship, discussion, and prayer. Any person age 18-30 is welcome to participate. Join us for fun and fellowship as we explore our faith in Jesus Christ!
Financial Peace University
See our discription on the Ministries Page on the left
Questions of Faith or Faith Stories
Index
1. Have you ever wondered if God was real? Fr. Jim
2. Do you feel completely alone with people all around? No help in sight? Roy Diethorn
1. The stone was rolled away from the door, not to permit Christ to come out, but to enable the disciples to go in. Peter Marshall
When I was in my early to mid-teens, I had decided that Christianity was an empty religion. I couldn’t see God and I certainly couldn’t talk with God the way I could talk with my brothers and sisters. I couldn’t hear God answering any prayers and I couldn’t make any sense out of what was going on in church when we went. It didn’t help that there really was no Christian education going on at my little church, so I was confused about the distinction between God, the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. A part of me was afraid, perhaps ashamed, to ask clarifying questions because I thought that I should know the answers, since I was a Christian. So, I plodded along, coming up with my own answers to my questions based on my personal, less than satisfactory experience of God. I eventually dropped out of church, thinking of Jesus as no more than a nice man who lived about two thousand years ago. In a metaphorical way, even though the stone was rolled away from the door, I wasn’t about to go in.
My attitude toward God began to change when I was in college. I had a faithful roommate, Ralph, who always found time to go to his Baptist church just off campus on Sunday mornings. I was consumed with studying and unsuccessfully trying to get straight As. I thought I didn’t have time for church. I needed to focus on my studies.
I thought that getting good grades would settle my troubled spirit, but it didn’t. No matter how hard I tried, there was always the next paper, the next exam, the next challenge. Sometime in my senior year, I realized that there was an emptiness in my life that I could not fill, despite all of my efforts. I came to understand that this was a spiritual issue and that I needed help to resolve it. Ralph had frequently invited me to go with him to church, but I couldn’t pull myself away from my text books. Finally I decided to take him up on his offer and we went to his church. Much to my relief, I enjoyed the experience very much. This led me to think that there really was a God, and I began to understand more about Jesus. I was being drawn toward the open tomb.
When I graduated from college, I joined the U.S. Navy, and after Supply Corps School in Athens, Georgia, I was stationed in San Diego, California. There were a series of personal experiences along the way, including revisiting an Episcopal Church in Athens, meeting another student who invited me into Christian fellowship at school, and being with the base Chaplain that kept drawing me closer.
One Christmas Eve a submariner friend of mine, who I knew from Supply Corps School, was in port and we were walking back to our commands from the San Diego Base Chapel service. I asked him how one could know, with certainty, if one was saved by God? Without hesitating, he quoted St. Paul, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest any man should boast,” Ephesians 2:8-9. Immediately, I felt a wave of peace wash over me and I knew that what he said was true. I realized that I had been trying to save myself through my own efforts instead of turning to God.
So my story continued including an attitudinal change in my profession as a Supply Corps Officer, my relationship with the ship’s Chaplain, my call to the priesthood, the work I did with Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio, my seminary years, my experiences as a Navy Chaplain, my Cursillo experience, meeting and marrying Jeannine, my work with Good News Jail & Prison Ministry, and on and on. Somewhere along the line, I walked into the empty tomb and realized that Jesus Christ, God the Son, has, indeed, risen. I can’t say exactly when this happened but it happened! I thank God every day for His grace in my life and from redeeming me from the empty struggle of trying to save myself. I walked into the empty tomb and became a disciple.
Ours is a great God who is patient, and kind, and forgiving. My prayer for you is that you will find and be found by God and that you will know the power of God in your life.
2. Do you feel completely alone with people all around? No help in sight?
The past two years have brought tremendous stress into my life. My work all but dried up to nearly non-existant. I found myself unable to make even my basic bills. I tried many different avenues to replace the income to no avail. I turned to prayer like many people do when in dire need. But nothing changed. People I considered family and firends turned away and perferred not to hear from me. That was a shock. I was unprepared for this reaction. I was alone and truly broke.
But during this decent, which also meant losing my home, I found strength in an unexpected place. One Sunday, while riding my bicycle to stay fit, I stopped at St. Mary's office. I went in to get some literature on the Episcople Church. I was accosted at the door by several smiling people from Deacon Sam's Bible study. They emphatically encouraged me to join them. I said yes. That was eight months ago.
Not only am I learning about that radical Jesus Christ, but also how we are connected to scripture written 2000 or more years ago. I am learning that our concerns are greatly similar throughout history. I am learning to pray much differently (more for God's will than my own). I now realize I am not alone. I'm part of a gigantic cosmic play and a community of believers. I have a starring role in a much better life. I get up with a positive attitude to do God's will as I know it.
I've always wanted to give back more to this life. And now I'm finding better ways to do that with faith. The word faith has little meaning without practice. My life is changing radically through faith.
All my cares have not vanished with a wave of a wand, but my life somehow is becoming more and more manageable. Good things continue to happen.
I invite all who feel lost and alone to come and meet real people. Come and meet the same smiling people I met at Bible study. This is life, and a good way to understand it is through faith. It brought peace to my life. Could you use some peace in your life? Ask for me, I'm Roy. Sundays 9:30 A.M. Bible study.