Parable of the Last Judgment

Rev. Denson Franklin

The word of God was given to us today by retired minister, Denson Franklin. Rev. Franklin was the substitute for the substitute. In case this is confusing, Rev. Doug Carpenter was scheduled to bring the message but, was involved in a terrible car accident that laid him up for three weeks. Rev. Carpenter is mending but, needs a little more down time. Rev. Carpenter sent in his place, his good friend Denson Franklin.

How will you stand before Jesus?
During this season of Thanksgiving the parable of The Last Judgment found in chapter 25 of Matthew answers this question. 34"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
38'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?

39'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
40"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

Scripture can be interpreted any way a person wants it to be. Our task is to find the true meaning intended by God. To illustrate this fact, Rev. Franklin told a humorous story about the pious owner of a department store. The owner’s belief was that everything should have a scriptural basis and insisted that his adopt this employees adopt this same method of thinking. A woman came into the store to buy fabric. The clerk on duty showed her bolt after bolt of fabric but none would suit her taste. Finally, the clerk showed her a bolt of fabric he’d shown her before but, this time he increased the price by $3.00. The customer examined its color and felt its texture. This was what she was looking for. The clerk cut the fabric, made the sale and the woman was on her way. The pious owner having seen this trickery approached the clerk and asked what was the scriptural basis for what he had done? The clerk responded, “She was a stranger and I took her in."
Not quite the meaning of Matthew 25:38.

What really matters is how we relate to others. “…in as much as you did it for the least, you have done it for me…” The word made flesh is in everyone. Do you see Christ in others? Do they see Christ in you?

Read a synopsis of the children’s story, Where Love is God is by Leo Tolstoy. Through this story we learn the various ways that we encounter God. It guides us in the way of opening up to share with others. Treat others with kindness and mercy. We are all children of God and so his face is

in each of us.

SCRIPTURES

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Psalms 100

Ephesians 1:15-23

The Holy Gospel Matthew 25:31-46

ANNOUNCEMENTS

+ The annual Lessons and Carols will be December 7, 2008 at the 10:00 a.m. service. Invite your friends and family to attend.

St. Mark's choir practices for

the Lessons and Carols

+ Deacon Foster would like to thank George & Joyce Ladd and Mark & Rosie Bryant for helping with the delivery of the ten Thanksgiving baskets sponsored by St. Mark's outreach. Kudos also to those who made the monetary contribution to purchase the contents for the food baskets.
++ Deacon Carolyn has written the names of each receiving family of the food baskets on a slip of paper. She is asking volunteers to take one of these names and pray for this family as you have dinner with your family on Thanksgiving Day.
+ ECW meeting was held after church. ECW will sponsor the December birthday party at Episcopal Place on December 10th at 4:00 p.m. Participants include Ellarine Stroud, Andrea Duckery, Olivia Washington, Bertha Smith, Mary Williams, Joyce Ladd and Sylvia McClain

ECW meeting presided over by ECW President, Joyce Ladd

+click photos below to enlarge and read the captions


+ A note from the Sr. Warden:
I am pleased to announce that pending the Bishop’s approval, Rev. Sara-Scott Wingo will be caring for us as our new Priest in Charge. Unlike an interim, a priest in charge has the possibility of becoming rector.

In the past Sara-Scott has been rector of St. Phillips in Fort Payne, AL. Currently, she is a Priest Associate at St. Luke’s in Mountain Brook. She has three daughters and is married to Rev. Pat Wingo, the Deputy for Ministry Deployment in the Diocese. She will start in mid January. She prefers to be called Sara-Scott.

God bless,

Paul

Visitors

Matthew Lukens and Miriam Smith

Curiosity brough Matthew to St. Mark's.

He drove by once and saw the top of

the church from the street. Upon

discovering this he came back to attend

a service with friend Miriam in tow.

PHOTOS

boys being boys

Seen on a church marquee

******************************************************************************