In Our Prayers
Please pray for:
Blane; Phil Brassie; Trevor Harris; Bob Lindsey; Bobby Thomas; Robbie Thomas; Savannah Benton; Wayne Bond; John Cannon; Roy Roberts; Steven; Anne Carter; Taylor McGarity; Mildred Evans; Jay Rea; Vida Broach; Ashton; Eileen Smith; Sue McTyndal
Please pray for our Vestry:
Marty Atkinson; Carole Bond; Libby Martin; Melissa Young; Marvin Gray; Judy Terry; Matthew Hardy
St. Alban’s Intercessory Prayer Group
Every Tuesday morning at 11:00 a.m. you are invited to come and pray for the needs of our church, our people, and our community.
If you would like for us to pray for someone or something special, please fill out a prayer card, which is found on back of the pews. You can place the card in the offering plate or give it to an usher.
Bible Readings
Readings for this Week
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 119:1-8
I Corinthians 3:1-9
Matthew 5:21-37
Readings for Next Week
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
Psalm 119:33-40
I Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Matthew 5:38-48
Bishop’s Blurb
Covenant
Covenant with God is receiving the benefit of God’s promises. It’s also keeping our promises to God. Our promises to God become flesh when they drive our real-world choices. But faithfulness has a high price, so we attempt a bait and switch. We substitute faithfulness for obsession with heritage, tradition and trimmings. But, God is not fooled! There’s no faithfulness without faith on the ground. Our worship services are hollow unless they birth worshipful lives Monday thru Saturday. Covenant is God keeping God’s promises to us and us choosing God again and again. For us, covenant with God is life.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Letter From Rev. Pat Merchant
Dear Friends,
One of the joys for me serving you, is the weekly immersion in the Biblical texts for the week. As you may know, we use a Lectionary (appointed readings each week). This provides us with the readings and collects that are in our worship sheet on Sundays.
Early each week I read through the lessons. As the week progresses, I try to pick which lesson or Psalm to focus my sermon. My spiritual discipline is to hold the idea and then ponder connections.
This week I was pondering last week’s Gospel. You are the Salt and the Light of the God. As beautiful as these metaphors are they require a lot from us. I know about salt. I love salty foods and how the salt is so delicious on potato chips and pretzels. To imagine that I am to serve God by making life more salty for others is a strong demand. I spend a good deal of my time thinking about myself. So on a particular day with salt as my imagine, I will try to smile at others more, write a note to someone I know needs the contact, make a phone call, and or just be more patient at the grocery checkout line.
I pray that we will be the salt and light for each other as we grow in the Spirit.
Yours,
Pat
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Announcements
The Rev. Pat Merchant’s Schedule
Sunday – February 12 & 19 (Rev. Doug Coil will be here on February 26); March 12, 19, & 26 (Rev. Geoffrey Boyer will be here on March 5th)
April 2
Tuesday – February 14 & 21
Wednesday – March 8, 15, 22, 29; April 5
Contact Information:
1-513-259-5117 or patmrchnt@aol.com
Please call the church office (770-267-2893) if you would like to schedule an appointment with Pat.
Sunday School-Elementary Sunday School Every Sunday morning from 9:00 am to 10:00 am.
Middle/High School Youth will meet after the worship service every other
Sunday from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm.
Free Choral Concert-The Trey Clegg Singers will be performing a free concert, with a donation to the Dave Young Vocal Scholarship. The concert is this Sunday, February 12, at 3:00 p.m. at the Porter Performing Arts Center, 140 Ram Drive, Covington. If you need more information, please contact Bill Carter at 770-464-4333.
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner-Please plan to join us on Shrove Tuesday, February 28, for our Annual Pancake Supper, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Tickets will be $5.00 for adults, five tickets for $20.00. Children under 12 eat free! Invite your friends! Tickets will be available this Sunday.
If you can possibly help with decorating, cooking, serving, or clean-up, please contact Ron Mullis, Libby Martin, or Mallory Sanders.
Ash Wednesday Worship-Please note that we will have one service on Ash Wednesday (March 1, 2017) at 5:30 p.m. The Rev. Bill Deneke will be the officiant. The choir will meet at 4:15 p.m. on Ash Wednesday.
Lenten Supper & Program
March 8 through April 5, 5:30 p.m.-Join us every Wednesday evening during Lent for a light supper (soup and sandwich) and a program given by Rev. Pat Merchant.
Please volunteer to help provide the Lenten Suppers by signing up on the sheet provided in the Narthex.
Outreach Committee-Anyone interested in serving our community and planning new programs to help people, contact Carole Bond at 770-207-6564 or msus007@gmail.com to become a member of St. Alban’s Outreach Committee.
An Invitation: Called to Lead– A day of lay leadership development, Bishop Wright teaches the model of adaptive leadership to parish vestries, wardens, and treasurers. All lay leaders, including members of finance and stewardship committees, are invited to this workshop. This year’s “Called to Lead” will focus on Purpose and Vision. Participants will also be equipped with tools for effective stewardship of people and other resources.
There will be two opportunities for “Called to Lead.” The first will be on Saturday, February 11th at St. David’s, Roswell, from 9 am to 3 pm. The second opportunity will be Saturday, February 25, at Christ Church, Macon, from 9 am to 3 pm. If anyone would like to attend, please call the church office, contact Rev. Pat Merchant at 1-513-259-5117 (patmrchnt@aol.com.) or sign up online at www.episcopalatlanta.org. under Parish Support.
Choir Practice is every Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. Please Join us!
Lay Liturgical Schedule – First Quarter 2017