Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Worship into the Week- The Word Forever

 

Worship into the Week-

Gospel Luke 24:13-35

The Road to Emmaus


Epistle- 1 Peter 1:17-25

Called to Be Holy

v.23 "since you have been born again,

not of perishable seed but of imperishable,

through the living and abiding word of God: for

"All flesh is like grass and all its glory

 like the flower of grass.

The grass withers, and the flower falls, 

but the word of the Lord remains forever." 

And this word is the good news 

that was preached to you.

SO many in our world need the Good News.

 Let us find open doorways like St. Paul

 to bring hope in the darkness.

Supplies:

Visual Church Year Printable

 Worship into the Week Printable

Magazine cutouts

Alpha Stickers

 Colored pencils


Thursday, April 20, 2023

Footsteps of Paul-The Lion Monument of Amphipolis

 


This massive and stunning monument is a 4th century BC tomb 
structure near Amphipolis, Macedonia in Northern Greece.
It is believed to have been constructed to honor Laomedon
of Mytilene, who was a superior general of Alexander the Great, 
king of Macedon.
It is now located about 1 km outside the south gate 
of the ancient city. Authorities are uncertain of its original
 location but it would have been visible when St. Paul 
traveled through this area on his missionary travels.  
It may have been part of a Tomb Structure 
in ancient Amphipolis.
The lion now sits alongside the Via Egnatia 
described in Acts 17:1.

The rediscovery of it is more modern.
It was found by Greek soldiers in the First Balkan War
in 1912-13 when they drained the Strymonas River bed,
It seems that part of the lion had been recycled to build a dam
in or after the Roman period to build a more modern bridge.
Later, British soldiers found more of the monument in 1916,
during WWII. In the early 1930's more pieces of the lion 
were discovered when they drained part of Lake Kerkini. 
Finally in 1937, the US ambassador in Greece 
created funding to restore the Lion of Amphipolis.

The Lion may have once been at the top
 of the Amphipolis tomb.
This is located on the Hill of Kasta near Amphipolis
and it is believed that these tombs hold great secrets.
Excavation began in 1964 and they entered the 
first tomb in August 2014.
It is the largest ancient tumulus-burial mound
ever discovered in Greece and by comparison 
dwarfs that of Philip II of Macedon, 
father of Alexander the Great in Vergina.
It opened in April 2023 to researchers, scientists 
and tour operators 
and plans are to open it to the public in 2027.


Monday, April 17, 2023

Worship into the Week- Living Hope

 

Worship into the Week-

Gospel Reading- John 20:19-31

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

Jesus and Thomas

The Purpose of this Book

Epistle Reading- 1 Peter 1:3-9

Born Again to a Living Hope

The Resurrection of Jesus Changes Everything
We now live with Living Hope.

A Powerful Sending out to the 
World for these Disciples.
They certainly welcomed this greeting of Peace.
For fear of the Jews, they were in hiding in Jerusalem. 
Jesus had told them to go to Galilee.
Now here he is right in front of them
and they had not done as He asked.
Instead of a long lecture,
 he breathes on them and gives them the 
gift of the Holy Spirit. 
Jesus always surprises them with the next thing.
Just as they recognize their own fallen, messed up choices,
Jesus gives them the task to go out and forgive sins.

Supplies:
Visual Church Year Printable
Worship into the Week Printable
Distress ink
    Neocolor Watercolors
Junk mail
Magazine Cutouts
Greeting card
Washi tape

Friday, April 14, 2023

9 on the 9th- Easter Sunday

 

PiƱata Fun was a highlight for Griffin's

 9th Birthday on Easter Sunday.


Candy Scramble fun.

A Golden Birthday.

An Easter Birthday.

 Griffin will only have 2 more 

Easter Birthdays in this century.

The next Easter Birthdays are 2034 

and 2045 for this century, 

Binocular gift- that's fun.

A hiking back pack helps 
to be ready for grand adventure.
A camouflage wallet will keep
 birthday money organized.
Ice cream birthday cake is always
 a hit with family and friends.
This cousin crew was there 
for the celebration party.
What a blessing.
Griffin-may your new birth year be a gift.
You are a gift to us!




Thursday, April 13, 2023

Easter Celebration- 2023

The Blessing of an Easter Celebration
 together in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

We love the opportunity to get the 10 Grands
 together for a photo with Papa and Gigi.
This is real life folks.
WE are getting there....


Oldest daughter Jessica with her 3 boys.
Here at St Paul's where she is the first grade teacher
 and oldest son Jack is in her class.
Husband Daniel was missing because of his work
 as an athletic trainer at University of Michigan
 for the baseball team.
They play baseball on Easter.
Middle daughter Laura and husband Joshua
 and their crew. This school is where their
 two oldest children are enrolled in 3rd grade
 and Kindergarten.

Youngest daughter Sara and husband Joshua 
and the matching boy squad.They live in Virginia 
and love sporting their Spring flowers. 

The two Princesses  had fun 
in their pink twirly dresses.
What a fun foursome is this gang,
Cool ties dudes!
Suits, tie, bow ties and suspenders.
What a dapper group!
Food, fun and just hanging out!
Giving thanks for our eternal story because He Lives!!
Resurrection Gardens, dying eggs, 
and some vintage Easter post cards.
Documenting that there was an Easter egg hunt.
And on to the next thing...
what a fun troop of #dengrandloves. 


                            And this is fun as we will look back 

and wonder how we moved them anywhere.







Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Worship into the Week- Easter Sunday

 

Easter Sunday
Sunrise Service
John 20:1-18
The Resurrection
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
"He was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures."
Exodus 14:10- 15:1
"I will sing to the Lord for He has
triumphed gloriously."Easter Day

Matthew 28:1-10 
The Resurrection
"He is not here, 
for he has risen, as he said."
"I know that My Redeemer lives;

What comfort this sweet sentence gives!"

Colossians 3:1-4

"Set your mind on things above!"

Psalm 16

"You make known to me the paths of life."

Supplies:

Visual Faith Printable

vcy-graphics-only-april-2023

Worship into the Week Printable

worship-into-the-week-april-2023

Bulletin covers

Prismacolor Pencils

Magazine cutouts

Sunday, April 9, 2023

Lenten Journey 2023

 


Lenten Journey 2023

This year I used the Lenten Path calendar 

from Visual Faith® Ministry. 

2023-lenten-path-o-sacred-head-now-wounded-by-ann-gillaspie

It came with some reflection words for each day.

Ann Gillaspie, the author and creator of this resource, 

 provided a pathway to document the journey 

with a small drawing, doodle, or a few words.

I decided to meditate on the included words.

The hymn- "O Sacred Head Now wounded" 

was the inspiration 

for following the words that remind us

 of the passion of Jesus Christ.

I used my standard 4 colored pencils for coloring

 and decided on a subdued palette of color for this year. 

I chose about 5 patterns of doodles

 to repeat through the path.

On this Easter Day I am thankful 

for the time of reflection, the recorded story

 of the journey, and the legacy 

of the project to review in years ahead.

Jesus in Risen! 

He is Risen indeed!

Alleluia!



Friday, April 7, 2023

Worship into the Week- Good Friday

Worship into the Week
Psalm 22
John 19:17-30

Tetelestai- It is finished.
A Greek word that expressed the 
accomplishment of a finished work.
Jesus had done everything 
that His father had asked of him.
It was not the cry of a loser-
but the triumph  
of the winner into eternity.
We have not been forsaken.

Psalm 22 is a prayer of complaint that ties together
 the Old Testament and the story of Jesus' passion.
It is often a lectionary reading for Good Friday
 because the Gospels refer to it multiple times
 in the telling of the crucifixion story.
There is intense suffering depicted here 
and that closely connects to the journey of Jesus.
But, there is hope and faith.
The story is not over.

Supplies:
Visual Church Year Printable
Worship into the Week Printable
Magazine Cutouts 
Prismacolor pencils

 


 







 






Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. John 19:30

“It is finished!” is expressed in a single Greek word. Tetelestai! The word was not a whisper expected of a dying man, nor was it gasped with the weakness of a man giving up. It was shouted. Clearly. Emphatically. Triumphantly.

But what exactly was “finished”?

In John 17:4, in His great high priestly prayer, Jesus says, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.” And John echoes that in His account of Christ on the cross. In setting up the cry, “Tetelestai!” John says, “Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty” (John 19:28). In both cases, accomplished is the same verb in the Greek, although slightly different tenses.

Thursday, April 6, 2023

Worship into the Week- Maundy Thursday

 

Maundy Thursday-
The Epistle Reading is Hebrews 9:11-22
Without the Shedding of Blood 
there is no forgiveness of sins.
We don't have to understand the gift.
We simply have to believe the power of the act.
The word Maundy comes from the 
Latin word mandate which means command.

A magazine photo depicts
 the Last Supper event.
This is the institution of the Lord's Supper, 
with the instructions to "do this in remembrance of Me."
The other important event remembered 
at this meal was Jesus washing the feet of His disciples.
This act of humility reveals 
how to truly "love one another."

A plate given to me years ago
 and hangs in the dining room for Lent each year.
The agony of Gethsemane is the end of this Holy Week day.
The Taking of Christ by Carravaggio was painted in
 1602 and is housed in the 
National Gallery of Ireland, in Dublin.

I came across this painting recently.
Something in this art piece shows 
the turning of the events for Jesus.
A Holy Week Passion story unfolds.

Supplies:
Visual Church Year Printable
 Worship into Week Printable
Prismacolor pencils
Washi Tape 
Magazine cutouts 

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Footsteps of St. Paul- Corinth Canal


The Corinth Canal connects the Gulf of Corinth
 in the Ionian Sea
 with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea.
The artificial canal was cut through
 the narrow Isthmus of Corinth.
It separates the Peloponnese from the Greek mainland.
It has no locks and was dug through at sea level.
It is 4 miles long and only 80.7 feet wide.
This makes it impassable for many modern ships today.
So it has become basically a tourist attraction
 instead of a commercial venture.
Many beginning attempts were looked
 at before the first century, but nothing actually happened.
The project was then attempted in the 1st century AD,
 by Nero, but it was a failed effort. 
The idea of a canal was revived after Greece
 gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830.
Not until 1881 did they try again in the construction,
 but geological problems and financial failure
 halted the project.
Finally in 1893 it was completed.
 But the narrowness of the canal,
challenges with navigation and closures
 due to landslides have limited its usefulness.
It suffered extensive damage during WWII
 as the Germans left it unusable.
The US Corps of Engineers restored in months later.
The traffic has never risen to the projected level
 of use they had hoped.
The canal has been closed since 2021 to repair landslides
and was slated to reopen in 2023.
But, the latest update now says it won't be until 2024.

On our visit we ate at a nearby restaurant
 and were able
 to walk over to see the canal.
An engineering feat for sure.

Monday, April 3, 2023

Worship into the Week- Behold!!!!!

Matthew 21:1-11 or John 12:12-19

The Triumphal Entry

The Matthew account was the reading for where 
I worshipped this past Sunday.
This fulfills the Old Testament prophecy
 that the King comes riding on a young donkey.
Hosanna- Pray, Save Us in Hebrew.
Crowds of people were swarming the city of Jerusalem,
ablaze with the news of the alive again- Lazarus.
A storm was brewing.
Tensions were mounting with the Pharisees.
The people took out palm branches and sang,
"Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in
 the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel!"
And the Pharisees stewed in the middle of it-
"You see that you are gaining nothing. 
Look, the work has gone after him."
"The whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?
And the crowds said, This is the prophet Jesus, 
from Nazareth of Galilee."
That became the question-  WHO IS THIS?
This Sunday is known as Palm Sunday, 
the Sunday before the crucifixion- 
the beginning of Holy Week. 
This story of the triumphal entry is one 
of the few times in the life of Jesus 
which appears in all four Gospel accounts.
It is the beginning of the Passion- 
the story of the suffering and death
 of Jesus. 
It is part of the greater story 
of His Resurrection. 

Resources:
Visual Church Year Printable
Worship into the Week Printable
Washi tape
Distress Ink
Colored Pencils
 Bulletin Cover
Magazine Cut-outs
Alpha Stickers