Living in Grace

20 December, 2015

A church in the heart of the city withthe city in its heart: To be a house ofprayer, a community of disciples, aplace of hope.

Greetings Grace By the Sea Family,

Christmas is almost here! Are you ready? Amidst allthe preparation for family, baking of cookies,Christmas dinner, giving and receiving of gifts, anddecorating, try not to get so caught up in the 'stuff'that we 'miss' why we celebrate at all. Theinnkeeper had no room for Jesus. Do you haveroom in the busyness of life for Him? He came tothis earth to be crucified so that you and I may oneday live with Him in heaven. Born to die. For you.For me. Merry Christmas!

Finally, Pentatonix is the a capella group that sang,'Mary Did You Know?' from last week's newsletter.

In this Issue - QuickLink

Readings

Outreach

Announcements

Thank you's

Rector's Reflections

A Word from the Lord

Anglican Practices

Articles to Peruse

Save the Date

Links of Interest

This week they sing, 'The Little Drummer Boy'. In Him, Chrissie

Sunday MinistriesAltar Guild Gretchen Smith & Diana Fedele

Worship Ministries Coordinator Stina Argenziano

Worship Leader Stina Argenziano

Lay Eucharistic Ministers Chris Aburto & Diana Fedele

Crucifer John Marshall

Lector Dave Templin

Prayer Team Bonnie Boxley & Debb Leach

Nursery Attendants

Sunday School Kayla Danback & Pam Jamieson

Greeter Lindy Kortus Ushers Chrissie Dunlap & Ron Smith

Shepherd Lindy Kortus

AV Tech Team Isaiah Stephens

Coffee Hour

Readings for the week of 20 December

4 ADVENTMicah 5:2-5aPsalm 80:1-7Hebrews 10:5-10

Luke 1:39-55

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PrayersDAILY PRAYERS IN THE PARISH

December 20 David & Pam JamiesonBayside Tattoo

December 21 Lindy Kortus Bayview Embroidery N Print

December 22 Peter & Robin Lamont Bites

December 23 Debb LeachCaptured Moments Photography

December 24 Rick & Jan LeslieThe Casual House

December 25 Doyle & Sharon Lew China Harbor Restaurant

December 26 Pete & Diane Macaluso Churchill & Assoc.

PRAYERS IN THE PARISH --- Continue to pray for: Leona Hayden; Roger Edwards; Dale & AnnHazen; the Hickinbotham family; the Harlacher family; Father Dean &Dorothy Scovell; Mary & Blackie Witzel; Griff Marshall; Wayne Locke--- For Mike Fedele as he is currently in the U.S. raising funds to go back toTanzania. --- For Mark Brown and the Sheriff's Department, prayers for safety of hisdeputies.--- For our new Ministries, Alpha and Lifetree Cafe, that they would flourishand would have the volunteers necessary to operate them.--- For the Prayer Ministry that undergirds us from day to day; for PrayerWarriors who consistently lift us up, and who will take a stand against theefforts of the enemy to undermine us. Theirs is often a difficult and painfulministry.

THANKSGIVINGS--- Wyatt Danback had his third follow-up at Children's Hospital on 12/14and has been officially cleared and deemed healthy without any long lasting

affects! Thank you, Jesus! --- For all the many blessings that pass us by every day that we don't evennotice - watch out for them, you will be amazed at God's loving generosity!

PRAY FOR OUR BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK December 25 Roger Vehorn

PRAY FOR THOSE CELEBRATING A WEDDINGANNIVERSARY No Anniversaries this week.

A WEEKLY CYCLE OF PRAYER FORTHE DIOCESE OF CASCADIA

The week of Sunday, December 20Rev. Edilson Augusto Christ Anglican Mission, Brazil Rev. veronica de Lourdes Compassion Anglican Church Plant, BrazilRev. Moses Tun Aye St Barnabas, Yangon, Myanmar PRAY FOR OUR MISSIONARIES

--- For Mike Fedele serving with Living Hope in Tanzania.Pray for continued financial provision so he can continue his work inShinyanga.

--- For Bill Thompson in Nicaragua, who seems to be dividinghis time between digging wells, and helping out at local orphanages. Prayfor continued good health and energy to accomplish each day's work.

--- For Claire Grubbs serving with Living Hope in Tanzania.--- Bill, Alice, Bethany and Jerusha with Wycliffe Bible Translators.--- Tim, Roxanne & Caleb Ault with Mission Aviation in Santarém, Brazil. We have learned that Roxanne is suffering from Alzheimer's; please holdthe family in your prayers as they search for an English-speaking caretakerfor her, so that Tim can continue with his ministry. We have no recent wordof what is happening with them.--- Lori Rodham with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). --- Christian Aid Mission who support financial needs and offer prayers forindigenous people all over the world.--- The Gideons - people from every walk of life who carry God's word, in theform of Bibles and New Testament/Psalms, in 197 countries worldwide.

PRAY FOR THOSE ON MILITARY DEPLOYMENT, or those whowork away from home, and for their families: Will Haag (USN) - Port Hueneme, CA; Scott Menzies (son-in-law of Bob & MarKay Neumann) USN, in Madrid,Spain; Charlie Lincoln (son of Jeri Wentland) USN, on board the USS Carl Vinsonin the Persian Gulf.

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This Week: 20 December 2015

Sunday 20 December 8:00 am - 9:00 am 1928 Service 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Nursery 9:15 am - 10:00 am Adult Education/ Children's Sunday School

10:30 am - 12:00 pm Family Service Monday 21 December

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Vestry Meeting

Tuesday 22 December

Wednesday 23 December 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Holy Eucharist 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Lifetree Cafe

Thursday 24 December 6:30 pm Christmas Eve Service 9:30 pm Christmas Eve Service Christmas Eve

Friday 25 December 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Christmas Day Service Christmas Day - Office Closed

Saturday 26 December

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Outreach

Next Lifetree Cafe is 23 December at 7:00 pm!!!***Come Join Us***

This week's topic:

The Spirit of Santa: The legend, the love, the lowdown

Contact Chrissie Dunlap at the church 360-679-3431 for more information.

Flintstone Outreach Ministries

***The Flintstone Outreach box has beenrelocated to Stina's office under the table bythe interior window.***

Toothbrushes, toothpaste, and deodorant are especially in need currently.

Coming soon - Robin will have a sign up sheet. Please be in prayer for whatyou can do to help/donate. Cash donations are always welcome for Robin to buy anything that isrunning low!

Thank you for your support! ~Robin

Mike Fedele is only $150 per month away from his goal!If six people would commit to $25 per month he willmake his goal and be able to return to Tanzania and hislove!!!

We have already heard about Mike's need for support during the time he isabroad. Village of Living Hope has asked that if anyone is offering support toindividual missionaries, they should put his/her name on the check memoline. As it is - we either make out our checks to Grace by the Sea - and ourmemo lines should include Mike's name -- or they may be made out toVillage of Living Hope - again with Mike's name on the memo line - and wewill see that they are mailed to their headquarters in Virginia. Thank you.

Help House

Reminder: Help House is the first Sunday of the month. Can't find the HelpHouse food box or the Flintstone Outreach box??? They have beenrelocated to Stina's office under the table by the interior window.

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Announcements

Wilma Feehan

Lynn Vehorn sent me this photo ofWilma while she was visiting her inArizona last weekend and asked that Ishare it with everyone!

Needs

1) Meghan, a single woman, is in need of a room to rent. She comes into thechurch at least a once a week to have some hot coffee, charge her phone, orjust sit. She will be homeless very shortly as the people she has been livingwith are in the process of moving out of state. Would anyone have or know ofa room she could rent? Contact me here at the church and I will put you intouch with her.

2) We are in need of two people who have completed a background check towork in the nursery from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm on Sunday, 20 December. 3) It is our first Advent in our new building and soon it will beChristmas....time for the Altar guild to purchase poinsettias, greens andflowers to decorate our church. We would be grateful for any donations toassist with this and as in previous years please let me know if you wish todonate in memory of a loved one. Peace and blessings to all of you as weawait the coming of Our Lord with joyful expectation. Diana Fedele

4) We are in need of cocoa/hot chocolate for the Keurig. Thank you toeveryone who has been bringing in regular & decaf coffee, and apple ciderfor the machine.

Abandoned Coats!

OK, some of the abandoned coats have a found their way back home. Now itlooks like we have just two adult coats left. Could you take a look and see ifthey belong to you?!

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Thank you's

From Lola Hotard: As I re-read the many condolence cards andnames in Bill's memory book, I am remindedhow blessed I am to be part of this churchfamily. Your support has helped me cope and Ifeel Christ's love in your prayers and actions. Thank you all so very much, Lola Hotard

To Helen Hancock and Diana Edwards:

for decorating the Fellowship Hall with

poinsettias, a Christmas tree in the entry way,

and other festive touches.

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Rector's Reflections

HAIL MARY, FULL OF GRACE

If I was to pray it out loud during one of ourregular Sunday morning services [and I havedone so elsewhere in the past] I would expect itwould elicit a certain amount of shock and awe[and it has done so in the past]. The very sad reality, however, is that theprayer did not evolve out of my own theological imagination [which is, for themost part, quite kosher] nor entirely from the imagination and/or creativity ofthe Church. It is a prayer that emerges from the pages of Scripture itself andso demands [in a gentle and pleasant sort of way] to be reckoned with byeach one of us.

We might blame the angel Gabriel for instigating the prayer in the first place;after all, he started it with his rather robust greeting given to the teenage girlnamed Mary who was to become the mother of our Lord. He addressed her,"Hail Mary [her name was added in the 13th century according to acommentary by St. Thomas Aquinas on the prayer], full of grace, the Lord iswith you" [LK 1.28]. Not wanting to leave well enough alone, it was Mary's

kinswoman, Elizabeth, who added the next phrase of this 'questionable'prayer when Mary, carrying the child who was to become the Christ,happened by for a visit. Elizabeth, the baby John [not yet the baptizer butdestined to become so] having leapt for joy in her womb, exclaimed,"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb" [LK1.42]. Of course, we know the fruit of her womb to be Jesus, so we haveadded His wonderful name to the prayer as well.

So far the prayer seems Scriptural enough. All then that is left to disturb us inthis prayer is but the final phrasing of the prayer, "Holy Mary, Mother of God,pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death", a phrase added to theprayer by the Church. It might do us well to parse the phrase more closely inorder to determine what the real irritant might be.Are we at all concerned that Mary is called "holy"? I would hope not, for as asaint of God [as are all of us who have been found in the Lord Jesus Christ]we now belong to a royal priesthood and have become a holy nation, God'svery own possession [1PET 2.9]. We are His holy priests [1PET 2.5]. Mary isone of that great company of saints that includes both you and me [althoughthere are times when I don't feel like I should belong in such an illustriouscompany - but I remind myself not to always trust my feelings].

Is Mary the mother of God? If we believe that in the incarnation Jesus is bothGod and Man, then yes, it would seem that Mary is the mother of God [whosaid Biblical truth was simple - it is deep and profound and complex andmysterious - if we had made up the incarnation I am sure we would havecome up with something much more manageable, but the incarnation is notmade up, it is revelatory].

What is left of the prayer then, is the request that Mary pray for us sinners,now and at the hour of our death [please note: this is not a prayer to Mary,but rather a prayer soliciting her intercession on our behalf]. I will assumethat I do not need to make the argument that we are all sinners in the need ofintercession, or that the intercession of others does have some impact [if not,then why would we ever ask anyone else to pray for us?]. That we will all atsome time enter into the hour of our death [unless the Lord returns and shortcircuits what is a normal sequence of events] need not be defended either; itis not a nice thought, but sooner or later each one of us will more than likelyenter into this hour.

The big question, the one that still waits to be addressed, is whether thisintercession of which we are speaking is somehow or other bound or limited

by death. After all, Mary may be a saint, but she no longer with us on thisearthly plain. In the end, behind this question as to whether the saints canstill intercede for us lies the greater question concerning the reality of theresurrection. If, as St. Paul wrote, "nothing can separate us from God's love,neither death or life" [ROM 8.38] and if in Him we are always held together inone great communion of saints [so says the Apostle's Creed], why would Iever think otherwise but that the saints victorious, those who have gonebefore, are not prayerfully concerned about those of us still on the field ofbattle? Indeed, Scripture pictures them as crying out before the Lord [REV6.9-11].

I know this for sure: I need all the prayer I can get and from as many of thesaints as will commit to lift me up before the Lord. I'm not going to let a smallthing like some of them having died to interfere with my requesting them topray for me. That includes Mary.

Fr. Paul+

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A Word from the Lord

Listen here each week for a different 'one-minute message' from our Archbishop, Foley Beach.

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Anglican Practices

What is the Church Year all about? What are the different seasons?

Church time and the world's time are different, or had you noticed? Mostauthors of books will sign the Preface with a name and a date, such asJanuary 6, 1995. The writer of religious books may sign the Preface with thesame dates, but it will read, Feast of the Epiphany, 1995. The church has itsown calendar that is tied to events reported in the life of Jesus and in the lifeof the church. Learning to follow church time will take us through the historyof our own faith story. Read on.....

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Articles to PeruseIf you didn't get a chance to read one or want the link, let me know and I willprovide it for you.

An absolutely beautiful, acapella version of a Christmas classic.

Pentatonix: Little Drummer Boy

Watch on YouTube

Joy To The World - Except During AnElection Season?

On the first Christmas, the shepherds inBethlehem learned that Jesus' birth was a cause for celebration. The angelsaid in Luke 2:10: "For I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to allpeople." It's too bad Christmas cheer is in low supply these days. Continue reading...

Who is Santa? And What does hehave to do with Christmas? Part 1

For many Christians, Santa Claus is nothingbut a secular distraction to the celebration ofone of the greatest events in human history -the birth of Jesus Christ. But try as we might todisassociate Santa from Christmas, he is hard to ignore. His image iseverywhere. So when the kids inevitably ask, "Who is Santa?" what do wesay? As with any question from our children, we can use it as a teachingopportunity.Read on...

What To Do With Santa: Should he bepart of a Christian Christmas? Part 2

In my first article, "Who Is Santa, and WhatDoes He Have to Do With Christmas?" Idiscussed the background of the historical St.Nicholas. Now comes the question of what to"do" with Santa Claus in regard to our familycelebrations.

click here.

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Save the Date

24 December - Christmas Eve Services 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm

25 December - Christmas Day Service 12:00 pm

25 December - Christmas Day, Church Office Closed

1 January, 2016 - New Year's Day, Church Office Closed

31 January, 2016 - Annual Parish Meeting (time TBD)

2 February, 2016 - Alpha begins its 10 week study

3-6 March, 2016 - Men's Walk to Emmaus #228, Birchwood Presbyterian, Bellingham

4-5 March, 2016 - GBTS Women's Retreat at The Jenne Farm

10-13 March, 2016 - Women's Walk to Emmaus #229, Birchwood Presbyterian, Bellingham

2 April, 2016 - Vestry Orientation

8-10 April, 2016 - Women's Diocesan Retreat, Yelm, WA

29 April - 1 May, 2016 - Men's Diocesan Retreat, Yelm, WA

13-15 October, 2016 - Vestry Retreat, Seabeck Conference Center, Seabeck

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Links of Interest

Grace By the Sea

Check out our Website for Grace By the Sea.

We have a new Facebook Page, too.Like us!!

Anglican Church of North America(ACNA)

Click here to read the latest.ACNA has a Facebook Page!!

American Anglican Council(AAC)

Read up on the AAC

Global Anglican FutureConference(GAFCON)

Information at GAFCON

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