107 Concord Road, Wayland Massachusetts 01778

…what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  Luke 15: 8

In Luke 15 There’s a little discussion about the company Jesus keeps. His folks are not proper and polite, and the authorities don’t like it. So Jesus offers a teaching in the form of a couple parables. We will put ourselves in the places of those who heard Jesus speak, and of the characters in the parable. What would we feel and think if we were the Pharisees, on one hand, or the tax collectors and sinners, on the other?  What would our Christian lives be like if we imitated the single-minded search of the shepherd who left the flock to look for one lost sheep, or of the woman who swept the house to find a lost coin?

Our final summer soloist is violinist Blythe Brown! Even better: Blythe invited her violin teacher to church to play a duet with her. Blythe and her family have been part of our Peace community for years and years.

Bring in pasta for the Wayland Food Pantry.

Complete the registration form and return it to Kim Canning. Next Sunday, September 18, is Rally Day, the beginning of a new year of learning and faith formation. We will bless the students and teachers as they begin a new year of fun and learning.

Faith formation teachers’ meeting Tuesday, September 13.

Florence House moms are coming to Beehive. Send an email or sign up on the table in the narthex to help with the Florence House babies and children and/or to bring and help serve lunch.

The council meets Monday September 12 at 7:30 pm.

Prayer ministry Sunday, September 25, during the faith formation hour. All are invited.

 

We have an accounting and bookkeeping parable on Sunday. Jesus tells one about a rich man and the manager of his money. It’s a puzzling story, ending with the well-known line, “You cannot serve God and wealth.”

If the rest of the parable is hard to understand, that line at least sounds like it comes right from the front page of Israel’s playbook: You shall have no other gods. Luther said that wealth is the most common of all the gods. People bow their heads in worship to it and give undue honor to those who control it.

Sunday we’ll spend a little time trying to find the meaning in the story of the shrewd money manager.

Kim Canning, our faith formation coordinator, will introduce our children and their adult leaders. We’ll pray for them and cheer them forward into another year of learning.

The members of the congregation council will be introduced. The order for installation of the council is an important annual ritual. It’s like taking the oath of office. I will tell you again tomorrow that the council of a congregation is not a committee, deciding unimportant matters. The council makes decisions about the future course of our church. Serving on the council is a serious commitment. Council members are responsible for a lively expression of the Christian faith for those of us who are here now, and for a full transmission of the Christian tradition to the next generation. The members of the council are the senior managers and stewards of our church.

The students will visit their classrooms and we’ll all enjoy lunch together. Bring a dish to share. Member of the council will grill hotdogs.

Tomorrow, Saturday, September 17, the mothers and children from the Florence House will be at Beehive Art. Some of you are coming to watch the children while the mothers do an art project. Confirmation students are asked to come and help out as needed. If the children are taken care of we’ll work in the garden.

Bring in paper goods or any non-perishable food item for the Wayland Food Pantry.

Rejoicing Spirits Sunday at 4 pm.

When Jesus laid his hands on the woman, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.  Luke 13: 13 

Our sunflowers are growing in a little congregation in our garden. They grew quickly beyond the reach of the rabbits and the groundhogs. Their pollen serves the bees. Before long their seeds will feed the birds. For the moment the plants stand there like a little church assembly, planted close together so that they hold each other up. They are a living illustration of a congregation like ours. During these last weeks of summer and into the fall, say hello to someone you don’t know well, and learn a few things about them.The summer Gospel readings from Luke have been particularly moving to me. Maybe it’s because normally my family is away for a couple weeks of August and I hear but do not think so carefully about these lessons that come around every year at this time. On Sunday we will hear about a healing. It’s not planned or premeditated. Jesus is moved at the sight of a suffering woman who comes into his life, and into a holy place. A broken body and the word of God meet in a healing moment. Sunday we’ll think about this dramatic little scene.

Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” Luke 8: 30

When Jesus asks the demon for his name, he is asking a question about belonging. Where do you come from? Who sponsors you? Who gets your loyalty and service? Jesus knows, but the naming of the demons is a necessary first step in the process of casting them out.

Sunday we celebrate the holy baptism of Marigold Lyon Carlin Lennes. Baptism is the sacrament of belonging and of initiation into the Christian faith. Baptism is a rebirth into a spiritual kingdom. Baptism is a branding of belonging: we are “marked with the cross of Christ forever…” It is fortuitous that the Gospel reading for the day of Marigold’s baptism is about casting out demons.

Casting out demons and renouncing the devil is in the ancient root system of the order of baptism. It’s still there even in our spiritually tepid age.

Maybe we can think of a good way to run the devil off so that the messengers of God can usher Marigold into the kingdom of God. That is more or less what the service of baptism says is being done. I hope you’ll come and do your part as we renounce the devil and reaffirm our identities as disciples of God in Christ Jesus.

The choir practices at 8:45 am

Faith formation and prayer group at 11 am.

Pinoy Reading Buddies book packing at 11 am. Rowena will make an announcement about the details.

Rejoicing Spirits at 4 pm.

Next Sunday, June 26 is our semiannual meeting and picnic. All adult members of Peace should attend. A potluck follows the meeting. The members of the council are the hosts. Grilled hamburgers and hotdogs will be served. Bring a dish to share. Sign up in the narthex so we know how many tables to set up.

Happy Father’s Day to our Peace dads! Thank you to the men of our congregation who are present regularly. Peace men teach, sing, lead worship, play music, help around the property and the grounds, serve on the council and in the financial management offices. You are role models to our young people and examples of strength of character and commitment. The congregation needs your regular involvement, so thank you for being here.

The Gospel for Sunday is about a healing. Luke 7:1-10. A Roman soldier’s slave is sick and near death. The soldier appeals to Jesus. The Jewish elders are references for the soldier. Jesus heals the slave. The interesting thing about this passage for me is that the lines of communication, desire and intention between people are wide open for the moment. Boundaries of nationality, class and religious hierarchies disappear in the interest of doing a good thing: helping a person who is suffering. It is as if the combined attention of Jesus, the elders and the soldier bring a healing change into this anonymous slave’s life. Sunday we will sit and hear the story together.

The Psalm is an outdoor song, so we’ll read it outdoors when it comes up in the service. Sing to the Lord, all the earth! is one of the lines we’ll read. Makes sense to read it outside, right?

Our Calumet campers are away in New Hampshire this Memorial Day weekend, enjoying their annual outdoor outing together. We pray for safe travel for them and blessings of relaxation and friendship during the weekend. Camp Calumet has healing power.

Last week you heard our members and friends with family roots in Korea, China, Malaysia and the Philippines tell us a little bit about their lives. We will remain focused on them and their lives in the next couple of weeks. There is a table in the sanctuary and one in the narthex  with displays of objects that show Malaysian and Philippine culture. Take a moment to look at them Sunday.

You will find in your bulletin a page of information about ELCA World Hunger, along with an offering envelope. Put your contribution in the envelope and place the envelope in the offering plate. If you write a check, make a note that it’s designated for World Hunger. We will collect the money and our voting members will bring one check from our church to the New England Synod assembly.

Here’s a link to a profile of Dick Stitt that appeared yesterday in the Sudbury Town Crier http://sudbury.wickedlocal.com/news/20160527/richard-dick-stitt

Don’t forget the you-know-what for you-know-who after church.