Feeding the Lifeguards

Good Shepherd will be feeding the Duck and Southern Shores lifeguards again this year.  The first Thursday of each month, we will prepare a meal for about 16 lifeguards, most of whom are not OBX residents.  We will meet at the Duck Fire Station, and yes, we are allowed to eat and talk with the lifeguards!

These young people help to keep our visitors and us safe while we relax and enjoy the beautiful Atlantic Ocean with all its fun activities. We have found these young folks to be very polite and appreciative of home cooked meals. The fellowship that has evolved with these events have been most rewarding for all concerned.

Please contact me or Brenda for more information and to let us know if you would like to participate by either bringing part of the meal, serving, or just being present to show the love of Christ to these people who put themselves in danger each day to help others.  Hope to see you there!

Bishop's Visit: June 29-July 1

The bishop will be visiting Good Shepherd in a few weeks, from June 29 to July 1.  Friday night he will meet with the servant council to discuss servant leadership.  Saturday (time TBA) we will have a parish meeting at His Dream Center to discuss How to be a Praying Church and a Pastoral Church.  Bishop Guernsey will preach on Sunday, and he will receive people into the Anglican Church in North America during that service.  Please let me know if you would like to be received on that Sunday.  We will have a luncheon after the service for the Bishop and Meg Guernsey, so details on that will be coming your way in the newsletter soon.  More to come.

Citizens of the Kingdom

Did you know that there are three great commissions?  One in each of the synoptic gospels we have great commission.  We are always hearing of the first one, from Matthew, and it has taken us years to get back to the true meaning of Christ's words in Matthew.  When I was growing up I heard it as “preach the gospel to all nations.”  But once you get into it, you see that it reads,”Go and make disciples of all nations.”  There is something deeper going on: discipleship.  We nod to each other in seminary, and say to each other, “okay, NOW we got it!”

But wait.  How do we disciple the nations?  We can't just teach them anything.  What does Jesus say about that?  Jesus continues: “teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”  According to Matthew, discipleship involves teaching God's commandments.

What about the great commission in Mark?  How is it different?  Well, here Jesus tells his disciples, “Go into the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.  The one who BELIEVES and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.”  According to Mark, discipleship involves getting the hearer to believe.

Finally, our reading today is Luke's great commission, and here Jesus says, “Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations.”  According to Luke, discipleship involves getting the hearer to repentance.

So, we have discipleship involving getting the one receiving the gospel to obey, believe, and repent, according to the three synoptic gospel writers.  Which of these is the most important.  Belief!  Which is faith in God.  Because if someone does not believe, he is not going to repent, and if he does not repent, he will not obey.

Look at government.  If you have no faith in a government, you are not going to be willing to become a citizen of that country.  That's essentially what repentance is: leaving your old country and becoming a citizen of a new country.  In this case it is the kingdom of God.  If you are not willing to become a citizen of the new country, you will not be willing to obey its laws.

If you are not willing to obey its laws, you are not going receive the benefits of being a citizen.  What are the benefits of being a citizen of the kingdom of God?  Going back to Mark, the benefits are many, including physical protection, but most importantly, “they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

This is a healing Sunday, as you come forward to receive a blessing or healing prayer, think of the faith that you have.  Everyone here has faith, or they wouldn't be here.  Each of you is willing to become a member of God's kingdom.  You have repented of your old lives and have embraced the new life.  As citizens of the kingdom of God, you are willing to obey its laws.  Belief in the Lord and ruler of life gives us the power to obey the laws.

As you come forward, know that as you obey the laws of the kingdom, you are reaping the benefits of the kingdom.  Healing of mind, soul, and body.  Spiritual, physical, psychological, and emotional healing.  Protection from evil.  The evil one cannot harm you.  The snake that tempted Adam and Eve in the garden will not bite you.  The poison of the world's culture will not harm you, will not even affect you. You will be healed and you will be able to pass on that healing to other citizens of the kingdom.

Healing in the Gospels is accompanied by a statement of faith from the one receiving the healing.  Jesus tells them, “your faith has made you well.”  The person is essentially raising his right hand and pledging allegiance to the kingdom of God.  What about unbelieving witnesses to these miracles?  As Jesus told his disciples.  Healing happens so that the glory of God can be revealed.  When we witness God's glory, we believe.  From the depths of unbelief, people rise to the top of belief, and from belief comes repentance, and from repentance, obeisance, and from obeisance, citizenship in the kingdom.  Amen.

The A, B, C’s of Moving to Mexico: A Prayer Guide for the Tolers

An old Chinese proverb says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”  Before that first step can be taken, however, there is a lot of prayer, planning and partnership that is needed.  2012 has arrived and the time for us to take that first physical step on our journey of a thousand miles is quickly approaching.  Many prayers are going up for our family, planning is well underway, and God is bringing together our partnership team.  Thank you for praying for us.  We are constantly praying for you.  In order to give you a glimpse of the planning process and to help guide your pray for our family, here are some A, B, C’s of moving to Mexico:

A is for apostille.      

• An apostille is a document which makes our documents such as birth certificates, marriage license and transcripts official according to international standards.  Pray that all these documents will arrive before we leave Texas. 

B is for Bins and Boxes

• Pray that we can pack everything we need to take to Mexico in the limited number of bins and boxes that we can take on the airplane. 

C is for choices.

•  Please pray as we continue to make choices about where to live in Puebla, Mexico, and that we’ll be sensitive to God’s leading to the perfect rental in His time. 

D is for downtime.

• Pray that we will have downtime to relax and spend time with our family in the midst of classes, homework, and travel.

E is for Elyse.

• Pray for Elyse as she says goodbye to friends at preschool and ballet and pray that she will stay safe and healthy through these many transitions.

F is for finances.

• Please pray that God will continue to meet our expected and unexpected financial needs through our partners and good stewardship.

G is for grades. 

• Pray that we will not only survive our classes, but that we will finish well with good grades.

H is for homework. 

• Pray for us as we finish our last session of classes.  We are taking a full load of graduate level classes which includes lots of homework.  Pray for time management and focus during these final weeks.

I is for involvement. 

• Pray that we may stay involved and connected with the friends we’ve made here in Dallas as well as our longtime friends “back home”. 

J is for junk. 

• Pray as we continue to sort through our “junk” and decide, once again, what we need to get rid of and what we need to keep. 

K is for Kieran. 

• Pray for Kieran as he finishes his first year of homeschool.  Also, pray for his transition during this time of travel. 

L is for language. 

• Pray as we analyze a difficult African language in one of our classes this session.  Also pray that Susan will be able to learn Spanish quickly once we move to Mexico so that we can both start learning the indigenous language that God will lead us to. 

M is for missions-focused. 

• Pray that in the midst of studies, packing, and moving we will stay focused on the mission to which God has called our family.  Also pray that we can effectively communicate the need for Bible translation to friends, family and churches that we visit before we leave. 

N is for new relationships. 

• Pray that we will be able to nurture the new relationships we have made in Texas at school and church. 

O is for Oaxaca. 

• Join us in praying for the people of Oaxaca who still await the Word of God in their language. 

P is for packing. 

• Pray for our packing and that we will be able to purchase everything we need before we leave.  Also pray for the kids as they say more good-byes to toys.

Q is for quiet time with God. 

• Pray that we will all keep this as a focus for our day.  Unfortunately, this is often the first thing to go when we get busy, but it is the first thing that needs to be done.

R is for relationship. 

• Pray that Kris and Susan will continue to grow in their relationship with each other and with God.  Satan uses stressful times to weaken marriages. 

S is for safe travels. 

• Pray as we travel back to the east coast in June and then to Mexico in July.

T is for “To-Do” lists. 

• Pray that we will be able to keep up with all the “to-do” lists that we continue to make every day!

U is for understanding. 

• Pray that we can lead our children through these transitions with understanding and grace. 

V is for vaccines. 

• Thankfully, we only have a couple of shots to get taken care of, but pray that the kids (and parents) will do well with these.

W is for wisdom.

• Please pray that God will give us wisdom during classes. 

X is for X-haustion. 

• Pray for strength that we will not get too exhausted during this process of moving.

Y is for yearning. 

• Pray that God will continue to deepen the yearning in our hearts to serve Him in Mexico and that he will guard that yearning from Satan’s attacks. 

Z is for  Zzzzz. 

• Pray for rest for our family and that we will be able to get sleep during this time. 

Greek Bible Study on the Outer Banks

You don't have to know Greek, or even be interested in learning Greek to participate in the Greek Bible Study each Thursday morning at 9:30am at Front Porch Cafe in Nags Head.  Pastor Fred Barrett and a couple of parishioners from Church of the Good Shepherd have been going through the Gospel of John, one verse at a time, reading the verse aloud in Greek, translating the verse to English, and then having a lively discussion--IN ENGLISH--about the verse.  The hour-long session usually results in the translation of only two verses!  That's how little Greek is used and how invigorating the discussion is!  All are invited to participate in this discipleship opportunity, and feel free to bring your ENGLISH Bible!

Church of the Good Shepherd is an Anglican, liturgical, and traditional Church that has been on the Outer Banks since 2009, preaching the full gospel of Christ.  We meet each Sunday morning at 10am for traditional, Anglican worship and Holy Communion at 2910 S Croatan Highway, Suite 1, Nags Head.