Welcome to St. Paul's!
Hearing these simple words of greeting means you are about to participate in Christian fellowship with a friendly, inclusive congregation in a beautiful historic church building. St. Paul's has become known for extending a warm welcome to all people regardless of who they are. St. Paul's is committed to the mission of the Church restoring all people to unity with God and each other. Before God, we all are equals and stand in the need of grace. The openness at St. Paul's comes not from any individual or group decision, but from a shared understanding that we are all different, sometimes even odd, in some way; and from a shared conviction that despite our differences--or perhaps because of them--we too are God's family, and we are ready to fulfill God's mission at Court and York in Newport. |
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Food Pantry Update
Last night, twenty-five guests, representing households with two to eight members were served at the St. Paul's Food Pantry. Around 1,400 items of food and other products were given away. After this morning's inventory, there were 680 items in the pantry.
As always, we are in need of non-perishable food items especially canned meats, such as tuna and chicken. The ravioli items along with beef stew and chili products are in high demand. Cereals and grains are needed. We have a lot of pasta, but need sauces to go with it. At this point, we do not need additional vegetables. We do have some cash contributions people have given designated for food and we will be utilizing portions of that as well. If you want to give a monetary contribution for us to shop with, now is a good time for that as well.
PETER BIG MOUTH---Acts 4:5-12 (May 3, 2009)
PETER BIG MOUTH
Acts 4:5-12
Fourth Sunday of Easter, 2009
It’s all Peter’s fault. After all, we have to have someone to blame. Some would say it’s the Christian way.
While Peter was imprisoned by the religious powers-to-be, a group known to use torture to extract information, which is a sermon unto itself, he was presented with the question, “By what power or by what name did you do this?� They were referring to the recent healing of a man. Not only did Peter say “this healing courtesy of the name of Jesus Christ,� he went further by saying two things: he’s the one you killed and he’s it for salvation. Perhaps, if they had water-boarded Peter instead of beating him and the others they could have gotten him to say what they wanted.
Easter Sunday Sermon: NO FEAR
NO FEAR
The Reverend S. Matthew Young
Easter 2009
The next time something is getting ready to fall behind me and has the potential to cause catastrophic injury to me, please don’t just sit there, come to my aid, and save me. (Note: This comment was made because at the beginning of the liturgy, right when “Alleluia! Christ is Risen! was shouted, the gold processional cross fell over, knocked over a large vase on a stand with flowers, and cause a very loud crash to sound.)
Not much has been around here for 137 years, I think. A few of us might be getting close to that or at least think we are getting closer to it, but we’re not and we won’t ever be. Some things have been around here for a long time, some of it valuable, some of it not depending on who is doing judging the contest. But, if I was able to put my two cents worth in, and since I have you attention I hope for the next twenty-eight minutes, I would vote for the baptismal font. This holy house’s eight-sided marble baptismal font with its inscription of being presented Easter Sunday 1872 has seen a lot of folks pass by it, some who stayed for a while, some who were just visiting, and some who walked passed her and found this place to be home, and for others who found this place and its community were to be just part of their journey. She has been a participant in the baptism of many of God’s people in Northern Kentucky, adults and children. She has witnessed a lot of Easter Sundays. She has probably been a witness to different kinds of services, from the low in the King’s English, to the high with all the smells, bells, and whistles, and falling crosses.
IS HE RIGHT OR NOT? (GOOD FRIDAY SERMON)---The Reverend S. Matthew Young
Many people always ask me about why this day is called Good Friday. I’ll let you figure that out because, I admit, that I have not always been able to do so. For as much over the years as I have tried to sugar coat this day, to see the bright side, the glass half full instead of empty, it still comes down to one thing—someone has died and that someone is Jesus—and it’s unfair, unjust, wrong—and it’s a horrible, painful, and torturous. People often use the phrase “it’s a matter of life and death,� but today consider this to be a matter of death and life instead.
It’s heresy for us to think of Jesus’ death solely and only as an event unto itself. That is, we consider Jesus completely--his life, death, and resurrection are taken together as one salvific event. It’s a matter of death and life. As people of faith, we too are about death and life. We, too, know what it means to experience the loss of a spouse, a partner, coworker, son, daughter, a good friend. We know, all too well, the grief that comes with it. Yet, there’s only one way to get to resurrection and that is through death.