May 13, 2008

Why White?

For those of you who were not at Church on Sunday and yet are curious as to why I asked everyone to wear white on Pentecost, here is the explanation:

Pentecost Sunday is also known as Whitsunday (literally White Sunday). Traditionally it was a time for Baptisms. Thus, everyone who was to be baptized would be in their white gowns. Furthermore, the other parishioners would wear white garments recalling their own Baptism. Thus all the people of the Parish would be in white.

At the sametime, all the vestments and liturgical colors on Pentecost are red. Remember red represents blood and fire and is the color uniquely associated with the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Why? The Spirit applies Christ blood to His people (what the blood of Christ fulfilled for you the Holy Spirit now applies to you). At the same time Scripture represents the Spirit as fire (the tongues of fire over the Apostles, the cloud of fire that led God's people in the wilderness, the burning bush, the thunder cloud atop Mt. Sinai, etc...). Remember fire purifies and refines. It burns off the chaff. It refines gold.

So now let’s put this all together. On Pentecost we come to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit who applies Christ's work to us and refines us. Thus the church is all in red representing the Spirit. Meanwhile, all God's people come in white as a reminder that we are the ones that even now the Spirit is refining and preparing as beautiful bride for Christ. Listen to Paul:

Ephesians 5:25 Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her; 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.

White Sunday is meant to be an incredible visual display of the Gospel and a beautiful description of God's work in each believer's life.

!!!New Feature!!!

Every week our Newsletter will include those who are scheduled to serve or read for the upcoming Sunday. It will be titled, Weekly Servers. This feature will usually appear towards the bottom of the Newsletter.

Also, if those in charge of the Nursery, Refreshments, Sunday School, and Children’s church would like to have their weekly schedules added to this feature I will be glad to do it. I will just need the info by noon Monday.

Weekly Servers (Trinity Sunday)

Lay Reader- Connie Burth

Acolytes-

Henry (C)

Peter (Ch)

Derrick (G)

Tyler (A)

Web Feature (www.allsaintsgreenville.org)

This week’s web feature is our All Saints’ online Prayer Request Form. If you have a prayer need and maybe you will not be in church on Sunday or maybe you are one of our extended All Saints’ family members, who receives our newsletter each week, regardless, we would love to join with you in prayer. You can submit your request to Fr. Charlie online by using our prayer request form. Also, please indicate in your request if you wish our entire church family to pray for this need or if you prefer it to remain confidential (i.e. only Fr. Charlie will see it). 

To find the online prayer form, go to the All Saints’ Home page(www.allsaintsgreenville.org), on the left hand side of the page click the Newsoption on the menu. Scroll to the very bottom of the News page and you will see the prayer form. Fill it out and hit submit and All Saints’ will gladly pray for you.  We look forward to sharing in the vital ministry with you

Why Incense?

On major feast days (such as last Sunday, Pentecost) and other special occasions All Saints’ uses incense in worship. Why? Incense is a profound reminded of God’s great love for us and His delight in the worship His people offer.

Throughout Scripture incense represent the prayers of God’s people. Listen to the explanation given by both the Old and New Testaments:

Psalm 141:2 May my prayer be counted as incense before Thee;

Revelation 5:8 And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Notice then the incredible way that this God given symbol proclaims the Gospel. The biblical use of incense in worship is intended to be a constant reminder of God’s disposition towards your prayers. Think about it. Far too often God’s people feel as if God is not listening to them? They feel as if the heavens are brass. Other times they fear that God is angry or that some failure or sin has caused God to turn away from them. However, incense remind us that our prayers, be they prayers of thanksgiving or prayers of repentance, are always a pleasing aroma to God. God rejoices when His children come to Him with their needs, praises, and worries. At the same time, God delights to forgive us our sins. Incense then proclaim the Gospel to our very noses. They provide us with a tangible assurance that our prayers are sweet to God.

Spread the Word about All Saints’

If All Saints’ has been a blessing to you, invite someone you know to church!

How can we pray for you?
If you have any special prayer needs or praise reports that you would like to share with the group, feel free to email them to me (or you can call me if you prefer) and I will be glad to include them in our weekly newsletter.

Prayer Requests

Tom and Joann Black who both have cancer

St. Christopher’s Church in Spartanburg

Mrs. Shorey who is recovering from sinus surgery

Jim Moseley who is suffering from a liver condition

Laurie Moseley for her eyes and other health issues

Pam Guthrie, who is suffering from a malignant brain tumor

All those serving in our armed forces especially Tim’s nephew David Dyal