Today is the Thursday in the Fifth Week of Lent


The new rug in the Church was given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Sam & Rachel Levy and Joe & Eileen Seaman by Phil & Joyce Levy. We are most grateful for the generosity of the Levy family.

Events today at Good Shepherd
8:30 AM Morning Prayer

HOLY WEEK – Sign Up Sheets are in the Breezeway  for Triduum pre-service meals!  Sign up this Sunday.

Collect of the Day
O God, you have called us to be your children, and have promised that those who suffer with Christ will be heirs with him of your glory: Arm us with such trust in him that we may ask no rest from his demands and have no fear in his service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Office Readings
Jeremiah 26:1-16
At the beginning of the reign of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came from the LORD: Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the LORD; speak to them all the words that I command you; do not hold back a word. It may be that they will listen, all of them, and will turn from their evil way, that I may change my mind about the disaster that I intend to bring on them because of their evil doings. You shall say to them: Thus says the LORD: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, and to heed the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently-though you have not heeded- then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth. The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD. When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the LORD and took their seat in the entry of the New Gate of the house of the LORD. Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, “This man deserves the sentence of death because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.” Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “It is the LORD who sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, and the LORD will change his mind about the disaster that he has pronounced against you. But as for me, here I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will be bringing innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.” Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.”

Romans 11:1-12
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” But what is the divine reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a sluggish spirit, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and keep their backs forever bent.” So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

John 10:19-42
Again the Jews were divided because of these words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’-and the scripture cannot be annulled- can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. Many came to him, and they were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.

Coming Events at Good Shepherd

Tuesdays through Fridays in Lent
8:30 AM Morning Prayer (unless otherwise announced)

March 29, Palm/Passion Sunday
5:00 PM Stations of the Cross (Saturday, March 28)
7:40 AM Morning Prayer
8:00 AM Palms & Said Holy Eucharist
10:00 AM Palms, Procession & Sung Holy Eucharist

April 2, Maundy Thursday
6:30 PM Agape Dinner: Mediterranean Potluck
7:30 PM Celebration of the Lord’s Supper

April 3, Good Friday
12:00 PM Said Celebration of the Lord’s Passion
6:30 PM Soup & Bread Potluck Dinner
7:30 PM Sung Celebration of the Lord’s Passion

April 4, Saturday, Easter Eve
4:00 PM Setup and Cooking for Pizzafest
6:30 PM Pizzafest
7:30 PM The Great Vigil of Easter

April 5, Easter Sunday
7:40 AM Morning Prayer
8:00 AM Said Holy Eucharist
10:00 AM Sung Holy Eucharist
11:00 AM Easter Egg Hunt & Festive Coffee Hour

April 25, Saturday – Saint Mark’s Day
5:00 PM Said Holy Eucharist

May 1, Friday – Saint Philip’s Day
6:00 PM Said Holy Eucharist – The Reverend Andrew C. Mead, Rector Emeritus of Saint Thomas Church, New York City, will be celebrant and preacher.

May 3, Sunday
The Reverend Andrew C. Mead, Rector Emeritus of Saint Thomas Church, New York City, will be preacher at the 8AM and 10AM services today.

May 8, Friday
7:00 PM Wine Tasting

May 14, Thursday, Ascension Day
6:00 PM Sung Eucharist
7:00 PM Steak & Wine Dinner

May 17, Sunday,
Sunday School Concert.

May 24, Sunday, Pentecost Father Matt’s last Sunday as Rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd.

May 29, Friday,
Relay for Life

May 31, Trinity Sunday,
Relay for Life

June 13, Saturday
TAG SALE

June 14, Sunday
Sunday School Graduation

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