kairos [ community ]

One of our fun ideas from St. James was Labor for the Lord. We shortened our worship on Sunday of Labor Day weekend so that we could go out and do service in various areas of the community. [C*A*L] is continuing that tradition this year, collecting food for the Quakertown Food Pantry on Saturday, Sept. 1.

Here’s the info Suzanne sent out. If you can help out, we’d love to have you!

Hey everyone,

Labor for the Lord, one of the best brain storms we
ever had will continue!!

Sat. Sept 1 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Boyer’s Food
Market Quakertown. We will be collecting food stuff
for the Quakertown Food Pantry. And YES WE WILL BE
RIGHT BY THE DOOR AND IN THE SHADE! We will also be
able to interact with people.

For all of you who helped with last Saturday’s event,
Mary Mack sends a big thank you. She was sorry it was
such a non-event. However the collection at Boyer’s
should be better if nothing else because be will be
right by the doors of the store. (She was also happy
to see so many kids with us)

This will be our event with basically just US doing
running the event.

We will have two-hour shifts: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., 11
a.m. to 1  and noon to 1 p.m. the over lapping shift
can help transport food to the pantry and stock
shelves — a never ending job.

I have a table, bring chairs. The Pantry will supply
hand outs. We will need signs and collecting boxes.

Anyone interest in making either of these?

Please let me know if you are interested in helping
and what shift works for you.

Because we have not found a location for the Friday
night gathering on Aug. 31. The act of service may
take the place of it.

On Aug. 17 and 24 we will focus on praying for peace in the world.  We live in a time when people all across the world and right in our neighborhoods cry out for the peace that God desires for the world. But what does that peace look like? The next two Friday’s we will draw on the Prayers for Peace published by www.sacredspace.ie  (a great devotional resource, by the way). To make it easier for you, the prayers are linked below. Please pray along with the community over the next nine days, whether or not you’re able to be at our gatherings. Link: Peace Prayers

Please bring a food donation for the Quakertown Food Pantry and/or a cash donation for the Liberty Center for Victims of Torture, an organization in Philadelphia that works with refugees who suffered torture in their home countries.

God’s peace be with you this week!

After our brief hiatus, we’ll gather for C*A*L worship this Friday night, Aug. 10, at 6:30 at Susan Groff’s Maria and Pete will be leading our worship time of scripture and prayer. If you can help out with side dishes and desserts that would be great. As always, RSVP if you can, but don’t sweat it if you can’t. Info or directions, call Bob at 267.377.7192.

Please bring some food items for the Quakertown Food Pantry as an offering. This great ministry serves people six days a week, so what comes in goes out very quickly. They need pretty much everything. Call if you have questions.

Prayers:  Some of you know Todd, the pastor at The Well. He and his wife are bringing their newly adopted son home from Guatemala this week. Also, remember those injured or grieving loved ones in the wake of the Minnesota bridge collapse. Pray, too, for the ELCA meeting in assembly this week, with some weighty issues on its plate. Continue to pray for the ongoing discernment of the Holy Spirit’s leading for C*A*L as a faith community.

In today’s Gospel (Mt. 14:22ff), the disciples are in a boat battling a storm, and they are so preoccupied and frightened that they don’t recognize Jesus walking toward them on the water. I can relate. Sometimes is doesn’t even take a big storm, just a little turbulence in the flow of the day that causes me to focus on the problem at hand and drift away from Jesus. Yet he calls, as he did to Peter: “Get out of the boat!” In effect he said to Peter, “Trust me.” And Peter does, for a moment, anyway, until he lets his focus move from the Lord to the waves crashing around him. In what way might Jesus be calling to you today, asking you to get out of the boat? Have you been in that situation where, like Peter, even though you want to follow Jesus, you end up crying out, “Lord, save me!” Can you hear Jesus saying “Why did you doubt?” with love, rather than judgment?