Giving Thanks

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100:4-5

Thanksgiving?

In 2020?

Really…?  

With everything that we have been through this year?

Yes.

Give thanks.

Thanksgiving is the heart of our worship. The scriptures are full of thanksgiving to God for his saving deeds, and his steadfast love. And God Himself recognizes true worship as a grateful heart: “Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me.” (Psalm 50:23) As Christians we gather for worship each week as a “sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving” expressing our gratitude for our redemption through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So very grateful for all of you.

Blessings,

Matthew+

Coming up...

St. John’s Christmas Giving Tree

We are putting together the St. John’s Christmas Giving Tree which benefits children and families in the area. And, like everything else, this event has been affected by the Covid pandemic. In addition, Mountain Family Center (MFC) is anticipating that there will most likely be more need this year due to the East Troublesome fire and the number of people who lost homes & their jobs! (last year 140 families were helped with Christmas gifts and St. Johns parishioners actually helped eight of those families.) Unfortunately, we will not be able to have the tree with the tags, the opportunity to have each of you shop for individual children or the gift-wrapping event but you can still participate in a couple different ways.

The first way would be to contact Katie (ext.110) at MFC and ask to be put on the sponsor list for a family. Be prepared to tell her how big a family (how many children) for whom you would be willing to buy gifts. Know that MFC suggests a City Market gift card ($25-$50) be given to the family for Christmas dinner as well. The recommended gift expense for each child is between $25-$50. Family’s create a list of child needs and wants and you choose what items you would like to purchase and wrap. Family gifts are to be returned to MFC no later than Dec. 9^th. Instructions for how to label gifts and return them to MFC are provided at the time the family information is sent to you.

The second way to participate is to send a check in whatever amount you are comfortable giving to St. John’s for the Outreach Committee and put in the memo “Giving Tree” donation. This is a time sensitive option and needs to be done quickly so we know how many families can be helped by the St. John’s family. Elaine and Judy have volunteered to coordinate the gathering and wrapping of gifts for these families and return the family items by Dec. 9^th to MFC so they can be picked up by the families. If you would like to talk with Elaine re: this option, her phone number is 785-218-5599.

We know neither of these options takes the place of gathering together as a faith community to share our gifts, enjoy the wrapping of those gifts and the fellowship of doing this wonderful community support work together. We are looking forward to next year when we hope to be able to continue our “Giving Tree” festivities in person as a faith community. In the meantime, we encourage you to participate as you are able and know that your gift, no matter what size, will make a big difference in a child and family’s life.

Blessings,

Elaine and Judy

Lord of the Valley Women’s Advent Study

The women of the Episcopal community here in Grand County are invited to join in a Women’s Advent study: “Incarnation” by Adam Hamilton. Adam is Senior Pastor at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. You will need a copy of the book "Incarnation" available on Amazon here or for Kindle here. 

We will meet on four Tuesdays: November 17, December 1, 8 and 15. We begin at 11AM and we will go a little more than an hour.

Zoom meeting info:
Topic: LOTV Women's Advent Study
Time: Nov 17, 2020 11:00 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Every week on Tue, until Dec 15, 2020, 4 occurrence(s)
Nov 17, 2020 11:00 AM
Dec 1, 2020 11:00 AM
Dec 8, 2020 11:00 AM
Dec 15, 2020 11:00 AM

Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Weekly: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/tZ0pc-6grTMvHN3zSRoYyY7xmYK5g1AFRLQ2/ics?icsToken=98tyKuGhqj8tEtedtR-ORpx5Bo-gKPzztlxYgo0OhizXDBlKW1TuO9tpZ7UuMf7i

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89447838569?pwd=SHd5UE15S0I0RFNJMEN1YTVWeUxqUT09

Meeting ID: 894 4783 8569
Passcode: 329248
Dial by your location
+1 346 248 7799
+1 669 900 9128
+1 253 215 8782
+1 312 626 6799
+1 646 558 8656
+1 301 715 8592

Sunday Morning Bible Study:

Come, Thou long expected Jesus

Come dive into the scriptures with us in our current study: Come, Thou long expected Jesus. We will start with the text from the Advent hymn and look at some scriptures that support each verse. Grab your bible and bring your questions as we open the scriptures together.

Our study uses our Sunday Morning Prayer ZOOM link.

Willing to make a phone call or two?

Greetings Everyone 

It has been a long haul of 9 months with COVID and the election. How are you all doing? We hear encouraging things about the virus such as treatments and vaccines that will improve our status. Still, the reality is that we have several months more of wearing masks, social distancing, and possibly a near lockdown.

How can we be a help to each other? How about if we make phone calls to each other? Reaching out in this way is safe. Others knowing there is someone concerned about how we are coping or not, can touch our hearts, unload our fears, relieve tension and give some peace.

Could each of us pick someone to call weekly? You may already be doing this – that’s great! Thank you. We are trying to make sure that everyone in our parish is cared for. To that end could each of you please email me and let me know whom you have chosen to contact within the next week by Nov. 17?  Doing so will help us see if we are missing anyone.

This can be a wonderful way of sharing Gods’ love. We know what we give out of love returns in abundance.

Peace and all God’s blessings,

Deacon Kaye

Join us for Worship this Week

Saturday: Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM 

November 28, 2020 05:00 PM Mountain Time

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/974290452?pwd=NUprQTAxN1NET0xZNXRsdnFkTm5HZz09

Meeting ID: 974 290 452
Password: 161595
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,974290452#,,#,161595# US (Chicago)
+19292056099,,974290452#,,#,161595# US (New York)

Sunday: Morning Prayer at 9:30 AM 

November 29, 2020 09:30 AM Mountain Time 

https://zoom.us/j/99709427503?pwd=dlcydDlxVXZGdzQzRG5XVWNyOUFLdz09

Meeting ID: 997 0942 7503
Password: 179982
One tap mobile
+19292056099,,99709427503#,,#,179982# US (New York)
+13126266799,,99709427503#,,#,179982# US (Chicago)

You can find a PDF copy for both services by clicking the buttons below.

This Sunday's Readings

The lectionary readings for this Sunday are:

• Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

• Isaiah 64:1-9

• Mark 13:24-37

You can read them online here.

Have you moved?

Now more that ever we want to make sure our church directory is up to date. If you have moved or changed phone numbers in the past year, please click here to fill out your current information.

© Copyright, 2020, St. John the Baptist Episcopal • 390 E Garnet Ave, Granby, CO 80446

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