Please see below updated list of needs for MaRIH Crisis Pregnancy Center. No clothing is being accepted at this time but a critical need for certain sized diapers and more.  Your help is needed.  You can also donate to MaRIH Center by clicking on donate button after Fr. Bragg's message and then use drop down box and go to Charity & Mercy once you are on the donation page.

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

--- Jesus to His disciples, Matthew 5:13


Can salt “lose its savor?” No, not if it is pure sodium chloride. But in Jesus' time, and for centuries thereafter, a good deal of what was sold and consumed as salt in the Near East was far from pure. As Albert Barnes wrote in his Notes on the Bible, “In easterm countries  however, the salt used was impure, or mingled with vegetable or earthy substances, so that it might lose the whole of its saltiness, and a considerable quantity of earthy matter remain. This was good for nothing, except that it was used to place in paths, or walks, as we use gravel. This kind of salt is common still in that country. It is found in the earth in veins or layers, and when exposed to the sun and rain, loses its saltiness entirely.”

Salt is necessary for human life. In ancient Israel it was not used only as a flavoring agent and a preservative for food, but was also added to sacrifices offered to God and used in rituals of purification. Jesus is telling His disciples that their role in the world is to bring humanity new life and to cleanse it from sin.

He is also warning them – and us – that if they lose their grip on the truths that He will reveal to them they will fail in that task.

The Church has often failed, and in many places, including this country, seems to be failing now. It has “lost its savor.” When salt is added to food it imparts a distinct flavor and enhances the flavors already present. I once heard that a six-year old boy had described salt as “the stuff that makes food taste bad if you don't put any on it.” The society in which we are living seems to me to have a lot of things that taste pretty awful. Perhaps it need a good deal more salt.

The Church exists in the world, but it is charged with bringing into the world that which by nature the world does not have, the message that God alone is the sovereign Lord and that the only road to a truly meaningful and fulfilled human life is through striving to know and to do His will for us. Too often in Christian history the Church has abandoned that responsibility and allowed itself to be corrupted by accommodation to the values and beliefs of the world rather than challenging those values and beliefs with a steadfast determination to assert “the Faith once delivered to the Fathers.”

In efforts to elicit the world's approval it has become simply a cheerleader for whatever causes it believes will make it more acceptable to whatever passes for wisdom or morality in the society around it. In so doing it loses its savor, its reason for being, and its value to either God or the world. That's an easy course to follow and it will always elicit popularity and condescending approval from whatever powers or movements it supports, but it is ultimately destructive.

In our baptismal rite the officiant prays for the person being baptized “Grant that he may have power and strength to have victory, and to triumph, against the devil, the world, and the flesh.”

God infinitely loves the world, but if the world does not love and strive to know and follow Him, the world condemns itself. A Christian who uncritically accepts the values, practices, and beliefs of the world in which he lives is abandoning his duty. For your soul's sake and literally for the love of God, recognize that the world is fallen and that its only hope of redemption lies in the message entrusted to you as a member of the Body of Christ. Do your best to follow Him and when you know that you are being tempted to abandon your Christian principles and “go with the flow” remember this: the flow is always downhill.

-- Father Bragg+

All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee

Please click here to donate to St. Andrew & St. Margaret of Scotland Church

SERVICES & EVENTS
 
Sunday Services, 7:45 AM, 9:00 AM, & 11:15 AM (for online participation for the services go to: https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland/ ) 

Nursery in undercroft for 9:00 AM & 11:15 AM services

Sunday School in recess until September however DMAS summer camp is soon. see item at bottom of email.

Wednesday, 12 noon, Holy Communion and anointing for healing, (for online participation for the service go to: https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland/ )

Wednesday 7:30 PM Bible study with Father Bragg, "The Gospel of Saint Mark in the World of Saint Mark" in church undercroft

Next Vestry Meeting, September 23, 7:30 PM

SAVE THE DATE: Sunday Oct. 13, Parish Picnic at Fort Hunt Park following combined 10 AM Service, more details to follow
 
JUST UPDATED: MaRIH Center (crisis pregnancy center) Needs Our Help

MaRIH Center with its all volunteer staff provides help to mothers-to-be and mothers in need.  Please provide some of the items that are needed.. (You can leave the donations where the food for the food bank is collected on the pew in the undercorft.)

Especially Needed
 In Bold are a critical need.

Diapers (sizes newborn, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6)
Lovies
Baby wipes
Diaper rash ointment
Baby shampoo
Baby blankets
Bibs
Formula: Simulac Advance Formula
Formula: other but not recalled
Wash clothes
Hooded towels
Grocery gift cards


Food Donations: Help Feed the Hungry
Please help this month with a food donation if you are able. Christ House is very thankful for the food we provide to them each month. Please also buy low sugar cereals (and not the kid's types that have lots of sugar).  Current needs include the following:
• canned meats (chicken, corned beef, spam)
• peanut butter
• jelly
• tuna
• canned vegetables (corn, green beans - (regular and low sodium)
• individual fruit cups (low sugar)
• canned fruit (low sugar)
• boxed cereal (low sugar) and instant or old fashioned oatmeal (18 oz or 42 oz)
• pasta (regular and gluten-free)
• instant potatoes
• Macaroni & cheese kits
Soups: Chunky or Progresso; Chicken broth
• Coffee, cooking oil, flour, sugar
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Our mailing address is:
St. Andrew & St. Margaret of Scotland
1607 Dewitt Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301-1625