Trinity XX
 
Grace and Peace Be unto you:  In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  Amen
 
This Sunday's Epistle begins with the verb “SEE.”  It is a declarative command to walk circumspectly.  This means to walk precisely.  We don’t just walk carelessly.  We don’t drift through time, wind, or tide for this wastes time. 

In fact, we are to use time wisely because it is a limited resource.  You can lose a lot of money and get that back.  We can work harder and retrieve that $2000 that we squandered on the Vegas trip.  But time, once it is gone, you can never get it back.  Last year 2022 is gone.  2022 will never return no matter how hard you try.  So the Lord commands us to manage time because the evil days are coming for the Church. 

What are the evil days?  This is the persecution of the church.  When this happens, take advantage of the persecution.  Look to the Lord & be wise in your understanding because God gave you a mind to understand.  And you do this through the will of God with prayers, meditations, worship, Bible, and the Church.  If God gives you a mind then use it.  His will is gathering the facts, examining them, weighting them, and praying for his wisdom. 

God wants us to know & understand his will.  And we can’t do that if we are drunk with excessive wine.  When we are stressed from the tough times, we resort to heavy drinking during the happy hours or alone.  Our emptiness is filled with alcoholism, and not the Spirit.  Here, Paul is telling the Church to fill yourself with the Spirit.  Speak to one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  Sing & make melody in your hearts to the Lord because this praise is to God.  Drinking is praising no one but to yourself.

With wine, all is temporary.  We are happy for the moment but the problem doesn’t disappear.  In fact, it is worse now.  We just wasted the time & money with heavy booze and no results.  Excessive drinking will “energize your flesh” but it will lead you down to profligacy, dissoluteness, desperation, despair, and tremens. 

However, if you are a child of God filled by the Holy Spirit, you are in the Holy Spirits’ possession.  You walk as a believer and your character is shown through the fruit of the Spirit.  What the Spirit does:  the Holy Spirit regenerates & indwells in us; and the Holy Spirit seals, baptizes & places us into the body of believers.  And the believers on the day of the Pentecost go out in to the world for Christ. 

To illustrate, we are like a car, the Spirit is the gas, and the Church is the gas station.  We have to come to the Church to fill ourselves with the Spirit to run every day for Christ.  Without the Spirit, we are empty and cannot move our earthly bodies.  We may have little gas left to stumble and fall at times.  But we need to return to the Church for a full recharge. 

So submit yourselves willingly to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to redeem the time.  Don’t talk about love.  Show the unbelievers by loving them through the Spirit.  Many are called but few are chosen.
 
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  Amen.
-- Father Anton+
All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee

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Upcoming 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/ )

Sunday School at 10:30 AM

Wednesday at Noon – Holy Communion and anointing for healing (for online participation, check info under Sunday Services)

Vestry Meeting, Monday October 30, 7:30 PM, Church undercroft

All Souls Day Service, Thursday November 2, 7:30 PM

Kirkin of the Tartan, St. Andrew's Day, Thursday November 30, 7:00 PM, more details to follow but please mark your calendar now

St. Andrew & St. Margaret parish has a long history of helping others in the community. Two of our ways of doing this are food donations for the Christ House food bank and needs for babies and infants to the local crisis pregnancy center. Please take a look at the lists below and, if you can, coming Eventsplease provide some of the needed items.  You can also help by donating money  through the secure donation button in this e-letter by selecting Charity & Mercy in the drop down menu on the donation page.  Thank you.

 
Food Donations 
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)
• cereal (low sugar)
• pasta (regular and gluten-free)
• instant potatoes
• Macaroni & cheese kits
• Coffee, cooking oil, flour, sugar 

The list for MaRIH Crisis Pregnancy Center's needs was just updated again.  The items in bold type are in critical need.  If you can, please donate those items.
 
Updated List of Needs for MaRIH Center (crisis pregnancy center)
MaRIH Center with its all volunteer staff provides help to mothers-to-be and mothers in need.  If you can provide some of the items that are needed, please do so. (You can leave the donations where the food for the food bank is collected on the pew in the undercorft.)

Especially Needed
 In Bold and  * are a critical need.

Diapers (sizes newborn, 1, 2, 3, 4*, 5*, & 6*)
Lovies
Baby wipes
Diaper rash ointment
Fall/Winter Clothing:0-3 mo*, 3-6 mo*, 12-18 mo*, 2T*
Baby shampoo
Baby blankets*
Bibs
Formula: Simulac Advance Formula*
Formula: other but not recalled
Wash clothes
Hooded towels
Grocery gift cards*
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Our mailing address is:
St. Andrew & St. Margaret of Scotland
1607 Dewitt Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301-1625