Messages... From the St. Andrew's Cross Newsletter: Summer 2006 Easter 2006 Lent 2006 December 2005 Thanksgiving 2005 Summer 2005 From the Pulpit: April 15, 2007 April 1, 2007 March 25, 2007 March 11, 2007 November 5, 2006 October 29, 2006 July 9, 2006 June 25, 2006 April 2, 2006 March 5, 2006 February 19, 2006 February 5, 2006 January 1, 2006 December 24, 2005 December 4, 2005 November 13, 2005 November 6, 2005 October 9, 2005

November 5, 2006

Calbraith P. Rodgers was a pioneer ...
And on THIS day ... on November 5, 1911 ... he did
something monumental. Something that changed the face
of the world in which we live ...

For it was on THIS day, exactly 95 years ago, that Calbraith
P. Rodgers, flew across the continental United States in a
bi-plane.

Today, in an era of flights to every corner of the world, that
early accomplishment seems somewhat over-rated (and in
fact forgotten -- or unknown -- by most of us. But at the
time, it was HUGE. It was an event that was filled with
possibility and dreams. And the early decades of the
century were filled with dreams like this, and a growing
awareness of the marvels of technology.

+ + + + + + +
But that is not the focus of our gathering this morning
+ + + + + + +

Today is also the Feast Day of St. Elizabeth ... Mother of
John the Baptist and Cousin of the Virgin Mary. And while
this is a relatively minor date on the church calendar (and I
would guess very few of us KNEW this was her day), she
holds a very MAJOR place in the history of her relatives: in
particular Jesus and Mary (not to mention her own son,
John).


For it was Elizabeth, who KNEW the greatness of the child Mary was carrying.

And (just like Mary) Elizabeth is a symbol of the
IMPOSSIBLE happening with God ... For Elizabeth
herself became pregnant when she was well into her senior
years.

+ + + + + + +
But that is not the focus of our gathering this morning
+ + + + + + +
Today is also the Sunday of All Saints. The day in the life
of our church when we remember the faces and names of
those men and women of faith who have (through the
course of history) lived lives that reflected the gospel.


We will remember some of them by name ... other by
what they did ... and others as a group.

We will recall those ordinary saints WE have known ... the
men, women, and children, who have walked this earth
with us ... some as members of this parish. As well as the
extraordinary saints (people like St. Andrew, and St. Paul,
and St. Mary).


+ + + + + + +
But that is not the focus of our gathering this morning
+ + + + + + +



Today is also the day we baptize Brock into the Christian
Family. With water and oil and the sign of the cross, we
will mark him as a full and equal member of the
community of the faithful.


And we will promise to support him in his life of faith ...
By journeying with him, and living faithful lives ourselves,
and by setting a good Christian example (in what we say
and in what we do).


+ + + + + + +
But that is not the focus of our gathering this morning
+ + + + + + +


Our gathering today TOUCHES on all of those ... but it is not exclusively about those things.

For today --- like every Sunday, and every time we gather as
a people of faith --- we are reminded that with God,
ANYTHING is possible.

The God who brings: - hope to those who wait
- comfort to those who mourn
- and relief to those who suffer

Can also bring - excitement and adventure (even to a people who think they have mastered all the technology there is)
- new life through old bodies
- and an eternal life to those who believe.

Because really ... that's all we've ever been asked to do ...

BELIEVE.

THAT is the true focus of our gathering here this morning.

To show that we believe ...

And once we do that ...


Once we acknowledge God's overwhelming presence in our world ...

Then all things will TRULY be open to us.


The impossible will BE possible (and not because of
anything WE do, but because we have given ourselves over
to the one who is the source of all life's blessings).


And the world will be a better place
(and we will be a better people) because we have done that.