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<div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; color: black;">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Judy <judy_boli@ecunet.org><br>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org><br>
Sent: Sat, Jun 18, 2016 9:24 pm<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 7C<br>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Dear Friends,</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Under the Shadow of
His Wings” and deals with the Psalm (Psalm 63:1-8).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font color="#000000">Here it is: </font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">Psalm 63: 6-8- “I think about you before I go to
sleep, and my thoughts turn to you during the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font color="#000000">You have helped me, and I sing happy songs in
the shadow of your wings.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">I stay close
to you, and your powerful arm supports me.”- this is what we’re going to think
about this morning.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">How are you handling
life?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Hopefully, you don’t have anything
to handle right now.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">If that’s the case-
God bless you, but if you think it’s going to last, you’re living in a dream
world!</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">This morning, I’d like us to look
at handling life under the shadow of God’s wings vs. handling life through your
own power.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">I’ve got two examples for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font color="#000000">On April 24, 2016, I reminded us of the many
times farmers have found a hen burned to death in a fire or pecked to death by
a predator, only to find live chicks peeping under the mother’s dead body.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">That’s what we’re talking about.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Do you remember some time ago- the badly
burned mother cat who who had entered the burning building repeatedly to rescue
all of her kittens.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">As I recall, the
kittens escaped without injury and the mother cat lived, though badly scarred.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">That’s the kind of sacrifice, actually on a
cross, that God endured to protect and save us.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000">
</font></span><font color="#000000">God is ready to be there, have our back, help us handle life if we only
let him.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Do you remember the old sexist
story of the man and his wife driving on their way to the grocery store?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">A married couple was on their way to the
grocery store when the wife spotted a very young couple in front of them.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">The young man was driving, but the young
woman was so close to him that she was almost in his lap.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">“Just look at that, would you!” the wife
said.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">“I remember when we used to sit
like that!”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">“Well,” said the husband, “I
haven’t moved.”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">If we’re going to handle
life with an overcoming spirit, we can’t move!</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000">
</font></span><font color="#000000">We’ve got to stay close to God.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">Our Old Testament Bible lesson (1<sup>st</sup></font><font color="#000000"> Kings
19: 1-4, 8-15a) offers thoughts about how we humans can handle life under the
shadow of God’s wings.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">You heard about
the prophet Elijah.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">In our Old Testament
Bible reading we heard how the prophet Elijah misread his reality and ended up
in what was probably a deep depression.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000">
</font></span><font color="#000000">You know the story: the Israelites had started following the religion of
their pagan neighbors and their pagan Queen Jezebel, because they saw it as a
sophisticated, fashionable religion.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000">
</font></span><font color="#000000">Instead of worshiping God, they worshiped two idols- Baal and his lover
Asherah.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">The men went to the pagan
temple if they wanted fertile fields or a fertile wife and had sex with the
male and female prostitutes there, thus imitating the actions of Baal and
Asherah.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">They thought this would make
their crops and children plentiful.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">To
us, this sounds gross; but to them- it was the height of sophisticated
fashion.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">To us, this sounds gross; but
to them- it was C-O-O-L!</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">The
old-fashioned way of worshiping God as they had been taught seemed
“country.”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">We laugh, but how many people
do you know who go looking for a fashionable church, one where what you wear is
more important than who you came to worship? </font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">A church that has either neglected weekly Holy
Communion or never really understood the Biblical expectation to celebrate it
on the first day of every week, in other words- every Sunday?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Elijah won a mighty contest with Jezebel’s
pagan prophets.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Queen Jezebel was
furious!</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">She threatened Elijah- said he
was as good as dead.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Forgetting his
great victory, Elijah ran for his life- depressed and afraid.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">It was only after slowing down, stopping, and
hearing God’s still small voice that he saw the reality.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">He was not alone- God was with him, plus
there was a remnant of 7,000 Israelites who had not worshipped Baal and
Asherah.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Elijah needed to get back under
those almighty wings, and he did.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">God
wasn’t in the wind or the earthquake or in the fire, but in the still small
voice.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">The trouble is- we’ve got to slow
down and quiet down to hear Him.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">We can
learn from the little girl in this story.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">Everyone has said or heard the phrase, "Don't
just sit there, do something."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font color="#000000">Have
you ever heard someone say, “Don’t just do something, sit there.”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Why?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000">
</font></span><font color="#000000">Because you’ve got to know Him, know His ways, listen to His voice, walk
with Him, access His power before you can snuggle under those wings.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">In closing, here’s a story that reminds us of
the need to “be still and know that I am God.”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000">
</font></span><font color="#000000">Before refrigerators, people used ice houses to preserve their
food.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Ice houses had thick walls, no
windows, and a tightly fitted door.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">In
winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut,
hauled to the ice houses, and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last
well into the summer.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">One man lost a
valuable watch while working in an ice house.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000">
</font></span><font color="#000000">He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but
didn't find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved
futile. A small girl who heard about the fruitless search slipped into the ice
house during the </font><font color="#000000">noon</font><font color="#000000"> hour
and soon emerged with the watch. Amazed, the men asked her how she found
it.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">"I closed the door," the
girl replied, "lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard
the watch ticking."</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">(James
Hamilton- “Directions”)</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Here’s your
chance.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">For the rest of our worship,
think about the Bible readings and sermon, look through the bulletin, think,
pray, and listen for God’s voice.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">And-
as you receive Holy Communion- feel the calmness of his protection.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Then when you get home, don’t lose your
calmness.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Spend some time each day with
the radio, TV, and M3P player shut off and spend a bit of time with God, claiming
your calmness under His wings.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Then go
face life.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes; tab-stops: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">For anyone who is
interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements are
posted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: </font><a target="_blank" href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org/"><u><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman"></font></u></a><u><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org" target="_blank">http://www.stpaulsepisag.org</a></font></u><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> .</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Blessed preaching,</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Judy Boli</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">St. Paul's Episcopal Church</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Saginaw, Michigan</font></span></div>
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