<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body><div>Forwarded Part 2: </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div id="composer_signature"><div style="font-size:85%;color:#575757" dir="auto">Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device</div></div><div><br></div><div style="font-size:100%;color:#000000"><!-- originalMessage --><div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Judy <judy_boli@ecunet.org> </div><div>Date: 1/14/17 9:34 PM (GMT-05:00) </div><div>To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org> </div><div>Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Epiphany 2 </div><div><br></div></div><div dir="ltr"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p 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></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “The Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.- Champion of Justice” or “Let There Be Peace on Earth” or “Put
Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!” and deals with The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s
birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here it is: </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">[Actual numbering below actually begins with Number 5, if there was not an overly active Word editor: ]</span></font></p><ol type="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" start="1"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><li style="line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Never swear at people, especially at
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A dear friend of mine
told me that her son’s high school coach frequently swears at his
players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How disgraceful!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How anti- Dr. King!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look how far our society has fallen!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world swears at people- Christians
don’t.</span></li><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><li style="line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Don’t get revenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgive your enemies.</span></li><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><li style="line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Don’t call our children “bad,” even when teasing;
and don’t say things like “I brought you into this world- I can take you
out of this world.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As innocent as
they sound- they send the wrong message.</span></li><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><li style="line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Don’t ever let someone drag you down to the level
of hating them- no matter what they do to you.</span></li><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font></ol><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">I know you realize, many Christians- good people- don’t
abide by the content of the above list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do
you recall that awful incident June 17, 2015 when Dylann Roof walked into a
prayer meeting at Mother Emmanuel Methodist Church, prayed with the group, and
then killed 9 people in order to start a race war? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you remember the families’ responses?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was forgiveness- amazing, painful,
forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some even tried to talk
sense into him!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder- “Wow!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How could they do that?!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you even thought the same thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But think about it- what makes us so special
that we are not bound by the same words of Jesus that they are when he said,
“Love your enemies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pray for those who
misuse you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren’t called to a
higher level of discipleship than we are; they are just following Jesus better
than we are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s easy to say, my enemy
is evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t follow Jesus- it won’t
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m here to tell you that nothing
else will work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve tried the violence
way, and look where it got us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides,
we aren’t called to do things our way- sorry, Frank Sinatra; we are called to
be faithful to God and live life Jesus’ way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When we think, talk, or act violently, we are falling prey to the
temptation that the Rt. Rev. Nathan Baxter (Episcopal Bishop of Central
Pennsylvania) warns us about when he says: “As we act, we must not become the
evil we deplore.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">I’d like to close with the same poem I’ve used almost
every Sunday since ChristMass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was written by the African-American poet- Dr.
Howard Thurman (among other posts, dean of Howard University).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His poem matches Dr. King’s life.</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Epiphany is
the Work of Christmas</font></span></b></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">When the song of the angel is still,</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">When the star in the sky is gone,</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">When the kings and the princes are home,</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">When the shepherds are back with their flock,</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">The work of Christmas begins:</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To find the lost,</font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To heal the broken,</font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To feed the hungry,</font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To release the prisoner,</font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To rebuild the
nations,</font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To bring peace among
peoples,</font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To make music in the
heart! </font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">My prayer for all of us is that this poem matches our lives more and
more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My prayer is that we honor our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his faithful martyr, The Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., by living what they taught- not just this weekend, not just
all year long, but all our lives long- one day at a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Let there be peace on earth (and in Saginaw), and let it
begin with me.”</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p 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"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p 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 href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org/"><u><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman">http://www.stpaulsepisag.org</font></u></a><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> .</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p 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></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p 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></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p 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></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p 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></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font></div>
<p></p>
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