Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church

Ascension: We Have the Load – St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church

Today is a holy day of obligation, Feast of the Ascension. Be sure to check out Father Clark's homily on the website. https://www.stmatthews-sandsprings.org/ascension-we-have-the-load/

stmatthews-sandsprings.org Ascension Day marks an end to the resurrection visions described in the Bible. It is a holy day often overlooked and well worth our engaging. On this occasion the reading has Jesus taking his inner circle out to Bethany. Now Bethany, as you may recall, is just outside the walls of Jerusalem, the hom...

[04/06/20]   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EStosdQ8Jus&list=RDEStosdQ8Jus&start_radio=1

Holy Monday Reflection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRqlSCAeymQ&feature=youtu.be

The Rev. Stephanie Jenkins from St. Andrew's, Lawton and the Rev. Joseph Alsay from St. Augustine's, OKC give reflections on themes of Holy Monday. Resource ...

[03/29/20]   In response to the coronavirus pandemic, sacramental Communion is no longer available to the Faithful within the Diocese of Oklahoma. Our Bishop has called for each of us to make a Spiritual Communion instead, even as we will continue with prayer, Bible reading, study, and personal devotions .. This is the Prayer for Spiritual Communion:

My Jesus,
I believe hat You
are presented in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to received You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive you sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You
as if You were already there
and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.

[03/16/20]   The remaining four Lenten programs in Sand Springs are cancelled: First Presbyterian (17 March), Saint Andrew Lutheran (24 March), Saint Patrick's Roman (31 March), Saint Matthew's (07 April)

[03/13/20]   The Bishop has closed all the churches of our diocese, effective immediately and through the Last Sunday of Lent. So unless this order is later modified, we will next gather for worship on Maundy Thursday.
All services and activities at Saint Matthew's are cancelled until 09 April. We’ll keep you posted of any change.

Our Vicar and Senior Warden are multi-talented!!

Another great party this year.

Photos from Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church's post

Don't forget tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday. The Super Bowl party begins at 5:00 at St. Matthew's. We would love to see you there!

Today we celebrated the first Sunday of Advent!

Just a reminder that December 1 is the first Sunday of Advent - we will have Advent activities beginning at 9:30. These activities are for all ages and include advent wreaths, cookie decorating, and other fun.
Below are the items needed and volunteers that signed up to bring them!

Amazon: Baby Registry

Hello, all!
This Sunday (Nov 3), we will be hosting a baby shower for Christina and Gabe Lane after service. Several have asked where they are registered; you can find their registry here:

https://www.amazon.com/baby-reg/christina-lane-gabe-lane-december-2019-sandsprings/1SQRMQUB9NKX5

If you feel inclined, they would also appreciate a meal in lieu of a gift. A meal train has been created with dates they may need an extra hand. Just click the link and choose a date and what you’d like to bring.

 https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/8yze31/activation/?r=1

amazon.com Welcome to Amazon Baby Registry!

Next Saturday evening, October 12th, Saint Matthew’s will be hosting the return of its Full Moon Party on our brand new deck!! The church will be providing hamburgers, brats & hot dogs; all planning to attend can bring a side dish or dessert to share. Here’s a rough timeline for next Saturday:



6:00 – 6:30 Welcome & Deck Dedication/Blessing (Fr. Clark)

6:30 – 7:30 Dinner

7:30 – ??? Socializing/Partying & Moon Howling on Deck

Pregnancy & Infant Loss 5k

It's not too late to sign up for the 2nd Annual Pregnancy & Infant Loss 5k which will be held next Saturday morning, October 12th. This event is hosted by Austin & Paige Ryan and sponsored by Church that Matters and Saint Matthew’s, as well as other individuals and companies. There is both a 5k and a 1-mile fun run, and you are welcome to walk or run either event. Race registration proceeds benefit two worthy non-profit organizations, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep & MEND. If you have already registered, thank you—you’re making a difference. If you haven’t signed up, I urge you to consider to do so…it’s great way to spend a morning, getting some exercise and supporting two organizations who offer much needed help to those struggling with the pain of pregnancy or infant loss. Registration can be done on the race website here: https://runsignup.com/race/ok/sandsprings/pregnancyinfantloss5k.

runsignup.com The Pregnancy & Infant Loss 5k is on Saturday October 12, 2019. It includes the following events: Fun Run, 5K, and Virtual - Sleep in and get a Shirt.

Come join us this morning as we celebrate the Patronal Feast! The Tulsa Honor Orchestra is playing and the Bishop will be confirming new members. Lunch will follow.

St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church – Ancient Worship. Modern Thinking. Loving Service.

The new website for Saint Matthew's is still under construction, but can be found here:https://www.stmatthews-sandsprings.org/

stmatthews-sandsprings.org Our principal act of worship is the Mass, coming down to us from the early undivided Church, and consisting of the Liturgy of the Word (prayers, readings and associated elements) followed by the Liturgy of the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, which is open to all baptised Christians.  We also offer ot...

Saint Matthew's was honored on Sunday for assisting with the flood victims in Sand Springs. Kristen Johnston, member and Deputy City Clerk, presented Father Clark with a Mayoral Proclamation!

On Sunday we celebrated Feast of Saint David Oakerhater. Known as “God’s Warrior,” this Cheyenne military leader turned deacon for peace, was the first Native American in the Church’s Calendar of Saints, and he was also the first from Oklahoma! At great personal sacrifice, he founded and operated schools and missions in Oklahoma, including the Whirlwind Mission in Watonga, which perdures to this day. He continued his ministry of service, education, and pastoral care among the indigenous people until his death in 1931. We have the privilege of having a special guest speaker for the celebration — the Reverend Anne Clement, a retired Methodist pastor who ministered to the Cheyenne for years.

[07/06/19]   I am so proud of our little church We have donated several trunkloads of supplies as well as $1300 to Sand Springs Community Services, for flood relief.

Adult education series on ministry to the needy. Conducted by Christina Graves Lane.

Easter brunch

Sprout the Easter Greeter

Flowering the cross

Happy Easter from our family to yours!!

[04/21/19]   Happy Easter from St Matthew’s Episcopal in Sand Springs!!

Neighbors enjoying soup luncheon after Stations Of The Cross service .

Community members participating in Stations Of The Cross service, followed by a soup luncheon.Part of our Lenten observance.

These are some oldies but goodies from 2019 Carnivale Party. I love our fun times at St Matt’s

[03/03/19]   Today’s service is canceled due to inclement weather.
We hope to see everyone Wednesday for Ash Wednesday services. Mass with Imposition of Ashes will be celebrated at University Village at 10:00 a.m. St. Matthew’s Mass will follow at 6:30 p.m.

[02/25/19]   Sexagesima: A New Way of Living

This week we continue our reading from Jesus' Sermon in the Plain in Luke. This is in contrast to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, in which Jesus' audience is only Jewish, male and hierarchical (the twelve apostles). There, as the New Moses, he ascends the holy mountain and gives his new law, the law of love. Now, in today's pericope, the plain is highly symbolic, for Jesus' audience is mixed -- Jewish and Gentile, male and female, all as equals. Those described no doubt closely resembled the church as it was constituted by the time the Lucan Gospel was released some sixty years after Jesus left this world. Whereas, on the Mount, Jesus' message was about torquing up Torah -- calling the people to go far above and beyond mere legal observance -- here he presents to a new way of life contrary to the conventions of Graeco-Roman culture. That world emphasized reciprocity -- helping those who could in turn help you, taking care of your own, repaying good and evil. He challenges the audience and us to go beyond common expectations to a whole, fresh approach to life.

I remember when Dr. Tony Campolo came to Tulsa and addressed a large group of Christian clergy. He began his presentation by saying that he was not a Christian and neither were we.! That shocking statement was based on today's Gospel reading [Lk 27-38]. Let's take a look at what Jesus expected our new norms of conduct to be as Kingdom people, norms very few indeed would endorse, for they challenge our culture of machismo and violence, military worship and imperialism, consumerism that feeds selfishness and fuels accumulation, and waste of resources, and feeds on inequality of wealth,.

One important teaching was peaceful non-violent resistance. We were to abjure violence, to turn the other cheek to an attacker, and to offer our shirt to someone who has stolen our coat. Imagine our meeting every form of aggression with a non-violent response. I still remember when our middle son was in high school in Texas and I was in seminary, he came home one day to tell me that a bully had punched him. I asked if he had done anything to bring it on and how he had responded. He answered that he had done nothing to provoke the attack and he reacted to his attacker by telling him that, as a Christian, he would not fight him, that violence accomplishes nothing. My son said that, at that point in the encounter, the other boy just turned and walked off. Situation defused. I was very amazed.

A second teaching was loving and praying for the wrong people. Loving and prayers for your family and friends are fine, said Jesus, there is nothing at all special about that. Instead, he said, love your enemies, do good things for those who hate you, pray for your abusers. I am reminded of the lives and ministry of Martin Luther King in our tradition, and Gandhi outside it. Hearts can be turned!

Another element in the sermon was not to ask for restitution of your property is taken, not to expect repayment of a loan, and to give to everyone who begs of you. That requires an extraordinary level of detachment from things, especially in our selfish, consumerist culture. At a family funeral many years ago, I spoke with two ladies who remembered my grandfather. They said that Grandmother used to get really upset because Grandad would not go chase after items that had been borrowed by someone and never returned. "If they can live with it, I can live without it," he would say, and that settled the matter.

So we are here challenged to be seriously counter-cultural. Just imagine a world in which everyone acted as Jesus here counsels us to do. Imagine the Kingdom of God. .

Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church

Please enjoy Fr. Clark's blog:
http://sanditepriest.blogspot.com/

[02/19/19]   From Father Clark’s blog week:

Septuagesima: The Curse of Wealth
Jesus has a message that should disturb us. He is reversing a long-held Jewish belief, one that many evangelical Christians still hold. By way of introduction, we need to know that Jewish Scripture was clear that righteousness (meaning just deeds) lead to blessing. From that conclusion, Jewish thinkers had adopted the reverse inference, which is the false premise that the extent to which you are wealthy reflects how much God loves you. If you are obscenely wealthy, that cannot have happened because of sharp dealing or oppression of others, rather God must be mad about you. If you are in the middle, then you are ok. If you are poor, God disapproves of you: you must have done something wrong or be paying for your parents' or grandparents' sins, and so you deserve your poverty. This notion in turn goes back to the primitive, unacceptable ancient Jewish view of their tribal deity, the idea that God is a super-sized version of us on a bad-hair day. Angry, jealous, quick to judgement and rage, capricious, and cruel and -- more importantly -- micromanager of the cosmos. I am not acquainted with a god that is worse than any human father I know, and I hope you aren't either. Jesus helps us discover the God of unconditional, radical love who calls us to be all we can be in life.

In our pericope [Lk. 16: 7 et seq.] Jesus says crazy things like, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God." And, on the other hand, "Woe to you who are rich." Jesus and His Mother are very good at these radical social reversals. They tell us a time of reckoning is coming.

The bad news in all this for us is that we are rich, in first century terms. We have many financial benefits, live comfortable lives, have discretionary income, and save for rainy days. As Jesus tells us elsewhere in the Gospels, the accumulation of wealth is the greatest spiritual danger. And the author of First Timothy tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil. Why would that be? Well, because when we are relatively well-off, we lose our sense of reliance on God. At one point the Psalmist tells us that we are cursed when we trust in human resources. The poor do not have the resources standing in the way between them and God, whereas we rich people do. And we soon start to believe that we can work, think, and save our way into happiness, that we can buy joy and peace. That is a devilish delusion.

The good news is that wealth itself is morally neutral. Money is just money. What we do with it remains the issue. The problem comes when we trust in our wealth, rely on it, and hoard it, while others are in need. Our happiness and our power lie in just the opposite: surrendering to the will of God and making real the obligation to love our neighbours as much as we love ourselves.