ST.
JOHN
ORTHODOX CHURCH
1663 TUTWILER AVENUE
(901)
274-4119
www.stjohnmemphis.org
V. Rev.
Pastor
Assistant Pastor
V. Rev. Fr. Basil Cushman Rev. Fr. Donald Berge
Associate
Pastor Attached
GREAT
VESPERS ORTHROS and
Saturday, 6:00 p.m. Sunday, 9:00 a.m. Sunday,
10:00 a.m.
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
“…the
Disciples were called Christians first in
Acts 11:26
Forefeast of the Presentation of our Lord in the
Epistle: Romans 8:28-39 Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28
The Holy Bread for Eucharist is offered this morning by Mary Ann
Coccaro.
Welcome
to all those visiting St. John Orthodox Church.
We are honored by your presence.
It is our sincere desire that your participation today in the Divine
Liturgy will draw you closer to Christ and His Church.
If you are from a non-Orthodox background you may
see new things such as icons, incense, the sign of the
cross, the veneration of saints, and a great deal of standing. These can be perplexing to the uninitiated
eye. Rest assured that everything we do
has a solid biblical foundation and a long history among Christian people. Please feel free to participate where you
feel comfortable, and feel equally as free only to observe when you prefer.
The Orthodox Church understands the Eucharist, or
Lord’s Supper, to be – among other things – the paramount expression of
Sunday - Teen Group – Superbowl Party at the Dense’s home,
-
Young Adult Group Superbowl Party
at Fr. John & Kh. Pamela’s home,
Monday - Divine Liturgy for the Presentation of our
Lord, 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast
Coffee Hour to follow in the fellowship hall
Tuesday - Third Hour, 9:00 a.m.
- Men’s Lunch,
- Choir Practice,
-
Catechumen/Inquirer’s Class,
Wednesday - Third
Hour, 9:00 a.m.
- Vespers,
-
Wednesday Dinner,
-
Wednesday Teaching,
Thursday - Third
Hour, 9:00 a.m.
- Women’s Teaching at
Friday - First Hour, 6:45 a.m.
-
Third Hour,
-
Stay & Play Group will meet in the fellowship hall after third hour.
-
Sixth Hour,
Saturday - Choir Workshop/Practice, 9:00 a.m.
- Ninth Hour and Great Vespers,
Sunday -
- Orthros,
- Divine Liturgy,
Divine Liturgy for the Presentation of our Lord Monday, February 2nd,
9:00 a.m.
PRIEST: Fr.
Nicholas HOMILY: Fr. Nicholas
DEACONS: Dns.
Charles & Tim READER: Subdeacon
Joshua
HOLY BREAD: Anne Dugan
COFFEE HOUR: Anne Dugan
Schedule
for Divine Liturgy Sunday, February 8th
PRIEST: Fr.
Basil HOMILY: Fr. Basil
DEACONS: Dns.
James & Charles READER: Matt Spinolo
HOLY BREAD: Mindy Williams USHER: John Sneed
ALTAR SERVERS: Caleb, Luke S., Misha,
Joe
COFFEE HOUR: Rawad
& Shanna Massouh, John Cameron
Upcoming Feast of the Master – We will celebrate the Divine Liturgy for Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in
the Temple on Monday morning, February 2, at
COMMEMORATIONS
February 1: Martyr Tryphon of Syria;
Martyr Perpetua of Carthage and her four companions;
Basil the Confessor, archbishop of Thessalonika; New-martyr
Anastasios of Anaplos;
Venerable David and Simeon; Venerable Bridget of Ireland.
February 2: The Meeting of our Lord, God and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Martyr Agathodoros
of Cappadocia; New-martyrs Jordan of Trebizond and Gabriel of Constantinople.
February 3: Holy and Righteous Simeon the God-receiver and Anna
the Prophetess; New-martyrs Nicholas, Stamatios and
John of Spetson; Anschar,
enlightener of
February 4: Venerable Isidore of Pelusium; Venerable Nicholas the Confessor of Studion; New-martyr Joseph of Aleppo; George, prince of
Vladimir; Venerable Cyril, wonder-worker of Novoezersk.
February 5: Martyr Agatha of Palermo in Sicily; Polyeuktos, patriarch of Constantinople; New-martyr Anthony
of Athens; Venerable Theodosios; repose of Theodosios, archbishop of Chernigov.
February 6: Boukolos, bishop of
February 7: Parthenios, bishop of Lampsakos; Venerable Luke of Hellas; New-martyr George of
Crete.
February 8: Great-martyr Theodore the General (“Stratelates”); Prophet Zachariah; Sabbas
II, archbishop of
**For reading material on the
saints for this week, visit the display in the church library.
DAILY SCRIPTURE
Sunday I Timothy 4:9-15 Luke 19:1-10
Monday I Peter 2:21-3:9 Luke 2:22-40
Tuesday I Peter 3:10-22 Mark 12:18-27
Wednesday I Peter 4:1-11 Mark 12:28-37
Thursday I Peter 4:12-5:5 Mark 13:1-8
Friday II Peter 1:1-10 Mark 14:1-11
Saturday II Timothy 2:11-19 Luke 18:2-8
Sunday II Timothy 3:10-15 Luke 18:10-14
-
ALMS-GIVING –
Diocese of
Michael Bittle Fund – Holy Trinity
Orthodox Church –
Pray for our catechumens: In
Please remember in your
prayers: His
Catechumen and Inquirers’ classes have started again. – Billy
Scrantom will be teaching as we restart classes for 2009. Everyone is welcome. We meet Tuesday’s at
New Directories – Well, it has come to that time when my directory is full of post-its
showing me all the corrections and additions that need to be made. So I ask
that you each check your directories to be sure your information is current and
please let me know if there is anything that I need to correct or add. Contact
me at the church office, 274-4119 or meribeth@stjohnmemphis.org.
Thank you. Meribeth
Upcoming baptisms – Remember all in your
prayers:
Georgia Ruth White – February 7 – Godparents Gene and Shelley Snowden
Elijah Andrew Brackey
– February 14 – Godparents Chris and
From
Sons of
Thunder – The next meeting is
scheduled for Monday, February 16th at
AXIOS!
HE IS WORTHY! MOUSTAHIQ! - Sixty-two-year-old Metropolitan KIRILL of Smolensk and
Antiochian Women of St. John’s Calendar
~ Book Club ~
TOMORROW! February 2nd at 7:00 p.m.
At the home of Kh.
Our book for February
is The Purple Mantle
~ Women’s Teaching ~
This Thursday, February 5th
at 10:00 a.m.
at the home of
Upcoming Dates ~ March
12th
Wednesday evening teachings – If you missed last week’s talk on the angelic
realm, you missed an excellent talk!
Wednesday, February 4 –
Wednesday, February 11 – TBA
Wednesday, February 18 – Colonel Mike Fuller, Memphis
Police Department
Come join us on
Wednesdays! Be sure and sign up for
dinner!
The Antiochian Women of
are invited to a baby
shower for
at the home of Mindy
Williams, 5413
NEXT Sunday, February 8th
following coffee hour
Melissa & baby are registered at Target & Babies R Us. If you are
interested in the group gift, please contact Mindy
Great Lent approaches – Great Lent begins on March 2. It will be here before we know it! Next Sunday, February 8, is the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, and the week following is fast-free. More detailed information will follow next week. We should begin to prepare ourselves even now for the spiritual journey ahead!
Service times in Great Lent.
The schedule of specific services and times will be available in the coming
weeks. Please notice that the service
times will, in general, be 30 minutes earlier than in the past. This parallels our earlier vespers service
schedule of the last several months. Pay
close attention to the new starting times when you get your schedule.
LIBRARY
LINES – Check the bulletin board in
the St. John Library for an icon of the Presentation of the Theotokos in the
There
are many stories told of St. Tryphon (2/1) who was a
gooseherd. My favorite is one that tells of his casting a demon out of the
Emperor Gordian’s daughter. He was
rewarded with many gifts all of which he gave away. He returned to his village, tended his geese
and lived a life of prayer. He was beheaded for Christ’s sake in 250, and his
intercessions are asked for people and their animals.
St. Perpetua (2/1), her infant, brothers, and servants were
imprisoned for being Christians. Her father tried in vain to get her to
renounce Christ for her baby’s sake. She and her companions were catechumens
and were baptized in prison. Her servant, Felicitas
was eight months pregnant and rejoiced when she delivered her child because
pregnant women could not be executed.
The child was adopted by a Christian woman. The group was mauled by
animals and then killed by the sword. Their visions in prison and events
leading up to their deaths were actually written down by Perpetua
and Felicitas. This is the earliest surviving record
written by a Christian woman. A rose has
been named for Perpetua and Fleicitas,
and two historical novels have even been written about them.
See
icons of these saints and their stories in St. John Library.
Pro-life
Corner: The Speaker of the House of Representatives stirred up
a hornet's nest by promoting the idea of spending of millions of dollars on
birth control and abortion as part of the economic stimulus package.
"Contraception," argued
Pelosi has five children and six
grandchildren. Catholic League president Bill Donohue finds her comments
revealing. "We have reached a new low when high-ranking public office
holders in the federal government cast children as the enemy," he offers
in a press statement. "But at least it explains their enthusiasm for
abortion-on-demand."
Will the spending on
"family-planning services" help dig
American Life League calls Pelosi's remarks "a
betrayal" of her Catholic faith, and the
Parish Life Conference – This year’s conference will be in
Parish Life Conference in
Teen Group Events
TODAY,
February 1st – Superbowl Party at the Dense’s home
Next
Sunday, February 8th – Bible Bowl
Tithes and contributions for 2009 – We ended 2008
with a bang, and we came very close to our combined projected revenue for
From
the Fathers
“Blessed the one who is
always full of spiritual joy and has not grown slack in bearing the Lord's good
yoke, for he will be crowned with glory.” -
St. Ephraim the Syrian
“Do not be surprised that you
fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And
assuredly, the angel who guards you will honor your patience.” -
“Do not be cast down over the
struggle- the Lord loves a brave warrior. The Lord loves the soul that is
valiant.” -
St. Silouan the Athonite
“From our birth, much time is
spent striving to achieve happiness; yet however much we strive for it,
the further out of reach it seems. And yet, happiness is close at
hand. Happiness is in Christ, and Christ is among us. In vain are effort, pain and time spent trying to achieve happiness
by indulging in bodily pleasures --- believing that happiness lies there.
The more we aim to satisfy the body, the more it demands of us: revealing its
needs and desires; never being satisfied; and taking us further and further
away from happiness.” -
St. Nikolai of Ohrid
“Why has our sincere prayer
for each other such great power over others? Because of the fact that by
cleaving to God during prayer I become one spirit with Him, and unite with
myself, by faith and love, those for whom I pray, for the Holy Spirit acting in
me also acts at the same time in them, for He accomplishes all things.” -
St. Theophan the Recluse