SERVICE TIMES
7:30 Rite I
9:30 Family Worship
with
Holy
Communion
and Nursery Care
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Apostles Epistle
Newsletter
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Rev Dr Lucas Mix
Sermon 1/29/12
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Adult Education
2011 & 2012
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Photo
Directory
(password required)
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House of Bishops
Message
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MEMBER AREA
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Welcome to Church of the Apostles
We are an Episcopal Church located in Oro Valley. Our
Church can
be found at Tangerine Road
and North
La Cholla Boulevard.
While we are a in a new building, we practice an ancient faith.
We find our connection to God, to the Divine,
through
Jesus Christ.
Our Sunday mornings are filled with worship that is fresh and new, yet
we follow the tradition of the apostles. We continue in their teaching,
in prayer and in the
breaking bread together.
We welcome all to join us, no matter where you are in
your journey
with God. Our Sunday services are wide ranging,
just like the
members
of our congregation.
Sunday worship begins at 7:30 am with a traditional language service.
The second service takes place
at 9:30 and draws from our familiar
Book of Common Prayer, Rite II.
Learn about us from these web pages, or better yet,
come and join us
on a Sunday. We will be here,
modern-day Apostles, ready to
welcome
you
and
your family.
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Dear Friends in Christ,
He is risen! The Lord is Risen indeed!
These are the opening words of every Easter service, but did you know that it is also the greeting between congregants and families as they meet each other on Easter? Instead of saying “hello” we say “He is Risen!”
It sounds a lot like a secret password that should be followed up by a secret handshake! (Actually the Church does have something like that, I will write more about exchanging the Peace later.) While any person might use these words, to a believer they have a special meaning. They proclaim our trust, against all odds, that Christ is bodily Risen after his death on the cross. This proclamation is not about having nice thoughts in our heads again (though they are very pleasant ). Instead we make the outrageous claim that God has turned the world on its head. That he will do almost anything to save us including sending his own Son who will suffer and then Resurrecting Him.
This saving by God is a broad act of real good. It is an act on God’s part that brings the start of a solid peace, of restful fruitfulness to our lives and to the larger world. It brings a deep healing, so that ills we did not know we had, wounds whose bite we have largely ignored, are all being bound up for restoration. Anxieties are allayed. A willingness to follow the non-coercive leading of the Holy Spirit grows within us. Because of increased courage, denial is lessened. Addictions become defeat-able. Our Bad Old Days can become a distant memory instead of a continual snare to our feet.
All of this is the power of Christ’s resurrection working in us. It is unique. It is not an enhanced version of natural spring. But it is an “unnatural” healing and restoration. That is, healing and restoration where there should have been no hope of wellness at all. And, to top it all off, believers claim that this gift comes to us unearned. Neither our great goodness nor our grand awfulness can demand this saving from God. Instead it is God’s infinite and patient love of the world and of us that draws us in to the life of our Triune God.
So we celebrate, with feasts, and candy and fun and family or friends on Easter Sunday. But for those who know the call “He is Risen” the sun does not set on our good news. Christ’s life springs out among us, beginning in our most barren spots.
In Christ,,
Megan+ |