Tonight, beginning at 7 o’clock, we commemorate one of the holiest nights of the Church year, Maundy Thursday. Every Sunday we celebrate that “the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (I Corinthians 11:23-25) Maundy Thursday is the night on which we celebrate Our Lord’s Institution of the Holy Eucharist are remember the events of the Last Supper. But tonight it not just a night to remember the Lord’s Supper, we recall all the events that went along with that momentous meal: Jesus washing the feet of the Disciples, Our Lord’s teachings that night, and Judas’ betrayal of Our Lord into the hands of sinful men. It is a powerful service and one of the most moving worship times of the entire year. We invite everyone to attend and to invite your friends to join you for this special once-a-year service.
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Tonight is Maundy Thursday!
Tonight, beginning at 7 o’clock, we commemorate one of the holiest nights of the Church year, Maundy Thursday. Every Sunday we celebrate that “the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (I Corinthians 11:23-25) Maundy Thursday is the night on which we celebrate Our Lord’s Institution of the Holy Eucharist are remember the events of the Last Supper. But tonight it not just a night to remember the Lord’s Supper, we recall all the events that went along with that momentous meal: Jesus washing the feet of the Disciples, Our Lord’s teachings that night, and Judas’ betrayal of Our Lord into the hands of sinful men. It is a powerful service and one of the most moving worship times of the entire year. We invite everyone to attend and to invite your friends to join you for this special once-a-year service.
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No Services This Wednesday Night at Church of the Messiah
This Wednesday Night, April 16, we will not have our usual Wednesday Night mid-week service. Instead we will have services throughout the rest of the week! Be sure to join us Thursday night at 7 o’clock for our Maundy Thursday Service and Friday from noon to 3 o’clock for our Good Friday Vigil. Just Tuesday we finalized details with our sister parish on the west-side Prince of Peace to lead a series of Liturgies for the Pre-Born in front of the Planned Parenthood Facility on Powers Avenue on Holy Saturday morning as they open up and begin performing abortions. We will have more information on that shortly! On Easter Sunday we will have two services: our Sunrise Service begins at 6:15 on our property on St. John’s Bluff Rd. N. and our Easter Sunday Family Service will be in our regular location starting at 10 o’clock with all of the stops pulled out to celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord. Invite your friends and we hope to be seeing a whole lot of you over Holy Week this year!
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Order Fifty Days of Glory by Wednesday
As we announced Palm Sunday, Our Easter Bible Study will be based on Fifty Days of Glory by Canon Mark Pearson. In order to get the special rate, you need to contact Janice Paysinger at 904-721-4199 by Wednesday! The cost of each book is $16.99. Ordering as a group allows us to get a group rate and give 100% of the proceeds to Fr. Pearson (as opposed to ordering online–which you can do if you miss the deadline–where Fr. Pearson only gets 20-30%). Be sure to call or e-mail Janice right away so you can get your book for next week. The Fifty Days of Glory Bible study begins Wednesday April 23 and runs through May 19!
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Holy Week Schedule at Church of the Messiah
Holy Week begins this Sunday, April 13! Don’t miss any of these amazing worship services!Begin Holy Week with Palm Sunday! Celebrate Our Lord’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem with the waiving of palms before the crowd turns on Jesus and we hear the Passion Gospel. Be sure to get to Church on time this Sunday as we process into the Sanctuary waiving our palms and palm crosses!There are no services Wednesday night, April 16.
Thursday night, April 17, at 7 o’clock, we will observe Maundy Thurday. This is the annual service where we commemorate Our Lord’s Institution of the Lord’s Supper, Washing the Feet of the Disciples, and ultimate Betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane.The powerful services continue on April 18 from noon until 3 o’clock with the observance of Our Lord’s hours on His Cross in our Good Friday Service. This is always one of the most powerful services of the year and includes the Passion Gospel , meditations from both lay and clerical speakers, veneration of the Cross, and Communion from the Reserved Sacrament.Our celebration of the Feast of the Resurrection begins at 6:15 with a Sunrise Service on our property on St. Johns Bluff Road (click HERE for a map). This moving service begins in darkness and candlelight and concludes with the light of the first day shining down on us as we celebrate the Risen Lord by partaking of His Body and Body at the very break of day.At 10 o’clock our Easter celebration continues (and will for 50 more days!) with our Easter Sunday Family Service. This will be a service to fully celebrate with Risen Lord and exalt in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We will have special events for our children and a great time is sure to be had by all!Be sure to invite your friends and family to each of these special events in the coming week! Church of the Messiah has created a Facebook event for each of these services. You can go to the events by clicking on their names and invite your friends via Facebook or other Social Media! Childcare is provided at all services.
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Church of the Messiah Announces Next Bible Study
At the conclusion of “The Devil’s Playbook” Bible study last night, Fr. Looker announced that Church of the Messiah’s next Bible study will be based on an exciting new book by Canon Mark Pearson. Canon Pearson is a CEC priest from the Diocese of the Northeast who has preached at Church of the Messiah in the past. Within the last few months Canon Mark Pearson released Fifty Days of Glory: from Easter Morning to the Eve of Pentecost, a thoroughly Biblical study of life of Christ after the Resurrection and before His Ascension. We will be using his book as a basis for our studies on the Post-Resurrection life of Christ. Our Bible study Fifty Days of Glory will run from April 23 through May 21. Individuals wishing to order a copy of the book may purchase one through web-sites like Amazon.com, however, those interested in making a Church of the Messiah group purchase should contact Janice Paysinger at 721-4199. Making a group does not purchase does not afford a cheaper purchase price, but it does allow 100% of the proceeds to go directly to Fr. Pearson (as opposed to 20-30% when purchasing from on-line vendors). Bp. Simpson, who was one of the book’s early readers, wrote a glowing recommendation for the book and then purchased a copy for every priest, deacon, and seminarian in the Diocese of Florida. This is an amazing book, and it will be an exciting and life-changing Bible study. Make plans to join us starting April 23 for Fifty Days of Glory!
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“The Devil’s Playbook” Concludes This Wednesday!
Church of the Messiah’s Lenten Bible study series will conclude this Wednesday, April 9th, at 7 o’clock. Having spent the last four weeks reading and discussing The Screwtape Letters, we will wrap up our study by focusing on Letters XXV-XXXI. Here’s a spoiler: The patient actually dies in the last letter! Join us Wednesday night and see if the patient makes it to Heaven or Wormwood has his way with him for the rest of Eternity. We will also be addressing the topics of “unselfishness,” cowardice, what is “real,” and more. Be sure to be there as we conclude what has already been a life-changing study.
As with all of our Wednesday night Bible studies, the service begins at 7 o’clock with a time of praise and worship. We end with intercessory prayer and dismiss by 8:30 so that everyone has time to return home and prepare for work and school the next day. Childcare is provided and Church of the Messiah’s Youth Group meets at this time as well. We look forward to seeing you there!
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April’s Ultreya is This Tuesday Night
The April Ultreya for North Florida will be this Tuesday night, April 8th, beginning at 6:30 in the evening with a covered-dish potluck meal. Groupings will begin around 7:30 and we will conclude the evening with the Holy Eucharist. The Ultreya will be hosted at Church of the Messiah (click HERE for a map and directions) and is open to anyone who has attended a Tres Arroyos weekend or similar 3-day weekend retreat (Cursillo, Walk to Emmaus, Lighthouse Via de Christo, etc…). If you are interested in sharing a brief (5-10 minute) example from your own 4th Day walk, please e-mail Greg Looker. We look forward to seeing everyone there.
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“The Devil’s Playbook” Continues Tonight!
Pride, Gluttony, and Lust, are all on the agenda tonight as we continue with week 3 of “A Peek Inside the Devil’s Playbook”: A Lenten Bible Study Based on The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. Wednesday night, March 26, beginning at 7 o’clock, we will discuss letters XIII – XVIII of The Screwtape Letters and address three of the Seven Deadly Sins! This has been an exciting Bible study and many participants have commented how much the weekly sessions have impacted their daily lives. Join Church of the Messiah tonight and see what everyone is talking about! You need not have read the book to participate in the Bible study, but, if you have missed any of the sessions, you can view the previous weeks’ presentations and listen to the audio by going to the Wednesday Night Bible Study tab of our Sermon Library and downloading them or listening on-line.
As part of our regular Wednesday night services, the service begins with a powerful time of praise and worship, and concludes with a time of intercessory prayer. Childcare is provided during the service and youth are participating in the Bible study with the adults. The service dismisses by 8:30 so everyone has plenty of time to make it home in time to get ready for work and school the next day. Invite your friends! We look forward to seeing everyone tonight!
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“The Devil’s Playbook” Continues This Wednesday
After an exciting first night, “A Peek Inside the Devil’s Playbook,” Church of the Messiah’s Lenten Bible Study Based on The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, continues this Wednesday night, March 19th. We more people attend the first session of “The Devil’s Playbook” than any of Church of the Messiah’s previous Bible Studies and the comments were thrilling! People who were there last Wednesday night said, “It’s great to read something such as Ole Screwie’s letters and learn from them and then have a teacher guide to new and different insights especially by connecting with biblical references. Love it!” Another commented saying, “We are having some really great services on Wednesday nights! I would certainly encourage all to come. I look forward to being refreshed by the worship and Word each week!” Join us this Wednesday night at 7 o’clock to we what everyone is raving about!
This week we will be discussing Letters VII-XII of The Screwtape Letters and addressing topics that include partisanship and causes in the Church, what happens when you do not feel like your prayers are reaching God, Christian attitudes towards humor, and having non-Christian friends. It will be a lively discussion for sure! The service begins at 7 o’clock with praise and worship, followed by Bible study and concluded with intercessory prayer. We will dismiss by 8:30 so everyone can be ready for work the next day. Childcare is provided during the entire service. Just in case you missed last week, both the PowerPoint Presentation and the audio recordings are available in the Wednesday Night Bible Study section of our Sermon Library. Click the link to download and listen.
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The Devil’s Playbook Opens Wednesday Night!
This Wednesday night, March 12, Fr. Looker will begin Church of the Messiah’s new teaching series, “A Peek Inside the Devil’s Playbook”: A Lenten Bible Study Based on The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. Each week, Fr. Looker will discuss six of the thirty-one letters the veteran demon Screwtape wrote to his novice tempter nephew Wormwood on how to better damn souls to Hell in the C. S. Lewis masterpiece of Christian spirituality. By looking at the advice devil’s give on how to lure souls into damnation, Christians can compare that advice to Holy Scripture and see how to avoid the pitfalls altogether. While a copy of The Screwtape Letters will enhance your experience, it is by no means required to participated in the Bible study and we encourage everyone to attend whether they have a copy or have read the letters for the week or not.
As part of Church of the Messiah’s regular Wednesday night service, the evening will begin with a time of praise and worship, followed by the Bible Study, and will conclude with a time of intercessory prayer. Childcare is provided during our mid-week services. We are always mindful to end the services before 8:30 so that everyone can be home in time to prepare for work and school the following day. Be sure to make Wednesday nights at Church of the Messiah part of your Lenten discipline for the next five weeks and we will see you on Wednesday nights!
