^“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.  If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.  Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.  Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:27-31

 Allow yourself to be startled by how radical this familiar passage really is. Notice how much of our society would fall apart if every person followed these charges: lending without expecting anything in return, giving to anyone who begs from us. Reflect on how difficult it can sometimes be to love ourselves, let alone our enemies. It can be tempting to explain away such high expectations or commend ourselves for at least following them a bit better than our neighbors. Yet God does not love us because we are doing our best or because our best is good enough. God loves us, period. And part of reveling in that love is sitting in the discomfort of these deeply convicting words of Jesus.

·         Jesus’ charges here are not just toward kindness and affection; they are economic in character. How does our faith stand in opposition to the economic expectations of the world around us? How do we hold our spiritual and economic well-being together?

·         Part of our resistance to this passage may stem from our past experiences of others taking advantage of our     kindness, generous, or willingness to endure difficult circumstances. How do your culture and society deal with the threat of being taken advantage of, physically, emotionally, or economically? How does God ask us to respond to that danger? (From Sermon that Works)

Rector’s Corner

Tuesday Evening at St. Mike’s –our parish offers a weekly evening prayer and bible study at 6:00pm in the sanctuary. We invite parishioners, family and friends to come and join us for a spiritual journey as children of God. Just bring your bible.

For this week, Feb. 19^th, please read: Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; and Luke 9:28-36

St. Mike’s 60^th Anniversary: We are still seeking your ideas in preparation for St. Michael’s 60^th founding anniversary. Our hope is get a few events started which would serve as build-up activities leading to the September 29, 2019 Parish Thanksgiving Day.

2019 Stewardship Day: Saturday, March 16, 2019, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Synod Office in Vancouver. This year’s title of the Stewardship Day is, “Celebrating Generous Communities – Practical tools for Encouraging Giving”.

World Day of Prayer:Friday, March 1st, 1:00 pm at St. Matthew’s R.C. Church, 16089 – 88th Ave., Surrey.This years’ service has been prepared by the women of Slovenia.  St. Michael’s will be one of the participants in the service which includes several churches of different denominations.

Bowling: Dave has been in contact with the owner of Scottsdale lanes, about costs in regards to using their lanes for some bowling. Two hours of bowling is $80.00 per lane with a max of 6 people. The owner said that he can give us two hours starting at 5pm till 7pm for $70.00 per lane with a maximum of 6 bowlers per lane, and free shoe rental.

There is also special needs equipment for anyone that needs it.

First Aid Training:Saturday, March 23^rd from 9am at St. Helen’s.  It is an all-day training session including CPR. The cost is $85 but the price goes down to $80 if we get 10 or more to take the course.  It is a St. John’s Ambulance course.