Beginning Wednesday, February 25, Church of the Messiah will lead a four-part Bible study series through the season of Lent.  Continuing with the success of last year’s A Peek Inside the Devil’s Playbook: A Lenten Bible Study Based on The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, we will host our 2nd annual “Lent with Lewis” and focus on another classic work by the 20th century apologist C. S. Lewis.  In 2015 we will be studying Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, a collection of letters written by Lewis to his friend Malcolm on the subject of prayer. During the course of the study, we will address topics including private prayer, corporate prayer, using pre-written prayers, supplication, the Eucharist, and much more.  The book can be purchased through all on-line provided as well as at local book-sellers and is available in electronic formats as well, however having read the book in advance is not necessary for the Bible study.

Our 2nd annual Lent with Lewis Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer begins February 25 and runs through March 18 beginning at 7 o’clock every Wednesday night.  The service ends prior to 8:30 each night so that everyone has time to return home in time for work and school the next day.  Everyone is welcome and childcare is provided.  We look forward to growing with you this Lent through studying prayer together.

Fr. Looker’s Bible study Converting the Conversation continues this Wednesday night, February 4th, with a study of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series of movies.  Converting the Conversation has taken several of the highest grossing movies of all time and discussed how to reshape conversations about those movies into conversations about Jesus Christ.  We have already discussed Frozen as well as the Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universe franchises, all of which happen to be owned by Disney.  On February 4th, we will be discussing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (#8 and #18 respectively).  If you know Fr. Looker, you know Tolkien is one of his passions, so this session of this Bible study should be one of the highlights of the entire series!   Converting the Conversation equips those who attend to better witness to their families, friends, and co-workers using conversations about wildly popular movies as springboards to begin conversations about the Gospel.

The services begin at seven o’clock each night and childcare is provided.  We promise to finish by 8:30 every night so that everyone can be home in time to prepare for work and get their little ones ready for school the next morning.  These services are open to everyone so be sure to invite your friends.  We look forward to seeing everyone together this Wednesday night!

This Saturday, February 7th, at 10 o’clock, Church of the Messiah’s Women’s Ministry will hold their “Wild About You Brunch.”  The brunch will be at the home of Cathie (and Earl) Shimp (click HERE for a map).  Ladies, be sure to wear a wild, animal print, and bring your favorite love Scripture.  The brunch will include wonderful food, fellowship, music, vision, and ministry!  For more information, call the parish office at 904-721-4199 or Cathie Shimp at 904-610-2599.

This Sunday Church of the Messiah will observe All Saints’ Day.  Historically, this is when the Church takes time to commemorate that countless numbers of saints who have gone before us whose names are known only to the Lord; saints about whom no one writes books or icons, carves statues or dedicates churches, but whose lives were lived dedicated to the Lord nonetheless.  It is a day we reaffirm our own Baptismal Vows and often welcome new believers into the Kingdom of God.

In recent years, the ICCEC has taken up an annual offering on All Saints’ Day to support our developing churches in Africa.  Each year 20% of the money collected goes to mercy missions and to establishing sources of clean water in the local environments to prevent the spread of the disease.  The other 80% goes to establishing self-sustaining micro-businesses in order to ensure that our local parishes in these countries can become self-sufficient and self-supporting and no longer relying on outside support and aid.  For more information about this project, visit the web-site of the ICCEC.

This Sunday, November 2, as we give thanks for the great cloud of witnesses who has gone before us, let us remember those saints, our brothers and sisters who will have already risen early on the first day of the week to praise the Risen Lord, and let us do what we can to uphold and support our those saints who are worshiping with us in Africa.

This Sunday, we received word that Frank Powell has passed from this life into the next.  Frank is the grandfather of Lizz Looker and was, for many years, the Head-Usher at Church of the Messiah.  Frank’s death comes after a brief battle with an aggressive form of cancer.  He had been in the care of hospice and died at home.  Frank is survived by his wife Pat, many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  Funeral arrangements are, at this point still tentative, but we will update this page as we receive more information.

Rest eternal grant to Frank, O Lord:
And let light perpetual shine upon him.

May his soul and the souls of the the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

This Wednesday night will draw to a close one of the most informative teaching series Church of the Messiah has hosted in years.  September 10th, beginning at 7pm, Fr. Scott Looker will teach the final session of Follow Me: an Introduction to the Gospel According to St. Matthew.  In the last week of the Bible study, Fr. Looker will focus on the last four chapters of the Gospel dealing with the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord as only St. Matthew relays it.  Join Church of the Messiah for this powerful conclusion to what has already been an insightful Bible study.

Follow Me: An Introduction to the Gospel According to Saint Matthew is part of Church of the Messiah’s regular Wednesday night worship service.  Each night begins with anointed praise and worship and concludes with a time of intercessory prayer.  Childcare is provided during this service.  The service dismisses by 8:30 so that everyone can be home in order to get kids in bed and prepare for work the next day.  Set your DVR’s and watch it when you get home, because Wednesday nights are amazing at Church of the Messiah!

This week is one of those week’s we thank God we have our own building because we will be getting a whole lot of use out of it and you will want to be there!  The weekend is loaded with fun, so be sure to read through to the end!

On Tuesday night, we have the September Ultreya for Northeast Florida.  The Ultreya is open to anyone who has attended a Tres Arroyos weekend or similar three-day weekend retreat (Cursillo, Walk to Emmaus, etc…).  We will begin at 6:30 with a potluck meal and begin working and an important project in preparation for the upcoming Tres Arroyos weekends this coming October.  If you have attended Tres Arroyos weekends in the past, please make an effort to attend this Ultreya to bless future candidates.  As always, we will end with the Holy Eucharist.

Wednesday is the final session of Follow Me: an Introduction to the Gospel of Saint Matthew.  This will bring to a close our very powerful study on St. Matthew’s Gospel as we focus on the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ in the First Gospel.  Everyone who has attended this Bible study has said that they have had their eyes opened to the Gospel in ways they never imagined.  Come experience what they have been learning as this amazing Bible study comes to a close Wednesday night starting at 7pm.

Friday night many of our ladies will be leaving for their women’s retreat at the scenic Epworth-by-the-Sea in St. Simon’s Island, Georgia.  Their theme for the weekend will be “Relentless: Reignited, Reclaimed, Revived, and Repurposed.”  They will be meeting Friday evening, all day Saturday, and returning just in time for the service on Sunday morning.  Pray for the ladies and for their retreat leader and speaker Shannon Clemons.

Saturday is our monthly Fusion service!  Fusion is our service directed at young adults between the ages of 18 and 35 who either have no church home of their own or are attending a church without a young adults ministry.  We begin the service at 6pm with light appetizers and have a time or worship and testimony as well as amazing fellowship.  This week, because so many of the ladies will be at the women’s retreat, we still have a need for some of our men to volunteer to bring in “finger food” and other munchies.  Please contact Kevin Paysinger if you are willing to do so.

Finally, last but not least, we have an incredibly important service Sunday morning at Church of Messiah.  This is will be part of our regular service but will include a special speaker with a unique presentation.  This will definitely be a service you will not want to miss.  Even though it will have been a busy week, be sure to be here Sunday morning for a service that is sure to be full of surprises!