Does This Offend You?

This week Pastor John speaks on the topic of what do do if you find your hands, feet or eyes making you do bad things. Christ tells us to cut off the offending limb or gouge out the offending eye!

But even if we were blind, deaf, dumb and a quadruple amputee could we still NOT think about doing wrong? No, we cannot: that's the whole point of the Gospel. Without Christ and Him crucified, we can never even hope to be accepted by God.

Click here to listen or download: Does This Offend You?

Illawarra Lutheran Parish
24th Spetember 2006
16th Sunday after Penticost

Prayer of the Day.

Loving and self-giving God, teach us to follow the example of your son, Jesus, who was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. Lead us to be submissive to You and kind and considerate to others. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Prayer for General Synod.

Pour out the Holy Spirit on the General Pastors Conference which begins this week in Toowoomba. Help[ our pastors to come to agreement on wheather women too should be ordained as pastors & enable them to give clear guidence to the whole church on this & every issue before them. Bless them as they study your word & pray in preparation for their coming together, protect them as they travel & return them safely to their families and parishes. Amen.

Prayer Points.

• Pray for the pastors of our church as they meet together this week that they would be guided by the Holy Spirit.
• Pray for those we know who are suffering illness or hospitalization: Fritz T., Irmgard J., Max C., Christine F., Linda F., Hardy B. and Harold M.
• Pray that we would know how to put Jesus first in our lives.
• Pray for St Paul's Lutheran School in Henty and it's principle David Deegan.
• Pray for farmers still suffering effects of drought.

Today's Readings.
Jeremiah 11: 18-20
James 3: 13-4: 3, 7, 8a
Mark 9: 38-50

Today's Liturgical Colour is
GREEN

Minor Festivals and Colours This Week:

St Michaels and All Angels
White.

The liturgy celebrates the feast of Michael the archangel who is venerated in the tradition of the Church. Michael (Who is like God?) was the archangel who fought against Satan and all his evil angels, defending all the friends of God.

This day is referred to as "Michaelmas" in many countries and is also one of the harvest feast days. In England this is one of the "quarter days", which was marked by hiring servants, electing magistrates, and beginning of legal and university terms. This day also marks the opening of the deer and other large game hunting season. In some parts of Europe, especially Germany, Denmark, and Austria, a special wine called "Saint Michael's Love" (Michelsminne) is drunk on this day. The foods for this day vary depending on nationality. In the British Isles, for example, goose was the traditional meal for Michaelmas, eaten for prosperity, France has waffles or Gaufres and the traditional fare in Scotland used to be St. Michael's Bannock (Struan Micheil) — a large, scone-like cake. In Italy, gnocchi is the traditional fare.

Try this recipe: Michaelmas Pie!

This is from the website IrishCultureandCustoms.com:
It is an old Irish custom to bake a Michaelmas Pie and hide a ring in it, but there was no recipe to be found. The following recipe uses blackberries and apples which would be plentiful at this time of year.

Backberries is a logical choice as an ingredient. According to old folklore, at Michaelmas, the devil spits on the blackberries (or worse!), so it's considered ill-advised to eat them after September 29th.

DIRECTIONS
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.

Prepare the pastry. Place the flour in a large bowl and stir in the cinnamon and salt. Rub in the butter and white fat with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre and add the chilled water. Bring the mixture together using a round bladed knife. Once it has come together, knead for a brief moment and place in a plastic bag in the fridge. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Peel and core the apples. Cut them into large chunks and place them in a saucepan with the sugar, cloves and nutmeg. Cover with a lid and gently cook for 5 minutes, until the apples have softened. Fold in the blackberries and remove the saucepan from the heat. Cool completely.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out two thirds on a lightly floured surface. Line an 8-inch metal pie plate. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork. Strain the fruit, reserving the juices and spoon the fruit mixture over. Roll out the remaining pastry. Lay the pastry over the fruit. Lift back the edge and brush the base with a little egg and seal the edge. Trim and crimp the pastry edges. Brush the surface with the remaining egg and make a couple of slits in the top. Scatter a little more sugar over the pastry and bake for 35 minutes. Serve hot or cold with ice cream or fresh double (whipping) cream.

Recipe Source: Recipes from Various Websites

Thought for the Week.

See if you can try not to think of pink elephants!

Photo credit: 'You Are Told' by Chris Chidsey, UK.