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The monthly Newsletter of the

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church

The Annunciation The monthly newsletter of the

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church

July 2016

Black Friday –by Father Barnabus Powell And they’re off! The sales, the markdowns, the deals, all conspiring to get us to spend, spend, spend. The competition is hot. The deals are unrepeatable. Knock that person ahead of you down. Reach across that lady’s grasp. Get here first! Fight, fight, fight! No thanks. Black Friday sales and the whole hoopla associated with it is the ugliest part of our consumer society. It reduces us to mere consumers and our love to what we can “get” for those whom we say we love. It plugs into the place in our soul that is all to easily satisfied with temporary “things.” Ultimately, it is de-humanizing. So, are we mere consumers of goods? Are we what we can “get” for those we love? Can we really be reduced to mere com-merce? We can, but that is ultimately too small for our true selves. However, the idea of return on our investment is a powerful illus-

tration of what we ultimately value in our lives.

In Luke 19:12-28: The Lord said this parable, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten pounds, and said to them, ‘Trade with these till I come.’ But his citizens hated him and sent an em-bassy after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ When he returned, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading. The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has made ten pounds more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has made five pounds.’ And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.’ He said to him, ‘I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money into the bank, and at my coming I should have collected it with interest?’ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the pound from him, and give it to him who has the ten pounds.’ (And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten pounds!’) ‘I tell you, that to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over

them, bring them here and slay them before me.'” And when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

This powerful parable of the “pounds” is like the parable of the “talents” in another place. It reflects the reality of the gifts, privileges, and abilities given to each of us in our time, talents, and treasures. And it challenges us to take stock of how we have Invested our lives and used our gifts. Have we squandered our time, talents, and treasures, or have we allowed our fear to steal our best from our lives? Have we truly been awake to the temporariness of our lives here and has that reality spurred us toward making the most of our time here in this life? Do we know why we are here? Struggling with these questions is impossible without first embracing the defining reality of God coming to us in the flesh to exalt our creation to what it was meant to be. When I come to grips with the truth that God has become endless he’d so that I may, by grace, become “engodded” then, and only then, will I realize just why my time, talents, and treasures are so valuable in the first place

and how to use them for eternal return.

On Black Thursday, you will be tempted To reduce your value to what you can purchase or receive. Avoid this reduction of your real

self by taking the courageous path of a purposeful Orthodoxy and know your worth precisely by the value God has placed on you by

becoming like you to save you!

Subscribe to Father Barnabus Powell’s daily blog Faith Encouraged Daily at http://blogs.ancientfaith.com/faithencouraged/

and listen to his podcast Faith Encouraged on Ancient Faith Radio podcasts. This article was first published November 29, 2014.

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News from the Annunciation

Submitted by Cathy Beedle, Women’s Group Recording Secretary

Greetings from the Ladies Group! This group has made some significant donations this past year to help out our church including funds to pay for the new oven in the kitchen and new kitchen flooring. We are so grateful for these improvements! In addition, Funds from the Ladies Group are used to purchase miscellaneous kitchen supplies like napkins & paper plates used during fellowship. Help the group offset these costs by donating a few dollars each Sunday. Donation baskets will be set out during fellowship time and every little bit helps! Please take note of the following upcoming events sponsored by the Ladies Group! Sunday, November 13 - In conjunction with the Fall Parish Assembly, we will have a Soup Bowl Sunday Supper! There will be several different varieties of soups and other yummy good-ies - $3.00 per person. Saturday, November 19 - Annual Fall Bake Sale. We are looking for donations of baking supplies, money, baked goods and your TIME to work on the day of the sale - sale runs from 9am

- 4pm and all volunteers are welcome!

As many of you as have been

baptized into Christ have put

on Christ, alleluia!

Congratulations to Mike and Amber Kutayli on the

baptism of their daughters—Eleanor and Katie Kutayli on

October 15, 2016.

Marriages

Congratulations to Michael and Catalina Kazas who

were married on October 8, 2016. May God grant them many

years together!

Mission & Outreach

Habitat for Humanity—Lunch Servers

Annunciation parishioners—we have a wonderful

opportunity to assist Habitat for Humanity by

providing a meal on Saturday, November 5th at

11:30 a.m. Don’t worry, the Husker’s don’t play

until the evening—so you have plenty of time to

get home and prep for the game after

volunteering.

Habitat for Humanity’s mission is to put God’s

love into action by bringing people together to

build homes, communities and hope. It is a

non-profit organization that partners with future

and current homeowners to build simple,

decent and affordable housing for low to very

low-income families. Volunteers and future home-

owners work together in the building process.

We are currently in need of meal volunteers (all

ages are welcome) to provide a meal (entrée side

salads, dessert and water) to the family and

workers. We will meet at Annunciation on

Saturday, November 5th at 10:00 a.m. to build

and wrap sub sandwiches. If you are able to

assist in serving at the site, we will leave the

Church at 11:00 a.m. to deliver and serve the

meal at the construction site. If you are interested

in helping with this important outreach, please

e-mail Sarah Kripal at sarah.kripal@gmail.com or

text/call at 402-617-2797. A sign-up sheet will

also be posted in the basement of the Church on

the bulletin board. Thank you and God bless you

for prayerfully considering volunteering and for

being Orthodox on purpose!

Next Deadline for Newsletter… Articles/reports/photos/stories due November 18, 2016!

Send to sarah.kripal@gmail.com

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Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church

Priest: Fr. Mark Curtright, 770-7520

Parish Council:

Galen Erickson, President, gerickson4@unl.edu, 486-1114

Dinos Giannakas, kgiannakas@unl.edu, 328-0009

Charlene Gondring, Treasurer cgondring@msn.com, 489-4621

Dimitrios Hametis, dimitrios1038@yahoo.com, 770-5614

Randy Johner, josephjohner@yahoo.com, 202-460-6289

T.J. Kripal, Vice President, tskripal@gmail.com 402-617-2797

Kirsten Warren-Carrell, Secretary, kwarrencarrell@gmail.com, 975-9897

Stewardship

Daniel Ciobanu, Stewardship, dcciobanu@yahoo.com, 488-3330

Paul Barnes, Stewardship, pbarnes@unl.edu, 525-2778

Sunday School/GOYA

Iulia Curtright, iulia68@yahoo.com, 770-7520

Greek Dancing/Festival

Fay Deligiannis, fdeli75@gmail.com, 770-5158

Head Chanter

Paul Barnes, pbarnes@unl.edu, 525-2778

Sunday Bulletin/Website

Joel Davies, jdavies@huskers.unl.edu, 745-0146

Newsletter Editor/Monthly Calendar

Sarah Kripal, sarah.kripal@gmail.com, 402-617-2797

Facebook

Jennifer Hartz, jenniferhartz@hotmail.com

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church

950 North 63rd Street

Lincoln, NE 68505-2286

Every Saturday: 5:30 p.m. Great Vespers Every Sunday: 9:00 a.m. Orthros 10:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy Coffee hour following