Sunday September 28th 2014 8210 Cypress Lake Drive Fort Myers FL 33919 OFFICE Phone 239-481-2099 Email officeagocgmailcom

FR DEAN Cell 239-322-7553 Email revfrdeangmailcom

Rev Deacon John Howard

Office Hours Monday-Friday 930am-3pm Admin Assistant Kelsie Gregware

Website httpwwwannunciationflgoarchorg

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church 1st Sunday of Luke

HOLY COMMUNION REMINDERndash Please follow Ushers Instructions

We welcome those visiting with us today and ask that only BaptizedChrismated

Orthodox Christians who are properly prepared through prayer fasting and Holy

Confession to come forward to receive Holy Communion Women are kindly

asked to remove their lipstick prior to receiving Holy Communion Non-Orthodox

visitors are welcome to receive the blessed bread from the Priest at the end of the

Divine Liturgy and to join us for fellowship in our hall We ask that everyone

please dress appropriately for church

Visitors we ask that you fill out a yellow welcome card amp give it to an usher

ARE YOU BUSY ENOUGH FOR GOD TO USE

God never goes to the lazy or the idle when He needs

people for His service When He has work to be done

He goes to those who are already at work When God

wants a great servant He calls a busy person Think of

the great men of the Bible who were busy when God

called

Moses was busy with his flock at Horeb

Gideon was busy threshing wheat by the vine press

Saul was busy searching for his fatherrsquos lost sheep

David was busy caring for his fatherrsquos sheep

Elisha was busy plowing with twelve yoke of oxen

Nehemian was busy as the kingrsquos cupbearer

Amos was busy following the flock

James and John were busy mending their fishing nets

Matthew was busy collecting customs

Saul was busy persecuting the friends of Jesus

Are you busy enough for God to use

if you are new to the

community or are visiting for

the first time Please remember

to fill out a yellow card and

pass it on to an usher before

communion Thank you

COMING UPhellip

Sunday School TODAY 1st day of Religious Education

Ladies Philoptochos Society Sun Sept 28th Following Liturgy BAKE SALE

Bible Study Mon Sept 29th 6PM-7PM

Inquirers Class Tues Sept 30th 630PM-8PM

Sunday School Sun Oct 5th 10AM OPEN HOUSE for 7-12th Grade Class

GOYA Sun Oct 5th following Divine Liturgy MEETING

Bible Study Mon Oct 6th 6PM-7PM

Inquirers Class Tues Oct 7th 630PM-8PM

Circle of Friends Thurs Oct 9th 6PM MOVIE NIGHT

EPISTLE READING

St Pauls Second Letter to the Corinthians 61-10 BRETHREN working together with him then we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain For he says At the acceptable time I have listened to you and helped you on the day of salvation Behold now is the acceptable time behold now is the day of salvation We put no obstacle in any ones way so that no fault may be found with our ministry but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way through great endurance in afflictions hardships calamities beatings imprisonments tumults labors watching hunger by purity knowledge forbearance kindness the Holy Spirit genuine love truthful speech and the power of God with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left in honor and dishonor in ill repute and good repute We are treated as impostors and yet are true as unknown and yet well known as dying and behold we live as punished and yet not killed as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing and yet possessing everything

GOSPEL READING

The Gospel of Luke 51-11 At that time Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret And he saw two boats by the lake but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets Getting into one of the boats which was Simons he asked him to put out a little from the land And he sat down and taught the people from the boat And when he had ceased speaking he said to Simon Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch And Simon answered Master we toiled all night and took nothing But at your word I will let down the nets And when they had done this they enclosed a great shoal of fish and as their nets were breaking they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink But when Simon Peter saw it he fell down at Jesus knees saying Depart from me for I am a sinful man O Lord For he was astonished and all who were with him at the catch of fish which they had taken and so also were James and John sons of Zebedee who were partners with Simon And Jesus said to Simon Do not be afraid henceforth you will be catching men And when they had brought their boats to land they left everything and followed him

Resurrectional Apolytikion Thou hath destroyed Death by Thy Cross Κατέλυσας τῷ Σταυρῷ σου τὸν θάνατον (Page 46)

Apolytikion for the Saint

With the rivers of your tears you made the barren de-sert bloom and with your sighs from deep within you made your labors bear their fruits a hundredfold and you became a star illuminating the world by your mira-cles O Chariton our devout father Intercede with Christ our God for the salvation of our souls Ταῖς τῶν δακρύων σου ῥοαῖς τῆς ἐρήmicroου τὸ ἄγονον ἐγεώργησας καὶ τοῖς ἐκ βάθους στεναγmicroοῖς εἰς ἑκατὸν τοὺς πόνους ἐκαρποφόρησας καὶ γέγονας φωστὴρ τῇ οἰκουmicroένῃ λάmicroπων τοῖς θαύmicroασιν Χαρίτων Πατὴρ ἡmicroῶν Ὅσιε πρέσβευε Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ σωθῆναι τὰς ψυχὰς ἠmicroῶν

Kontakion

O protection of the Christians unashamable mediation to the Maker immovable despise not the pleading voices of those in sin but hasten O good one to the help of all of us who in faith cry out to you Speed up your intercession and press on your supplication O Theotokos who always protects all those who honor you Προστασία τῶν Χριστιανῶν ακαταίσχυντε μεσιτεία πρός τόν Ποιητήν αμετάθετε μή παρίδης αμαρτωλῶν δεήσεων φωνάς αλλά πρόφθασον ως αγαθή εις τήν βοήθειαν ημῶν τῶν πιστῶς κραυγαζόντων σοι Τάχυνον εις πρεσβείαν καί σπεύσον εις ικεσίαν η προστατεύουσα αεί Θεοτόκε τῶν τιμώντων σε

FOR YOUR INFORMATION HYMNS AND WHERE THEY CAN BE FOUND

Hymns of Divine Liturgy insert can be found in the pews to allow you to follow along The hymns in the bulletin

will be the variable ones specific to that week or change from the common hymns that you will find in the insert

located in the pews

Baptism of Tears Let Us Have Ears

To Work While it is Still Light (This is the 8th and final article in the series on Bap-tism and Repentance)

Through the mystery of repentance God em-braces us with his love in order to forgive us and rec-oncile us to Him and the Church We must first have a sense of unfaithfulness a contrite heart and a de-termination to amend our ways Both the interior repentance and the verbal acknowledgement to cler-gy are necessary conditions for true forgiveness and reconciliation Confession is the opening of ones con-science before God and the witness of the Church God is loving and merciful towards his creation He accepts all sinners tenderly and is joyful in their con-version We must be very careful when we confess that we are sincere and honest No matter what words we may speak God is looking into our hearts and knows the truth At the Last Judgment our hearts will be open for all to see so the time is here and now to present a pure heart to cleansed by God We must open our ears and hearts (lsquoLet those who have ears let them hearrsquo Mt 1115) for after the book of life is closed we will all see and hear very loudly and clearly Christians that live in communion with Christ are expected to avail themselves to this sacrament periodically so that they may humble themselves before God and secondarily to receive guidance from their pastor Repentance is to liber-ate and heal rather than to judge The sinner re-quires compassion and healing and not further im-prisonment

Confession and Repentance are two of the many things that we must do in order to fulfill the role the Church has in our lives The Church is us or the people of God As that people we make up the body of Christ Christ is therefore present in us and as such we represent Him on earth to speak act and love and to be His instruments through which Christ works in the world today We are the people that have put on Christ by being baptized with Him sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit in Chrismation forgiven of our sins in Repentance and Confession

and nurtured by the Heavenly Mysteries of His Body and His Blood We are a people in whom Christ dwells a people who listen to and obey God a peo-ple who have truly committed their lives to him as Lord a people who will transform our image into a likeness of Him We cannot however be any of these things if we do not participate in all of the Sacra-ments including the sacrament of Repentance

Because through repentance we renew our baptism we receive a fresh start in life we reinforce humility and obedience we maintain a vigilante watch over ourselves we purify our conscious and we reconcile ourselves with the Lord Our goal is to meet the risen Lord Jesus Who reunites us with God the Father The Father is always waiting to greet us with outstretched hands We must ask ourselves are we willing to turn to Him But before we can return to God we need to recognize that we are far from God because of sin Like the Prodigal Son we are in a self-imposed exile Will we come to our senses as did he and return to our Father

The teaching is truly a somber one The Or-thodox Church teaches that the state of the soul at the moment of death is fixed and unchangeable There can be no moral improvement or repentance beyond the grave The place for such improvement is this life ldquoWe must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day for when night comes no man can workrdquo (John 94) In His mercy God gives us many chances to repent and return to Him

By Deacon John

SAINTS COMMEMORATED

TODAY SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 28th

Chariton the Confessor

Our Righteous Father Alkeisonus Metropolitan of Nicopolis Old Epirus

Baruch the Prophet

2ND TRAY CONTRIBUTIONS

Our Church passes 2 offering trays The 1st goes towards our Operating Budget the 2nd tray will continue for the

NEW Education Building Fund until paid in Full In order to receive credit for your donation for income tax purpos-

es make sure to put your cash donation in an envelope with your name on it or pay by check

STEWARDSHIP UPDATE We are 9 months into 2014 Please pray and offer your time and talent sheet Submit your pledge card or ask

an usher for a new one We are currently at $130000 and our goal is $200000 for 2014

Everyone please pledge

Praying for You

We offer prayers for health and the needs for the servants of God for Eugenia Loughney

Connie Talabac Lanette Howard Louis Eftim Sophia Katsaris Doug Kucera Charlie Mattoff

Mary Spiropoulos Michael and Ann Conidaris John Kontinos amp Penelope Kontinos

Please notify the office if there is someone that needs to be added to the prayer list 239-481-2099

FRIDAY OCTOBER 10th amp SATURDAY OCTOBER 11th 11AMndash 7PM at Annunciation

Greek Orthodox Church

FREE ADMISSION

and this event is open to the

public Additionally it is

completely in doors

MENU ITEMS Gyros Sandwich Greek Chicken Dinner Greek Fries Spanakopita Greek Salad Beverages Beer plus Greek Pastry Galaktoboureko amp Cookies CARRY OUT IS AVAILABLE

LADIES PHILOPTOCHOS SOCIETY

Coffee Hours hostesses for the month of SEPTEMBER are Marilena Midgley and Johanna DiMartino Thanks to them and please give them a helping hand HELLENIC-AMERICAN SOCIAL CLUB

Fall is in the air and the Hellenic-American Club is already planning festivities and events for the coming winterspring season First on the agenda is the ldquoOXIrdquo Picnic on October 28th at Jay-Cee Park and chaired by Irene amp Kleopas Polyviou BBQ Chicken is on the menu plus sides cold drinks and goodies Cost is $6 per member and $7 per guest Please contact Irene amp Kleopas Polyviou at 242-0270 to make your reservation now Remember to bring your plates tableware and a comfy chair if you wish

Our first meeting of the season is scheduled for Tuesday October 14th 700 pm in the Fr Arthur Kontinos Communi-ty Center Plan to attend to learn of coming events SPECIAL For those of you who would like to become

members and to be first to participate in all our activities we are offering a special membership enrollment of only $10 for the balance of the year Please contact Barbara Dionysopoulos (267-2014) for more information

SUNDAY SCHOOL

MARK YOUR CALENDARShellip for Sunday School Fall Open House We invite all parents to attend our Open Houses for their child(ren)s particular class This is an opportunity for parents to meet teachers as well as see what your child(ren) is learning every Sunday

October 5 Fall Open House for 7-12th Grade Class October 12 Fall Open House for PreK amp K Grade Class October 19 Fall Open House for 1-3rd Grade Class October 26 Fall Open House for 4-6th Grade Class CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

MOVIE NIGHT Thursday October 9th at 6PM ldquoSoul Surferrdquo Admission $5 per person covers movie and includes pizza amp soda Located in the Fr Arthur K Kontinos Community Center

Religious Education Teachers Contact Name

PreK amp K Grade Teacher Olympia Ruppe

PreK amp K Grade Assistant Elaine Greene

PreK amp K Grade Assistant Victoria Todd

1-3 Grade Teacher Dorothy Bonstedt

1-3 Grade Assistant Dr Cheryl Johnson

1-3 Grade Assistant Hallie Fenton

4-6 Grade Teacher Jen-Hope Belis

4-6 Grade Assistant Poly Mavridou-Hernandez

7-12 Grade Co-Teacher Tina Kucera

7-12 Grade Co-Teacher Faith Miller

Floater Assistant (PreK-6) Joanna Hoch

EPISTLE READING

St Pauls Second Letter to the Corinthians 61-10 BRETHREN working together with him then we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain For he says At the acceptable time I have listened to you and helped you on the day of salvation Behold now is the acceptable time behold now is the day of salvation We put no obstacle in any ones way so that no fault may be found with our ministry but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way through great endurance in afflictions hardships calamities beatings imprisonments tumults labors watching hunger by purity knowledge forbearance kindness the Holy Spirit genuine love truthful speech and the power of God with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left in honor and dishonor in ill repute and good repute We are treated as impostors and yet are true as unknown and yet well known as dying and behold we live as punished and yet not killed as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing and yet possessing everything

GOSPEL READING

The Gospel of Luke 51-11 At that time Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret And he saw two boats by the lake but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets Getting into one of the boats which was Simons he asked him to put out a little from the land And he sat down and taught the people from the boat And when he had ceased speaking he said to Simon Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch And Simon answered Master we toiled all night and took nothing But at your word I will let down the nets And when they had done this they enclosed a great shoal of fish and as their nets were breaking they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink But when Simon Peter saw it he fell down at Jesus knees saying Depart from me for I am a sinful man O Lord For he was astonished and all who were with him at the catch of fish which they had taken and so also were James and John sons of Zebedee who were partners with Simon And Jesus said to Simon Do not be afraid henceforth you will be catching men And when they had brought their boats to land they left everything and followed him

Resurrectional Apolytikion Thou hath destroyed Death by Thy Cross Κατέλυσας τῷ Σταυρῷ σου τὸν θάνατον (Page 46)

Apolytikion for the Saint

With the rivers of your tears you made the barren de-sert bloom and with your sighs from deep within you made your labors bear their fruits a hundredfold and you became a star illuminating the world by your mira-cles O Chariton our devout father Intercede with Christ our God for the salvation of our souls Ταῖς τῶν δακρύων σου ῥοαῖς τῆς ἐρήmicroου τὸ ἄγονον ἐγεώργησας καὶ τοῖς ἐκ βάθους στεναγmicroοῖς εἰς ἑκατὸν τοὺς πόνους ἐκαρποφόρησας καὶ γέγονας φωστὴρ τῇ οἰκουmicroένῃ λάmicroπων τοῖς θαύmicroασιν Χαρίτων Πατὴρ ἡmicroῶν Ὅσιε πρέσβευε Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ σωθῆναι τὰς ψυχὰς ἠmicroῶν

Kontakion

O protection of the Christians unashamable mediation to the Maker immovable despise not the pleading voices of those in sin but hasten O good one to the help of all of us who in faith cry out to you Speed up your intercession and press on your supplication O Theotokos who always protects all those who honor you Προστασία τῶν Χριστιανῶν ακαταίσχυντε μεσιτεία πρός τόν Ποιητήν αμετάθετε μή παρίδης αμαρτωλῶν δεήσεων φωνάς αλλά πρόφθασον ως αγαθή εις τήν βοήθειαν ημῶν τῶν πιστῶς κραυγαζόντων σοι Τάχυνον εις πρεσβείαν καί σπεύσον εις ικεσίαν η προστατεύουσα αεί Θεοτόκε τῶν τιμώντων σε

FOR YOUR INFORMATION HYMNS AND WHERE THEY CAN BE FOUND

Hymns of Divine Liturgy insert can be found in the pews to allow you to follow along The hymns in the bulletin

will be the variable ones specific to that week or change from the common hymns that you will find in the insert

located in the pews

Baptism of Tears Let Us Have Ears

To Work While it is Still Light (This is the 8th and final article in the series on Bap-tism and Repentance)

Through the mystery of repentance God em-braces us with his love in order to forgive us and rec-oncile us to Him and the Church We must first have a sense of unfaithfulness a contrite heart and a de-termination to amend our ways Both the interior repentance and the verbal acknowledgement to cler-gy are necessary conditions for true forgiveness and reconciliation Confession is the opening of ones con-science before God and the witness of the Church God is loving and merciful towards his creation He accepts all sinners tenderly and is joyful in their con-version We must be very careful when we confess that we are sincere and honest No matter what words we may speak God is looking into our hearts and knows the truth At the Last Judgment our hearts will be open for all to see so the time is here and now to present a pure heart to cleansed by God We must open our ears and hearts (lsquoLet those who have ears let them hearrsquo Mt 1115) for after the book of life is closed we will all see and hear very loudly and clearly Christians that live in communion with Christ are expected to avail themselves to this sacrament periodically so that they may humble themselves before God and secondarily to receive guidance from their pastor Repentance is to liber-ate and heal rather than to judge The sinner re-quires compassion and healing and not further im-prisonment

Confession and Repentance are two of the many things that we must do in order to fulfill the role the Church has in our lives The Church is us or the people of God As that people we make up the body of Christ Christ is therefore present in us and as such we represent Him on earth to speak act and love and to be His instruments through which Christ works in the world today We are the people that have put on Christ by being baptized with Him sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit in Chrismation forgiven of our sins in Repentance and Confession

and nurtured by the Heavenly Mysteries of His Body and His Blood We are a people in whom Christ dwells a people who listen to and obey God a peo-ple who have truly committed their lives to him as Lord a people who will transform our image into a likeness of Him We cannot however be any of these things if we do not participate in all of the Sacra-ments including the sacrament of Repentance

Because through repentance we renew our baptism we receive a fresh start in life we reinforce humility and obedience we maintain a vigilante watch over ourselves we purify our conscious and we reconcile ourselves with the Lord Our goal is to meet the risen Lord Jesus Who reunites us with God the Father The Father is always waiting to greet us with outstretched hands We must ask ourselves are we willing to turn to Him But before we can return to God we need to recognize that we are far from God because of sin Like the Prodigal Son we are in a self-imposed exile Will we come to our senses as did he and return to our Father

The teaching is truly a somber one The Or-thodox Church teaches that the state of the soul at the moment of death is fixed and unchangeable There can be no moral improvement or repentance beyond the grave The place for such improvement is this life ldquoWe must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day for when night comes no man can workrdquo (John 94) In His mercy God gives us many chances to repent and return to Him

By Deacon John

SAINTS COMMEMORATED

TODAY SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 28th

Chariton the Confessor

Our Righteous Father Alkeisonus Metropolitan of Nicopolis Old Epirus

Baruch the Prophet

2ND TRAY CONTRIBUTIONS

Our Church passes 2 offering trays The 1st goes towards our Operating Budget the 2nd tray will continue for the

NEW Education Building Fund until paid in Full In order to receive credit for your donation for income tax purpos-

es make sure to put your cash donation in an envelope with your name on it or pay by check

STEWARDSHIP UPDATE We are 9 months into 2014 Please pray and offer your time and talent sheet Submit your pledge card or ask

an usher for a new one We are currently at $130000 and our goal is $200000 for 2014

Everyone please pledge

Praying for You

We offer prayers for health and the needs for the servants of God for Eugenia Loughney

Connie Talabac Lanette Howard Louis Eftim Sophia Katsaris Doug Kucera Charlie Mattoff

Mary Spiropoulos Michael and Ann Conidaris John Kontinos amp Penelope Kontinos

Please notify the office if there is someone that needs to be added to the prayer list 239-481-2099

FRIDAY OCTOBER 10th amp SATURDAY OCTOBER 11th 11AMndash 7PM at Annunciation

Greek Orthodox Church

FREE ADMISSION

and this event is open to the

public Additionally it is

completely in doors

MENU ITEMS Gyros Sandwich Greek Chicken Dinner Greek Fries Spanakopita Greek Salad Beverages Beer plus Greek Pastry Galaktoboureko amp Cookies CARRY OUT IS AVAILABLE

LADIES PHILOPTOCHOS SOCIETY

Coffee Hours hostesses for the month of SEPTEMBER are Marilena Midgley and Johanna DiMartino Thanks to them and please give them a helping hand HELLENIC-AMERICAN SOCIAL CLUB

Fall is in the air and the Hellenic-American Club is already planning festivities and events for the coming winterspring season First on the agenda is the ldquoOXIrdquo Picnic on October 28th at Jay-Cee Park and chaired by Irene amp Kleopas Polyviou BBQ Chicken is on the menu plus sides cold drinks and goodies Cost is $6 per member and $7 per guest Please contact Irene amp Kleopas Polyviou at 242-0270 to make your reservation now Remember to bring your plates tableware and a comfy chair if you wish

Our first meeting of the season is scheduled for Tuesday October 14th 700 pm in the Fr Arthur Kontinos Communi-ty Center Plan to attend to learn of coming events SPECIAL For those of you who would like to become

members and to be first to participate in all our activities we are offering a special membership enrollment of only $10 for the balance of the year Please contact Barbara Dionysopoulos (267-2014) for more information

SUNDAY SCHOOL

MARK YOUR CALENDARShellip for Sunday School Fall Open House We invite all parents to attend our Open Houses for their child(ren)s particular class This is an opportunity for parents to meet teachers as well as see what your child(ren) is learning every Sunday

October 5 Fall Open House for 7-12th Grade Class October 12 Fall Open House for PreK amp K Grade Class October 19 Fall Open House for 1-3rd Grade Class October 26 Fall Open House for 4-6th Grade Class CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

MOVIE NIGHT Thursday October 9th at 6PM ldquoSoul Surferrdquo Admission $5 per person covers movie and includes pizza amp soda Located in the Fr Arthur K Kontinos Community Center

Religious Education Teachers Contact Name

PreK amp K Grade Teacher Olympia Ruppe

PreK amp K Grade Assistant Elaine Greene

PreK amp K Grade Assistant Victoria Todd

1-3 Grade Teacher Dorothy Bonstedt

1-3 Grade Assistant Dr Cheryl Johnson

1-3 Grade Assistant Hallie Fenton

4-6 Grade Teacher Jen-Hope Belis

4-6 Grade Assistant Poly Mavridou-Hernandez

7-12 Grade Co-Teacher Tina Kucera

7-12 Grade Co-Teacher Faith Miller

Floater Assistant (PreK-6) Joanna Hoch

Baptism of Tears Let Us Have Ears

To Work While it is Still Light (This is the 8th and final article in the series on Bap-tism and Repentance)

Through the mystery of repentance God em-braces us with his love in order to forgive us and rec-oncile us to Him and the Church We must first have a sense of unfaithfulness a contrite heart and a de-termination to amend our ways Both the interior repentance and the verbal acknowledgement to cler-gy are necessary conditions for true forgiveness and reconciliation Confession is the opening of ones con-science before God and the witness of the Church God is loving and merciful towards his creation He accepts all sinners tenderly and is joyful in their con-version We must be very careful when we confess that we are sincere and honest No matter what words we may speak God is looking into our hearts and knows the truth At the Last Judgment our hearts will be open for all to see so the time is here and now to present a pure heart to cleansed by God We must open our ears and hearts (lsquoLet those who have ears let them hearrsquo Mt 1115) for after the book of life is closed we will all see and hear very loudly and clearly Christians that live in communion with Christ are expected to avail themselves to this sacrament periodically so that they may humble themselves before God and secondarily to receive guidance from their pastor Repentance is to liber-ate and heal rather than to judge The sinner re-quires compassion and healing and not further im-prisonment

Confession and Repentance are two of the many things that we must do in order to fulfill the role the Church has in our lives The Church is us or the people of God As that people we make up the body of Christ Christ is therefore present in us and as such we represent Him on earth to speak act and love and to be His instruments through which Christ works in the world today We are the people that have put on Christ by being baptized with Him sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit in Chrismation forgiven of our sins in Repentance and Confession

and nurtured by the Heavenly Mysteries of His Body and His Blood We are a people in whom Christ dwells a people who listen to and obey God a peo-ple who have truly committed their lives to him as Lord a people who will transform our image into a likeness of Him We cannot however be any of these things if we do not participate in all of the Sacra-ments including the sacrament of Repentance

Because through repentance we renew our baptism we receive a fresh start in life we reinforce humility and obedience we maintain a vigilante watch over ourselves we purify our conscious and we reconcile ourselves with the Lord Our goal is to meet the risen Lord Jesus Who reunites us with God the Father The Father is always waiting to greet us with outstretched hands We must ask ourselves are we willing to turn to Him But before we can return to God we need to recognize that we are far from God because of sin Like the Prodigal Son we are in a self-imposed exile Will we come to our senses as did he and return to our Father

The teaching is truly a somber one The Or-thodox Church teaches that the state of the soul at the moment of death is fixed and unchangeable There can be no moral improvement or repentance beyond the grave The place for such improvement is this life ldquoWe must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day for when night comes no man can workrdquo (John 94) In His mercy God gives us many chances to repent and return to Him

By Deacon John

SAINTS COMMEMORATED

TODAY SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 28th

Chariton the Confessor

Our Righteous Father Alkeisonus Metropolitan of Nicopolis Old Epirus

Baruch the Prophet

2ND TRAY CONTRIBUTIONS

Our Church passes 2 offering trays The 1st goes towards our Operating Budget the 2nd tray will continue for the

NEW Education Building Fund until paid in Full In order to receive credit for your donation for income tax purpos-

es make sure to put your cash donation in an envelope with your name on it or pay by check

STEWARDSHIP UPDATE We are 9 months into 2014 Please pray and offer your time and talent sheet Submit your pledge card or ask

an usher for a new one We are currently at $130000 and our goal is $200000 for 2014

Everyone please pledge

Praying for You

We offer prayers for health and the needs for the servants of God for Eugenia Loughney

Connie Talabac Lanette Howard Louis Eftim Sophia Katsaris Doug Kucera Charlie Mattoff

Mary Spiropoulos Michael and Ann Conidaris John Kontinos amp Penelope Kontinos

Please notify the office if there is someone that needs to be added to the prayer list 239-481-2099

FRIDAY OCTOBER 10th amp SATURDAY OCTOBER 11th 11AMndash 7PM at Annunciation

Greek Orthodox Church

FREE ADMISSION

and this event is open to the

public Additionally it is

completely in doors

MENU ITEMS Gyros Sandwich Greek Chicken Dinner Greek Fries Spanakopita Greek Salad Beverages Beer plus Greek Pastry Galaktoboureko amp Cookies CARRY OUT IS AVAILABLE

LADIES PHILOPTOCHOS SOCIETY

Coffee Hours hostesses for the month of SEPTEMBER are Marilena Midgley and Johanna DiMartino Thanks to them and please give them a helping hand HELLENIC-AMERICAN SOCIAL CLUB

Fall is in the air and the Hellenic-American Club is already planning festivities and events for the coming winterspring season First on the agenda is the ldquoOXIrdquo Picnic on October 28th at Jay-Cee Park and chaired by Irene amp Kleopas Polyviou BBQ Chicken is on the menu plus sides cold drinks and goodies Cost is $6 per member and $7 per guest Please contact Irene amp Kleopas Polyviou at 242-0270 to make your reservation now Remember to bring your plates tableware and a comfy chair if you wish

Our first meeting of the season is scheduled for Tuesday October 14th 700 pm in the Fr Arthur Kontinos Communi-ty Center Plan to attend to learn of coming events SPECIAL For those of you who would like to become

members and to be first to participate in all our activities we are offering a special membership enrollment of only $10 for the balance of the year Please contact Barbara Dionysopoulos (267-2014) for more information

SUNDAY SCHOOL

MARK YOUR CALENDARShellip for Sunday School Fall Open House We invite all parents to attend our Open Houses for their child(ren)s particular class This is an opportunity for parents to meet teachers as well as see what your child(ren) is learning every Sunday

October 5 Fall Open House for 7-12th Grade Class October 12 Fall Open House for PreK amp K Grade Class October 19 Fall Open House for 1-3rd Grade Class October 26 Fall Open House for 4-6th Grade Class CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

MOVIE NIGHT Thursday October 9th at 6PM ldquoSoul Surferrdquo Admission $5 per person covers movie and includes pizza amp soda Located in the Fr Arthur K Kontinos Community Center

Religious Education Teachers Contact Name

PreK amp K Grade Teacher Olympia Ruppe

PreK amp K Grade Assistant Elaine Greene

PreK amp K Grade Assistant Victoria Todd

1-3 Grade Teacher Dorothy Bonstedt

1-3 Grade Assistant Dr Cheryl Johnson

1-3 Grade Assistant Hallie Fenton

4-6 Grade Teacher Jen-Hope Belis

4-6 Grade Assistant Poly Mavridou-Hernandez

7-12 Grade Co-Teacher Tina Kucera

7-12 Grade Co-Teacher Faith Miller

Floater Assistant (PreK-6) Joanna Hoch

STEWARDSHIP UPDATE We are 9 months into 2014 Please pray and offer your time and talent sheet Submit your pledge card or ask

an usher for a new one We are currently at $130000 and our goal is $200000 for 2014

Everyone please pledge

Praying for You

We offer prayers for health and the needs for the servants of God for Eugenia Loughney

Connie Talabac Lanette Howard Louis Eftim Sophia Katsaris Doug Kucera Charlie Mattoff

Mary Spiropoulos Michael and Ann Conidaris John Kontinos amp Penelope Kontinos

Please notify the office if there is someone that needs to be added to the prayer list 239-481-2099

FRIDAY OCTOBER 10th amp SATURDAY OCTOBER 11th 11AMndash 7PM at Annunciation

Greek Orthodox Church

FREE ADMISSION

and this event is open to the

public Additionally it is

completely in doors

MENU ITEMS Gyros Sandwich Greek Chicken Dinner Greek Fries Spanakopita Greek Salad Beverages Beer plus Greek Pastry Galaktoboureko amp Cookies CARRY OUT IS AVAILABLE

LADIES PHILOPTOCHOS SOCIETY

Coffee Hours hostesses for the month of SEPTEMBER are Marilena Midgley and Johanna DiMartino Thanks to them and please give them a helping hand HELLENIC-AMERICAN SOCIAL CLUB

Fall is in the air and the Hellenic-American Club is already planning festivities and events for the coming winterspring season First on the agenda is the ldquoOXIrdquo Picnic on October 28th at Jay-Cee Park and chaired by Irene amp Kleopas Polyviou BBQ Chicken is on the menu plus sides cold drinks and goodies Cost is $6 per member and $7 per guest Please contact Irene amp Kleopas Polyviou at 242-0270 to make your reservation now Remember to bring your plates tableware and a comfy chair if you wish

Our first meeting of the season is scheduled for Tuesday October 14th 700 pm in the Fr Arthur Kontinos Communi-ty Center Plan to attend to learn of coming events SPECIAL For those of you who would like to become

members and to be first to participate in all our activities we are offering a special membership enrollment of only $10 for the balance of the year Please contact Barbara Dionysopoulos (267-2014) for more information

SUNDAY SCHOOL

MARK YOUR CALENDARShellip for Sunday School Fall Open House We invite all parents to attend our Open Houses for their child(ren)s particular class This is an opportunity for parents to meet teachers as well as see what your child(ren) is learning every Sunday

October 5 Fall Open House for 7-12th Grade Class October 12 Fall Open House for PreK amp K Grade Class October 19 Fall Open House for 1-3rd Grade Class October 26 Fall Open House for 4-6th Grade Class CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

MOVIE NIGHT Thursday October 9th at 6PM ldquoSoul Surferrdquo Admission $5 per person covers movie and includes pizza amp soda Located in the Fr Arthur K Kontinos Community Center

Religious Education Teachers Contact Name

PreK amp K Grade Teacher Olympia Ruppe

PreK amp K Grade Assistant Elaine Greene

PreK amp K Grade Assistant Victoria Todd

1-3 Grade Teacher Dorothy Bonstedt

1-3 Grade Assistant Dr Cheryl Johnson

1-3 Grade Assistant Hallie Fenton

4-6 Grade Teacher Jen-Hope Belis

4-6 Grade Assistant Poly Mavridou-Hernandez

7-12 Grade Co-Teacher Tina Kucera

7-12 Grade Co-Teacher Faith Miller

Floater Assistant (PreK-6) Joanna Hoch