Verse of the Day

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Christmas Eve - Christmas Day


Read more about this scene HERE.
Christmas Eve

While this is an AOC publication, we are often asked as the Western Most Parish, how goes it in the far reaches of the unknown West?  So, occasionally we put in some local color! 

As the song goes, Oh the weather outside is frightful, But the fire is so delightful, And since we've no place to go, Let it snow! Let it snow!  Actually, while we have had snow this year already, there was none for today not likelihood of any tomorrow!  The Outside Air Temperature was a lovely 71°F and clear today and 47°F at Mount Olympus’ 3,500’msl altitude, as we ended our service, so no snow.  We are thankful for the coming of our Lord and the freedom we have.  The weather was bright and sunny, as were the dispositions of the three people attending the service were!

By the way, each year we have a rosemary bush Christmas “tree” that we plant afterwards.  No shortage ever of that seasoning here, or bay leaf for matter!

On Point
Someone asked, where do the quotes come from?  The answer is from the people who uttered them.  But, how did you find them?  Oh, that.  Some from Bishop Jerry, many from Rev Bryan Dabney, a few from other places, some from Rev Geordie Menzies-Grierson, but overall mostly from Bryan.  He always has some great ones to share.  On to the On Point quotes –

Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government-- in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost comes in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player.
Milton Friedman

When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion- When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing- when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors- when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you- when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice- you may know that your society is doomed.
Ayn Rand
Atheist, but correct on economics
Atlas Shrugged

Truth
“I suppose there are two views about everything,” said Mark.

“Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there’s never more than one.”
Jack Lewis
That Hideous Strength

Propers
Each Sunday there are Propers: special prayers and readings from the Bible.  There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in the 1540s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury after the re-founding.  

The Collect for the Day is to be read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. The Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in the New Testament.  The Gospel is a reading from one of the Holy Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  The Collect is said by the minister as a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we do in our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the service in our church is read by an ordained minister.

The propers are the same each year, except if a Red Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook, falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White Season, where it is put off.  Red Letter Feasts, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in red, are special days.  Most of the Red Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saints instrumental in the development of the church, others to special events.  Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent. 


We used the propers for the first service of Christmas Day for our Christmas Eve service which are found on Page 96-98, with the Collect first:

The Collect.

O
 GOD, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thine only Son Jesus Christ; Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him when he shall come to be our Judge, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle, which came from Paul’s letter to Titus beginning in the Eleventh Verse of the Second Chapter.  Paul tells Titus that it is only God’s grace that gives us salvation.  If we are going to accept that grace, we need to live the life to which God has called us. Regardless of cost, we need to live the life God has purchased for us.  

We need to trust in God and in this world live cleanly, conservatively, thoughtfully, looking towards God for our salvation.  We need to encourage and exhort other Christians to do likewise.  

To live in harmony with others.

To be, to the extent we are able, paragons of virtue.  Serving as good examples, not bad.  Paul tells Titus to do what is right, trust is God and worry not.  Quoting a later author, “Trust in God and Dread Naught.”

T
HE grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

Tonight’s Gospel is the narrative of the Nativity from the Gospel according to Saint Luke, the Second Chapter, beginning at the First Verse. 

A
ND it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into  Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Sermon - Rev Hap Arnold
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly  contained in the forewords above.  

As I was readying tonight’s sermon, the thought came to me, surely not original at all, that as we begin our celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, consider Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, was sent by His Father, God the Father, the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, into this world that we might have life eternal. While it is an amazing thing that God would send His only begotten Son, His Christ, here to this miserable planet for our redemption, is even more amazing and worthy of awe that Jesus came to this world knowing how He would leave.  He knew he would be born in a manger and die on a cross; a horrible horrible death that we might have eternal life.   As we go through Christmas and we remember the joy, remember Jesus, the Christ of God, came into this world with full knowledge aforethought as to how He would leave and yet He came that we might live.

Tonight we remember and celebrate the coming of our Lord, the first time; we look to the coming of our Lord, the second time.  The Jews were looking to God to send the Messiah, the one who they determined would free them from the brutal yoke of the Romans and put them on top again.  They looked to being the veritable Top Dogs.  They wanted a Champion to lead them to victory over the Romans, throwing the Roman yoke off Israel.  What God sent was a baby.  Well, The Baby, but nonetheless a baby.  Shepherds came to worship Him, but Herod was looking to kill Him.  No good in having a Champion putting Herod out of the well paying petty quisling dictator job.

What God sent the Jews was His only begotten Son.  In point of fact, He sent Him to the Jews first, but not only.  The “Wise Men” showed up to worship Him and regardless of who they might have been, they certainly were not Jews.  This Son was to free the Jews from the Prince of Darkness and the finality of death.  That really did not fit the Jews’ plan.[1]  They were still looking for Expulsor, he who would toss the Romans out on their heads.

“Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him when he shall come to be our Judge[2].”, With sure confidence, if we receive him now as our Redeemer, we shall be filled with sure confidence of being received by Him when we are standing before his Judgement seat. If we do not joyfully receive him now, how can we expect him to be joyfully receiving us when we come to meet him.

In joyous rememberence of His Birth, we must keep in mind the end goal of his arrival here on Earth, which was to free us from the bondage of sin and death, by giving his life so that we might be free of this terrible oppression. We must Rejoice always and again I say Rejoice, in the fact that we are free from the wages of sin, by the fact that He gave his life for us, and was born that He might save us from a final death.

The key word is joyfully, meaning we must of our own free will receive Him into our hearts, and feel the joyousness of His Birth, for this holiday of His Birth is a happy time, to not only feel the joy of his physical arrival, but of what He came to do for us, that we might be free for all eternity. He shall be our confidence and our spiritual dwelling place, rather than place our hope in men, who shall always fall short, but God shall never lead us astray or fall short of our hopes and expectations, unlike Men.

Remembering His Birth each year, we must consider what the cost was for our freedom from death, which soon after he ascended to be with Our Father.  

Some guy coming to save their souls, without the need for slaughtering the profitable sacrificial animals did not really fit their plan.  They had The Law, what more did they need?

The Jews concentrated on their wants and ignored their needs.  Need, Want – both four letter words, oft used interchangeably.  Sadly, they don’t mean the same thing.

So, that is where the Jews were on Christmas Eve; Christmas Day for that matter?  God intended to fulfill their needs, they looked to have their wants fulfilled.

How about us on this Christmas Eve; or Christmas Day for that matter?  Are we looking for someone to make us rich, thin or cool?  Or are we looking for someone who will save our souls?  Do what God asks, you will not only gain eternal life, but eternal happiness and as a plus you will be happy.  You may think you can have more fun, but He guarantees you will be happy.

As we come upon this midnight clear, the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ waits for us.  Will we accept it?  Follow Him, accept His Grace and all will be good forever.

He comes!

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

Christmas Day

The weather for the Christmas Day service was very nice, 54°F, the blues skies of a Santa Ana (not a Santa Claus) and a lot of wind.  The lovely weather brought 3 people to worship the Lord on the day of his birth.

Propers
The propers for today are found on Page 96-98, with the Collect first:

The Nativity of our Lord, or the Birthday of Christ,
commonly called Christmas Day.
[December 25.]
The Collect.


A
LMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end.  Amen.

¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave.

The Epistle for Christmas Day came from the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews, the First Chapter, beginning at the First Verse: 

G
od, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who  being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

The Gospel for Christmas Day came from the Gospel according to Saint John, the First Chapter, beginning at the First Verse.  This particular Gospel is known as the Last Gospel as it comes from the last Gospel to be written, that of St. John, and it brings the final Word of Jesus to us.

I
n the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Sermon - Rev Hap Arnold
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s sermon is the message of Christmas.  “He came unto His own and they received Him not.” Christ came unto His own, the people he created, to show them the Word which He is the living embodiment of, the Living and True Scripture. They received Neither the written Word that his Apostles wrote, nor the spoken Word from His Mouth that He spake unto them. “But as many as received Him, to them he gave the power to become the sons of God.” He has adopted us unto his family, through His Word, which he has spoken unto us, that we may fulfill it and live in harmony with others in this word.

“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” This speaks to the living incarnate nature of the Word, (Christ) who dwelt among us 2,000 years ago, that he might understand our nature more, so that He could teach us with more understanding. If He lived in our conditions, it would be easier for Him to relate to us when He taught and spake the Word of His Father.   “And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” In That Word, He spake both full of grace and of truth as John talked about in the last Gospel. Through His grace and truth that we accept, only can we do things for His Glory. Without the Word, we cannot do anything for Him, as imperfect creatures, now having been accounted and spoken for by Christ. With the Word, we are empowered to do things for Him. The birth of Christ would foreshadow his death, which would bring about the ultimate freedom, that from sin and death.

That is such an important point. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)  Not just that God, the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, would send His only begotten Son, but that the Son came knowing not only that He, King of Kings, would be born in a manger, live a life of relative poverty, but that He would die a horrible horrible death that we might have eternal life.  He came to this miserable planet for us, to give us life eternal!  Think of that on this Christmas Day!

Today we recall the birth of our Lord and Savior, the only means by which we, imperfect creatures with free will, might be accounted as perfect before God when our day of judgment comes.  Born, not in a palace, but in a stable, He is all that we have been promised.  Taking the substance of Man, all Man and all God, He knows our temptations, He knows our failures, He knows our failings, He knows our sorrow; He also knows our happiness, our small triumphs, our hopes and our dreams.  He is the only one in this world who will never fail us in the slightest.  He gives us His example to follow.  If we will but follow Him, we will draw closer to God.  He made the world, He knows the world.  He defeated the Prince of this World, thus with His Help, so will we.  This is a day of joy, foreshadowing a day of sorrow, leading to the greatest joy of all.

Let us joyfully receive Him into our hearts and homes, that we might do what He asks and spread the Joy of His Arrival on Earth that we might prepare for His Second Coming. If we do this and what he asks, which is a common theme that stays the same throughout the Christian Year, we shall be Blessed with good things, as a result of doing what He asks. On the Christmas Day, let us Rejoice in His Coming and begin our preparations for His Second Coming

Let this be a blessed and happy Christmas.  He has come to us!

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

Sermon - Rev Geordie Menzies Grierson
AOC United Kingdom

He Walked Out Of Heaven
He came from splendor to be born in poverty. He left the presence of angels for the company of me. He laid down a scepter in heaven to be laid in a manger and exchanged the worship of Arch-angels for the praise of lowly shepherds.

He walked into the world with all the power of Almighty God at his bidding but He was carried out a mutilated body lowered from a cross.

He rebuked the pious but He comforted the sinner. He refused earthly Kingship although He was still a King. He loved His mother yet gave her away at the Cross. He healed the broken-hearted yet He himself died with a broken heart.

He loved the fellowship of friends yet was cast out by His kinsmen. He rebuked both sage and seer and then blessed the little children. He held an executive meeting on the Mount of Transfiguration then wept alone in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He could walk on water, but could not walk away from the tears in the eyes of the Widow from Nain. He could command the stars in their orbits but he refused to change the circumstances of His own execution. His mission was a commitment to free all menyet He was imprisoned on the testimony of one man.

He delivered many from pain but He was delivered to suffer agonizing pain. He dried the eyes of multitudes but no one dried His eyes in Gethsemane. He carried the burdens of the world but only one was brought forth to help Him bear His Cross to Calvary.

His execution was thought to be insignificant, but became the controversy of the ages. His life was extinguished in a brief second of time but then ignited to lighten the world. His short span of thirty-three years on Earth should have passed unnoted were it possible but no one life has ever had such impact on the minds of men.

His three and one-half years in the public’s eye was brief indeed but His achievements are the greatest ever recorded.

He has inspired more men conquered more hearts delivered more prisoners consoled more mourners than any figure in the history of man. He spoke of love but was murdered with hate. He shared all that he had and then on the Cross...He shared paradise with a thief. He gave the World light only to be driven into the cavern of Death. He gave mankind guidance only to be guided to Golgotha. He pointed men to the Tree of Life and they nailed Him to a tree on a hill called The Skull. He laid down a scepter in heaven to be laid in a borrowed tomb.

He walked out of heaven pure perfect and beautiful. He returned beaten mutilated and nail scarred. He fulfilled all that was written of Him and yet man did not believe Him. His coming changed the course of nations His return will be to judge the nations. His title was simple as stated on the Cross “Jesus of Nazareth • King of the Jews”; but to those who have ever known Him, He is Jesus Christ the Son of the living God.



[1] By the way, it has been said if you really want to make God laugh, tell Him your plan.  I don’t take credit for the thought, but sadly I do not know where I first heard it.
[2] From the Collect for the day.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Christmas Eve


As the song goes, Oh the weather outside is frightful, But the fire is so delightful, And since we've no place to go, Let it snow! Let it snow!  Actually, while we have had snow this year already, there was none for today not likelihood of any tomorrow!  The Outside Air Temperature was a lovely 71°F and clear today and 47°F at Mount Olympus’ 3,500’msl altitude, as we ended our service, so no snow.  We are thankful for the coming of our Lord and the freedom we have.  The weather was bright and sunny, as were the dispositions of the three people attending the service were!

By the way, each year we have a rosemary bush Christmas “tree” that we plant afterwards.  No shortage ever of that seasoning here, or bay leaf for matter!

On Point
Someone asked, where do the quotes come from?  The answer is from the people who uttered them.  But, how did you find them?  Oh, that.  Some from Bishop Jerry, many from Rev Bryan Dabney, a few from other places, some from Rev Geordie Menzies-Grierson, but overall mostly from Bryan.  He always has some great ones to share.  On to the On Point quotes –

Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government-- in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost comes in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player.
Milton Friedman

When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion- When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing- when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors- when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you- when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice- you may know that your society is doomed.
Ayn Rand
Atheist, but correct on economics
Atlas Shrugged

Truth
“I suppose there are two views about everything,” said Mark.

“Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there’s never more than one.”
Jack Lewis
That Hideous Strength

Propers
Each Sunday there are Propers: special prayers and readings from the Bible.  There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in the 1540s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury after the re-founding. 

The Collect for the Day is to be read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. The Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in the New Testament.  The Gospel is a reading from one of the Holy Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  The Collect is said by the minister as a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we do in our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the service in our church is read by an ordained minister.

The propers are the same each year, except if a Red Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook, falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White Season, where it is put off.  Red Letter Feasts, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in red, are special days.  Most of the Red Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saints instrumental in the development of the church, others to special events.  Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent.

We used the propers for the first service of Christmas Day for our Christmas Eve service which are found on Page 96-98, with the Collect first:

The Collect.

O
 GOD, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thine only Son Jesus Christ; Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him when he shall come to be our Judge, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle, which came from Paul’s letter to Titus beginning in the Eleventh Verse of the Second Chapter.  Paul tells Titus that it is only God’s grace that gives us salvation.  If we are going to accept that grace, we need to live the life to which God has called us. Regardless of cost, we need to live the life God has purchased for us. 

We need to trust in God and in this world live cleanly, conservatively, thoughtfully, looking towards God for our salvation.  We need to encourage and exhort other Christians to do likewise. 

To live in harmony with others.

To be, to the extent we are able, paragons of virtue.  Serving as good examples, not bad.  Paul tells Titus to do what is right, trust is God and worry not.  Quoting a later author, “Trust in God and Dread Naught.”

T
HE grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

Tonight’s Gospel is the narrative of the Nativity from the Gospel according to Saint Luke, the Second Chapter, beginning at the First Verse.

A
ND it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into  Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Sermon - Rev Hap Arnold
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly  contained in the forewords above. 

As I was readying tonight’s sermon, the thought came to me, surely not original at all, that as we begin our celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, consider Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, was sent by His Father, God the Father, the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, into this world that we might have life eternal. While it is an amazing thing that God would send His only begotten Son, His Christ, here to this miserable planet for our redemption, is even more amazing and worthy of awe that Jesus came to this world knowing how He would leave.  He knew he would be born in a manger and die on a cross; a horrible horrible death that we might have eternal life.   As we go through Christmas and we remember the joy, remember Jesus, the Christ of God, came into this world with full knowledge aforethought as to how He would leave and yet He came that we might live.

Tonight we remember and celebrate the coming of our Lord, the first time; we look to the coming of our Lord, the second time.  The Jews were looking to God to send the Messiah, the one who they determined would free them from the brutal yoke of the Romans and put them on top again.  They looked to being the veritable Top Dogs.  They wanted a Champion to lead them to victory over the Romans, throwing the Roman yoke off Israel.  What God sent was a baby.  Well, The Baby, but nonetheless a baby.  Shepherds came to worship Him, but Herod was looking to kill Him.  No good in having a Champion putting Herod out of the well paying petty quisling dictator job.

What God sent the Jews was His only begotten Son.  In point of fact, He sent Him to the Jews first, but not only.  The “Wise Men” showed up to worship Him and regardless of who they might have been, they certainly were not Jews.  This Son was to free the Jews from the Prince of Darkness and the finality of death.  That really did not fit the Jews’ plan.[1]  They were still looking for Expulsor, he who would toss the Romans out on their heads.

“Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him when he shall come to be our Judge[2].”, With sure confidence, if we receive him now as our Redeemer, we shall be filled with sure confidence of being received by Him when we are standing before his Judgement seat. If we do not joyfully receive him now, how can we expect him to be joyfully receiving us when we come to meet him.

In joyous rememberence of His Birth, we must keep in mind the end goal of his arrival here on Earth, which was to free us from the bondage of sin and death, by giving his life so that we might be free of this terrible oppression. We must Rejoice always and again I say Rejoice, in the fact that we are free from the wages of sin, by the fact that He gave his life for us, and was born that He might save us from a final death.

The key word is joyfully, meaning we must of our own free will receive Him into our hearts, and feel the joyousness of His Birth, for this holiday of His Birth is a happy time, to not only feel the joy of his physical arrival, but of what He came to do for us, that we might be free for all eternity. He shall be our confidence and our spiritual dwelling place, rather than place our hope in men, who shall always fall short, but God shall never lead us astray or fall short of our hopes and expectations, unlike Men.

Remembering His Birth each year, we must consider what the cost was for our freedom from death, which soon after he ascended to be with Our Father. 

Some guy coming to save their souls, without the need for slaughtering the profitable sacrificial animals did not really fit their plan.  They had The Law, what more did they need?

The Jews concentrated on their wants and ignored their needs.  Need, Want – both four letter words, oft used interchangeably.  Sadly, they don’t mean the same thing.

So, that is where the Jews were on Christmas Eve; Christmas Day for that matter?  God intended to fulfill their needs, they looked to have their wants fulfilled.

How about us on this Christmas Eve; or Christmas Day for that matter?  Are we looking for someone to make us rich, thin or cool?  Or are we looking for someone who will save our souls?  Do what God asks, you will not only gain eternal life, but eternal happiness and as a plus you will be happy.  You may think you can have more fun, but He guarantees you will be happy.

As we come upon this midnight clear, the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ waits for us.  Will we accept it?  Follow Him, accept His Grace and all will be good forever.

He comes!

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God




[1] By the way, it has been said if you really want to make God laugh, tell Him your plan.  I don’t take credit for the thought, but sadly I do not know where I first heard it.
[2] From the Collect for the day.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Fourth Sunday in Advent


Today was the Fourth Sunday in Advent, the period including the four Sundays before Christmas; the first Sunday of which is always the nearest Sunday to the feast of St. Andrew (30 November). Advent is a season of preparation and penitence. We prepare ourselves to celebrate the coming of Jesus at Christmas, but we also look forward to his second coming.  The liturgical color for this season is purple reminding us of the Kingship of Jesus and that Advent is also a season of penitential preparation.

Christmas is the coming Thursday, thus it is fitting that we run the annual Christmas letter from our worldwide Presiding Bishop Jerry L. Ogles:

O Come let us adore Him,
Christ the King
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7)

Here Comes Santa Claus!
Long ago and far away, a colorful character was introduced to children as the main attraction for the Christmas season. Like God, this jolly old man in the red suit was omniscient. He knows when you are sleeping; he knows when you’re awake; he knows if you’ve been good or bad so be good for goodness sake. Like God, this character could be at all places at all times, and could fly through the air like an angel on a sled. He became the great benefactor of Christmas and gradually took the place of the forgotten Baby in a Manger – the Son of God. Every child would respond “Santa Claus” if you asked them what they looked forward to a Christmas. They were not told by their parents Santa Claus was merely another fairy tale, but the REAL thing. If they were good, Santa Claus would know, and reward them at Christmas. (and the devil smiled)

Believe it or not, Santa Claus is based upon a real live person – St. Nicolas, Bishop of Myra. I have attended the church named after him in Slankamen.  He was very kind and compassionate, and gave gifts freely to the poor – but he was not Christ! He was merely a good man and servant of the Lord. Though Santa Claus had become the main attraction at Christmas, his advent came at a time in history in which no one dared call the day anything else but CHRISTMAS!

Time passed, and many of our youth who believed in the literal Santa Claus became adults. Except for gift-giving, there was no longer anything very special about the name of the Holy-Day (the term from which holiday derived), so they believed it would be perfectly OK to omit that longer title of the holiday and rid themselves of the troubling name of Christ – so they came up with the idea of omitting Christ’s name altogether. They would call the day, X-Mas! Even Christians fell for the trick and, if asked, would give some semi-implausible explanation about the special meaning of ‘X’ in the Greek alphabet. For whatever reason, there can be no name like unto that of Christ. He cannot be replaced by either English or Greek letter. But those who insisted on brevity, for the sake of brevity, brought the term, X-Mas, into wide use. It began to show up on all public advertisements and in the print media. (and the devil smiled)

When the professing Christian frogs had adapted themselves to the rising temperature of the water, a new term for the holiday was conceived by men who were not so much concerned with brevity, but deplored any spiritual application whatsoever to the Season of Christmas. Why not teach our children to call the day by an altogether different term? Shall we call it ‘Winter Break,” or “Winter Holiday?” Yes, that will do fine even if more letters are required to write Winter Holiday than Christmas! So all of the schools, and most of the print and televised media, fell into line to call the former day commemorating the birth of Christ by the term The Winter Holiday. (and the devil smiled broadly for he had achieved his prime purpose)

The point of this Christmas letter is to remind us of the Reason for the Season – the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no great harm in teaching our children the legend of Santa Claus as a fairy tale, but I know many children who truly believed the lie until they were mature enough to question the credibility of such an outlandish tale. They may have asked as well, “Were my par- ents lying as well about Jesus Christ?”

MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
(Do not allow store clerks to get away with any other greeting!)

For

The Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide,
Jerry L. Ogles
Jerry L. Ogles
Presiding Bishop

PS: This letter will probably evoke greater umbrage among adults than if I wrote claiming Christmas was not about Jesus. Why do you suppose that may be the case?

On Point
Someone asked, where do the quotes come from?  The answer is from the people who uttered them.  But, how did you find them?  Oh, that.  Some from Bishop Jerry, many from Rev Bryan Dabney, a few from other places, some from Rev Geordie Menzies-Grierson, but overall mostly from Bryan.  He always has some great ones to share.  On to the On Point quotes –

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
General George S. Patton

I ... place economy among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared.
Thomas Jefferson
Letter to William Plumer, 1816
On worry
A great many people (not you) do now seem to think that the mere state of being worried is in itself meritorious. I don’t think it is. We must, if it so happens, give our lives for others: but even while we’re doing it, I think we’re meant to enjoy Our Lord and, in Him, our friends, our food, our sleep, our jokes, and the birds’ song and the frosty sunrise.
Jack Lewis
The Collected Letters of CS Lewis, Volume II

O LORD, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Psalm 51:15

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Jeremiah 23:5-6

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13-14

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteous arise with healing in his wings...
Malachi 4:2

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
St. Matthew 5:14

They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

St. Mark 2:17
For as by one man’s disobedience many were many sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Romans 5:19

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
II St. Peter 1:16

In [the Christian] faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't.
Blaise Pascal
17th century French mathematician, philosopher and author

The Bible is God's road map for mankind. Everyone who reads his Word and heeds it, will be a traveler who will reach God's destination and who will experience the love, joy and peace which he has prepared for them who love him and keep his commandments.
Bryan Dabney
AOC Minister

In the cold, dark winter of our souls, God sent Light and warmth to us in the Person of His Beloved Son, Jesus, knowing full well that His Son would be murdered by the keepers of the vineyard. How could God send His Beloved as a ransom for the miserable and stubborn creatures that rebelled time and again against his Sovereignty? There is only one explanation— unmerited Love and Grace!
Jerry L. Ogles
20th and 21st century Anglican Orthodox Presiding Bishop

We have heard the children say— gentle children whom we love— Long ago, on Christmas Day, came a message from above. Still, as Christmas-tide comes round, they remember it again— Echo still the joyful sound ‘Peace on earth, good-will to men!’ Yet the hearts must childlike be where such heavenly guests abide; unto children, in their glee, all the year is Christmas-tide.
Lewis Carroll
19th century English author
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

We have been made for eternity! Yet though such a belief exists in every ancient religion from the Egyptians to the Persian to the Assyrian and Babylonian, the Chinese and the Hindu, everywhere it has waited for Jesus Christ to give to it a certitude nothing else could grant.
D. James Kennedy
20th and 21st |century American theologian, teacher and author
Why I Believe, p.65

We are more than the sum of our institutions, we are our parents and our grandparents, we are the things we read and the things we believe, we are the sense of mission that brought our ancestors through thousands of years of trouble and we are their strengths and their weaknesses. It’s not our institutions that make our successes possible. It is our beliefs that make all the difference.
Daniel Greenfield
21st century American commentator

Propers
Each Sunday there are Propers: special prayers and readings from the Bible.  There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in the 1540s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury after the re-founding. 

The Collect for the Day is to be read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. The Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in the New Testament.  The Gospel is a reading from one of the Holy Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  The Collect is said by the minister as a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we do in our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the service in our church is read by an ordained minister.

The propers are the same each year, except if a Red Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook, falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White Season, where it is put off.  Red Letter Feasts, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in red, are special days.  Most of the Red Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saints instrumental in the development of the church, others to special events.  Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent.

The Propers are found on Page 95-96, with the Collect first:

The Fourth Sunday in Advent
The Collect.

O
 LORD, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, world without end.  Amen.

The Collect for the First Sunday in Advent is on Page 90:

The First Sunday in Advent
The Collect.

A
LMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

¶ This Collect is to be repeated every day, after the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas Day.

The Epistle for today came from Paul’s first letter to the Philippians, starting at the Fourth Verse of the Fourth Chapter.

Paul calls on us to “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”  We are to lead the world to Christ by example, to “Let (y)our moderation be known unto all men.”  In this Advent season, as always, “The Lord is at hand.”  We are to worry about nothing, “but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”  Be joyful in all things, not for all things.  And in the words we find at the end of the Holy Communion Service, may “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  Or to quote another, “Trust in God and Dread Naught.”

R
ejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Today’s Holy Gospel came from the Gospel according to Saint John, the First Chapter, beginning at the Nineteenth Verse.  When they heard rumor of John the Baptist, Jews wondering if this might be the Messiah, sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who art thou?”  John told them, “I am not the Christ.”  Then, they cast about for who he might be, ”Art thou Elias?”

Confounded, they asked, “Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?”  He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.”  The Pharisees people were somewhat confused and asked, “Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?”  John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”

Interestingly, the same theme is found over and over, as is oft the case with truth.  There are those among us who just plain will not see.  For, there are none so deaf as those who will not hear and none so blind as those who will not see.

T
his is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Bishop Ogles’ Sermon
We are oft fortunate to get copies of Bishop Jerry’s sermon notes.  Today is one of those Sundays. Today’s sermon starts off with the collect, and like always, it will give you a lot to consider in your heart.

Sermon Notes
Fourth Sunday in Advent
21 December 2014, Anno Domini

The Fourth Sunday in Advent
The Collect.

O
 LORD, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, world without end.  Amen.

The Collect for the First Sunday in Advent is on Page 90:

The First Sunday in Advent
The Collect.

A
LMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

¶ This Collect is to be repeated every day, after the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas Day.

N
ow in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages. And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.  (St. Luke 3:1-17)
    
Evil men of that day ruled in the Holy Place of Jerusalem just as the abomination that maketh desolate is now standing in the Holy Place of America’s churches. That abomination has been severely censored by God in both the Old and New Testament. We have ordained and consecrated men (and women) who are openly homosexual to the ministry in the churches in America. These wicked people now stand in pulpits and even in episcopal authority over those pulpits. How long do we feel God will withhold His wrath for this willful disregard for His Word? “…..and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(Daniel 11:31, 37) and “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)(Matt 24:15) This has direct reference to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus of Romans in 70 A.D., but it also has a parallel meaning for us today who disregard the Word of God and allow unholy men to serve in ministry. Christ fulfilled the law of sacrifice so, regardless of what is done on an altar has no relevance, but what happens in the pulpits of the Church have a gravity that we had best begin to deal with or suffer the wrath to come.
    
God establishes a definite chronology for the Coming of His only Begotten Son so that the Scriptures will all agree as to the words spoken of the prophets centuries past. He sets the stage for our understanding.  The Scripture cannot be broken regardless the futile attempts of higher critics and textual ‘engineers’ to the contrary. “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene.”
    
The stage is set for the arraignment of all of those despots who would, not only preside over the land throughout the ministry of Christ, but also at its closing through their direct complicity in His trial and crucifixion. It was to Tiberius Caesar that the land must pay obeisance, and to a local Pro-Consul named Pontius Pilate that would preside over the enforcement of that obeisance. Annas and Caiaphas sat in the seat of High Priest. Little did they realize that their own wickedness would be consummated in the de-thronement of their role as High Priests and the One whom they wish to destroy would take that title in Eternity future. “Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests..
    
 “…..the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.” It is amazing how clearly and often the Word of God comes to His people in the Wilderness. Perhaps, in the providence of God, only one man has been determined to receive that particular Word, therefore, the Wilderness is the appropriate place for its being revealed to him. Our prayers are better heard when we pray, not for the recognition of men, but in our closets alone with God. The Word of God is such an all-potent and valuable sound! FRIENDS, if there is one great thing in this world, it is the Word of God; ‘great in origin, great in thought, great in promise, great in beauty, great in purpose, great in power, great in its results ! It hangs as by a golden cord from the throne of the Highest, and all heaven's light, life, love, and sweetness come down into it for us. It hangs there like a celestial harp ; the daughters of sorrow tune it, and awake a strain of consolation. The hand of joy strikes it, and feels a diviner note of gladness. The sinner comes to it, and it discourses to him of repentance and salvation. The saint bends an ear to it, and then it talks to him of an intercessor and immortal kingdom. The dying man lays his trembling hand on it, and there steals thence into his soul the promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." “When thou passest through the waters, they shall not overflow thee, and through the fires, thou shalt not be burned." "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world!" "The last enemy that shall "be destroyed is death." "This mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and death shall be swallowed up in victory." Where is promise, where is song like this ? Magnify the Word of God! E.E. Adams (The Reformed manner of preaching is the expositional approach.) If we wish to preach with authority, we must preach the Word of God and not the word of the man delivering the sermon.
    
 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Has this approach in preaching been disannulled? Should we, too, not be as fervent as George Whitfield, John Wesley, and Charles Spurgeon in preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins? But, alas, I must be dreaming – SIN is no longer fashionable to be condemned – not in our very modern and broad-minded world! He came into the country about Jordan, the same waters in which our Lord was baptized by John, and whose sweet waters never fail the wilderness traveler. Luke does not even mention the apparel of John, but goes directly to the heart of his mission as a bolt of lightning to the lightning rod – “….preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”
    
 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Here again God inexorably joins His prophetic utterances of the prophet to the events unfolding before us. (Isaiah 40:3-5) If you are preaching sound doctrine, sound truth, sin, repentance, and grace, you will also be today as a “Voice crying in the wilderness.” You shall not find yourself flocked about with souls of men and women starving and thirsting for the pure Water of Life and Bread of Heaven. They have their own synthetic bread and impure, polluted waters to drink, and they desire none other. But, to their detriment, like Herod, Annas, Caiaphas, and Pilot, men do not seek refuge in the City of God because they feel a false security already in their world-favoring sin. In the Old Testament Law, the children of Israel were commanded to establish cities of refuge throughout the land to which men guilty of serious crimes could flee for refuge. Now comes to Jordan Waters the perfect likeness of that City of Refuge in Jesus Christ. We are guilty beyond doubt. We are murderers and sinners yet, God has provided a Refuge and an Ark for our salvation! Flee to Christ, and He will receive you. In those ancient cities of refuge, the gates were never shut – night or day, but always welcoming to the refugee from justice who we all are. If we are granted justice, we shall be condemned; but, if granted grace, we shall be accounted righteous and forgiven.
    
 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?Generation of Vipers!” Careful John, you are going to hurt someone’s feelings by being so ‘judgmental.’ Or perhaps you recognize them for what God’s Word has called them? Political correctness is the furthest thought from John. Here John refers not only to the men who unworthily occupy the seat of Moses and of David, but to the people at large. Israel has rejected God as a nation. Christ tells the Jewish leaders that the Kingdom shall be taken from them and given to a people bearing the fruits thereof.” (Matthew 21:43) So do we long to see the stone temple rebuilt and the daily sacrifices begun anew in rejection of that once-and-for-all sacrifice made by our Lord? Has America become a generation of vipers? Though there remain many devoted Christians among us, have we given our powers over to evil forces in propagating every immoral concept through our vast control of media? Have we used our national resources to impose values on Third World countries that they would otherwise righteously abhor? Yes, we have done, and we continue to escalate that policy through the IMF and World Bank. Our national voice has often spewed poison from our mouths (media).
    
 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” Fruits worthy of repentance have their birth in a “broken and contrite heart.” (Psalms 51:17). Before repentance can come nationally, it must come personally, for every nation is comprised of ever so many hearts. The sum total of hearts measure the righteousness of the nation.  We cannot forever count upon the favor of God based on the Godliness of the Founding Fathers, and neither can Israel count on their bloodline in Abraham to merit salvation. Only those who possess the likeness of Abraham shall be the children of Abraham – in thought, word, deed, and faith. The Seed of Promise was only foreshadowed in his son, Isaac, born out of time of child-bearing. Christ is the ultimate Seed of Promise and we cannot count Abraham to be our father if we have not accepted the promise of forgiveness and salvation in Christ. If the natural seed fail, God is able even to raise up children from the stones. The promise is made available to all for the acceptance or rejection of it.
    
 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Here is the dire warning which we would prefer to avoid! We are all as trees of either righteousness or unrighteousness. The axe has already been brought to our place of standing. The Woodsmen sizes us up to determine if our fruits are worthy of justifying our remaining in the forest, or has our hearts rotted away and rendered us a waste of forest space. The axe is already about to swing at our root – our character and testimony in Christ. If we have not been fruitful trees, we shall be cut down and burned – and so has the moment of decision come for this old Israel. Instead of works mete for repentance and mercy, their fruit is bitter and condemning. Perhaps that axe hangs over the prairies and alabaster mountains of American today as well.
    
Is there no remedy for our national and personal sins? There IS an answer! “And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?” What shall you do to regain the favor of God? What can the nation do to re-establish that favor? “He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.” A greedy man cannot abide this counsel, neither a man of fashion and sophistication. We covet our fine suits and robes. We are fond of our full and elaborate pantries stocked with every dainty food and cuisine. But even a greedy man (as Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ story) can be rendered not greedy by one single quality – LOVE! This was lacking in Israel, and it may be becoming scarce in our nation which mislabels Love as SEX and value of persons by fame and money. I recently read of an occasion of more than seventy years ago when an elderly missionary couple were returning from the harsh mission fields of Africa. They had deprived themselves of a luxurious home, fine food, and the benefits of society for the straw-covered hut, the rough diet, and the inconvenience of living in a wild land for all of their adult lives. They had given all they had of resources, health, and vigor to the service of God’s less fortunate people. Now, broken and tired, their continuance on the mission field had been deemed ‘unproductive’ by their church and they were called home to be “put out to pasture” as an old work horse in its waning years. As they began to disembark from the ship at the port of New York, they struggled to drag their few belongings with them, but the crowds were overwhelming and cheering. The old couple was prevented from leaving the ship until a famous Hollywood celebrity, returning from a European cruise, had received the adoration of the gathered crowd and had been met by his chauffeur-driven limousine. When the crowd thinned, the old couple continued down from the ship and awaited the next taxi. They waited alone because no one took notice of their years of sacrifice. Is that LOVE? These two had given, not of their extra coat, but their ONLY coat. They had given their meats and received gruel for the sake of their service to God and man. Of what value was the fruit of the Hollywood celebrity’s vanity?
    
Every man and woman has a calling in Christ. It may not be as an active missionary on the foreign field, but it shall always be a missionary in the place where you are placed whether as a doctor, a lawyer, a butcher, a teacher, or a carpenter. Whatever our calling, we must reflect the nature of a virtuous and loving heart. “Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.” We do not often think of ‘publicans’ (tax collectors) and soldiers as serving God directly, but we have the words of John to suggest otherwise! If we deal in money, do so with honesty. If we are serving our country as soldiers, we are to do no violence to any man (unwarranted force or mean-spirited action). We must not take from the enemy land that which does not belong to us, but we must be satisfied, as good soldiers, with our pay allowance.
    
The people began to wonder about John because of the beauty of his words. Remember, his words have been entreating them to repent; and he has been warning them of the destruction to come if they fail to repent. Today, most people would walk away, but these people had enough presence of mind to know that he spoke truth in beauty.  Many today lack that discretion. “And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not.” When a minister or a layperson speaks the truth of God, his words will have the force and power of God behind them.
    
 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.” John did not suffer that same vanity of many ministers. He discerned the thoughts of the multitude and answered humbly. Here we see the greatest of all prophets confessing his own inadequacy before the One who’s Way he was preparing. He’s not even worthy, as a household servant’s role, to unloose the shoe latchets of Christ. Do we stop to reflect that we have no merit whatsoever apart from that imparted to us by Christ Himself?
    
 He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.” He is the REFINER of Gold and Silver. His instrument of purification is fire. The Fire of the Holy Ghost will purity those who are called and chosen of God. They are made more and more pure through the refining process (sanctification).  Fire and Wind will be the choice tools of Christ at purging the wheat from the chaff. He will fan the wheat as it falls to earth (from the Tribulatum) and the chaff will be blown aside while the pure wheat falls to earth. The chaff will then be burned as death and Hell are cast into the Lake of Fire. (Rev 20:14)
    
We will celebrate Christmas at Christmas Eve Worship. Of course, Advent is our early celebration of Christmas as well. Let us remember that our beautifully lighted and ornamented trees represent that beautiful Tree of Life that came down to us a Christmas. The Star top the Tree can symbolize that Bright and Morning Star that all Wise Men still follow. Even the candles will remind us of that Light which led the Wise Men and, later, burst out in the brilliance of the Day Star and the Sun of Righteousness. Let us not forget to wish all we meet a very Merry Christmas (not holiday)!  There is no reason that we must abandon the joys and love of Christmas on December 26th. We should clasp those to our bosoms every waking moment of the coming year.

Sermon - Rev Jack Arnold
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.

The Fourth Sunday in Advent
The Collect.

O
 LORD, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, world without end.  Amen.

The Collect for the First Sunday in Advent is on Page 90:

The First Sunday in Advent
The Collect.

A
LMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

¶ This Collect is to be repeated every day, after the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas Day.

As is oft the case, today’s propers all tie together to reinforce a point and build our understanding of what God wants and expects from each of us.  The Collect asks for God’s help for us to accept His Help and do it His Way.  That is a thought that permeates or at least should permeate our entire lives.  It is oft supposed Christians are dour souls, with no sense of happiness or humor.  Perhaps this thought comes from those who have heard what the Bible says, filtered through some odd prism, but have never actually read it. That may have been the way the Puritians thought, but then again, the Puritians were not holding to the consistent truth of the Bible. After all God commands us to make a “joyful” noise unto the Lord! Not, a dour, grumbling and solemn noise, but an exceedingly JOYFUL noise unto the Lord! There is nothing in the Bible that says you cannot have fun whilst worshipping our Lord, in fact that is the preferred way to worship Him! In fact, if we enjoy worshipping the Lord, then we are most apt to do more of our best to follow Him, if we are enjoying ourselves whilst doing so!

After all, the one said to be the most dour of all, Paul, tells us to be happy.  Not just happy, but to REJOICE.  REJOICE in the Lord ALWAYS and AGAIN I say REJOICE!  How much more fun can you have?  We are also to be moderate in everything we do, no excesses, an even keel.  Work hard, but maintain a time and space for our family, honor our country, and above all honor God.  He goes on to tell us if we think we need something, simply ask God for it!  Speaking of God, John recounts John the Baptist’s role in preparing the way for Jesus.  The Pharisees just had trouble with the simplicity of his message.  They were looking for something more complex, less straightforward, something more like themselves.

They were not willing to accept the change in the status quo that the New Testament would break their role in finding ways around the commandments Jesus gave, as there is no way around the two commandments, namely of loving God with all our heart, soul and mind, and loving our neighbors as ourselves! Without those, we are just pitiful, weak, sinful beings! But, if we embrace those commandments, we start to shed our old man image, and put on a newer, shinier and better image. We then become, Man 2.0, quite the upgrade from the first version!

The Pharisees were a case of no play, all work and led a rather unbalanced life. We are told to balance ourselves with play besides work, to make us into a happier people who will rejoice in God’s commandments and will do His Work without complaint.  We will be happier in the end if we do it His Way instead of our way as we are so want to do, which is in our nature. The whole of Scriptures is about us fighting against our nature so we will be closer to what God intended us to be; a happy and holy people, living together in harmony. If the world would do what God asked, our lives would be so much better, we would all be living together in happiness. Peace on earth will not be possible until the world accepts Him into their hearts. This is the perfect season for those who haven’t yet, to accept Him, to acknowledge Him at His first true appearance amongst us, at His Birth. There is always time to accept Him, but do not wait until it is too late to do so!

Jesus also tells us to put our trust in the Lord, then not to worry.  He knows how counterproductive, indeed how destructive worry can be in our lives.  We know it not only cannot, but will not do good, we know it will only hurt our cause; yet we do it.  Is this not a proof positive of how much we need His Help?  How hard is it to Trust in God and Dread Naught?  Very!  Yet to make progress this we must do. Even though it is very hard to trust somebody you can’t see physically, you must trust your spiritual sense and follow Him anyway!  Knowing you will see Him physically one day, is one of our great rewards.

The world is extremely complex; it is full of problems, temptations and difficulties.  It is full of obstacles for us, yet all Christianity offers is a few simple solutions.  We often hear there are no simple answers to complex questions.  Actually, that is not true.  There are simple answers to complex problems, they are the only ones which can and will work.  The problem is they are not the answers people want.  Most people do not want to know what they are supposed to do, lest they have to do it.  They want to be told what they want to do is at least okay, even though it is clearly not okay. But we need to know what we are doing is the actual “Okay.” thing, and not what Joe on the corner claims is Okay. To do that, we have to read the Scriptures and listen to what God says is Okay, because He really does know the best in this matter for us.

Once again, when you think about being a Christian, think a bit about these quotes from GK Chesterton:

·      Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.
·      The word good has many meanings. For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man.
·      The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.
·      Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.
·      A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.

 G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

We are called to a new and different life, we ask the Lord to both lead us and follow us, to keep us always.  Our goal is to do the Lord’s will, not to avoid 613 laws.  To do what is right and be humble.

Heaven is at the end of an uphill trail.  The easy downhill trail does not lead to the summit.

The time is now, not tomorrow.  The time has come, indeed.  How will you ACT?

It is by our actions we are known.

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God


Bishop Dennis Campbell’s Sermon
Bishop Dennis is a brilliant speaker.  He is able to take biblical precepts and make them perfectly understandable, even to me.  Oft he provides the text of his sermons and I take the utmost pleasure in passing them on:

The Lord Is at Hand
Philippians 4:4-7
Fourth Sunday in Advent
December 21, 2014

By the grace of God, we are gathered in this house of prayer on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the Year of Our Lord, 2014.  Since we are in Advent we are thinking about the Coming of Christ.  We are thinking about His coming physically into history by being conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem more than two thousand years ago.  We are thinking about His coming to us  spiritually in the Holy Spirit and the means of grace.  We are thinking about His coming judicially when He comes again  at the end of the world to judge the quick and the dead.  The coming of Christ is taught in today’s reading in Philippians, in the very shocking words, “Christ is at hand.”

“Christ is at hand.”  Many people think this refers to the Second Coming.  They believe “at hand” means “soon.”  We are in the last days, they say, and Christ will return at any moment.  But we need to remember that  the Biblical term “last days”  means last in order, not last in number.  In other words we are not necessarily in the final few days, numerically speaking, but we are in the days of the last era before the return of Christ.

When we look at Paul’s words in Philippians 4 we see they are very similar to Christ’s words in the Gospels when, after His baptism, He first began to preach: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”  Like us today, the Jews looked for the miraculous arrival of the Kingdom of God.  And the point of Jesus’ words is that the Kingdom has arrived.  He is not saying the Kingdom is coming soon.  He is saying it is here now.  He, Jesus of Nazareth, is the Kingdom, and wherever He is, the Kingdom is.

Joseph, in Matthew 1:23, has decided not to marry Mary.  Why?  Joseph was a just man.  He was a righteous man.  This means he kept his own desires in check.  In Philippians 4, Paul wrote about moderation, and one of the meanings of that word is self control.  It means to keep your emotions and your fleshly appetites under control so that you rule them instead of being ruled by them.  You do this because it is good and right and because you love God.  You do this because your faith is not just an idea, it is a relationship with God Almighty, and it is the central, driving force of your life.

Joseph was a righteous man.  Joseph’s moderation was known to all.  But Mary was pregnant.  Joseph could only conclude that her moderation had slipped a little.  So Joseph was going to end the engagement, until the angel came to him saying, “Fear not to take unto thee Mary for thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”  The angel then went on to say Mary’s pregnancy is the fulfillment of the words of Isaiah, “Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”  Jesus is God with us.  Where Jesus is, God is.  Where God is, the Kingdom of God is.  The Lord is at hand.

I have been making the point that the Lord is present with us outwardly.  He was present physically in His Incarnation, but He is also outwardly present in the Church, the Bible, prayer and worship, and all the means of grace.  That is one of the meanings of Paul’s words, “The Lord is at hand.  But there is another meaning here, the Lord is present with us inwardly.

In Luke 17:21, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees abut the Kingdom of God.  Our Lord says something to them that shocks them to the core of their being: “the kingdom of God is within you.”  Christ is affirming here what I have just said,  that God is with us outwardly when Christ was here on earth in the flesh.  He is also saying He is with us inwardly.  The presence of Christ is also an inward thing.  It does not consist of signs and wonders and emotions, but  of faith and obedience to God.  It is a reign of grace, and all who trust that grace are in the Kingdom.  “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him” says Psalm 145:18.  These words remind me of the words of James 4:8, “Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto you” says James 4:8.

How do we draw nigh unto God?  By faith.  By faith we trust the promises of God.  Like Abraham, we believe God.  We hear His word, we see His grace.  We hear the preaching of the cross.  The Bible tells us the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.  But to we who hear it in faith it is the power of God unto our salvation. 

The Lord is still at hand.  He has not deserted us.  He has not left us orphans.  The fact that He is not with us in His bodily presence does not mean He is not here with us in reality.  He is with us outwardly in all the means of grace.  He is with us inwardly in the Spirit, and in the means of grace  He is with us inwardly when we partake of the means of grace in faith.  He comes to us as we worship, in the reading and preaching and hearing of the Scriptures, at the communion table, and in the prayers.  In these things, “The Lord is at hand.”

+Dennis Campbell
Bishop, Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector, Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan, Virginia

Roy Morales-Kuhn, Bishop and Pastor - St. Paul's Anglican Church - Anglican Orthodox Church
Bishop Roy is pastor of the biggest AOC parish West of the Mississippi and is in charge of the Diocese of the Epiphany. 

Fourth Sunday in Advent
21 December 2014
Psalm 80    Isaiah 40:1-11    Luke 3:1-17

The Fourth Sunday in Advent
The Collect.

O
 LORD, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, world without end.  Amen.

The First Sunday in Advent
The Collect.

A
LMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

For almost 200 years skeptics have tried to separate the Old Testament from the New Testament.  If you can show that there is little to any relationship between the two testaments then you can call into question the whole concept of foreshadowing, prophecy, and fulfillment of said prophecy.   The skeptics have to have a strong faith to NOT believe that the two testaments are connected.  They really must ignore so many related verses pertaining to the first Advent of the Messiah and the second Advent. For again and again we see written prophecy fulfilled time and again during the season of reflection, anticipation, revelation and the Word made flesh to dwell amongst us; Immanuel. 

At the Advent season we can see so many connections as in our scripture passages for the Fourth Sunday in Advent.  The connection between the verses in Isaiah and Luke; where he makes reference to Isaiah (Esaias), we see the ministry of John the baptizer who proceeds the coming Messiah, with both a message of repentance and of salvation.

 John makes it very the behavior that is expected of those who have repented and turned from their evil ways.  In the list of things they are to do, John points out the need to do righteous things.  Notice the parallels concepts that will also be taught by Jesus.  “...don’t take advantage of your position or authority..., only do what you are supposed to do, be kind, share, help the helpless...”   All of these ideas are bound up in the Golden Rule.

Now we see John explaining who he is. He baptizes with water, he who comes after him, he will baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire.  John very humbly points to the ONE who will take away the sins of the world.  The ONE who will bring comfort to his own, he will feed his sheep, he will gently lead those who are helpless.  When Christ left the earth after his resurrection he indeed provided a comforter {the Holy Spirit}, he left shepherds {the disciples}, and he left his sheep {believers in him}.  Look at what Isaiah writes in verse 9 & 10....

O
 Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

   We see that work before him as the beginning of the church, the Word made flesh, shared with the rest of the world .  Notice the contrast the prophet makes between man and God.

  “...All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever...”

The Word of God shall stand for ever.  That promise is fulfilled in the coming Savior.

Let us spend the next couple of days reflecting upon the events that happened so many years ago in that dusty little town called Bethlehem.  That little town, where the Word was made flesh, where God met man face to face, without man being in danger of instant death because God cannot look upon evil.  Here God, by allowing his Son to become a little baby, entered into a three decade mission to reach mankind on his dimension, where God would provide the only means of salvation to his creations.   God with us; Immanuel.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Folks, we have no excuse. God has made his salvation visible to us, the first century people saw Jesus face to face.  We see Jesus in the word of God that has been preserved for us, the Holy Bible is the message, Christ Jesus is the messenger, he is the reason for this season and why we should celebrate his coming; and most especially why we should share this message with our families, friends and strangers around us. 

Let us celebrate His coming. Jesus Christ the Son of God came once as a helpless child, will come again in a triumphal procession.  His glory shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

G
od bless you all this holy season.  May the Peace that passerth all understanding be with you now and forever.   Amen.

Let us pray:

O
 MOST mighty God, and merciful Father, who hast compassion upon all men, and who wouldest not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his sin, and be saved; Mercifully forgive us our trespasses; receive and comfort us, who are grieved and wearied with the burden of our sins. Thy property is always to have mercy; to thee only it appertaineth to forgive sins. Spare us therefore, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed; enter not into judgment with thy servants, who are vile earth, and miserable sinners; but so turn thine anger from us who meekly acknowledge our vileness, and truly repent us of our faults, and so make haste to help us in this world, that we may ever live with thee in the world to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O
 LORD Jesus Christ, who didst endure unto the end, and whose courage never failed in the midst of great dangers: Grant that inspired by Thy example I may trust completely in Thy promise to be with me even unto the world's end, and that so, amidst all dangers I may have a heart inflamed by Thy courage, and a spirit inspired by Thy faith; through Thy mercy, O our God, who art blessed, and dost reign, and govern all things, world without end. Amen.

O
 LORD Jesus Christ, who has said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work"; Grant us, we beseech Thee, such zeal in Thy service, that we may never be weary in well doing, but may labor steadfastly unto the end; through Thy mercy, O our God, who art blessed, and livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.

No matter where you read this, please go to your own parish or a local church to worship the Lord on the upcoming celebration of His birth!  Christmas Eve we have our service, others will celebrate Christmas Day.  Go somewhere.  If you have no where, find somewhere.  If there is no where, at least read the propers on your own and give thanks that God sent His only Son that we might have everlasting life.  Life that begins the instant you accept it.

M
ay God bless and keep you, may His light shine upon you and give you peace.
In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.    Amen

Rev Bryan Dabney of Saint John’s Sunday Sermon
We are fortunate to have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon.  If you want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, expouse the truth and live the truth.    This is really a good piece and I commend it to your careful reading.

Fourth Sunday in Advent

In the epistle (Philippians 4:4-7) Paul encourages the church at Philippi to rejoice in the Lord always and in all things with thanksgiving. Unfortunately in today’s world, many do not rejoice in the Lord on a daily basis. They focus on their ills and difficulties instead of giving God the glory for what they have already received from his hands. There is an old expression that was made into a hymn entitled Count your many blessings, see what God has done.

The Scriptures are our guide to a life of fellowship with the LORD. In Leviticus 23:40 we read, ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God... In Deuteronomy 26:11 we learn that we should, ...rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee... In Psalm 5:11 we learn of God’s expectation for us: But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

In St. Luke 6:23, our Lord spoke these words of comfort to all who would suffer oppression: Rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy: for, behold your reward is great in heaven... He also spoke of rejoicing because our names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20). And we are to rejoice because as Christians, we have an invitation to the greatest feast ever as noted in Revelation 19:7, Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come...

The true worshipers of God will willingly rejoice in the free gift of salvation which comes by means of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Those who are his will not question his grace. They will not stand skeptically, at a distance, examining with clinical coldness the gift which has been given. Only those who have not received the gift in their hearts will question its validity because as St. Paul noted in I Corinthians 2:14, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

And while it is natural for us to rejoice when our enemies run into trouble. We are warned not to do so. Examine Proverbs 24:17: Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth. God knows who are his now as well as those who will come to him in the future. But we have not been given to know such things. In that light, we should not cheer at the downfall of an enemy today because tomorrow, if God wills, he or she might become a brother or a sister in Christ. It is better to let God judge. For if, in his judgment, they fall and we are preserved it should be enough for us. His will and pleasure has no rival as he is sovereign. For if those who meant us harm are eventually regenerated, then it would be sinful on our part to either wish them ill or rejoice over their errors and misfortunes.

Truly God desires that we rejoice when one has turned from evil and become a brother or a sister in Christ. God is merciful and not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (II St. Peter 3:9). As our Lord said, I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than the ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance (St. Luke 15:7).

St. Luke recorded in his gospel account that following our Lord’s ascension into heaven the disciples worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: and were in the temple, praising and blessing God (24:52-53). Later, in the Book of Acts, he wrote about the day of Pentecost where the flaming tongues descended upon the disciples and they began preaching the gospel to all who were in Jerusalem (2:1-11).

Hear now the words of St. Peter as he was moved to speak by the Holy Ghost: For David speaketh concerning [Jesus Christ], I foresaw the Lord always before my face...therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance (Acts 2:14-36).

To fully realize the joy of God, we must order our lives around his teachings. As St. Paul instructed Timothy, If a man therefore purge himself from [iniquity], he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use and prepared for every good work (II St. Timothy 2:21).

So count your blessings this Advent season and be thankful, giving God the glory, rejoicing always in his gift of grace to us through Jesus Christ. Rejoice alway. Again I say Rejoice!

Let us pray,

O
 Merciful and loving God, we rejoice with thanksgiving for thy most wonderful gift of thine all-sufficient grace; we also pray that through the work of the Holy Ghost we would be empowered in our witness to others that they too might come to know Christ as their personal Saviour. For this we ask in his most holy name. Amen.


Have a blessed week, Bryan+