Sunday Report
Today was the Fifth Sunday after Easter, the central
event of the Christian year, the celebration of our Lord, “Christ the Lord is
Risen!” commonly called
Rogation Sunday.
Tomorrow is Memorial Day, the day set aside those whose lives
bought our freedom and their families who remain behind.
Rogation Sunday
The fifth Sunday after Easter is commonly called
Rogation Sunday from the words in the Gospel appointed for the day:
"Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give to you". (The
Latin is 'Rogare' - to ask.) In
the strictly biblical context, the chief thing to ask for is the spirit of God
to enable us to be true children of God.
In the Western Catholic Churches, including the older
Anglican traditions particularly before the Reformation and in some higher
churches afterwards, processions to bless the crops and to include
"beating the bounds", developed from the old Roman rites of
"Robigalia" ("robigo": Latin for "rust" or
"mould"), when prayers would be offered to the deity for crops to be
spared from mildew.
Today the emphasis has shifted. Asking for God’s blessing on growing
crops in fields and gardens, and on young lambs and calves remain. In the agricultural cycle, the main
themes are seed sowing and the tending of the young plants and animals. This
does not pre-suppose that all sowing takes place around Rogation. Sowing is done all the year round, as does
the birth and rearing of the young.
It is convenient to fix on one particular festival the time to remember
these before God in a public way.
In the Northern Hemisphere, Rogation
Sunday takes place in the springtime, when there is a renewing of the earth. In
this country, it follows Easter, the season of resurrection. Renewal and
resurrection therefore are also underlying themes of this occasion.
But, there is far more to the day
than that. The real meaning is in
rogare. If you don’t ask, you won’t
get. You have to ask God in the
name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for what you want so that you can get
what you need. You have to ask. Then, once you get what you need, act
of the gift and thank God for that gift.
Remember “Ask and ye shall
receive.”
Bishop’s Letter for Memorial Day Observance
26 May 2014, Anno
Domini (in the 238th year of our Declaration of Independence)
We remember with deep appreciation today those fine young red-blooded
Americans who have laid down their lives in defense of our freedoms, and even
those of others whom they knew not. From the hot, humid jungles of the South
Pacific; to the snow-clad fields of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and
Germany; and more recently the deserts and mountain heights of Iraq, Kuwait,
and Afghanistan, the American soldier has paid the price, in blood, that can
only preserve a nation’s freedoms. The blood of despots will do little in that
regard – only the blood of free men can nourish the national liberties of a
free people.
As we observe in the current world of politics, governments soon forget
the debt owed to valor in times of peace when they were so eager to have it in
time of war. We erect Stones of Remembrance to perpetuate the memory of these
heroes at arms. Though the Stones may serve to remind us that they have lived,
the Stones of granite and marble cannot express the loss of the treasures of
the heart of so many fallen emissaries of liberty. Bivouac Of The Dead
written by Theodore O'Hara in memory of the Kentucky troops killed in the
Mexican War in 1847 sums up only a part of the meaning of this day:
BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD
The muffled
drum’s sad roll has beat
The soldier’s
last tattoo;
No more on
Life’s parade shall meet
That brave and
fallen few.
On Fame’s
eternal camping ground
Their silent
tents are spread,
And glory
guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of
the dead.
“Greater love has no man than
this – that he lay down his life for his friends.” When we have resisted evil
to the shedding of blood, there can be no question of our devotion to
righteousness and freedom. We perhaps should also take note of those valiant
soldiers, sailors, and airmen, who, had the sacrifice been required, would have
just as readily laid down their lives in behalf of a free and Christian nation.
Though most memorial markers are made of stone or brass, there is one
which survives every Memorial Day commemorating life rather than death while
yet memorializing the heroic sacrifice of our soldiers – the Poppies of the
field of Verdun at Flanders:
IN FLANDERS FIELDS
by John McCrae, May
1915
In Flanders
fields the poppies blow
Between the
crosses, row on row,
That mark our
place; and in the sky
The larks,
still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard
amid the guns below.
We are the
Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt
dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were
loved, and now we lie
In Flanders
fields.
Take up our
quarrel with the foe:
To you from
failing hands we throw
The torch; be
yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith
with us who die
We shall not
sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders
fields.
Flowers always grace the graves
of heroes. Remember their sacrifice in the blood-red flower of Flanders, and
pray that God will preserve us a free nation among the nations of the earth and
turn our hearts back to our Maker.
Memorial Day
Rev LTC Hap Arnold, CA ANG USAF Retired
Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember
those members of our Armed Forces who made the ultimate sacrifice, without
whose sacrifice we would not be free.
This is not a day to thank a veteran, probably it is the only day of the
year that it is not the day for that.
All veterans heard the country’s call and answered. They were not those who would not
hear. But, those of us here today
are the fortunate ones, for whatever reason we made it back. In my case after 30 years and two
weeks of military service with the Navy and Air Force, thirty percent of the
people I flew with did not make it back one way or the other. They are the ones we remember today,
they paid the entire bill for our freedom. Well, maybe not all the cost.
When we think of Memorial Day, we remember the young
men and women who since the beginning of this great nation answered the call of
freedom when our country was in peril, rode into battle and did not
return. We honor those who lost
their lives in training, transit and combat. But, we often forget the families they left behind; mothers,
fathers, wives and husbands, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. Each of them bore a portion of the cost
of freedom. This cost is not a one
shot deal. Those who remain behind
pay every day of their time left here on earth. The cost of freedom is high, very high. It is just cheaper than not being
free. But, it is payable on demand.
If you want to know what freedom costs, ask our
Presiding Bishop. Jerry Ogles younger brother Kenneth Wayne Ogles joined
the National Guard at age 17 and immediately transferred to the active Army’s
First Cavalry Division. He wanted
to make a difference, to do his duty to God and Country and protect the
innocent people of South Vietnam.
Ken was killed in action on 16 February 1967, in the Ia Drang
Valley, in the Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam, with the First Platoon of C
Company, the First Battalion of the 8th Cavalry, First Cavalry
Division at the age of 19. There
is not a day that has gone by in the intervening 47 years that Jerry and his
family did not measure the cost of freedom. Remember Kenneth the next time someone wants you to give a little
freedom for the promise of safety or comfort.
I do not know how many ways to say it, but FREEDOM IS
NOT FREE; it is the most costly commodity on this earth, except for not being
free. That costs more.
ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living
and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who have laid down
their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the
light of thy presence, that the good work which thou hast begun in them may be
perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.
It seems to me that Memorial Day
is one of the saddest days of our year.
This is not because of the cost to our country, in particular the
families who remain behind, though that cost is huge. The reason the day so sad is that the people have absolutely
no feeling for the cost of the freedom they value so little today.
Our country is free today because
when our freedom has been threatened by those who would overturn our way of
life, patriots stepped forward to take action against our country’s foes. They put their lives on the line that
we might be free. Tomorrow on
Memorial Day, we remember those whose lives were given, whose families paid the
price for our freedom today. They
did not give their lives for anything but freedom. If you ascribe their motives to other motives, you do so at
your own peril.
Hundreds of thousands have given
their future and the futures of their families’ for ours. Charge your glass, raise it high. Drink to them. Give thanks to God for their patriotism
and steadfast courage.
A final note to each of you
veterans reading this report, each of you stepped forward when the country
called. You heard the call others
could not.
We are the lucky ones, we are
here. We must never forget the
cost of freedom, dearly paid by those who have gone before us.
To my fellow veterans, I thank
each of you for stepping forward and I am grateful you are all here with me to
remember.
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 –
“I was
going to say I wished we’d never come. But I don’t, I don’t, I don’t. Even if
we are killed. I’d rather be killed fighting for Narnia than grow old and
stupid at home and perhaps go about in a bath-chair and then die in the end
just the same.”
Jack Lewis
The
Last Battle
Be not deceived; God is not
mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Galatians 6:7
For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
Hebrews 9:24
Christianity obliges us not only
to die unto sin, but live unto righteousness; not only to oppose the works of
the flesh, but to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. If we profess to have
received the Spirit of Christ, let us make it appear by the proper fruit of the
Spirit in our lives. Let us evidence our good principles by good practices.
Matthew Henry
17th and 18th
century English pastor and author
The devil is the prince of this
world during the present dispensation (John 14:30). The vast majority of the
inhabitants of the earth choose things that please the devil far more than the
things that please God. Little as they may think it, they are doing the devil’s
will, behaving as the devil’s subjects, and serving the devil, far more than
Christ. This is the actual condition of Christendom as well as of heathen
countries. After 1,800 years of Bibles and gospel preaching, there is not a
nation, or a country, or a parish, or a long-established congregation, where
the devil has not more subjects than Christ.
JC Ryle
19th century
Anglican bishop and author
(Are You Ready For
The End of Time, pp. 51-52)
That man is a fallen creature has
never been more clearly demonstrated than by the behavior of our elected
politicians in Washington. Most of them are highly educated lawyers who have
studied American history in their universities, and yet have acted so stupidly
as to have brought this great nation to the brink of financial disaster. We
learn at an early age that you cannot spend more than you earn. We learn that
it is not good to borrow money in order to buy things you really don’t need.
And yet, these very smart politicians keep doing this in contradiction to all
wise and intelligent understanding of basic economic principles.
Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld
20th and 21st
century American political commentator
(Are Our Politicians
Stupid or Evil)
The government turns every
contingency into an excuse for enhancing itself.
John Adams
Founding Father and
Second President of the United States.
To believe in world peace, [the
appeasers]... must believe that regimes which ceaselessly talk of war, build
weapons of war and torture and murder their own people on a whim somehow share
their hopes for peace... [Neville Chamberlain believed that there was a
universal aversion to war]. But there is no such universal aversion. If there
were, war would be the exception, not the rule.
Daniel Greenfield
21st century
American commentator
(War and Dishonor,
1-22-14)
When large numbers of people in
this country continue not to find work, when they don’t have enough to eat,
when their money won’t buy the necessities of life, when they can’t afford to
travel because of high fuel prices, and when they continue to lose their homes,
they will become desperate. This desperation will result in civil unrest. That
will be the government’s reasoning for declaring Martial Law.
Gary D. Barnett
21st century
American businessman and economic 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 for today are found
on Page 175-176, with the Collect first:
The
Collect for The Fifth Sunday after Easter,
commonly
called Rogation Sunday.
The
Collect.
LORD, from whom all good things do
come; Grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may think
those things that are good, and by thy merciful guiding may perform the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Epistle for today came from the First Chapter of
the General Epistle of Saint James beginning at the Twenty-Second Verse. Saint
James tells us not to just talk about being Christians, but to act on those
beliefs and do things. We act in
accordance with the principles set forth by Christ. We gain our salvation through the freely given gift of Grace
by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Once given, and accepted; if we truly accept the gift, it will be
evident in our actions.
St. James reminds us we not only
must:
Ø
Talk the Talk;
but
Ø
Walk the Walk.
We do not gain eternal life and
salvation by our good works here on earth, but only by the Grace of God,
through His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through Christ our sins are atoned for that we might go to
heaven. True enough, but we
demonstrate our attempt to follow his instructions by our works here on
earth. Remember, it is by only by
our actions we are we truly known.
E ye doers of the word, and not
hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word,
and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what
manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and
continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work,
this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be
religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s
religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is
this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep
himself unspotted from the world.
Today’s
Holy Gospel came from the Sixteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to
Saint John beginning at the Twenty-Third Verse. Jesus told his disciples that
when they pray to the Father, they should ask in His Name and what they asked
for would be given. But, you must
ask to receive. Jesus told us not
to ask Him to pray to the Father, but rather that we pray directly to the
Father, asking for what we will in His name, because God loves us because we
love Jesus. This explains why many
of our prayers end in, “we ask all this in the name of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ,” or similar words.
So, if we are to if we are not to ask Jesus to pray for us, why would we
ask “saints” and such. We
can talk directly to God and we are supposed to!
Jesus went on to say the forces
of this world would scatter the disciples, they would be alone in the
world. Yet like Jesus, they would
not be abandoned by all; He would be with them, as would the Father. For as always, the Father is with them,
as He is with Him; as He is with us.
ERILY, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall
ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing
in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. These things
have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more
speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. At that
day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the
Father for you: for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me,
and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and
am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His
disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no
proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any
man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus
answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come,
that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and
yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken
unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
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
Fifth Sunday
after Easter - commonly called Rogation Sunday
St Andrew’s Anglican Orthodox Church
25 May 2014,
Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)
The
Collect for The Fifth Sunday after Easter,
commonly
called Rogation Sunday.
The
Collect.
LORD, from whom all good things do
come; Grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may
think those things that are good, and by thy merciful guiding may perform the
same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be
clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give
you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause
you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye
shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will also save you from
all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and
lay no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and
the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine
among the heathen. 31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your
doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for
your iniquities and for your abominations. 32 Not for your sakes do I
this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for
your own ways, O house of Israel. 33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day
that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you
to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. 34 And the
desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that
passed by. 35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become
like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are
become fenced, and are inhabited. 36 Then the heathen that are left round
about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that
that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. 37 Thus
saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel,
to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the
holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste
cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
(Ezek 36:25-38)
Have you ever tried to clean
a really filthy basin by starting on the outside? Which is more important for
our health, the cleanliness of the outside of the basin or the inside? If we
start by cleaning the outside first, we may find that the outside will become
just as soiled as before when we begin cleaning the inside later. If a plumbing
fixture in our house is clogged, do we clean the outside and surrounding
environment first, or do we unclog the fixture first and then clean the
outside?
God works in the same way –
he cleans our hearts so that the outside may be cleaned with the sprinkling of
water. By the outward sprinkling of water shall the outward sign of cleansing
be made. That inward, spiritual grace of the Sacrament occurs in the heart. The
whole being of man, as well as his eternal destiny depends more on the
condition of his heart than does the life of his body. When God abides in
our hearts, there will be left no room for idols or perversions.
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be
clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give
you an heart of flesh. The old, malicious and legal heart of
stone must be replaced by a heart of tender flesh. What does this mean to the
Christian? How do we receive this new Spirit and this new Heart?
We receive this New Heart by
genuinely professing a true faith and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must
know, by faith, that He has died in payment of our sin debt, that He was buried
and rose again on the third day, and that He sits on the right hand of God the
Father to make constant intercession on our behalf. It is our faith and
our believing that will open the DOOR (Jesus Christ) of the Sheepfold to us.
Our faith cannot be fickle if it is to be saving. It must be a somber and
earnest faith that Christ is Savior, Redeemer, Lord, and King of our lives. He
will be a God of the Sunday Lord’s Day only, but the Lord of the continual
seven-days-a-week Sabbath. 27 And I will put my
spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my
judgments, and do them. Wherever Christ is, there will also
be the Holy Spirit. If Christ is in our hearts, the Holy Spirit will take
possession and drive out the spirits of lust, greed, and deception. We
come to obey God, not through the compulsion of legality and Laws engraved on
Tables of Stone, but out of that Law of Love that is written in Crimson on the
soft sinews of our hearts. Not only will we avoid doing evil (keep my
judgments), but we will not commit, as the General Confession states, sins
of omission by seeking good to do toward others.
28 And ye
shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people,
and I will be your God. Which land…Canaan? No, not at all.
He will give us that land which Moses entered from atop the heights of Mt.
Nebo. Moses looked over into Canaan, but was taken to be with God instead of
going to Canaan. The next time Moses appears in Scripture, he is on the Mount
of Transfiguration with Jesus and Elijah. This is a beautiful illustration of
the complete Word of God. Elijah represents the Prophets and Moses the Law.
Both together represent the whole of the Old Testament. Christ represents the
consummation of the long thirsted after Purpose of God by crowning both
the Law and the Prophets with the Grace and Mercy of His Person. The Law and
the Prophets are not separate from Christ, but are an integral part of His
revelation in the fullness of the Scriptures. The old school was given to teach
us to know our frailty and depravity. They both prepared the hearts of man for
the coming Savior who would redeem us from those frailties of a sinful nature.
29 I will also
save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will
increase it, and lay no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the
fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more
reproach of famine among the heathen. Do you, or do you not belief,
that Christ is the Lord of the Harvest? We cannot wash our robes as the NIV
version claims in Revelation 22:14 - "Blessed are those who
wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go
through the gates into the city.” (Rev 22:14) (NIV) Only God can wash
us, and only Christ can provide that White Robe of Righteousness typified by
the returning prodigal’s father. God will call for the Harvest and
increase our yields by the same Voice that spoke Light into existence on the
first day of Creation. He will forestall the famine and pestilence from
afflicting our fields. He will make our way straight and not narrow.
31 Then shall
ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall
lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your
abominations. This is the dawn of first-light in the soul
called to God – to recognize, with tears of repentance, their true natures that
have been at enmity to God. It is important – very important – that we remember
from what swamps of sin from which we have been drawn out. It is important that
we despise our sins and our complicity with it. We have looked at the murderous
Cain, the adulterous and murderous King David, the treachery of Judas, the
profligacy of Herod – and we have seen ourselves as if by looking in a mirror.
That mirror is the Word of God. It reveals our total hopelessness without a
Redeemer.
32 Not
for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed
and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. God
does not act to amend our characters and redeem our souls for the benefit of
the sinful soul that we are at the Calling, but of the virtuous character that
the former thief, robber, liar, murderer and adulterer may acquire through the
efficacious working of God’s Holy Spirit. Thankfully, god never beholds us as
what we currently are, but what we may become under the comforting and gentle
influence of His Holy Spirit.
Though these passages have a
reference to that fallen Israel of the Old Testament, it has an even more
relevant meaning to that new Israel of Promise expressed in Romans, Galatians,
and other parts of New Testament Scripture. That new Israel is the same Israel
to which Abraham laid claim all the way back in Genesis.
33 Thus saith
the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your
iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall
be builded. 34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it
lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. 35 And they shall
say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the
waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.
Though the Jewish nation-state of modern Israel has reclaimed land that has
lain in waste for centuries, the state does not meet the descriptive marks of
the Israel of God – neither racially nor nationally. There is no place on earth
today that can compare with the Garden of Eden. The desolate and ruined cities
are still desolate and lie in ruins. The miracle of that nation which claims God
as its Lord will certainly produce a greater wealth of faith and virtue than
that war-torn little acre in the Middle East. Blessed is the nation whose
God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
(Psalms 33:12)
If we attempt to force any description of the people of God other than those
who have believed and accepted the Promise, we labor in vain. God’s people are
not a people of a certain race or nationally, but those who have received the
Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Neither give heed to fables and endless
genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in
faith: so do. (1
Tim 1:4) and But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and
contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
(Titus 3:9)
In the process of
blessing His people, either nationally (as in the great history of the
once-Godly nation), or individually, the unbelievers are always amazed at our
resilience and joy in peace as well as in moments of trial. 36 Then
the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the
ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and
I will do it. He blesses always, without distinction
of race, that nation bearing the fruits of righteousness. Blessed is the
nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own
inheritance. (Psalms
33:12) All peoples of the earth – Jews, Gentiles, blacks, whites,
Asians, Indians, men, women – all have had the DOOR opened to the redeeming
blood of Christ.
37 Thus saith
the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do
it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. It
is to be prayed and hoped for that God will bring the modern Jewish nation into
the fold of believers. But it is not consistent with the nature and Word of God
to bring them into God’s fold as a people who cling to the legal system of
ancient days, or sacrifice lambs and bulls for a remission of sin. When they
ACCEPT, and not REJECT, Christ, they have assurance of being reconciled to God.
In remonstrating with the rulers of Israel in the Temple, Jesus was clear in
His warning to them: Therefore say I unto
you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing
forth the fruits thereof. (Matt 21:43) What
nation? ANY nation that bears the fruits of the Gospel faith.
38 As
the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the
waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the
LORD. Thus shall the Lord bring to pass His Kingdom in the Latter
Day. The waste cities shall, indeed, be filled wherever the Gospel of
Christ is preached and received by the people of that land. The vast stretches
of prairie and meadow of America lay in waste for centuries until a people,
bearing the cross of Christ, came seeking religious liberty. Then were the
waste places filled and the land knew the Lord. Such a prosperous people were
never before known in the world, nor since that Godly nation dominated the
continent. Can we restore the Bright Hope of Liberty? The same can happen to
any people until such time as the Lord draws the curtain of time down on our
human undertakings.
Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and
Action
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.
We are in the Easter Season which consists of Easter
and the following four Sundays, until we get to Rogation Sunday. This is a time we should work on
centering our lives on the central figure in our religion, Jesus Christ.
Consider these words from the
Collect:
… by thy holy
inspiration we may think those things that are good, and by thy merciful
guiding may perform the same …
As we near the Ascension and
thus Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Ghost, we ask for God’s “holy inspiration we may think those things that are good”,
that is to say help from the Holy Ghost so we might direct our souls to the
things we cannot see as good without His Help. Once we see them, we need His “merciful
guiding may perform the same…”.
After all, what good is it to know what we should do, if we won’t, can’t
or don’t do it?
That brings us right to Saint
James’ point, we gain our salvation through the freely given gift of Grace by
our Lord Jesus Christ. Once
given, it must be accepted. If we
truly accept the gift, it will be evident in our actions. Our actions should reflect that we are
a hearer and a doer of the Word, and not just a hearer only. If you are going
to be a Christian, the key is right there – BE. Being requires action, not just diction. Many can talk the talk, but can they
walk the walk too? Being a Christian requires doing both, which may be very
difficult sometimes, but it must be done. If you are going to be a Christian,
what you say is of little import to what you DO. Do your actions reflect God’s image or that of the other
guy? Who do you put first? Pretty basic questions that often we
don’t like the answer to. But they must be answered nevertheless, all the same.
We find a lot of help in John’s
words, he give us insight into things that none of the other disciples do. We need help. We pray for help.
So, what about prayer?
Let’s start with who do we pray to?
Jesus is pretty clear. Don’t pray to Him, pray to God. Feel free to use His Name. Pray to God in His Name. In effect, we are CC’ing (Carbon
copying, to use an electronic mail (email) term.) Jesus in our prayers. We are
not to put Him in the To: line, but the CC line. Not addressing Him directly,
but to address God directly with Jesus copied, as it were. He tells us God
loves us because we love Jesus.
But, pray to God. I think that not many people have ever understood this
part of scripture, as I have heard people pray to Jesus when he is not the
correct person to address your prayers to. He specifically tells us to direct
the prayers to His Father, who can better help us.
If that is the case, seems like
it pretty much rules out praying to Saint Bob, does it not? If we can’t pray to
Jesus, why would we be praying to a Saint,, we be praying to a human, who we may or may not put any
trust in. But if we pray to God, we can be certain that he will answer us, and
even if we don’t like the answer, we know that is the course we will have to
take. It doesn’t matter if we like God’s answer or not, we still have to listen
to it, and do it anyway, knowing it will be the right path in the end. We will
always have some sort of a struggle with this in our lives, but if we turn to
God, He will help us win our struggle. We have to realize what we truly need
and ask that He will open our hearts, minds and souls to His answer, that we
might act upon His answer.
So, pray to God, ask for what
you want in Jesus Name. He always
listens and He always delivers.
The problem for us is that what He delivers is what we need, not necessarily
what we want. Our wants and our needs are different, they are almost always
never the same. But we should want what we need, and God will help us
understand that, if we be a doer and a hearer of His Word. He will always give
us what we need, but will we listen to what He wants us to do?
Need and want, they are both
four letter words, oft used interchangeably, which do not mean the same thing.
God’s Will is always done, we
just don’t understand. Accept what
happens as acceptable, so long as you have done all you can. In the end, all that counts is where you
go when you leave here. That
depends on your actions in following Jesus’ instructions. If you believe, you are safe. Now and forever.
Ø
Talk the Talk;
AND
Ø
Walk the Walk.
It is 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:
Doers of the Word
James 1:21
Rogation Sunday
May 25, 2014
Today is Rogation Sunday.
That means today, and the following days until Ascensiontide, are set
aside as special days of prayer and seeking God. I encourage you to make a special effort in prayer during
this time. I promise it will be
worth it. I am not talking about
just asking God for things. One of
the primary reasons most people don’t pray is because they see prayer as asking
God for things, and they just get tired of it. Most of us here already have everything. We live in luxury kings never dreamed
of a hundred years ago. Solomon
was wealthy beyond imagination, but can you imagine what he would have given
for an air conditioner on the hot summer nights of ancient Israel? So we ask God for health, and
protection, and continued prosperity, and maybe we ask Him to heal a friend and
bless our family, and we find we have run out of prayers. We say we are going to spend the night
in prayer, but after few minutes we run out of things to say. Now, it is right to ask God for health
and healing and the necessities of life; let me be clear about that. But a much larger and more important
aspect of prayer is what we would call worship. You have noticed that our service of Morning Prayer is
actually a worship service. It
contains hymns and readings from the Bible and much recognition of the grace
and glory of God. And it tells the
story of the cross. It recites the
Gospel every time we pray it. It
tells of our sin, but it also tells of the wonderful grace of God, who,
“pardoneth and absolveth all those who truly repent and unfeignedly believe His
holy Gospel.” This is one of the
most wonderful aspects of our service.
Yes, it is wonderful to pray in the same liturgy used by the people of
God for two thousand years. Yes, I
love the sense of connection and history I feel in praying the very same words
prayed by Christ and the Apostles and millions who have gone before me in the
faith. But more than that, I love that the Gospel and the Bible are the center
of our prayers. And I love that
our prayers are worship. In them
we honour God for His majesty and glory.
In them we give thanks for God’s love and care for us. Most of all, we give thanks for the
Gospel of full and free salvation through the cross of Christ.
There is something else about this service that is very important, and
it is one of the most important and foundational aspect of real prayer. It shapes you. It shapes the way you think about God,
the world, and even yourself. In
prayer you are letting God shape you from the inside out. You are letting God replace worldly and
sinful ideas and values with Godly, Biblical ideas and values. So, in prayer, you are placing yourself
in God’s hands and letting Him transform you. The New Testament word for transformation is
“sanctification,” which is the process of becoming holy. It is the process of becoming the
person God wants you to be. Real
prayer/worship is an intentional attempt to let God transform and sanctify you
into the person He wants you to be.
James 1:21 tells us to receive the engrafted word, that is Christ as
revealed in the Bible, which is able to save your soul. And James 1:22 tells us to be doers of
the word, not hearers only. Sanctification is the process of becoming doers of
what we learn in the Bible. That’s
why reading the Bible is such an important part of prayer. In the Bible we receive Christ the
engrafted word. In the Bible we
look into Christ, the perfect law of liberty. Reading the Bible we are transformed, sanctified, made holy,
by the renewing of our minds. Prayer/worship is a time to look upon Jesus, and
fill our minds with the vision of God given in the Bible. If only we would let ourselves
see the surpassing value of Christ, we would throw away all else to grow closer
to Him. We would sell all our tiny
pearls to get Him, the one Pearl of Great Price. Nothing else would matter to us. No pain would be too severe. No loss would be too great. No sacrifice would deter us from the goal of gaining
Christ. Our prayers would be
unceasing, and their theme would always be, “Lord God, give me Christ.”
Something else happens to us when we devote ourselves to real prayer
and worship. We grow closer to
God, of course, and, as we grow closer to God, we find God Himself is working a
spiritual healing in our souls. We
find ourselves gaining the strength to handle the pains of the world. More importantly, our values and hopes
are being conformed to what God values and desires for us, and this gives us a
sense of calm in the soul. It
gives us that peace the world cannot give. It works something like this. As we give ourselves to God in prayer/worship we are letting
Him sanctify us. As He makes us
holy, we are enabled to let go of past hurts and sins, along with their
destructive influences in our lives.
We are enabled to forgive past hurts and to accept God’s forgiveness of
our own sins. As we are enabled to
accept God’s forgiveness of our sins, we are also enabled to forgive ourselves
of our sins against others, and even against ourselves. As we let God love us, we are enabled
to love others, and yes, enabled to love God. The result of this is that the anger and despondency that
tends to accumulate in the human soul is displaced. It is crowded out by hope and faith and thankfulness and
love. It is replaced with God.
This is what we are seeking in prayer. This is what real prayer does for us. This is why we are urged to spend much
time in prayer. And so I conclude
with this exhortation, dearly beloved, watch and pray.
--
+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.
Fifth Sunday after Easter
Rogation Sunday
25 May 2014
Psalm 65 - Ezekiel
34:25-31 - Luke 11:1-13
Before there was Thanksgiving Day
there were Rogation Days. On those days Christians gathered at the church and
marched in procession through the fields and around the parish boundaries
reciting prayers and chanting psalms. They would acknowledge their dependence
on God for all the necessities of life and thank him for proving them. They
would also ask his blessing on their crops and on their lives in general.
I don't know why the custom
became associated with Ascension Day, but I think it may just be that Spring
planting in Western Europe, where the custom began, occurs about forty days
after Easter, the same time as Ascension Day.
In the American Church the theme
of the Rogation Days has been largely taken up into Thanksgiving Day, which is
peculiar to The United States. Thanksgiving Day is a civil holiday for which
the church provides a set of propers suitable to the observance. The date is
set by civil authority in the Fall, at harvest time rather than at planting
time, so it conflicts with another religious observance, namely football
season.
There is also an attempt to
preempt the Rogation Days with another secular observance, namely "Earth
Day". Now please don't get me wrong. Such issues as pollution and conservation
of natural resources and carbon footprints, and the need to share God's bounty
are certainly important matters. But the rational for Earth Day is essentially
secular and perhaps even pagan rather than Christian. It harks back to the old
nature worship that was associated with the goddess that some have called
"Gaia" and most of us call "Mother Earth". Nevertheless our
duty as stewards of God's creation requires us to pay attention to them, and
the Rogation Days remind us of that.
In each of our passages for this Rogation Sunday we read about:
A. Blessings of the earth upon mankind (the
Psalms);
B. The peace of the Lord upon his people and in
the gospel reading;
C. The correct way to approach God about our
needs. Here Jesus teaches his disciples to pray and also give the early church
a blueprint on how to properly pray.
A. The blessings of the earth:
The psalmist outlines in the 65th Psalm the natural and
spiritual blessings that the Lord pours out upon his people. Verse four tells
us of the irresistible pull of the Lord. He causes those who he chooses to
approach him {the Lord} to dwell in his courts and to be satisfied with the
goodness of his house. That man is blessed. Understand that ‘man’ means any
human who is called.2. Pretty much the rest of the psalm is a song of
thanksgiving. The rains that come to water the fields which yield an abundant
crop, the hills rejoice, the pasture is good, all accounts of thanksgiving to
God who is to be praised. Which brings us back to the ascription found in the
first verse. ‘...praise waited for
thee, O God in Zion..., O thou
that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come...’ We are to praise God for what he has
given us and because he hears our prayer we are drawn to him.
B. The peace of the Lord upon his
people through the Hebrew people to the world in the future:
This passage from
Ezekiel focuses on the peace and safety of God’s people. And as we read of this
coming peace, the coming safety of all who dwell upon the earth we must
understand that it is through the Hebrew people that is comes to the rest of
the world. In verses 30 and 31 we see that the people will know that I am the
Lord their God and he is with them, even the house of Israel, and ye are my
flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I AM YOUR GOD, saith the Lord
God. It can’t be any more direct
than that.
25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the
evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the
wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing;
and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers
of blessing.
27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall
yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I
am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out
of the hand of those that served themselves of them.
28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the
beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make
them afraid.
29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no
more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen
any more.
30 Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and
that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God.
31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your
God, saith the Lord God.
C. The correct way to approach
God about our needs.
There are so many good studies on the ‘Lord’s Prayer’, I don’t want to
rehash them here. There are a large number of papers, books, studies all
dealing with the whole content of the Lord’s Prayer. Suffice it to say; there
are several fundamental things we are to do when we pray.
1. Praise God. “Our Father which are in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
2. Acknowledge that God is in charge. “Thy will
be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
3. Be thankful for our daily sustenance,
every day.
4. Forgive others as we ask Him to forgive us.
5. Keep us from temptation, by delivering us
from evil.
In the rest of the passage from Luke Jesus outlines the blessings that
come from the Father.
He points to what friends would do in urgent situations. He explains
that we are to ask, we are to knock on the door as the friend did when he
needed some bread.
Now before you start asking for that Cadillac or that fancy house,
understand the original prayer, ‘...thy will be done as in heaven, so in
earth...’ In other words according
to the will of God, not our wants, but our needs to be taken care of.
There are too many preachers who are giving false hope, the “name it
and claim it” preachers who say all you have to do is pray for it and God is
obligated to give it to you. If you don’t get your prayers answered, according
to these false preachers, it is because YOUR faith is too weak.
God, who is perfect, knows what we need before we ask, and yet as Jesus
modeled in the prayer he taught his disciples, we are to ask. We are to ask for
our daily bread, our sins be forgiven, and to remember that His will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
As we reflect
on the scripture we heard today, let us be thankful for the great blessings God
has given us. For the bounty of the earth, for the blessings he has bestowed
upon us and most importantly the salvation that he gave us through his Son
Jesus, that perfect, once and for all sacrifice for the remission of sins.
Let us pray:
Lord, from whom all good things do come, Grant to us thy humble servants,
that by thy holy inspiration we may think those things that are good, and by
thy merciful guiding may perform the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
lmighty God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are
the living and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who
have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy
mercy and the light of thy presence, that the good work which thou hast begun
in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen
Let us ever be thankful for God the Father, God the Son and God the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
✟
Rev Rick Reid of
Saint Peter’s Sunday Sermon
We are happy to have a
sermon from Reverend Rick Reid, minister of Saint Peter’s, whose congregation
is right at the Worldwide Headquarters of the Anglican Orthodox Church. Rev Rick has all the resources and
challenges right at hand. This
sermon is great and I think you will enjoy it.
Rogation Sunday John 16:23
Today is the fifth and last Sunday of the Easter
season.
It is called "Rogation Sunday", and is immediately followed by
the three Rogation Days, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week.
he word "Rogation” comes from the
Latin verb
rogare,
meaning "to ask", or “to pray”. The three Rogation Days are
traditionally days of special prayer and asking for God's blessing on the
spring planting.
In times past, (and still today in some areas of the world)
Rogation ceremonies included a procession through the fields, and all around
the boundaries of the parish.
The theme of "Rogation", or "asking",
is, in fact, introduced in today's Gospel when Jesus says: Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the
Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my
name: ask and, ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Today's Gospel, with its emphasis on prayer, introduces
the theme of Rogation. But, to understand more fully the meaning of today's propers,
we must also think about them in the context of the Easter season. Largely
because they are the conclusion of a series of Easter lessons setting before us
the meaning of Jesus' Resurrection, and what it means for our own life, in Him.
This entire series answers the question, "What does
it mean for us to be risen with Christ?"
As we follow the Easter propers prayerfully, week by week,
we notice the Gospels present, step by step, Jesus' own teaching on the meaning
of his Resurrection; while the Epistles seek to show us how that meaning is
worked out in the practicalities of our own Christian life.
Thus, we are shown, in practical terms, just what it means
to "seek those things which are above".
Today’s Epistle, (as was last week’s), was from St. James’
Epistle, which is considered by many to be the most practical book in the New
Testament. Its emphasis is upon behavior rather than upon belief. St. James
point out that genuine faith is not merely an abstract belief, but should be
expressed in the way we live. Listen to what he says:
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have
works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith, by
my works.19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest
well: the devils also believe, and tremble.20 But wilt thou
know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? James (2:18-20)
The point is really very simple: reciting the Creeds is
one thing; living the Creeds is something else. Acknowledging the fact of
Jesus' Resurrection is one thing; living (in ourselves), His risen life is
another. That is what St. James' point is; and in today's Epistle, he warns us
about self-deception in this matter. "Be
ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."
Belief, unless you live it, is only self deception.
How are we to be doers of Jesus' Resurrection doers of
Easter? and not hearers only? What does it really mean to be doers of Jesus'
risen life?
The answer is there in our Easter propers, for us both to
hear, and to do: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.2 Set
your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.3 For
ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Col. 3:1-3). "Set your minds on
things above", some very good, practical advice, for every one of us here
at St. Peter’s. But, as St. James reminds us, "Be ye doers of the word,
and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves".
The grip of the world is very strong upon all of us. We
sometimes hear the word of God, and carry on in our lives as though we had
never heard it. It is
only by serious, deliberate, and habitual measuring of our lives, in the
perspective of God's word, and in His will, that we can become doers,
and not just self-deceiving hearers.
You can be a casual hearer; but you can't be a
casual doer, because that is nothing but self-deception.
The basic, fundamental element in doing God's word is
prayer; Prayer, is not just asking
for this or that; prayer is essentially relating to God, all we are, all that
goes on around us, all we do, and of all that happens to us. Whatever it may be, we lift
it up, we hold it up before God, as today's Gospel tells us, in Jesus' name,
and thus we see it, we understand it, in a new way, in a new perspective. It
does not change God's eternal will, but it does change us. We lift it up; we
ask it, in Jesus' name. That is to say, with the sacrificial obedience of
Jesus, we offer it to God; we submit it to God's will. Such prayer, says Jesus,
is always answered: "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give
it you, ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full".
Whatsoever we ask in Jesus' name, we ask in perfect
submission to God's will; thy will be done, not our own desires or whims, in
God's will, we have our answer, and our peace. As last Sunday's Collect put it,
Our hearts will "surely there be
fixed where true joys are to be found."
St. James, at the end of today's Epistle, gives us a
definition of pure religion: "To
visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
unspotted from the world".
The practicality of charity is evident enough, and the
necessary expression of living faith. But don't forget the conclusion of that
definition: "To keep himself unspotted from the world".
That is to say, Christian practicality requires that we
not succumb to worldly attitudes, judgments and perspectives; but live, rather,
in the perspective of habitual prayer, which seeks always the things above, and
sees, judges, and measures all things from that standpoint.
Our new life in Christ, our Easter life, insofar as we are
doers, and not just hearers, places us at odds with the world, because the
world sees, judges, and measures very differently.
Jesus warns us about this in today's Gospel: "In the world
ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer", he says, "I have
overcome the world."
We too, can overcome the world by putting our faith in Him
who died, and was buried, and rose again for us, and for all mankind. Amen
After Church Hospitality
We got our first snacks picture
. It came in on Thursday, mid-morning and
I was hungry, then starving after seeing them. Look how the congregation at
Saint Peter’s, right at the Worldwide Headquarters of the Anglican Orthodox
Church, celebrated Mothers Day!
Now the standard is set! You don’t have to put on a feast like this, but you do have
to send pictures of your after church snacks.
Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a day set aside to
remember those members of our Armed Forces who This is not a day to thank a veteran, probably it is the
only day of the year that it is not the day for that. All veterans heard the country’s call and answered. They were not those who would not
hear. But, those of us here today
are the fortunate ones, for whatever reason we made it back. In my case after 30 years and two
weeks of military service with the Navy and Air Force, thirty percent of the
people I flew with did not make it back one way or the other. They are the ones we remember today,
they paid the entire bill for our freedom. Well, maybe not all the cost.
