Another Year Is Dawning
Another year is dawning,
dear Father, let it be
In working or in waiting,
another year with Thee.
Another year of progress,
another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy
presence all the days.
Another year of mercies, of
faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness in
the shining of Thy face;
Another year of leaning
upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting,
of quiet, happy rest.
Another year of service, of
witness for Thy love,
Another year of training
for holier work above.
Another year is dawning,
dear Father, let it be
On earth, or else in
Heaven, another year for Thee.
The Anglican Orthodox Church
Circumcision of Christ
Today we celebrate the
circumcision of Jesus in accordance with Jewish tradition, eight days
(according to the Semitic and southern European calculation of intervals of
days) after his birth, the occasion on which the child was formally given his
name. The circumcision of Jesus
has traditionally been seen, as explained in the popular 14th century
work the Golden Legend, as the first time the blood of Christ was shed, and
thus the beginning of the process of the redemption of man, and a demonstration
that Christ was fully human and of his obedience to Biblical law. No longer
celebrated by many churches, including the Roman and TEC, it is still the
Eighth Day. That has not changed
and so we celebrate the event as it is referred to in scripture, thus should it
be recalled.
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.
Today is one of those Red Letter
Days, The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ.
"And when eight days were
accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS,
which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb." Luke 2:21 (AV)
The propers for today are found
on Pages 105-106, with the Collect first:
The Circumcision of Christ.
[January 1.]
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised, and obedient to the
law for man; Grant us the true circumcision of the Spirit; that, our hearts,
and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may
in all things obey thy blessed will; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
The Nativity of our Lord, or the Birthday of Christ,
commonly called Christmas Day.
[December 25.]
The
Collect.
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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 today came from Paul’s letter to the people
of Philippia, starting at the Ninth Verse of the Second Chapter. The portion of
the letter used as today’s Epistle is relatively short. God has sent His Son to earth and given
him a name above all others, Jesus[1]. Paul exhorts his fellow followers to
continue to follow the Lord, not only while he is watching them, but at all
times. God will give them the will
and ability to do good, but only if they do their best to follow Him.
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OD also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name
which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his
good pleasure.
The Gospel for today came from the Gospel according
to Saint Luke, the Second Chapter,
beginning at the Fifteenth Verse. Today’s Gospel recounts the angels visit to
the shepherds who came into Bethlehem to pay homage to Jesus in the
manger. It also documents the
circumcision of Jesus, bringing Him under the Law. He who: Is, Was and always Will be, put Himself under the
Law, that He might fulfill the Law and be our salvation.
Our salvation from the Law came from the perfect
sacrifice one time for the sins of all mankind for all time. The sacrifice had to be a perfect
human, one who did not exist until Jesus came. That perfect human had to enter in to the Law, had to
be subject to the Law. Thus, Jesus
submitted Himself unto the Law that he might in the end have dominion over the
Law.
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nd it came to pass, as the angels
were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us
now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the
Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and
Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made
known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they
that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the
shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they
had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. And when eight days were
accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS,
which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
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.
Today we recall the circumcision of our Lord and
Savior. He is God, yet He is under
The Law. Not all those 613 laws
were those called Moral, that is to say the Ten Commandments, but there are
those which are moral and there are also laws of God or physics. God, the Ultimate Being, is subject to
the laws He made. While He can,
and does on the very special occasion, disregard them such as when the shadow
went backwards, for the most part He, too, is subject to The Laws[2]. Why? Because they were made for the general good of this
world. We see what happens when
people do not follow the Laws that God set out for us to live by. If we stop
living by The Laws, then we are no better than the animals of this world, who
live by no such Laws whatsoever. Then there is no incentive for us to follow
Christ if we do not live by the laws which he has set before us. If we do not
need to follow these laws, then why would we follow Him? We follow Him because
He is the embodiment of all that is good and pleasing, unlike the world, which
seems to be the embodiment of pure evil and sickness. Evil and sin are diseases that
must be cured by being regenerated through the Holy Ghost. God does not break
His own Laws, in the very unique cases He does it is for an extremely good
reason. Without a system of order, there is chaos. God is not chaos; God never brings confusion. Chaos and Confusion are the Devil’s Modus
Operandi, not God’s. God never tests, but when we are tested by this world, He
monitors the results. He brought
the new covenant or new agreement to us through His Son, our Savior, Jesus
Christ. Knowing we cannot ever be
perfect, He gave us a way to be accounted as perfect at the Judgment Day – One
Sacrifice, Made One time, by One Man who was God, for All Mankind for All
Time. Jesus is our light and our
life. Through Him all things are
possible.
All salvation takes is the simple understanding of a
child or a shepherd. The simple
truth that is Christ. He is not
complex. His message is not
sophisticated. He is the way. The One Way!
This is the first day of the New Calendar Year. Remember also, it is the first day of
the remainder of your life here on earth, let it count for something. We live
in the present, the past will never come again and tomorrow never comes. Take
the right path starting right now.
Second Sunday after Christmas Day
Today we celeberate the Second Sunday after Christmas.
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. In point of fact, this week’s are all Bryan’s. On to the On Point quotes –
The father of the righteous shall greatly
rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
Proverbs
23:24
I have seen all the works that are done under
the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. That which is
crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
Ecclesiastes
1:14-15
Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the
heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are
dismayed at them.
Jeremiah
10:2
Who is wise, and he shall understand these
things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right,
and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
Hosea
14:9
For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the
whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
St.
Luke 9:25
I am the bread of life. Your
fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This the bread which
cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the
living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he
shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will
give for the life of the world.
St.
John 6:48-51
The minds and manners of men are crooked and
perverse. Solomon thought, with his wisdom and power together, thoroughly to
reform his kingdom and make that straight which he found crooked; but he was
disappointed.
Matthew
Henry
17th and 18th century
English pastor and author
What you believe about God and his relation
to good and evil will, without question, color the way you live in the world.
Dr.
D. James Kennedy
20th and 21st century
American Presbyterian pastor, teacher and author
Skeptics Answered, p. 112
There is a natural proneness and tendency in
us all to give God a sensual, carnal worship, and not that which is commanded
in his Word. We are ever ready to frame for our sloth and unbelief, visible
helps and stepping-stones in our approaches to him, and ultimately to give
these inventions of our own the honour due to him. In fact, idolatry is all
natural, downhill, easy, like the broad way. Spiritual worship is all of grace,
all uphill, and all against the grain. Any worship whatsoever is more pleasing
to the natural heart, than worshipping God, in the way our Lord Jesus Christ
describes, in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).
JC
Ryle
19th century Anglican bishop and
author
Are You Ready For The End of Time, pp.89-90
The Affordable Care Act is a prime example of
the ‘legal’ process by which an increasingly despotic and fascist government
joins hands with other powerful and moneyed entities in opposition to the very
people who supposedly ‘support’ the government in order to maintain power over
a system that is rapidly collapsing primarily because of the corrupt influences
of the government and its cronies. The crony nanny state isn’t here to protect
you, but to protect itself and its cronies from you.
Cognitive Dissonance
The Subtle Slavery of Obamacare: The Cattle
Chute of Coerced Cooperation in the Collective Corruption, 12-23-14
Regardless of the particular problem facing
Americans today, too often the first question asked is, “When is the government
going to save us?” At the most fundamental level, this question is a socialist
response to private concerns. Free men in a free society do not look to
government for solutions to private matters. Why? Because government is not
God; it cannot “give” to one unless it first takes away from another. The
“taking” mechanism of big government is that characteristic which tramples upon
the liberty of its citizens. We do not live in a free society when the
government can take our property in the form of taxes and give it to others.
Al
Benson, Jr. and Walter Donald Kennedy
20th and 21st century
American political commentators and authors
Lincoln’s Marxists, p. 48
In order to avoid falling victim to the
Hegelian Dialectic ... you must remember the process involved. Anytime a major
problem or issue arises ... think about who will gain or profit from it. Then
remove yourself from the equation and take a step back to look at it from a
third party perspective. See the so-called “problem”, look at who is reacting,
why and in what way. Then look for who is offering up the solution. When you do
this from now on you’ll quickly see that real truth instead of the false truth
they wanted you to see.
General
Maddox
21st century Australian commentator
The Hegelian Dialectic and its use in
controlling Modern Society
www.realnewsinaustralia.com 4-8-13
An American Dream of universal prosperity has
been pitted against the left’s dream of a benevolent feudal system in which the
few will be very well paid to oversee the income equality of the many... The
left’s social collectivism however is no replacement for what is being lost...
Like Islam, it provides something for people to believe in, but the thing it
provides is the compulsion to find meaning by forcibly remaking other people’s
lives in a perpetual revolution which becomes its own purpose. The left can’t
replace family or religion. Its social solutions are alien and artificial. They
fix nothing and damage everything. Their appeal is to those who are arrogant
and starved for meaning, who want religion without religion and family without
family only to discover that they are not enough.
Daniel
Greenfield
21st century American commentator
The Secular Religion of the Left, 2-10-14
They who voluntarily put themselves under the
power of a tyrant deserve whatever fate they receive.
Aesop
6th century BC Greek philosopher
and author
The Hawk and the Pigeons
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 106-107, with the Collect first:
The Second Sunday after Christmas
Day.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY
God, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word; Grant that
the same light enkindled in our hearts may shine forth in our lives; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The reading for the Epistle comes
from the Book of Isaiah, the Sixty-First Chapter beginning at the First Verse:
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HE
Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD
hath
anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up
the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto
them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be
called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD,
that he might be glorified.
The Holy Gospel came from the
Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the Second Chapter beginning at the
Nineteenth Verse:
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HEN
Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in
Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the
land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. And he
arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of
Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judæa in the room of his
father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God
in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: and he came and dwelt in
a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
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
Second Sunday after Christmas
4 January 2015, Anno Domini (in the Year of Our Lord)
The Second Sunday after Christmas
Day.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY
God, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word; Grant that
the same light enkindled in our hearts may shine forth in our lives; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle
Isaiah lxi. 1.
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HE
Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD
hath
anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up
the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto
them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be
called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD,
that he might be glorified.
The Gospel
St. Matthew ii. 19.
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HEN
Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in
Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the
land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. And he
arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of
Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judæa in the room of his
father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God
in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: and he came and dwelt in
a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
As the Collect attests, at Christmas God poured into our Cups of Faith the “new
Light of His Incarnate Word” – so much so that our cups runneth over.
The Light was eternally the same unchanging Light of Christ existant before the
worlds and heavens; yet, it came down to us to share in our same pains and
sufferings – and more. We can know God the Father because we have seen and
heard God the Son.
It is a mystery known only to God that only the meek and humble of heart can
hear and understand the Voice of the Spirit which speaks the Gospel that heals,
frees, cheers and liberates us from our self-imposed prison captivity. As our Epistle proclaims, we are, as well, to
proclaim – the acceptable year of our Lord. That Year has been published in our
calendars ever since His birth. It was 2015 years ago (Anno Domini) since that
momentous fulfillment of the Word. Despite all efforts to erase the meaning of
that date, it is recognized by the world, in spite of themselves, as the
division of time for our computation of the time scale in years. Those
who would extinguish the fires of truth by re-naming the calendar dates with
such ridiculous labels as C.E. (Common Era (or should it be error?) to supplant
Christ’s Birth in AD) and B.C.E. (Before the Common Era (or should it be error?)
to blur the distinction of BC – before Christ) are hard-pressed to explain WHY
they must use the zero year (Christ’s birth) as a starting point. Why
not allow the great truth of history to prevail and simply admit the coming of
Christ was such a climactic event as to divide our time scale in half? How
imbecilic is THAT?
Now we come to the Gospel text for the day. Please note how seamless the lines
joining the Prayer of Collect, the Epistle and the Gospel together. The
traditional lectionary has been the greatest tool in our Church Year to teach
the whole storyline of Christ and His Church.
Herod, the evil king who had slaughtered the children of Bethlehem (2 years of
age and younger) in his insane attempt to destroy Christ, has died. According
to the Jewish historian, Josephus, his death was one of extreme suffering. But
that is not a concern of the Gospel. All men come to a day of dying, even kings
and rulers – so Herod died the eternal death and is paying the wages for his
sins.
Joseph has fled into Egypt with the Child Jesus with His mother, Mary. He
was warned of the danger of Herod by the Angel of the Lord following the visit by
the Wise Men. And when they were
departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying,
Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be
thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to
destroy him. (Matt 2:13) It is worthy
of comment that kings, rulers, and governments have always tried to destroy the
Person of Jesus and any remembrance of His Name. There was no room for Christ
in a suitable lodging of Bethlehem, and there is no room for Him in Judah
either. The sword lurks the hills and wilderness areas of that land in search
of a small child to destroy Him. 19 But when Herod was
dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. Long years (perhaps six) Joseph and the
mother of Jesus tarried in Egypt awaiting the counsel of the Lord to return
home. They never complained or pressed God, but patiently waited during that
sojourn for the Word of the Lord and His directing Light. Just as the Wise Men
had patiently followed the Light of the Star, so must we patiently bear exile
and danger until the Lord gives us His Will and Word.
Arise, and take the young child and
his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the
young child's life. The precise wording of this verse is quite
illuminating. You will note that the angel did not say “take your Son
and His mother.” The reason is because Joseph was not the father of
Jesus. The Father of Jesus was God the Father. Notice the insidious
scheme to undermine this truth in new bible versions. In the Received Text bibles
we read from Luke 2:33 – And Joseph
and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
Now hear the great lie propagated by the NIV in the same
verse: The child's father
and mother marveled at what was said about him. Jesus had no earthly
father!
So Joseph and Mary waited upon the Lord for those long years in Egypt. How
often do we rush matters according to our own schedule and disregard the
patience that God would have us practice. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine
heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. (Psalms 27:14) Behold, as the eyes
of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden
unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until
that he have mercy upon us. (Psalms 123:2) But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and
not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31) This wise counsel is repeated in a plethora of other Scripture verses
as well. When it is the Lord’s Time, it is the RIGHT time!
Once the Lord has spoken, there should be no lingering procrastination – we
must be up and at the doing of His will. 21 And he arose, and
took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
There was no questioning of what awaited in Israel – simply prompt
obedience on the part of Joseph. A Godly woman will ALWAYS follow the spiritual
leadership of a Godly man. I lay the fault of almost every failed
marriage at the feet of the man who does not follow the Will of God in loving
his wife and providing spiritual leadership. Mary immediately went with Joseph
though the Angel had not spoken directly to her.
The Christian is never without dangers and challenges. Though Herod is dead,
his son, Archelaus, now ruled in his stead. We never reach a point of
absolute physical security in a world that is ruled by the enemies of God. We
are Soldiers of the Cross – Christian men, women, and children. We wear our
uniforms openly and fly the banner of Christ before us. But the wicked ‘Sniper
on the Hill’ is forever vigilant to destroy us if we unwittingly expose
ourselves to his aim. We must be gentle as lambs in our dealings with others,
but wise as serpents to counter the threat of the enemy. Behold, I send you forth as
sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as
doves. (Matt
10:16)
Once we have Christ, we often must leave the place of our accustomed living
never to return. Joseph did not feel safe in returning to Judah, but God never
leads half-way. Just as God had counseled Joseph to leave Egypt, He also warned
him to avoid Judah. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in
Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither:
notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts
of Galilee. It is amazing to
me how every step Joseph took from Nazareth to Bethlehem to Egypt to Galilee
were dictated so precisely by God. Joseph had keen ears to hear the voice of
the Lord, and he heard that Voice. We, too, must avoid the mad rages of public
society and get to a quiet place where we can have a keen ear to hear the Voice
of God.
Of what significance is this little village to which Jesus was carried called
‘Nazareth?’ The Hebrew root for the name seems to derive from Isaiah 11:1 – And there shall come forth a rod out of the
stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. (Isaiah 11:1) The word for Branch (or twig) given here in
the Hebrew is ‘rcn (Netser’. Jesus is
the Branch that comes forth out of the stem of Jesse and, eventually, King
David. But He also has the title of the “Anointed One of the Lord” (separated).
In the Greek, the word is ‘Nazwrai'oß Nazoraios – one separated.
Nazareth was as insignificant as it was small. It was located between the
Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee – about equa-distant from both.
It was like nothing more than a twig of the land of Israel – small and
unimportant. The little town of Bethlehem was not very important either until
it became the birthplace of Christ – now it is remembered forever. Neither was
the crude manger important until it held the Baby Jesus – now everyone knows
about the blessed manger. But Nazareth, though unknown for its insignificance
beforehand, would now become known for all time and eternity for the blessed Lord
who had lived there. In the mind of man, nothing good, or important, could come
from such a remote little hamlet; but in the Providence of God, something of
supreme importance came out of Nazareth. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of
Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. (John 1:46) The voice of the Lord may seem unimportant
to us until we have stopped to listen and to heed that Voice….then it becomes
the most important Voice we have ever heard.
Have you
heard that Voice? “Come and See!”
Sermon - Rev Jack Arnold
Church of the Faithful Centurion -
Descanso, California
Today’s sermon ties together the
propers, that is to say the prayer and readings for this week. Due to calendar considerations, we do
not oft get to celebrate the Second Sunday after Christmas as there are only 12
days in Christmastide, but this is one of those years!
In the Collect, we acknowledge
the New Light of Jesus Christ in the world and in our lives as the Word
Incarnate, or the Word in the Flesh.
We go on to ask the light of the Word will take root in our hearts and
shine forth as action in our lives.
That is to say that our lives will act as a window to the Word, not a
closed door.
The reading used for the Epistle
is not an Epistle as such, but a portion of the Book of Isaiah, one of the Old
Testament books filled with New Testament ideas and thoughts. In the reading, Isaiah says what we
should all be saying, The Lord has selected us to pass on His Good Tidings to
all, to tell the world the Good News of the Lord Jesus! To comfort those in need, to bring
happiness where there is heaviness, to talk of the Glory of God! Good News indeed! Jesus will be
proclaiming liberty to us, the former captives of the sin that would bring us
to a final death. Instead of death, He proclaims light and light to all the
hearts who accept Him. This is absolutely terrific news indeed!
On the surface, in the Gospel,
Matthew is just relating the historical fact of Joseph being told to go back
into Israel with Mary and Jesus, that all was safe for the time being. Yet, there is more. The verses also recall the threat to
Jesus’ life from Herod and sends Joseph and his family to take up residence in
Nazareth in fulfillment of the prophecy that the King of Kings would be called
a Nazarene.
So what of us? How do we fit in to all this?
We are to spread the light unto
the world, to be beacons, directing the people of the World to follow Christ
and not the World. We are the lamp bearers, the torch bearers, bringing the
light of Scripture unto the darkest places. We are like the light of Galadriel,
which was given to Frodo in Lord of the Rings, that it might be a light “unto
the darkest places.” Indeed this world is dark, a lot like the world of Mordor,
also from Lord of the Rings. Even when we despair and all seems hopeless, with
Christ and the Holy Ghost in our hearts, we can ride out amidst the darkness of
the world and triumph over what seems like overwhelming odds, when the evil
folk outnumber the good folk. With this rallying to our King, we can defeat
anything that evil throws at us. We know in the end, that our side wins for all
eternity.
So too shall Scripture be a light
for us and others in the darkest times and places on this planet. Christ is the
great guiding star, like the North Star for sailors of old to navigate by. So
too shall we navigate by Christ as our great guiding star. If we hold the light
up, we shall never fall and stumble. But if we do not hold it up, we will fall
and stumble. So the obvious solution to our problems when we are troubled is to
turn back and hold up the light to light our way.
That is to say, to return to the
Scriptures and His Word and consult Him for guidance and not look for true
guidance from the heart of man. Christ will show us the way. But, for us to find The Way, we must
not only look for it, but listen when He delivers and see when He points. For that to happen, we must let His
Word take root in our hearts.
In order to have it take root, we
must be opened to His Word and not shut and deaf to Him. He cannot come in if we will not
let him, so we must open our hearts and minds to Him. That is the mission of the Holy Ghost,
to enter into our hearts to give us understanding, to make our hearts receptive
to His Will, to inspire us to do His Will in a manner which will be
effective. Our Lord will free us
from ourselves if we open the door, so we must be willing and ready to accept
Him. We have to be ready, willing and able to receive Him and to spread His
Word, to have a true solid, Christian faith.
In order to be of help to others who
would come to Christ, we must walk the walk besides talking the talk; we must
not be as hypocrites, saying one thing but doing another. We do not want to be
like the Pharisees of old, with their lavish prayers and gestures in the
public. But we must be like the publican who would not so much as lift His eyes
up onto the heavens. We must have a humble, hearty and contrite spirit, to
spread the Word of the Lord to those who need to hear it most.
The time has come to show the
light unto the world. The time has come to choose God or Satan. The choice is
like those in the Lord of the Rings[3].
Do we choose the Light, like the Men of the West and Aragorn of Gondor, or do
we choose the forces of Darkness, of Mordor and their allies? Who shall we
choose? Our actions shall show our hearts. “For where your heart is, there
shall your treasure be also.”
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
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.
Second Sunday after Christmas
4 January 2015
The Second Sunday after Christmas
Day.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY
God, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word; Grant that
the same light enkindled in our hearts may shine forth in our lives; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle
Isaiah lxi. 1.
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HE
Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD
hath
anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up
the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto
them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be
called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD,
that he might be glorified.
The Gospel
St. Matthew ii. 19.
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HEN
Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in
Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the
land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. And he
arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of
Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judæa in the room of his
father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God
in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: and he came and dwelt in
a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
Alleluia.
Unto us a child is born. O come, let us adore him. Alleluia.
Preach,
proclaim, and comfort
Are we doing that ? If you notice in the words of Isaiah those three actions are
expressed. What are we doing to
follow the command of the Holy Spirit?
Notice in the collect for today the phrase,
...Grant that
the same light enkindled in our hearts may shine forth in our lives...
As followers of the Christ, who came to earth in such
a humble manner, we too, in humility should reach out to the lost and tell
them, proclaim to them, the comfort and salvation provided by this Christ who
we follow.
As we begin this new year
let us look for opportunities to share our faith with those around us. “Preach,
proclaim, and comfort” all indicate action. Now understand that to preach does not always mean a
prepared message or time of speaking to others. We can preach by our actions, our every day transactions
with those around us.
If you look at some of the
examples of ordinary folk in the Bible, they ministered, preached, proclaimed
and comforted those around them.
Look at Lydia, she was a cloth merchant. She was known for her honesty,
her fair trade and integrity in the work-a-day world. Look at the Faithful Centurion, he tried to be fair and even
handed when he dealt with his soldiers, servants and those around him. There
are many examples of preaching, proclaiming and comforting words of the Gospel
being shared in the New Testament early church.
Ok, now we that we have
reflected upon the words of Isaiah, what does the gospel message from Matthew
instruct us to do?
Obey? Yes, obey the Word of
the Lord. In the case of Joseph,
the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, obedience was the key to doing what
God instructed. In this case,
Joseph, following the instructions of a messenger from God, an angel, he took
his family which had been in exile in Egypt back to his home area. Instead of going back to Bethlehem, he
would go to the city of Nazareth.
Understand that Joseph was relocated and had to find employment or offer
his services as a carpenter where there was little or no competition.
Going back to Bethlehem
would have been ideal, but there were still folk who were related to those who
wanted Jesus dead, still in charge.
So to be safe, Joseph went to another area, the city of Nazareth where
he set up a carpentry shop. As the
passage from Matthew indicates, this was also part of prophecy, because then
Jesus would be proclaimed as “...one who came from Nazareth...the Nazarene...” Again, prophecy being fulfilled, in
even the most mundane of details, the place that Jesus would call home;
Nazareth, not Bethlehem.
Alright, if we are to
follow orders or to obey, how do we make sure we are following the right orders
? The Word of God is our
guide. We follow the Word, read
and digest and inwardly accept the Word into our lives, this involves daily
feeding upon the Word of God.
At the time of Joseph,
Mary and Jesus the New Testament did not exist, so dreams, visions and direct
contact with angels were means of communication between God and man. Now we have the Word of God
complete, the canon of the Old and New Testament, we can rely on that Word of
God to guide us.
The beginning of a new
year is a good time to start the habit of reading the Word daily. We need to find the time when we can quietly
read the Word of God, quietly reflect upon the Word, ask the Holy Spirit to
guide us in the Word; all towards the goal of becoming more and more like Jesus
in our daily walk with Him.
Let us pray:
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revent us, O Lord, in all our
doings with thy most gracious favor, and further uswith thy continual help;
that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy
Holy Name, and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting life. Grant us, O
Father, if it be thy blessed will, a happy New Year; as we have begun it in thy
presence, so may we end it in thy peace: and when our little span of mortal
days is over, grant us thy servants rest and re-union for ever in the Paradise
of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was
in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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URN thou us, O good Lord, and so
shall we be turned. Be favorable, O Lord. Be favorable to thy people, Who turn
to thee in weeping, fasting, and praying. For thou art a merciful God, Full of
compassion, Long-suffering, and of great pity. Thou sparest when we deserve
punishment, And in thy wrath thinkest upon mercy. Spare thy people, good Lord,
spare them, And let not thine heritage be brought to confusion. Hear us, O
Lord, for thy mercy is great, And after the multitude of thy mercies look upon
us; Through the merits and mediation of thy blessed Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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lmighty and Everlasting God, who
dost govern all things in heaven and earth; Mercifully hear the supplications
of us Thy servants, and grant unto this Parish all things that are needful for
its spiritual welfare: schools wherein to bring up the young in Thy faith and
fear; ministers to labor in this portion of Thy vineyard; a church perfected
according to the beauty of holiness; strengthen and increase the faithful,
visit and relieve the sick, turn and soften the wicked, arouse the careless,
recover the fallen, restore the penitent, remove all hindrances to the advancement
of Thy truth and bring all to be of one heart and mind within the fold of Thy
Holy Church, to the honor and praise of Thy Name; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
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Lord Jesus Christ, who didst say unto Thy
Disciples, Come ye apart into a desert place and rest a while; Grant we beseech
Thee to Thy servants now gathered together, so to seek Thee whom our souls
desire to love, that we may both find Thee and be found of Thee. Grant such
love and such wisdom to accompany the words which shall be spoken in Thy name,
that they may not fall to the ground, but may be helpful in leading us onward
through the toils of our pilgrimage to that rest which remaineth, where,
nevertheless, they rest not day nor night from Thy perfect service; who livest
and reignest God for ever and ever. 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.
Second Sunday after Christmas
In Saint Paul’s second letter to the people of Corinth he wrote:
3 But if our
gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In
whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.
The Great Commission was
given to advance the gospel in this world as a witness to those who would
believe as well as a witness against those who would reject it.
Like many born-again
believers, I am saddened by the increasing numbers of the unregenerate who
have, for whatever reason, rejected the gospel of our Lord in favor of their
jaded and godless lifestyles. Equally if not more disturbing are those who
identify themselves as Christians while possessing but a cursory knowledge of
God’s saving grace. Sadly, many are as ignorant and uninformed about the tenets
of the true faith as any of the unchurched. Some might think such a state to
something new, but it is not. The visible Church has contained from its
beginnings both wheat and tares: a situation which Ole Lucifer has taken full
advantage of over the centuries. Through his increase of the tares, he has
managed to gain such a level of control over various churches and denominations
of today so that even if a minister possessed a desire to proclaim the gospel
per the Great Commission, such a one would soon discover that effort to be a
forlorn hope as so few will listen to— much less heed— his message. Satan would
like nothing better than for all Bible-believing ministers to simply give up
and shut up about the Great Commission. But that is not what our Lord would
have us do and here’s why.
Prior to coming of the Second
World War, a noted civil libertarian named Albert J. Nock authored a piece
entitled Isaiah’s Job wherein he penned the following account of the prophet’s
encounter with the one true and living God: “In the year of Uzziah’s death, the
LORD commissioned the prophet to go out and warn the people of the wrath to
come. ‘Tell them what a worthless lot they are...tell them what is wrong, and
why and what is going to happen unless they have a change of heart and
straighten up. Don’t mince matters...give it to them good and strong and keep
giving it to them. I suppose I ought to tell you, that it won’t do any good The
official class and their intelligentsia will turn up their noses at you and the
masses will not even listen...”
As we know, the prophet did
as he was commanded; nevertheless, he was quite perplexed. And here is where
Nock arrived at the crux of the issue: “But the prospect raised the obvious
question: why, if all that were so... was there any sense in starting it? ‘Ah,’
the LORD said, ‘you don’t get the point. There is a Remnant... that you know
nothing about... they need to be encouraged and braced up because when
everything has gone completely to the dogs, they are the ones who will come
back and build up a new society; and meanwhile, your preaching will reassure
them and keep them hanging on. Your job is to take care of the Remnant...’”
Now just who are the masses
and who are the remnant? According to Nock, “the mass-man is one who has
neither the force of intellect to apprehend the principles issuing in what we
know as the humane life, nor the force of character to adhere to [them]...the
Remnant... are able... to cleave to them.”
In St. John’s gospel, our
Lord said, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life (5:24). A bit further on, our Lord spoke in a more definitive
manner when he said, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded
forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye
not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the
father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you
convinceth me of sin. And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that
is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of
God (8:42-47).
Do you see the distinction drawn between those who were present with our Lord?
There are the masses, and there is a remnant. The masses are the children of
the evil one and the remnant are those who will hear the words of Christ and
respond to them in a positive manner. The masses are those unregenerated
persons who follow the world, the flesh, and yes, the devil (note verse 44 again). They
could not understand our Lord’s speech because they could not hear, that is to
say, they could not take in and accept his words.
The remnant, however, are
those who have been regenerated by the power of the Holy Ghost. They seek to
honor God by not only hearing the word, but by being obedient to it. St. John
wrote in his first epistle (3:24), And he that keepeth his commandments
dwelleth in [Christ] and [Christ] in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in
us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. The mass of unregenerate mankind does
not care for the things of the Spirit as they must be spiritually discerned (I
Corinthians 2:14). That was true in Isaiah’s day and it will remain true until
Christ comes again in glory.
Today, we are faced with
several important theological questions the answers to which will determine our
eternal destiny. Will you hear the words of Christ and accept them; or, will
you attempt to hide behind a philosophy of Christianity that merely
cherry-picks from Scripture those passages which support your faulty
theological assumptions? Are you willing to focus on what God would have you
do; rather than on what you would desire to do: satisfying our fleshly lusts
that are in opposition to the stated word of God? Those who are regenerated by
the Holy Ghost will agree with the first portion of each set of questions while
the latter portion will be accepted by the masses.
St. Paul wrote extensively
on the Christian ethos— its underlying character and operation within the
world. He was not always known by his Christian name as he too had been one of
the masses. He had sought, in ignorance, to do the devil’s work by tracking
down as many members of the body of Christ as he could detect. We also know
that he had a conversion experience while on a mission to Damascus (see Acts 9:1-20).
And following his conversion, he gave us the rubrics for church order and
worship. He was called of God to supply the form to the substance of the gospel
message— to flesh out the specifics. He was called to preach and be heard of
the remnant who would truly believe and be saved by the effectual working of
the Holy Ghost.
Unfortunately today, many
church leaders have rejected both the apostle and his teachings in favor of
another gospel (Galatians
1:6-9). Their embrace of an alternative to the true gospel of our Lord
has diminished the concept of inerrancy of God’s word written among their
congregants. They have even adopted new bible translations whose authors have
trimmed the sacred text so that it does not conflict with their worldly values
and lifestyles. They have become cultists, who gather around a figment of
Christ, but not Christ himself. Is it any wonder that our Lord has been
regrettably forced to stand outside the doors of these churches knocking to
come in (Revelation
3:20). Truly they are fit examples of blinded minds and lost souls.
Our duty as regenerated
souls in Christ is to be salt and light in this sinful world regardless of
whether the masses of the unregenerate accept our witness. As St. Paul wrote,
knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. In that vein, we
should pray for God’s gift of faith to be spread abroad and that God would
bring a spirit of revival into the world in these last days. The power of
praying Christians is infinite for the Lord we serve is a mighty and sovereign
God who cares for us and hears us. St. James tells us in his epistle (5:16)
that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And as we
witness, we ought to be mindful of St. Paul counsel to young Timothy in his
second epistle:
And the servant of the Lord
must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness
instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his
will (2:25-26).
Though many will perish, we ought to pray for the unregenerate around us
nonetheless. Our duty is to give them the gospel of truth and to give it to
them straight, and to keep giving it to them as God gives us the occasion so to
do. We may not always understand why God acts, or does not act, in a particular
matter for which we have petitioned him. But we can rest assured that in his
love for us, he will hear us. To that end, let us close with an excerpt from
St. John 10:14, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
For the Remnant, those are most comfortable words indeed.
Let us pray,
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ather, assist us with
thy most holy Spirit to be effective and fervent witnesses for thee; that those
who hear thy word from our lips and see its works in our lives, may also
receive it to their salvation, being no longer blinded in their minds to the
truth of thy word, and no longer souls lost to thee but found in thee; and
these things we ask in the most precious name of thy dear Son, our Saviour,
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Have a blessed week, Bryan+
[1]
The name Jesus,
savior, is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which was originally
Hoshea (Num. 13:8, 16), but changed by Moses into Jehoshua (Num. 13:16; 1 Chr.
7:27), or Joshua. After the Exile it assumed the form Jeshua, whence the Greek
form Jesus. It was given to our
Lord to denote the object of his mission, to save.
[2]
Yet, do not
misapprehend, we know but little of His Laws and the laws of the universe as He
made them. Our grasp of the space
time continuum is little beyond that possessed by those at Moses time. He is, was and always will be. We live in the present, remember the past and prepare for
what will be, the best we can.
[3]
No so surprising a
comparison as you might think if you knew little of literature. The great
fantasy and children’s writers, John Ronald Reuel (JRR) Tolkien, Clive
Stapleton (CS) Lewis and Gilbert Keith (GK) Chesterton were all friends and
more importantly, devoted well educated Christians. While they are famous for their apparently secular
fantasy writings, there is a Christian theme woven through each of their works.
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