Fourth Sunday after Easter

… Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning
If you enjoy this, the entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE!

The Sermon is just below the Propers:

The Fourth Sunday after Easter.

The Collect.

O

 ALMIGHTY God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

This week’s Epistle came from the First Chapter of the Epistle of Saint James beginning at the Seventeenth Verse. James tells us we are the pinnacle of God’s creation, destined to be the stewards of His world.  This position has its privileges, but even more important it has its responsibilities.  Most of the time, we seem to concentrate on what we like, the privileges, and forget about those responsibilities which require work, putting off instant gratification, persistence and sometimes courage.  As Saint Paul so often tells us, we must become new people, putting aside our old ways, considerate of what we should do and let ourselves become open to His Word: 

E

VERY good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

This week’s Holy Gospel came from the Sixteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John beginning at the Fifth Verse. 

You must recognize we are imperfect creatures with free will.  For us to do God’s Will, not ours, we need help.  We need that bit of good leaven, which will let our hearts rise to the occasion.  We need the Holy Ghost in our hearts and souls.  Listen as John tells us:

J

ESUS said unto his disciples, Now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

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:

… who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found…

The very first phrase is critical to understanding our relationship with the world.  We want to follow our own hearts and they will lead us down the path to Donkey Island and eventually the pit.  This explains the “unruly wills and affections of sinful men.”  Our natural wills and affections are towards sinful things and not that of God. God’s commandments to us are to re-shape our affections from things of mammon, to things of eternity. It requires tweaking our perspective on what is best for us to match with what God knows is the best for us. He knows us far better than we do, and knows what is actually best for us. We have one hope; that we will listen to the instruction God freely offers us.  If we will just do what He asks we will find true joy. 

We have to internalize His commands into our hearts through listening and then through repetition, action, this is the only way we can follow His Commandments and show the World we follow Him. It is not enough to hear the Word only, we need to live the Word. Showing others that we are dedicated to following the Lord, and not just saying that we are following the Lord is how we can truly follow Him. .  Our life will be better when we follow His directions and if we will allow God to rule us and desire His help, we will be able to attain the state of happiness we will then deserve. He knows what is right and what is wrong for us. He does not want us to lead Puritanical lives with no fun allowed whatsoever, but we must have fun the right way and not the wrong way. The right way can lead to a lifetime of happiness, whereas the wrong way can lead to a life time of misery. Many people think that God forbids things for us, because He does not want us to have fun. Nothing can be further from the truth. He forbids things that are harmful for our spiritual well being, and allows us to have clean spiritual, joyous things in our life that will develop our spiritual well being.

We need God’s help (this is one of the places the Holy Ghost comes in) to be able to want for ourselves that which He Wants for us.  If we can desire what He Wants, our ability to follow His Instructions will be much enhanced.

We are God’s creatures, first among all His Creation with all the privileges (which we like) and all the responsibility (which we are not so keen on) which come with that status.  All good comes from God, who is always with us; always the same; a true bearing in world in a constant state of flux. While the world may change, the Word will never change, no matter what happens in the world today. His Word is refreshing constant, in this world where things are changing every few years it seems, but His Word will never change. It’s meaning never changes, as God never changes. As God is truth, which by its nature cannot change, so should we never change in our beliefs towards Him. It is refreshing to have Him in our lives as a constant that we can always cling to when we get in trouble. Whenever it is a simple problem, such as a computer program malfunctioning, or a complex problem, we can turn to Him in our day of trial and find ourselves comforted.  We need to listen to not only Him, but those around us, think before we speak, think more before we act in haste.  We must put ourselves to good and separate ourselves from evil and superfluity of naughtiness so we can hear His Word, which will save our souls.

So, how can we hear?

When Jesus got ready to leave this world for His, He told the disciples that He would send them the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, to keep them in Him and to help them understand what they had so far been unable to truly grasp.  Unless we allow the Holy Ghost to enter into our hearts, we will never truly understand that which is from God.  This is an important concept with messages that are not from God being bombarded across the world through principalities and powers of this world. Only the Holy Ghost can help us remain grounded within the truth. We need the Holy Ghost to enter into us that we might be able to hear the Word of God, and more important than just hearing the Word, we need the Holy Ghost to be able to act upon the Word. We must allow the Holy Ghost to enter in to our hearts and souls so we can understand what God has for us.  It is that simple.  Open your heart, pray for God to send Him into that open heart. 

For with the Holy Ghost’s help, you can hear, understand and act on The Word.

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

Third Sunday after Easter

If you enjoy this, the entire
AOC Sunday Report is
RIGHT HERE!

Sermon - Rev Hap Arnold

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Rev Jack is currently traveling back from Detachment One - Okinawa; thus there is a sermon from Hap.

Today’s sermon ties 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:

… who showest to them that are in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness; Grant unto all those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s Religion, that they may avoid those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same…

God, our God, the only God, is a Triune God; that is Three Persons in One.  Not three gods, but One God, with three aspects.  Three Persons, one God.  Somewhat confusing, do you think? This is truly, no matter what “the learned” say something we do not understand, yet must accept on faith.  When we get to heaven, we will be shown the fullness of that concept, but in the mean time, we must just take it on faith and deal with the reality of it.  In this case, the God who will show us our errors is the Holy Ghost, that Third God Guy, the one who brings:

·      Understanding

·      Comfort

·      Strength

·      Courage

·      Perseverance

·      Insight

Thus, it is through the actions of the Holy Ghost in our hearts, minds and souls that we are lead to see the errors of our own performance.  What are errors?  They are when our actions fall short of God’s Plan for us.  Thus, we also need the operation of the Holy Ghost in our hearts, souls and minds that we might truly understand what God wants us to do.  So where do we find that information?  Scripture!  God has given us Scripture; and what is Scripture?  God’s instructions for us – Yes!  And, another fancy word, kind of fancy at least, for the Bible.  The Original Book! Consider what is contained in the Collect for the Second Sunday in Advent:

B

LESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

This is not Scripture, do not be confused, it is a prayer that we might study Scripture giving illumination to the need to gain knowledge from The Word and act on said knowledge.  For knowledge without action is worthless, actually probably worse than worthless.

Today’s Collect goes on to ask that we be lead by the Holy Ghost to avoid those things God warns against and like, value and follow those He has set for us to do so.

That pretty much brings us to Saint Peter’s point in his first General Epistle when he tells us to avoid those things that are bad for us, which he refers to as fleshly lusts, and to live our lives as God has directed.  If we do this, our actions will be good.  If our actions are good, those around us, believers and non-believers alike, will be motivated or inspired by our example.

In a prime example of why good Christians make good citizens of a God oriented country, Peter tells us to follow civil law.  This, of course, does not mean to follow civil law where it is diametrically opposed to the Law of God, but a country whose laws draw their authority from God[1] should not have laws diametrically opposed to the Law of God, should it?

Peter goes on to tell us we are free from the Mosaic Laws, but not from Christ’s Summary of the Law:

Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith:

T

HOU shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.      (BCP Page 69)

We are not to use our so-called freedom to do evil, but rather to follow God’s design for us.  One of the keys to attaining a better, for it will never be good, performance here on earth is teamwork.  We need to find other followers of the Lord and work together with them.  So, look around, find Christians with whom you can associate and come together to work for the Lord.  Mutual Support is a concept that has applicability in many places, none more important than in our battle with the Devil for our souls.

While Paul wrote almost half the Books of the Bible, John wrote some very very important portions for our edification.  Some of what he writes might seem little more that historical narrative, but in it is much of the theology[2] upon which we rely.  In the case of John 16:16 and on, Jesus is talking to the disciples before His arrest, trial, crucifixion, earthly death and resurrection.  He is preparing the disciples for what is to come.  His death on the Cross would be great sorrow for His followers, yet great joy for those who follow the Prince of Darkness, whose religion was their earthly success, the religious rulers of the area and their toadies.  But, three days later, the tables would turn.  The disciples would be filled with joy at the delivery of the promise of life eternal, the followers of the Prince of Darkness, not so much.

Like the woman who passes through the pain of childbirth into the joy of her newborn baby, when we pass through the pain of this earth, we gain the joy of heaven.  When we make it to heaven, all the pain of this vale of tears is left behind.

But, now we are not in heaven, we are here on earth, a place where we must act, not just talk or think.  ACT!

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

As we go off on our business, please recall this quote from GK Chesterton:

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting;

it has been found difficult and not tried.”

---

[1] Note the Declaration of Independence: 

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

[2] Theology - the study of the nature of God and religious belief.

Second Sunday after Easter

If you enjoy this, the entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE!

Sermon - Rev Hap Arnold

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Rev Jack is back in Okinawa, Detachment One is active; thus there is a sermon from Hap.

Today’s sermon ties the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together. 

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:

… who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life …

It is critical to understand Jesus is the only begotten Son (John 3:16) of God.  He is also referred to in places as The Word, the means by which God is given to the world.  But, more than that, 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.   (John 1:1-3)  He has been there since before the beginning of what we understand to be the Universe.  He created this world, it is by rights His, not the rightful belonging of the Prince of this World.  He whom is begotten of the Father is who was sent to give His earthly life that we might be accounted as perfect at our own final accounting.  In addition, as we have a dire need of direction, our internal sense of right and wrong so oft lacking, He came to earth to provide us with a perfect example of what to do, while we, ourselves, so oft serve only as bad examples.   As the Collect makes very clear, we need the Holy Ghost in our hearts to more closely follow that perfect example in our daily actions.

This brings us to Peter’s point in the Epistle, Christ serves as a perfect example for the conduct of our lives.  If we are wrong and suffer for it, there is little honor; for we were wrong.  But, if we do right, that is follow God’s Will, and suffer for it, there is in fact glory, laud and honor there.  Jesus went to His death on the Cross for our failures that we might be accounted as perfect.  He who is, was and always will be perfect suffered great pain that we might live life eternal.  If He did that for us, should we not follow that example and follow His Direction, counting the cost only after the work is done?

We are after all much like sheep, following the lead of those around us, somewhat like lemmings, it seems.  We have great need of a shepherd to lead us back from the edge of The Pit and to life, back to those verdant pastures and still waters.

As Peter referred to Jesus as a shepherd, so does John.  There is a reason for this constant reference to Jesus as the Good Shepherd; He is.  The Gospel notes the difference of ownership.  Our true owner will, and I might add, has, given His Life that we might be protected from the ravening wolves of this world, the Prince of this World.  We are cautioned to 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8)  But, sobriety only gets you so far; sheep do poorly against wolves and lions.  Make no mistake, we need the help of that Good Shepherd.  That Good Shepherd calls to each of us, we need the Holy Ghost in our hearts to hear that call.  Regardless of what you have been told by those of this world, there is only One God, One Lord, One Savior.  Thus, there is only One Flock; there are many ways to follow Scripture, but they must all have the same general plan.  That is the reason for the creeds, the reason we tell all to compare what is preached against what is in Scripture.  We need to daily work towards doing a better job of following God’s Will.

We need help, He provides it, we need to accept it.

The key is action, in this case our action.  We need to actually accept the offered help; like the life ring thrown to a drowning person, we must grab God’s proffered help, else we profit nothing.

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

First Sunday after Easter

If you enjoyed this,
the entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE!

Sermon - Rev Jack Arnold

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Descanso, CA

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:

… thine only Son to die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification; Grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve thee in pureness of living and truth …

God sent Jesus, His ONLY Son, to be The Christ, The Messiah, The Savior, The Lamb to be sacrificed for our sin.  He gave His earthly Life, He went down into Hell, that we might be justified before God at our accounting.  Not that we might be perfect, but that we might be accounted perfect at our judgment day.  Yet we are not made perfect. Just because we are going to be accounted as perfect does not mean we are.  Thus we must ask God’s help to put away the infection, or leaven, of evil in our hearts so we can serve the Living God here.  We must be unleavened bread or unsinful. This is truly a task which requires His Help. Without His Help, we cannot remove the hate and evil from our hearts.  We need His Help so we can move forward.

In his general Epistle, Saint John makes it clear the entity we refer to as God is a Triune Being, that is Three in One; Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  What he does not make clear is the relationship between the Three.  But, that is not surprising, no place else is it really clear either.  God is comprised of three separate entities who are of one substance and form a single entity, each has its function.  Jesus Christ is our key to life and the Holy Ghost is our key to Jesus Christ.  Christ, who was there at the beginning, will be there at our end; the Holy Ghost who breathed life into this world is our key to finding Christ in our hearts.  God has made it so.

The Holy Ghost is not often talked about in the church, yet He is the key to understanding.  God sent us the Holy Ghost that we might have:

·      Comfort

·      Understanding

·      Patience

·      Insight

·      Perseverance

·      Courage

·      Strength

·      Sympathy

When John relates the story of Jesus coming in to the Upper Room, note three things:

1.     He came into a closed room in bodily form;

2.     Then gave them His Peace;

3.     He breathed the Holy Ghost upon them.

An interesting point is made when John talks about the closed room.  When we leave the Shadowlands, we will gain an optimized body with shape and form, but as Jesus demonstrated things are different in the Real World.  The closed room is a metaphor of sorts for Earth. Earth is a closed room, in that there is no way out, except through death. When we die, as followers of Christ, we will appear in heaven, out of this closed room. And when we appear in heaven, things will be different than here on Earth and for the better.  We will no longer be halt, blind and maimed, we will live as God has meant for us.  

Jesus gave them His Peace. The Peace He talks about is quite different from the peace that the world talks about.  Jesus brings us, like those disciples, the peace of mind and soul that comes with giving all our worry, sadness and terror to Him.  He leaves in His Wake not confusion but order and wellbeing.  With Him in our hearts we cannot fail at anything that needs be done.  His Peace.  This is not a concept that is thought about lightly.  It is certainly not the hand shaking service interrupting greeting of some churches.  They say ‘peace’ when they mean ‘hi.’  This Peace is what we are looking for and have been looking for since we came into this world, for it is our passport out. It is the true peace we get when we know He is carrying our worries on His back and we can let go of our concerns and know that He is looking out for us and will give us the guidance we need to deal with our concerns. We just need to listen to Him and then act upon it.

That brings us to the Holy Ghost.  He is the Breath of Life, not just physical, whereas to die is to “give up the Ghost.”   He is our spiritual life, for without Him in our souls, hearts and minds we cannot even see the narrow road to the summit, let alone navigate it.  Without Him we see only that broad even way that gently curves downward and gets smoother and smoother as it nears the Pit.   The Holy Ghost is the key to knowing our Lord!

Paul continually tells us we must be reborn as a new person in God.  We must put on the New Man and put the Old Man behind us.  We must endeavor to leave our old habits behind as we strive to make new practices into habits. The only way to do this is through His Help and repetition of those new practices. We cannot follow the direction of Jesus towards God without the help of the Holy Ghost; the Trinity in actual practice.  If you believe in Jesus, you must believe in God and follow Him; you can do neither without the help of the Holy Ghost. Without the Holy Ghost, we are like men who desperately need glasses to see. Without the Holy Ghost as our correcting lens, we cannot see what He wants us to see in order to act.  With the Holy Ghost, we can see what needs to be done and also act upon it.

The Holy Ghost is key to all of our efforts here on Earth. We cannot do anything to advance our Lord’s cause here on Earth without His presence within our hearts. So we must accept the help that the Holy Ghost will give us. To truly accept His Help, we must first listen to Him and then act upon what He says for us to do.

When Jesus came to the disciples on Sunday evening, He breathed the Holy Ghost into their hearts.  He gave the disciples the power to pass His Forgiveness on to their followers.  As ministers of God, we follow the disciples, but we have not the power to forgive, except as we find in the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  We do have the ability to tell you that if you repent, that is “to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life,” then God will forgive you.  Through our Lord, if you repent, He has forgiven you. 

The key word here is repent!  We must “go and sin no more!” as Christ told the lady who was an adulteress. He did not tell her it was okay to do what she wanted to do, the way she wanted to do it and perhaps suggest a more flattering shade of lipstick.  No, He told her that her sins were forgiven, but she was to “go and sin no more!” We repent not only in word, but we must repent in our deeds also, so that we can truly show the world that we have faith. If we do not repent, then we do not have faith in Him. We must have faith in Him, so therefore, we must truly and earnestly repent of our sins and do our utmost best to “go and sin no more.” That is how we can truly show that we have faith. That is all that He asks, is us to actually DO our best, not just say that we are doing our best.

So what to take from all this?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  John 3.16

If you get that, you have the Holy Ghost in your heart.  If you open your heart, He will breathe the breath that sends The Comforter to you. Then you shall have the knowledge to act the way He wants you to act. You will have surefire knowledge of the course that He wants you to take.

When the time comes, how will you ACT?

It is by our actions we are known.

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God