Eighth Sunday after Trinity

Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/jsnC100D6mU

 

Today’s Collect, Epistle and Gospel all come together with one theme. That theme is that if we listen to Him in word and in deed, God will protect us from hurtful things and will lead us to profitable things. Note in deed and not just words!   In the Collect, we must understand in our hearts God does indeed “ordereth all things” here as well as in heaven. Even though it might not seem like it at times, we have to understand ultimately He is in control of all of the Universe.  Paul says before receiving the Holy Spirit or the spirit of adoption, we were under Satan’s bondage. He points out that if we live as our old sinful selves, after the flesh, we will die.  In the Gospel, Jesus points out if we are of the good tree, our actions will produce good fruit. Before, we were of the bad tree and that is why we produced nothing good. He also points out that not everyone that claims to be a Christian will get into heaven.  This Gospel lets us know that unlike us, Jesus is not fooled by those who have deception in their hearts. Those false prophets might fool many but they will never fool God. Having trouble visualizing it all coming together?  Read or listen to Rev Jack’s sermon.

The Propers for today are found on Page 199-200, with the Collect first:

 

The Eighth Sunday after Trinity.

 

The Collect.

 

O

 GOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

The Epistle came from Paul’s letter to the Romans, the Eighth Chapter, beginning at the Twelfth Verse. Paul tells us to live out our lives as Jesus instructed us to.  If we live as we want, we die and are gone.  If we live as Jesus commanded, we will live through to eternity.  Life is not about here, it is about doing well enough here so we can get there.  If we want the fruits of the heirship we have been given, we must live the part: 

 

B

RETHREN, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

 

Today’s Holy Gospel started in the Seventh Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, beginning at the Fifteenth Verse.  Matthew records the warning that so few heed. Many leaders talk a good line, but how do they actually act, particularly in private?  For it is private when none are looking that we are revealed.  If you want to get to heaven, you have to act the part, not just talk about it.

 

B

EWARE of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Descanso, California

Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon can be viewed on video HERE ->https://youtu.be/jsnC100D6mU

 

Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above. 

 

Consider the words from the Collect, wherein we ask God who … ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; … to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which are profitable for us …

 

We must understand in our hearts God does indeed “ordereth all things” here as well as in heaven. Even though it might not seem like it at times, we have to understand ultimately He is in control of all of the Universe. This may seem hard to understand when so much evil happens in this world, but once you understand God ultimately is in control and has a plan, I find that it is not so hard to understand.  And I find that thought fairly comforting whenever I worry about all the evil that is going on. Once I tell myself that in the end all will go according to God’s plan, I feel much better about what is going on. Once we understand, then we can ask Him to keep us away from those things hurtful to us and incline our hearts towards those things that are good for us.  This issue will always be a challenge to us due to our sinful nature.  Our sinful nature inclines us towards those things which are hurtful to us. We need help to overcome our sinful nature. We alone cannot do this, thus we need the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in our hearts.  Without His Help, we cannot recognize our need for help.  We tend to think of ourselves as perfectible by our own work, without the need to depend on others (Him).  The problem is, it does not work.  The collect recognizes that on our own we could not find what is profitable for us and that we tend to stray towards those things that are hurtful for us. Therefore, we need God as our infallible guide to steer us towards those things which will help us and not harm us.

 

Today’s Collect, Epistle and Gospel all come together with one theme. That theme is that if we listen to Him in word and in deed, God will protect us from hurtful things and will lead us to profitable things. Note in deed and not just words! This means we actually have to act for Him and not just say we are for Him. We have to back up the nice words we say with actions that reflect those nice words. If we do these things, we will become profitable. Profitable not in the sense of being Bill Gates rich, but profitable in the sense that whatever God and the Holy Spirit will lead us to will be beneficial for our spiritual well being as well as our physical and mental well being. Paul mentions before receiving the Holy Spirit or the spirit of adoption, we were under Satan’s bondage. He points out that if we live as our old sinful selves, after the flesh, we will die. He says however, if we mortify our deeds, that is to cease our sinning and turn over a new leave, with the help of the Holy Ghost we shall live. He points out if we suffer for Him, along with Him, we will also receive glory for that righteous suffering together with Him.

 

 We have been released from slavery to Satan and are now free peoples under Christ’s banner. We are not called to freedom from sin just to re-enter our previous state, but to be the new men of Christ.   This means setting aside the previous things which hurt us spiritually, physically and mentally and focusing on pursuing a way of living that would honor God. We are called to be different than who we were before when we were slaves to Satan. That means examining the spiritual, physical and mental aspects of our lives, seeing what we need to do to improve it to follow His Word and to be the New Men that St. Paul talks about.. It is a continuous process that will span the rest of our lives, until we leave this life and head to meet with God. Every day we must ask ourselves what did we do right and what did we do not so right? Keep doing the things we did right and we must strive to fix the things we did not do so right. It’s gradual but over time if we follow this formula, we will become better people for it.

 

His Word brings us to another point. Which is does the Bible you use match the real Word of God?  It is not the grammar or style that counts, but the facts, the points, the real message of Scripture.  The Authorized Version comes from the Received Text and is reliable.  Make certain the version you use loses nothing in the translation. Many modern versions use corrupted manuscripts omitting a large number of verses which corrupts the New Testament message, and in the case of John 3:16 for example, dilute Jesus Christ’s status as the only begotten son of God. The newer Bibles also are copyrighted so “Man” owns it, and not the author of Scripture, God our Father. In this case, these newer Bibles are not Bibles at all, but doctrine books of men set on not following Scripture. They have lost the holiness that God’s Word is and have become mere textbooks of men. They promote false doctrine and have helped to spread heresy in the church.  This is part of the reason that there is so much heresy in the modern churches today. We must be on the look out for these and remember to only use the versions based on the Received Text, so nothing is lost in the translation.

 

So, once you let the Holy Ghost into your heart, then take the direction He Offers, read and understand Scripture, you will know what you are supposed to do.  Then, you need to actually act on that knowledge. Action, not just diction is what counts in the end.  Nice words are nice, but they do not mean as much if they are not backed by action. Action will show people who our hearts truly are for, God or Mammon. Let us choose to act for God and have our actions show likewise.

 

In the Gospel, Jesus covers similar ground.  He points out that if we are of the good tree, our actions will produce good fruit. Before, we were of the bad tree and that is why we produced nothing good. He also points out that not everyone that claims to be a Christian will get into heaven. He says only those who DO the will of God and actually ACT upon His Words will get into heaven and not just those who say they are doing the will of God. He talked about the wolves in sheep’s clothing. He talks about many that have hijacked the church of God and have turned it into a temple of thieves and followers of the Devil rather than soldiers and followers of Christ. There are way too many of these folks in the church today. The Holy Spirit will help us identify these wolves in sheep’s clothing, if we will but open our hearts to Him. This Gospel lets us know that unlike us, Jesus is not fooled by those who have deception in their hearts. Those false prophets might fool many but they will never fool God. Another reason for us to ask the Holy Ghost into our hearts that He might give us the wisdom to root out such false teachers in the Church. The whole point of all of today’s readings is we need to act in a manner in accordance with Christ’s teachings. 

 

Action counts.  For by their actions ye shall know them.  

 

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

Seventh Sunday after Trinity - Propers with explanation – Rev Jack’s Sermon – With Video

 

Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/KZYxMJMzADk

In the Collect, we acknowledge to get anywhere, we must acknowledge in our hearts all good is of and comes from God. That is the trouble with many people in the world today. They simply refuse to acknowledge in their hearts this very simple fact. Once we acknowledge this, we are in a position to ask God to put in toour hearts love of Him and all that is His.  When Paul wrote his Epistle to the people of Rome, he was writing to all of us; for truly nothing is new in the world. There is truth to Solomon’s saying there is nothing new under the sun.  In this morning’s Gospel, the clear message of the feeding of the multitude is action, and the whys and hows behind all of it does not matter as much as the simple message that He did it. It is all too easy to get wrapped around in fine details, when it is the bigger picture that matters.  Having trouble visualizing it all coming together?  Read or listen to Rev Jack’s sermon.

The Propers for today are found on Page 198-199, with the Collect first:

 

The Seventh Sunday after Trinity.

 

The Collect.

 

L

ORD of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

The Epistle came from the Sixth Chapter of Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans beginning at the Nineteenth Verse. Paul reminds us when we strive above all else for the things of this world, we gain nothing we can take with us to the next.  “For, when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.”  Conversely, if we will be servants of God (righteousness) we can be free from the devil sin).  “… the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  If we will follow God, we will live, not only forever in the next world, but better in this world.  We must put aside what we did and do what He would have us do.  Actions are the key to everything.  Talk is nice.  Action is what counts.

 

I

 SPEAK after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Today Holy Gospel was written in the Eighth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Mark beginning at the First Verse. Jesus had been in the wilderness teaching a multitude, some four thousand in number.  In those pre-restaurant on every corner days, the people had been without food and were hungry.  Jesus was concerned and inventoried their supplies, seven loaves and a few small fishes.  He gave thanks to God, and commanded the food to be set out before the people.  When they had eaten their fill, the scraps gathered up from the seven loaves filled seven baskets. 

 

Many speculated over the years as to just how He did it.  The answer is simple, He did it.  He did not talk about feeding the multitude and sit down to His own meal.  He acted and they were fed.  Does this story recall the words from the Last Supper used in Holy Communion at the Consecration? “he took Bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my Body, which is given for you; Do this in remembrance of me.”  Those few words produced The Word, which has satisfied so many over millenniums. 

 

I

N those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Descanso, California

His sermon can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/KZYxMJMzADk

Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above. 

Consider the words from the Collect,  … author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same (that is to say keep us in goodness)…

 

To get anywhere, we must acknowledge in our hearts all good is of and comes from God.  That is the trouble with many people in the world today. They simply refuse to acknowledge in their hearts this very simple fact. Once we acknowledge this, we are in a position to ask God to put in to our hearts love of Him and all that is His.  We are asking Him to have His Love in our hearts so that we can do good for Him. With His Love in our hearts there is very little we cannot accomplish; without it, we can accomplish nothing good. We have to recognize this and pray continually for God’s love to enter into our hearts and stay in our hearts.

 

Because of our human nature, there will be plenty of times when we fail, but if we turn back to Him, then we shall succeed. We just have to listen to what He says and then not just listen but act on what He says. This holds true not just for myself, but all of us who follow Christ’s banner. This is a constant truth that is repeated through the Collects and Scriptures. Without God’s help, we are doomed to great failure, but with His help there is no limit to what we can accomplish for Him.

 

The clear message in today’s collect, Epistle and Gospel is that we need to be in God and have His Love acting within us. For without His Love within us we can do no good thing and we cannot be regenerated or be “born again” without the help of the Holy Spirit. We need His Help if we are to follow Him and to spread the Gospel. Being a part of this world and being of God is impossible. As Jesus said, one man cannot serve two masters. We are in this world but we are not called to be of this world but of God.  It is simply not possible to be of both. We have to choose sides, and  choose whom we serve God or Satan. I know who I choose, do you? To me it is a very easy choice, to choose to serve God the ultimate form of goodness.

 

Before we are of God, we are of this world.  Our life is here, our end is here.  However, once we are transformed via the Holy Ghost, then we are merely sojourners here; our life is not really here and certainly does not end here. We are merely passing through this world as a portal to our new unending life with God. I find if I remember this whenever I am having any sort of trouble, then this thought sooths my worried mind and I think it will do for you as well.

 

The only way to be of God is through God, that is His Son, our Lord. I am the way, the truth, the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)  Jesus himself clearly says the only way to be of God is through Him. Nobody comes unto God but by Christ. What does that mean for those of other faiths? Nobody knows but Christ. We can’t answer that question, only God can. So why not focus on the sure fire way to get into heaven which is to to follow Christ to the best of our ability. 

 

So, recognizing we cannot be a part of this world, we need to be holy, that is, set apart from the world in our thoughts, deeds and actions. For the world has shown that it will not willingly join forces with God, thus they have chosen the side of Satan. So we cannot hold with them. It is to God and His Banner to whom we must cling. His Banner will always remain strong and never fail. Even when we waver, God’s banner never wavers. In our moments of weakness, it is to God and His Banner to whom we must return to regain our spiritual strength. We will always be facing the same spiritual wickedness in this life as in times past. But with God’s help we can battle this spiritual wickedness. We just have to let the Holy Ghost into our hearts and let Him guide our actions.

 

Thus, when Paul wrote to the people of Rome, he was writing to all of us; for truly nothing is new in the world. There is truth to Solomon’s saying there is nothing new under the sun[1]. For there is no new sin in the world that has not existed since the time of Adam. It may take different forms over the eons, but all sins are still the same since the dawn of man[2]. Up until the time of Christ, we were still bound in our chains to Satan. We could not pass into the kingdom of heaven, even the Law of Moses could not redeem us, because, on our own we cannot be redeemed. It was only with the coming of Christ we could be redeemed. 

 

He redeemed us through His Death on the Cross and His Resurrection. All three components of God, The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are necessary for our salvation and four our faith. The Father as the one who created us, the Son who died for us, and the Holy Ghost who breaths God’s love and truth and the Word into our hearts.  All three elements of God are active in our ongoing salvation. It is an infinite loop of sorts. God the Father passes His Will to us through the Holy Spirit. The Son, Jesus Christ is our mediator and advocate before the Father. While we do not know exactly each of their functions, we do know all three work together and Jesus is our mediator and advocate to the Father and the Holy Ghost breathes God’s Knowledge into us and believing and acting on what God asks and by what we get from the Holy Ghost brings us to be of God. And this is enough for us to believe upon. We do not need to know the inner workings of the Trinity, only know that they work and exist. Inquiring about the inner workings is superfluous and gets into the how many angels can dance on the head of a pin territory. Which the answer to how many angels can dance on the head of the pin is simply however many God requires.

 

Moving on to today’s Gospel, the clear message of the feeding of the multitude is action, and the whys and hows behind all of it does not matter as much as the simple message that He did it. It is all too easy to get wrapped around in fine details, when it is the bigger picture that matters. The clear moral of this story is that He acted, not just talked, but He actually acted and fed the people. It lines up with the collect and the epistle in that if we are to be Christians we need to follow the example that Jesus said, and act on our beliefs and not just say we believe. There are way too many people these days in the church and outside even that talk the talk but they do not walk the walk. We must open our hearts to the Holy Spirit so we can identify these people and not follow their false religion and also so that we can not only talk the talk but walk the walk as well. It is all to easy to talk the talk but not walk the walk. But the true test of our faith is can we talk the talk and walk the walk? If we allow the Holy Spirit into our hearts, souls and minds we will find that doing both is very much possible.

 

That is a model we should follow; not just talk, but act as well.  It serves as a template for our ministries here on Earth, to follow this plan of action and not just diction. Our love for God will be demonstrated through our actions, if we act for Him. Does this story recall the words from the Last Supper used in Holy Communion at the Consecration? He took Bread; and when he had given thanks, He brake it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my Body, which is given for you; Do this in remembrance of me.  Those few words produced The Word, which has satisfied so many over millenniums.  It does not take a lot of words to satisfy us, but they have to be the right ones, which come from Our Lord.

 

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

 

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[1] 9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

[2] In some respects, this is a key to the Bible. Regardless of our own self-centered thoughts, we are the same people since Adam and will be until the end of time. Thus he who writes the Romans just as well writes to us. We would like to think we are better, but we are not. We are the same. But, on the other hand, that is convenient for what worked for them will work for us. 

Sixth Sunday after Trinity - Propers with explanation – Rev Jack’s Sermon – With Video

Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on videoHERE -> https://youtu.be/rZPM_c2kYFE

 

In the Collect, we acknowledge God will give those who love Him more good than they can imagine, let alone ask for.  But, first you have to love Him. How do we accomplish this? We do it by asking the Holy Ghost to enter in to our hearts so we might truly love Him.  In today’s Epistle, Paul says as Jesus Christ died and rose again, so too should we die to our sins and rise again in a better state. He uses this metaphor to describe both our life here on earth as previously we had been living in our corrupt natural state and through the renewal of the mind through the Holy Ghost, we are transformed into something more pure than we had been.  The lesson of the Gospel is that we must put aside our often foolish and angry thoughts and not act upon them, but rather have Christly thoughts and act upon those. We can’t advance God’s cause here on Earth if we are angry all the time. Having trouble visualizing that?  Read or listen to Rev Jack’s sermon.

The Propers for today are found on Page 197-198, with the Collect first:

 

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity.

 

The Collect.

 

O

 GOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man’s understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

The Epistle came from the Paul’s letter to the Romans, beginning at the First Verse of the Sixth Chapter.  Paul tells us that as we were baptized unto Jesus in life, so we are baptized unto his death.  We share His death on the Cross for our sins and by His death, our sin is dead; then as He was raised up, so are we.  It is intended the death we die unto sin is to be permanent and that we go forth and sin no more.  Yet, as long as we live here on earth, we sin.  Yet, as long as we live in Christ, we live.  Thus, we reckon ourselves “to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

 

K

NOW ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Today’s Holy Gospel started in the Fifth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, beginning at the Twentieth Verse. Jesus tells his disciples, “Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  Very worrisome indeed!  Scribes and Pharisees spent their entire lives acting the epitome of righteousness.  There is no way mere mortals could exceed their righteousness, or so it would seem.  Jesus goes on to tell us that not only would we not go to heaven if we commit murder, but we are in danger of the same judgment of we are angry without just cause.  If that were not worrisome enough, we are in danger of hell-fire if we call one another a fool!  Let not the night fall on discord with your family and friends, your neighbors in the Christian sense of The Word.  The text following asks us to do our best to follow Jesus and in return, his sacrifice will serve to set aside the just judgment and we shall be accounted as righteous before God.

 

J

ESUS said unto his disciples, Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt do no murder; and whosoever murdereth shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Descanso, California

Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/rZPM_c2kYFE

 

Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.  

 

Consider these words from the Collect, … who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man’s understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire …

 

We acknowledge God will give those who love Him more good than they can imagine, let alone ask for.. The point of the collect is that we cannot fathom how much goodness will happen to us, if we follow Him. It points out that God can give us things that exceeds as much as we can desire, if we will do our very best to follow Him.  But, the key is that first you have to love Him. How do we accomplish this? We do it by asking the Holy Ghost to enter in to our hearts so we might truly love Him.  If we do, more good will come to us than we can even imagine or hope for

 

Who is the other component in this equation?  Jesus!  Jesus is that missing variable in our complicated equation state. He is the X. He can give us his guidance and grace via the Holy Ghost, to make us better men and women of the Lord. He is a very needed component in this spiritual equation. He will help us to utilize the Holy Ghost to love God the Father. He is who we need to gain eternal life. By His Sacrifice, made one time, for all mankind, for all time, we are accounted as perfect by His Faith and Action. 

 

This is a rather stark contrast with our rather usual shortsighted short term view, we must think in the terms of the big picture, not the tiny speck in the picture. We are not used to thinking in the long term view.  Think of going through life to get to Heaven as like flying an airplane. Flying an airplane requires constant adjustments and as you can imagine everytime you fly you learn something. That concept carries over into general day to day life. Every day we learn something be it big or small. What matters is that we learn from what we did wrong and not just what we did right. We endeavor to repeat what we did right and not repeat what we did wrong. This is a continuous process that will occur the rest of our lives. Some of our days may be harder than others, but as long as we never give up, trust in God and carry on, all will be well with our souls. This may be hard to accomplish sometimes, but if we let the Holy Ghost into our hearts, we will find that there is no limit to what we can accomplish for Him.

 

Like flying an airplane, lots of little tiny fluid adjustments are required in our lives here on Earth. Some will be easier than others of course. And of course like in flying we will fail from time to time as that is just our human nature. But the key is like in flying, no matter how big or small our failure (presumably it wasn’t a fatal one that is..) we have to get back up and be ready to start again and not the same mistake again that caused us to fail. In this regard we need to call on the Holy Ghost to enter into our hearts souls and minds and help us not to make the same mistakes that we did before. When acting, think of how your actions will impact you, your family and others down the road, before acting and make the necessary fixes, if any are needed. The Holy Ghost can provide the inspiration and guidance we need to think through our actions. We just need to listen to Him at the moment when we need to act and remind ourselves that our future will be better if we listen to the Holy Ghost rather than ourselves.  

 

We have to think of ourselves as a part of God’s much bigger plan, and act to the best of our abilities and with the guidance of the Holy Ghost as a positive aspect of that larger picture.  Each of us has a role to play in His Plan. And each of us has an important part to play in His Plan. We do not know the whole details of that plan, but God will give us our part of His Plan if we but listen to what He has to say. We just have to focus on doing our part for Him in His Plan. And the key word here is to listen. We have to listen to what He actually says and not what we want Him to say. There is a distinct difference between the two.

 

In today’s Epistle, Paul says as Jesus Christ died and rose again, so too should we die to our sins and rise again in a better state. He uses this metaphor to describe both our life here on earth as previously we had been living in our corrupt natural state and through the renewal of the mind through the Holy Ghost, we are transformed into something more pure than we had been. Paul is big on the New Man concept of being transformed via the Holy Ghost and for good reason. It is a very good concept that fits in well with the Scriptures.

 

And as he says, as death has no dominion over Jesus Christ, so too shall it have no more dominion over us. For by His death and resurrection, He has paid the wages for our sin, which as Paul says in Romans is death. His death paid for our sins, so we might be accounted as perfect to get into heaven. Paul is telling us about that same accounting irregularity we mentioned earlier and Christ is that accounting irregularity. As we of our own volition cannot resolve the accounting issue, and thus cannot be worthy on our own to get into heaven. 

 

The resurrection truly is the greatest miracle Jesus performed. Because before He came and died for our sins, we could not get into heaven on our own and in fact still cannot. It is by God’s Grace, that He sent His only begotten son, that we should not perish, but have everlasting life.  I find myself still amazed every time I think of it. How we poor sinful creatures who could not make it to heaven on our own, have had our wages of sin paid by our Lord’s death upon the Cross. Think of how much Jesus loved us, He willingly let Himself be arrested, tried and put to the painful death upon the Cross, and then went into Hell to battle Satan for our souls, because He loved us. It must have been hard for Him to do those things, but He did it anyway. That is a lesson for us, even if things are hard sometimes, we must do them anyway regardless of the cost or spiritual pain if God commands us to do those things. In the end, all the suffering we endure on this Earth will be worth it with all the goodness that awaits us in Heaven.

 

The lesson of the Gospel is that we must put aside our often foolish and angry thoughts and not act upon them, but rather have Christly thoughts and act upon those. This is another concept that is easier said than done. But it is something that must be done all the same. We can’t advance God’s cause here on Earth if we are angry all the time. We have to be able to think and make rational decisions and we can’t do that if we are angry. This is another concept easier said than done. But if we allow the Holy Ghost to enter into our hearts, we will find that we have the spiritual strength to accomplish this. Instead of acting irrationally, we must instead think calmly and figure out the best way to handle whatever situation we are in without losing control of our emotions. How do we do this? The clear solution is to pray to God and ask for His Help in bridling our tongue and have it be a tool of reason rather than a tool of anger and deceit! And to also remember this every time we are in a moment of heated emotion.

 

When Jesus gave His Life for us, He did it knowing we would fail to follow in perfection, but fully aware some would follow to the best of their ability. We must get back up after we make our mistakes and continue on trying the best we can to follow Him. That is all He asks, do your best.  Even Saint Paul had trouble following our Lord, but he kept trying and doing his real best not to make the same mistake again.  Doing your best is not the same as saying you are doing your best.

 

There are none so deaf as those who will not hear. 

 

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

Fifth Sunday after Trinity

Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/u19_I0fjt_Q

In the Collect, we ask that the events of this world might follow God’s governance or will. Why? Because in those places where it does, we find happiness and joy. It is that simple, it means more, reflect on that. The point Saint Peter makes in this morning’s Epistle is that it is easy for us to be sinful creatures and not do good. It is much harder to resist that sin and to do good, but yet that is what God calls us to do.  In the Gospel, when Simon Peter finally listened and acted according to Jesus’s instructions, wonderful things happened. So too will they happen for us when we finally actually listen to what God wants and do it instead of doing what we want.  It all comes together.  Having trouble visualizing that?  Read or listen to Rev Jack’s sermon.

The Propers for today are found on Page 195-196, with the Collect first:

 

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity.

 

G

The Collect.

RANT, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

The Epistle came from the Third Chapter of the First Epistle of Saint Peter beginning at the Eighth Verse. Peter tells to be of one mind, have compassion and pity for each other, to be courteous, to give good to all our brethren, to return good for evil, to seek peace, to do good, not just talk good.  Peter tells us to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk.  To put ourselves in others’ places, understand when they fall short and make good things happen.

 

B

E ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.

 

Today’s Holy Gospel started in the Fifth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Luke beginning at the First Verse. This is one of the classic stories of Jesus in the Bible.  Jesus had gone down to Lake Gennesaret to pray and then speak to the people.  As they pressed in on him, he asked Simon Peter to use his boat as a speaking platform.  Speaking from a small boat near the beach is almost like speaking in an amphitheatre.  When he finished talking to the people, he told Simon Peter to go out and set his nets.  Simon pointed out they had fished all night with no result, but at His word, he would set his net.  The net gathered an incredible catch that Simon Peter and his friends could not board.  At that point, it was clear to Simon Peter he was in the presence of one far greater than himself.  He fell to his knees, saying, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  Then Jesus said, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”  From then on Simon Peter followed Jesus.

 

Do not misunderstand, every day Jesus speaks to you telling you what to do.  It is your choice, you can listen like Simon Peter, or you can ignore Jesus.  He has the pony for the lottery.  He wants to give it to you, all you have to do is accept.  While He is a bit more subtle than a Drill Instructor, the question is the same, “Can you hear me?”

 

There are none so deaf as those who will not hear. 

 

I

T came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: and so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

 

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Descanso, California

Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on videoHERE -> https://youtu.be/u19_I0fjt_Q

 

Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.  

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

… the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness …

 

In the Collect, we ask that the events of this world might follow God’s governance or will.  Why?  Because in those places where it does, we find happiness and joy.  It is that simple, it means more, reflect on that.  After all, amazing is it not?  Since the Garden, it has always been one of the two same choices:

 

1.     We follow God’s Will for us, we do what is good for us, individually and as a people or a country.  It is hard work, but easier than we imagined; we prosper when all goes well.  It was all our doing, we are happy because we were so smart.

 

2.     We ignore God’s instructions, doing what we want to do, not what we are supposed to do.  It turns out to be way harder than we thought possible, in the end everything turns to weasel spit.  It was not our fault, it is God’s fault, He is punishing us.

 

As long as we are imperfect creatures with free will, humanity will not change.  The key word in this phrase is will. The will of humanity is set towards embracing sin and running away from God. But there is the possibility that through the Holy Ghost, we as individuals can change and with enough individuals changing, the whole of humanity of change.  Humanity would be better off if we fully embraced the principles found in the Gospel.  However, there is a big obstacle to this: human nature. By our own nature, we are naturally resistant to embracing any kinds of change and most especially change from doing what we want to doing what God wants. We have to understand doing what God wants will be better for us in the long run than doing what we want. 

 

This is a difficult concept for us to grasp without the help of the Holy Ghost. But it is not so hard once we let the Holy Ghost into our hearts. But the key here is that we have to let the Holy Ghost into our hearts. We have to exercise our free will properly in order to do this and recognize that without the Holy Ghost in our hearts, we are hopelessly lost. But with the Holy Ghost in our hearts, we will be back on the path towards righteousness and heaven. 

 

If you think about it, all of our problems can be solved by doing what God asks! Conversely all of our problems seem to stem from not doing what God asks. It is that simple. Don’t try to get out of doing what God wants to do what you want, and don’t look for loopholes.  Don’t be a Pharisee! Consider when Jesus told Simon Peter to go out and set his nets.  Simon was tired, he was hungry, he had fished all night with no result.  After making excuses, he decided to do what he was told! There is a lesson there, instead of making excuses why things are the way they are, why not be quiet and do God’s will instead? It will have a lot better result, that is for sure! 

 

That is what happened to Simon Peter; that is what will happen to you, if you will but listen and act. Listening and then acting are the key principles of this Gospel, we must listen to what He says, and then ACT upon it. It is not good enough to just listen and go on your merry way and not ACT upon it. We must have actions in order to show that our faith has any meaning at all.

 

Without actions, our faith would be a very shallow one. It is very easy to talk the talk, but can we walk the walk too? People watching will notice if our words are backed up by our actions. Without actions our faith is meaningless. There has to be actions in order to show that we truly indeed have faith and are not just faking our faith. As the verse from the Book of Matthew goes, wherever our treasure is, our heart will be there also. So if we do treasure Jesus and His teachings, our heart will be fixed there also and our actions will reflect that. Same to somebody whose heart is in earthly things or mammon, their heart will be fixed upon those things and their actions will reflect that.

 

The point Saint Peter makes in this mornings Epistle is that it is easy for us to be sinful creatures and not do good. It is much harder to resist that sin and to do good, but yet that is what God calls us to do. The Holy Spirit will give us that strength to resist the sin and to good and to overcome obstacles and feelings, but only if we let it. He points out that those who love life and want to do good will refrain from doing bad and evil things to our fellow humans. God is open to those who do good and He is against those who are evil. God will open his ears to us, but we have to also open our ears to what He asks us to do. Action and not just diction are what counts in the end. That phrase is what St. Peter’s Epistle boils down to and it is also a shared theme with this mornings Gospel. When Simon Peter finally listened and acted according to Jesus’s instructions, wonderful things happened. So too will they happen for us when we finally actually listen to what God wants and do it instead of doing what we want.

 

We will find that our life will improve significantly once we start doing what God wants us to do instead of what we want to do. We will find things become better for us in a lot of aspects of our life thanks to doing what God wants. People who do not have the Holy Ghost in their hearts may not be able to see this, but us with the Holy Ghost in our hearts will be able to see it once we apply God’s principles into action. We can make things better for us and those around us by doing what God wants us to do. Our communities will become a better place the more we start to do what God wants instead of what we want to do. A lot of the problems in this world are caused by people doing what they want to do instead of what God wants us to do.

 

Do not misunderstand, every day Jesus speaks to you telling you what to do.  It is your choice, you can listen like Simon Peter or you can ignore Jesus.  He has the pony for the lottery.  He wants to give it to you, all you have to do is accept.  While He is a bit more subtle than a Drill Instructor, the question is the same, “Can you hear me?” The problem with us is that we just do not want to hear. That is why we need the Holy Ghost to open up our ears, that we might hear and obey. We need to tell ourselves that listening to Jesus and the Holy Ghost will produce better results for us in the short and long term than if we ignore them. We have to remind ourselves that our eternal life starts right now and not when we die, so we might as well get on following Jesus and the Holy Ghost’s instructions.

 

There are none so deaf as those who will not hear. 

 

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