Seventeenth 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/8RQkg1Vlj8w

 

First we learn a new meaning for a common word ‘prevent’.  Then when the Collect talks changing our direction, we tend to think we know ourselves better, however that is simply false. God designed and built each and every one of us. Do we truly think we know more than our Creator? That is the foolishness of our natural inclination talking. If we stop to think, we realize, with the help of the Holy Ghost, God truly knows what is best for us and it will be a lot better for us if we listen to Him.   Paul calls usto a new life, different from our old life. He is calling us to reform and to turn a new leaf so to speak. He is calling us to reject the Old Man and accept the Holy Ghost into our hearts so we can be upgraded to the New Man 2.0.  When Luke relates the parable of the feast, it is more than just a seating diagram  It all comes together, read or listen and find out how.  I hope you find it useful. 

The Propers for today are found on Page 214-215, with the Collect first:

 

The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.

 

The Collect.

 

L

ORD, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent[1] and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

The Epistle for today came from the letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians beginning at the First Verse of the Fourth Chapter.  Once again, Paul calls us to a new life, different from our old life.  A life in which we act in a manner worthy of the better life to which we have been called by Christ and for which He gave His life.  Paul, of all people, knows the importance of setting aside your old life, as Saul did, so that as Paul he asks us to put God first in our lives, to put ourselves last.  He reminds us, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”  The key to a successful life is to put the important things at the top of your To Do List. And, notice it is a To Do List, not a To Think About or To Wait a While List.   What is more important than God?

 

I

 THEREFORE, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, for-bearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all[2].

 

Today’s Holy Gospel came from the Gospel of Saint Luke, the Fourteenth Chapter, beginning at the First Verse.  The Gospel starts out reminding us the Law was designed to be flexible.  The goal is to do God’s will, not to “follow the letter of the law” as the Pharisees were so keen on.  They brought before Him a man in need of healing as they sat to eat on the Sabbath Day.  They watched to see what He would do.  Putting the monkey on their back, He asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath Day?”  Wishing to  be in a position to criticize rather than answer, “they held their peace.”  He healed the man, then asked them, “Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath Day?”  They would not respond; for the answer was obvious.

 

Then “He put forth a parable to those” who had been invited to dine with him, after He had seen them joust for the seats of honor.  “When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest seat; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”  Do we put God first and let others raise us up, or do we put ourselves first and let others put us down?

 

I

T came came to pass, as Jesus went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; and answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?And they could not answer him again to these things. And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest seat; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

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[1]                 Prevent is a word that has many uses, and at least one has fallen out of general usage as time has gone on.  This is one of them.  In this case the word prevent means to go before.  Before you object to archaic words, consider this is a current word, it just has a use you may not have been aware of and now you are!  What a bonus for this week!

[2]                 “you all”, normally pronounced “ya’ll”, is clear proof Paul was from the South.

Rev Jack Arnold

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

Rev Jack’s sermon can be viewed on video RIGHT HERE.

https://youtu.be/8RQkg1Vlj8w

 

Today’s sermon tied the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and talked, as is oft the case, of the need for action, not simply diction.

 

Consider the words of the Collect, … thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works …

 

The first thing to consider when you look at today’s Collect is a word: prevent.  Prevent is a word that has many meanings, and at least one has fallen out of general usage as time has gone on.  This is one of them.  In this case the word prevent means to go before.  Before you object to archaic words, consider this is a current word, it just has a use you may not have been aware of and now you are!  What a bonus for this week!

 

So, we ask God that His Grace, His Love, His Power, His Help may go before and after us to protect us and guide us that we might desire to do what He wants us to do.  Why do we need that? Well it is because we have the same failings week after week, thus the same need of God’s help and guidance week after week. 

 

We tend to sometimes think we know ourselves better, however that is simply false. God designed and built each and every one of us. Do we truly think we know more than our Creator? That is the foolishness of our natural inclination talking.  If we stop to think, we realize, with the help of the Holy Ghost, God truly knows what is best for us and it will be a lot better for us if we listen to him.  If we follow what He wants for us, we are guaranteed to have good results in the long run. It does not mean we will not suffer in the short term; however it means if we follow God's will for us, then we will come out ahead in the end, in our eternal life. Which in the end is what matters in eternal life. Whatever suffering we go through in this life is only temporary, in the eternal life we will not suffer but have everlasting joy. The question we have to ask ourselves is in the end will it be our will that is followed or God’s will? 

 

As a matter of course, we will make mischief and or trouble, some of us more than others. God is the ever patient father who has to gently warn us and allow us to experience the consequences of our inclination to sin, in order to learn not to do it. This is His form of correction. He seldom corrects us directly, but allows us to be corrected by our consequences of our bad decisions. Contrary to what some people think he rarely punishes us directly, but lets the consequences of our bad choices do that for Him. He expects that we will learn from the consequences of our bad decisions and move on and do our best not to do it again. If we never got to experience the natural results of our mistakes, we would never learn. We have to experience these results of our mistakes in order to learn and do better next time. It is impossible to learn without  making mistakes. Making mistakes is how we learn. We have to learn from our mistakes of course, but we cannot truly learn if we don’t make mistakes. When bad things happen as a result of our doing, it is not His fault that's it happened, but our fault for not having done what we were supposed to do because it was too difficult. 

 

The other part of the collect talks about asking God to make us be continually given to do good works. This means to put His Will into our heart and give us a desire to continually do good works for others, by given, the collect means to put a desire into our hearts to do God’s Will here on Earth and part of doing His Will on Earth is performing good actions, otherwise known as good works. Naturally we are not given to do good works, so we are in need of his help and guidance in order to perform the said good works. If we are followers of Christ, as a matter of course, we will perform such good works as those of which we are capable. However, we cannot perform these good works of our own accord; we need His guiding spirit, so we ask Him to shine and come into our hearts and help us have the mindset to do those good works for Him. 

 

Through consequences of our sinful actions, we know that we shouldn’t do it again.  We know, often very clearly, what we want; God knows, always very clearly, what we need.  There is almost always a distinct difference between what we want and what we need. God knows what we want is usually not good for us. But what we need is always good for us. 

 

But we do not often know what God wants for us, so we have to first pray to Him to find out what He wants, then the most critical step of the communications is we have to listen to what He says and once we listen, then act upon what He says.  They key part here is we have to act upon what He says, not just listen and go off and do whatever we want to do. He is there, like the rubrics to guide us along our paths in our daily life.  So, we need to ask God every day, every time, for help to do our duty. Every day, every time, He will answer our questions, we just need to open our hearts, souls, minds and ears to Him, and after hearing His Answer, act upon it

 

So, what does Paul tell us in his letter to us? He is callings to a new life, different from our old life.  He is calling us to reform and to turn a new leaf so to speak. He is calling us to reject the Old Man and accept the Holy Ghost into our hearts so we can be upgraded to the New Man 2.0. He calls us to leave the old sinful live behind and live anew as one of God’s family members. It is not the easiest thing in the world to do, but as the saying goes, nothing worth doing is ever easy. With the help of the Holy Ghost we can live this new life and turn our back on our old sinful lives. 

 

This is made possible by the Holy Ghost, who is our lifeline to God our Father. Paul, of all people, knows the importance of setting aside your old life, as Saul did; as Paul he asks us to put God first in our lives, to put ourselves last.  He even changed his name to reflect his state as a new man under Our Lord’s leadership. He reminds us, There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.  The key to a successful life is to put the important things at the top of your To Do List. And, notice it is a To Do List, not a To Think About or To Wait a While List.  It is not a I’ll Get a Round To It List, or What I Don’t Want to Do List.  What is more important than God? It is all about prioritization, putting God ahead of your wants and desires. 

 

When Luke relates the parable of the feast, it is more than just a seating diagram. I liken it to the tale of the publican and the Pharisee. When Christ talks about the man who exalts himself and sits too high at the wedding and thus must be abased, that would be the Pharisee. When Christ then talks about the man who sits low, and is raised to the higher station, I think of the publican, who smote his breast and would not even raise up his eyes to heaven. We have to be the publican in our dealings with not only God, but all people, rather than our natural tendency of being the Pharisee. We should not be one of those selfish individuals who always causes grief for others because he is blind to his own faults and only thinks of himself. Again, as with the ceasing from sin, this is one of the harder things we have to do. But it must be done, no matter how we feel about it. So, let us turn to our Lord to help with it, because He alone can help us. He can only help us if we are truly willing with our hearts, souls and minds. We have to be willing to act and do actions, and not just say it.  

 

It is very possible to do good deeds and have fun doing them. The time we spent in worship with the other ministers and their wives at the AOC Conventions in the past proves this. Doing good things for other people and being with other believers gives me some of the greatest happiness I have ever felt. This comes from the Holy Ghost, from being inspired by Him, around other believers. Wherever two or three or gathered, Christ is there also. It is a wonderful feeling wherever He is.

 

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

Sixteenth 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/6sf1JXGK3JE

 

When the Collect talks about the church, just like last week, it is not talking about buildings; it is talking about us. Each of us; all of us and together. We need God’s help (pity) to keep the group of us together following His Will, for without His Help (Holy Ghost) we are doomed to utter failure. Saint Paul points out if we will open our hearts to God, He will send the Holy Ghost to fill our hearts with Love, Courage, Inspiration, Tenacity and Confidence, all of the good traits that will help our character development. When Saint Luke relates the story of the Widow of Nain, it is more than just a simple miracle. In those days, a widow with only one son had little, a widow with no son was in deep trouble. Jesus took compassion on her and also took the opportunity to make His power evident.  It all comes together, read or listen and find out how.  I hope you find it useful. 

The Propers for today are found on Page 212-213, with the Collect first:

 

The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity.

 

The Collect.

 

O

 LORD, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Today’s Epistle came from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the Third Chapter beginning at the Thirteenth Verse.  Paul, writing to the church in Ephesus, prays that the people might “be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”   More simply put, Paul asks that we open our hearts to God and to Christ, that they might work in our hearts the miracle of love.

 

I

 DESIRE that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

 

Today’s Holy Gospel started in the Seventh Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, beginning at the Eleventh Verse.  Jesus was going into the city of Nain with his disciples and many followers.  “When he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.”  In those days, a widow with only one son had little, a widow with no son was in deep trouble.  Taking compassion on her and also the opportunity to make His power evident, He came to the bier, and touch it said, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.”  The young man arose and began to speak; whereupon Jesus brought him to his mother.  Not surprisingly, news of this event was spread “forth throughout all Judæa, and throughout all the region round about.”  Like the young man, we are dead to eternity until we hear the command “… Arise.”  If we hear and act on that command, we have eternal life, just like the young man, it starts right then!

 

A

ND it came to pass the day after, that Jesus went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judæa, and throughout all the region round about.

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

Rev Jack’s sermon can be viewed on video RIGHT HERE.

 

Today’s sermon tied the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and talked, as is oft the case, of the need for action, not simply diction.

Consider the words of the Collect, “…let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness …”

 

When the Collect talks about the church, just like last week, it is not talking about buildings; it is talking about us.   Each of us; all of us and together.  We need God’s help (pity) to keep the group of us together following His Will, for without His Help (Holy Ghost) we are doomed to utter failure.  We can see this in the church today. The collect says we need His pity to cleanse our church of error and keep it on the straight and narrow. It is clear that we ourselves alone cannot cleanse the church of error and keep it on the narrow path towards heaven without major help. Luckily for us we have the Holy Ghost and God and Jesus to assist us in this massive taking. Without God’s influence in the church, we find that the church tends to let worldly doctrine creep into the church and spoil the message of Scriptures.

 

We can see this today with many churches leaving the established doctrine of 2 millennia to try to be cool and attract more people. Their efforts are in vain as we are called to be separated from this world and not a part of it, to be holy. They are becoming un-holy and it shows in their more paganistic doctrines. We are called to not to join forces with this world but to be set aside from it. You can barely distinguish some of these churches doctrines from what more worldly or other religions believe and they can hardly be considered a Christian church.  The Episcopal Church is a leading example from this with their paganistic doctrines overriding that of the Gospel and the Scripture. They cannot be truly called a Christian church anymore sadly. God is about quality of believers and not about quantity! These churches covet quantity over quality and are willing do compromise on non comprisable beliefs in order to do so. They gain the world but they lose their souls to do so. It does not sound like a good trade off to me. We must not compromise on the core beliefs of the Gospel. We must seek quality over quantity in our churches to avoid the race to the Pit that so many of the mainstream churches seem to be engaged in.

 

The problem for many people is Heaven is at the end of a hard and narrow uphill trail; the easy downhill trail does not lead to the summit.  That seemingly easy way leads to The Pit. This easy downhill trail snares a lot of people and there will be sadly some that never realize this. It can ensnare anybody so we have to be on our guard lest we start down that path ourselves. This proves the truth of this collect, that without His help, we are doomed. With His help, we are set for success for evermore.  He offers; do we accept?

 

Saint Paul points out if we will open our hearts to God, He will send the Holy Ghost to fill our hearts with Love, Courage, Inspiration, Tenacity and Confidence, all of the good traits that will help our character development. Once the Holy Ghost enters into us, we will know the full dimensions of Christ, the height, width and depth of His love for us, and this fullness will fill us to our content, and we will want to spread that Good News and Love of Him to others.  Without the Holy Ghost, we are doomed. But with the Holy Ghost acting in us, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish for Him. We have to recognize this and make the decision to allow Him into our hearts. The key is that we have to make that decision. God can’t make that decision for us, only we can. It is up to us to open our hearts to Him and allow Him in. Only then can we get all those positive character traits mentioned earlier.

 

Allowing His love for us to enter into our hearts is part of the Good News. The Good News is that He died for us so we might have eternal life, a happier life here and a happier life after our life here.  But the key is we have to first open our hearts to God. We cannot have any of these positive characteristics if we do not allow Him in. We have to be humble and realize we cannot get through life without these characteristics, which means we cannot have a good and successful life without His Help. 

 

He offers all of these things for our benefit, so we will be successful for Him. We have to accept this offer by opening our hearts to Him.  If we will open our hearts to Him, our ears will hear the command “… Arise.” When we rise, we rise with the confidence of immortals and can conquer any obstacle. We will have died in our old sinful ways and be resurrected like our Lord in a new spirit and a new birth of everlasting freedom. But, without an open heart, our ears will never hear the command directed to our soul, “… Arise.”  We will be dead to eternity. There are none so deaf as those who will not hear. 

 

All Jesus asks is that we follow Him.  That is all follow Him.  But, words mean something; the word follow is very important.  We have to trust God is like a perfect CFI[1] and if we follow his instructions at the right time, we will keep ourselves from physical and spiritual harm. Like the CFI he is here to keep us from mentally and spiritually harming ourselves. If we will listen to His instructions, we will keep our mental and spiritual selves intact and be a lot happier for it. 

 

We need recognize who has the ability, the power, the perfection in leadership and have that trust to say, "You lead; I'll follow." I believe that is what Jesus expects from us in regard to our entire life. We may get out of position or even go lost wingman on the odd occasion, but he expects us to Our very best to follow His lead and stay in position.  Hard to do if your eye is not padlocked on Him.

 

As ministers of our Lord, we have a similar responsibility to those who would follow us here on earth.  And we have to work even harder, for created by a perfect God, we are imperfect creatures with free will.  A problematic combination.  We have to strive to do better than most as we are in a position where people will be watching our actions more carefully than other people. We must strive for a correct attitude, heading, stability and predictability in our path so we can be followed towards that final destination marking a successful mission. We must always be checking our navigational instruments of the Holy Scriptures and our navigator, the Holy Ghost, to ensure we are on the right heading. We have to be willing to act for Him to show that we truly do have faith and not just say that we have faith. It is a lot easier to say than do, that is for sure. 

 

When Saint Luke relates the story of the Widow of Nain, it is more than just a simple miracle.  

 

In those days, a widow with only one son had little, a widow with no son was in deep trouble.  Jesus took compassion on her and also took the opportunity to make His power evident.  He came to the bier, and touched it saying, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.”  The young man arose and began to speak; whereupon Jesus brought him to his mother.  Not surprisingly, news of this event was spread “forth throughout all Judæa, and throughout all the region round about.”  Like the young man, we are dead to eternity until we hear the command “… Arise.”  If we hear and act on that command, we have eternal life, just like the young man, it starts right then! Eternal life doesn't start when you take your last breath, it starts when you take your first breath! Think through your life like it will be eternity and plan your actions accordingly.

 

Also, please take note Jesus ACTED.  He did not just tell the widow He was sorry, so very sorry; He actually did what He could to help her.  He can do more than we can, but we can do more than we do and we can certainly do more than just talk.  Words are very nice, but do not mean a whole lot unless they are backed by actions.

 

If we truly have faith, then we must follow Jesus’s example and live our life like He lived His, with action! We must have good actions that will follow with that faith. If we only speak with our lips and do not have good actions, then we do not have any faith. However, if we do truly have faith, then we will speak the right things and do the right things.

 

Action, not diction, is what counts in the end.

 

Heaven is at the end of a hard and narrow 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] Certified Flight Instructor

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity - Propers with explanation – Rev Hap’s Sermon – With Video

Rev Jack is on travel today, so Rev Hap brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/WmGJMbco6wU

 

When the Collect talks about the church, it is not talking about buildings; it is talking about us. The church is not a building, it is the army of believers following God. That is the church. Each of us; all of us.  Paul reminds us all fall short, and special fancy diets, days or outfits do not change us. They do not make us any better than the rest of humanity or more importantly than we were yesterday.  The Gospel has two parts. The first part, two sentences, is easy to understand, sometimes hard to implement.  It all comes together, read or listen and find out how.  I hope you find it useful.

The Propers for today are found on Page 210-211, with the Collect first:

 

The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity.

 

The Collect.

 

K

EEP, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy Church with thy perpetual mercy; and, because the frailty of man without thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

The Epistle came from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, the Sixth Chapter, beginning at the Eleventh Verse. Paul continues to warn us of the conflict in our lives between the things valued here on earth and those valued by the forces of heaven (God).  Writing to the Gentiles in Galatia, using to the rite of circumcision as a symbol for all of The Law, he warns, “As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.”  Those who are every eager to have you follow “The Law” themselves fail to follow its intent.  Paul goes on to say that Jesus’ new covenant transcends The Law and The Law no longer has hold over man.  For in Jesus there is salvation, may “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”

 

Y

E see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

 

Today’s Holy Gospel was written in the Sixth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, beginning at the Twenty-Fourth Verse. Jesus tells us, “No man can serve two masters …Ye cannot serve God and mammon[1].”  There is only one first place, only one can be in that place.  We either place God in first place or we put something else there.  If we wish riches in this world as the most important thing in our life, we place the things of this world in first place.  If we follow our Lord Jesus and His instruction, we place God in that first place.  But, what of this world?  “Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they?”  Jesus tells us not to worry, for worry is of no positive value.  When faced with a problem, we must do our best, not merely claim to do our best, and trust in God.  For, “which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?” God knows we have need of the things of this world while we are in it, he knows we worry about, “What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”  If we first seek “His kingdom, and His righteousness” He will take care of all our necessities.  But we must do as He asks, not merely say we are doing so.  If you follow God’s directions, you will be wealthy beyond description.  While you will never be “Bill Gates” rich, you will never lack what you need on this earth or in the world to come.

 

Jesus tells us, Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.  We are not to worry, but to our best and let the morrow come as it will.  We are to do our best, not merely say we are doing our best.  For if we truly do our best, then that is all that can be done and there is no point in worrying.

 

Using an earlier phrase, Trust in God and Dread Naught.

 

N

O man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

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[1] Mammon - a Chaldee or Syriac word meaning "wealth" or "riches" (Luke 16:9-11); also, by personification, the god of riches (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:9-11).

1: wealth regarded as an evil influence

2: (New Testament) a personification of wealth and avarice as an evil spirit.

Sermon – Reverend Hap Arnold - Time and Action

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Descanso, California

Rev Hap brings the Propers together today.    His sermon can be viewed on video HERE ->https://youtu.be/8w9GmE8YCOU

 

Today’s sermon tied the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and talked, as is oft the case, of the need for action, not simply diction.

 

Consider the words of the Collect, “… Keep … thy Church with thy perpetual mercy; and … keep us ever by thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation …”

 

When the Collect talks about the church, it is not talking about buildings; it is talking about us. The church is not a building, it is the army of believers following God. That is the church.  Each of us; all of us.  We need God’s Mercy and Grace to keep us from desiring things that are bad for us and help us to see we really want those things that are good for us.

 

Speaking of things, just like the Jewish based Christians of Paul’s time, it often seems like everyone has secret rituals, handshakes or hoops they want you to jump through to be really IN.  Paul reminds us that all fall short, and special fancy diets, days or outfits do not change us. They do not make us any better than the rest of humanity or more importantly than we were yesterday. We are all the same sinful human beings regardless of what special fancy days, diets our outfits we partake in. That does not change who we are. God does not require any sort of fancy diet, days or outfits to be IN with Him. In fact, they are rather counterproductive to being IN with Him. They are just a distraction from following Him. When I look at all the rituals other churches have and I can only think of how much they are a distraction from truly following Him in the end. In the End, God does not care about how many of these secret handshakes we followed, all He cares about is did we believe in Him and His Son and act for Him? All He asks is that we believe on Him and His Son Jesus and do our best to follow Him.  None of these fancy rituals churches have are keys to salvation. They are not needed. For the action that led to our salvation was Jesus’s death and resurrection and has already happened one time for all time for all mankind. 

 

Our salvation comes one way, through our Lord Jesus and by the Grace of God.  He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Nobody comes to the Father but by Him. He is our salvation. He is the living embodiment of the Word of God. His faith has saved us and made us whole, not our faith. But we need to act for Him to show that we have faith in Him The whole Gospel is based upon this. This is the solid foundation, as Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our faith. We do not identify ourselves by men whose theology we like but by the only man who was perfect, Jesus Christ.  And if we follow Him, we have the gift of life as St. Paul explains For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23 KJV)

 

The problem with folks who identify themselves as something other than Christian, is they lose sight of the simple principles of Scripture and become more like the Pharisees in finding loopholes to get around and they find themselves going down the wide smooth down hill path instead of the narrow sloping uphill path towards heaven. It is so easy to get lost in the ideas of the various theologians, you forget that they were doing their best to be known as followers of Christ.  Paul reminds us we are to be followers of Christ and not followers of man. These people that identify as followers of various theologians often times forget they are supposed to be following Christ and not man. They have gotten themselves so wrapped up in the little things that they miss the sight of the big picture. They miss the simplicity of Jesus and His Message! They insist on making following God way more complicated than it actually is. God’s way is not complicated, it may be hard to do at times, but it is not complicated at all. Love God and Love your neighbor as thyself. That’s really pretty much it.  There is no secret handshake, no arcane or mystifying rituals involved in following God.

 

Paul points out many who make a show of following the law, not to follow the law but to somehow appear more righteous than you, not that they would suffer persecution for Christ. There are way too many of these folks today both in and outside of the church. He calls us as followers of Christ not to do that, to follow Christ and His Gospel, the new way of thinking compared to the old ways of the Jews of old and the Mosaic Laws and also not to be afraid to suffer persecution in Jesus’s name.

 

As Paul said in a later epistle, there is not much glory if we are doing something wrong and get shamed for it. However, if we are following His Word and get shamed and slandered for it, there is a lot of glory there. God will make it so in the end, if we but stay true to the course, all of the persecution and bullying we face on Earth for following Him will be worth it. We will just have to remember this anytime we are encountering an unbeliever and being persecuted or slandered.

 

The Gospel has two parts.  The first part, two sentences,  is easy to understand, sometimes hard to implement.  In everything, there can only be ONE LEAD, one entity you follow.  In our case God.  It is the second part that causes me the most trouble.  A good friend once told me, Don’t worry, you’ll just die all tensed up.  If you cand do something, do it.  Otherwise, relax and see what happens.

 

We are far too ready to borrow trouble from tomorrow.  A day does not go by that I do not have to pray at least twice for help with this.  It is getting better; I am confident on one thoughtful level no good comes of worry, yet I have such a hard time acting on that thought. It is a very difficult thing not to worry, but it is something that needs to be done nonetheless. I find as I trust God more and act upon His will more, I worry less. There is a correlation there I believe. It is a very hard thing to do, but it must be done, to ensure our success in spreading the Gospel and being effective representatives of God. Plus, worrying less provides other benefits as well, leading to happier lives. We have to remember worrying never helps, but it hurts us a lot physically, spiritually and mentally. If we can stop worrying, we can find our lives will get better in the physical, spiritual and mental realms.  When we do what God asks, doing our best and not just saying it, there is not a lot to worry about. Even if there is, we can relax, knowing God has everything under control and He will always give us guidance on how to proceed.

 

God wants you to be happy; He knows what will make you happy.  God does not mind if you have fun along the way, but never pursue fun confusing it with happiness.  In the end, you won’t find either.

 

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

Fourteenth 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/WmGJMbco6wU

 

The Collects often are repetitive, in that we pretty much ask the same thing week after week. Why is that?  We have the same failings and frailty week after week. We are asking Him to make us want to follow Him that we might gain the prize which He promised.  Paul ppoints out if we do not change, we will be drawn to the wide downhill road towards the pit and away from the narrow uphill trail towards the summit of heaven.  When Luke tells us of Jesus and the ten lepers whom He heals and only one expresses thanks, do you think he is only telling of lepers? It is a metaphor for us. When things go wrong, we often blame God. When things go right, oh weren’t we so clever?  It all comes together, read or listen and find out how.

The Propers for today are found on Page 209-210, with the Collect first:

 

The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.

 

The Collect.

 

A

LMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

The Epistle came from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, the Fifth Chapter beginning at the Sixteenth Verse.  Paul tells  us that Heaven and Earth are in conflict in our lives, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”  If we are led of the Spirit, we are not under the law.  If we are subject to the law, which we are bound to break due to our own inability to be ultimately good, we are also bound to the pit.  But if we are with Christ, we are forgiven of our sins, providing we are truly repentant.  We will enjoy “the fruit of the Spirit … love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

 

I

 say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

 

Today’s Holy Gospel began in the Seventeenth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, beginning at the Eleventh Verse.  Jesus comes upon ten lepers who appeal to Him,  “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  He does and tells them, “Go shew yourselves unto the priests.”  As they left him, their leprosy disappeared.  One of the ten, “when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan[1].”  Jesus marveled at the nine who turned not saying, “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?  There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”  Once again a Samaritan, the “least” among the Jews was the only one to recognize and offer thanks to the Power of God.  Do we recognize the power of God in our lives and do we thank Him for the good He does us? 

 

A

ND it came to pass, as Jesus went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

 

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[1] Samaritan - Of or pertaining to Samaria, in Palestine. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Samaria; also, the language of Samaria. [1913 Webster]

  Samaritans were descendants of those who had stayed behind during the Captivity and had been separated for many years from the body of Judaism.  They had not developed, nor did they subscribe to them, all the rules the Jews managed to invent during their separation.  The main body of Jews viewed them as lesser peoples, not really Jews. 

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/WmGJMbco6wU

 

Today’s sermon tied the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and talked, as is oft the case, of the need for action, not simply diction.

 

Today we consider The Law and how it failed to solve the problems of the people it was designed to help and think about how getting around technicalities is different than doing what is right.

 

Consider the words of the Collect, “…give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command …”

 

The Collects often are repetitive, in that we pretty much ask the same thing week after week.  Why is that?  We have the same failings and frailty week after week. We are asking Him to make us want to follow Him that we might gain the prize which He has promised us.  That prize is eternal life which begins when we accept it, not when we die. We need to realize this fact and adjust our lives accordingly. We have to shift our focus from the short term to the ultra-long term (i.e, eternal) view of our actions. This will help us to become better spiritual stewards of the gifts which God has bestowed upon us.  And once more we ask God to help us want what He wants for us not what we want for ourselves.

 

We are praying for the increase of faith, hope and love, so we can maintain that course guidance.  Just like Paul says, if we do not have these qualities in us, it is impossible for us to stay on course. We need these qualities if we are to stay on our course on that narrow uphill trail towards heaven. It is impossible to navigate this trail without those qualities. And we do not obtain these qualities from ourselves, but from the Holy Ghost. We need to listen to Him in order to stay on course. Not just listen to what He says then go off and do what we want to do. He is our infallible navigation aid. He will never fail us. The problem lies more in us failing Him. But with His Help and Guidance we will succeed. To succeed, there must be change on our part, modification of our behavior to follow Him. It requires actual action. This is the constant of Christian living that is unavoidable. 

 

Paul lists out the actions that are the works of those who are still under the influence of this world or the flesh, i.e fornication, heresies, strife, envying etc. If we are truly people of God, then we will not have those qualities and will do our best to quell them. These are qualities that will draw us towards the wide downhill road towards the pit and away from the narrow uphill trail towards the summit of heaven. Those are all qualities that make us worse human beings and draw us further away from God and not nearer to Him. Then he lists out the qualities of those who are of the spirit, long suffering, peacefulness, good faith, gentleness meekness etc. These are the qualities that if we let the Holy Ghost into our hearts we will heave.

 

It is only by having the qualities of faith, hope and charity that we are able to follow God and do to His Will. Without the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we will be unable to have these qualities and have less happier lives. We have to make the effort to let the Holy Ghost in and shine his light in our hearts and drive out the bad qualities and let the good qualities in. The good qualities will not only help us to serve God, but make us a lot more pleasant human beings to be around.

 

These qualities will improve not just our spiritual but our physical lives immensely. The bad qualities can take a toll on our physical body not just our spiritual selves. The good qualities will do the opposite, will have a positive effect on our physical body and spiritual selves. These good qualities will have a rejuvenation effect on us. It is in our best interest to do our best to follow God, and we will not only help Him by doing so, but helping our selves at the same time.

 

In order to perform action actions to serve Him, we need the Holy Ghost. However, the question is who will listen to the Holy Ghost? The only people who listen are those who are in need, hurt, pain and despair.  Often it is because they, or one of their loved ones, are ill or injured, perhaps near death.  Perhaps they are unemployed or undergoing some family upheaval.  Their situation is less than perfect.  They need help and they know it.  In their own mind, they are the Samaritans of this world. It is no accident Jesus’ parables and stories center on actions, not words, thoughts and meditations.  We need to retrain ourselves to ask for His Help before we are in need, pain or despair. The Holy Ghost can help us retrain ourselves, if we will but let Him in. Actions show who you truly are. Actions show the world who you follow, God or Mammon. You are not truly be a believer if you don’t act for Him. Without action, there is nothing. The key driving principle behind his parables are actions for Him, are those of goodness, not of evil.  Those who believe on me keep my commandments.  

 

Actions!

 

Yet, those who turn to God in “need” are no different than each of us.  To quote Paul, “None are perfect, all fall short.”  We, each and every one of us, need God’s help.  Perhaps some need it more, none need it less.

 

When Luke tells us of Jesus and the ten lepers whom He heals and only one expresses thanks, do you think he is only telling of lepers? It is a metaphor for us. When things go wrong, we often blame God. When things go right, oh weren’t we so clever?  All too often, when God assists us, we do not turn back to Him in thanks, but merely go on our way and credit ourselves for being so smart. One of the lessons is that when God helps us in our lives, we should always take the time to give thanks to Him who helped us and created us.

 

 

Through our Lord, God is there for each of us if we will accept His help.  When He gives that help, how do we react?  Frankly most of us just think it our due.  We oft fail to give thanks for all that He gives us.

 

When we get an answer we don’t expect, do we thank Him?  What if we get an answer?  Do we thank Him?

 

Like the lepers only one in ten will show thanks for the mercy and help given them.  Rarely do people give thanks for large efforts done to help them. We must endeavor to be grateful for Him and for all of those who strive hard to help us out in our times of need.  In the case of the lepers, it was the Samaritan[1], showing that fancy dress and rules are not as important as doing what is right and being grateful for what we are given.

 

Are you part of that 10 percent?

 

Remember, it is Please and Thank You that are the magic words, not Please and I don’t have time for you. 

 

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] Samaritan - Of or pertaining to Samaria, in Palestine. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Samaria; also, the language of Samaria. [1913 Webster]

 

Samaritans were descendants of those who had stayed behind during the Captivity and had been separated for many years from the body of Judaism.  They had not developed, nor did they subscribe to them, all the rules the Jews managed to invent during their separation.  The main body of Jews viewed them as lesser peoples, not really Jews.