Sunday next before Advent - Propers with explanation – Bishop Jack’s Sermon – With Video

 

Bishop Jack brings the propers together today.  His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/OuF2cE_HrE8

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel, today’s propers are all tied together. As is usual, they call for action not just thoughts. In fact, the collect is among the most direct, asking God to stir our hearts that we might ACT in a manner which will result in good things! The collect is asking for God to inspire us to ACT to produce those good works that will please Him. It is asking for God to assist us in our actions here on Earth to produce good fruits. And through those good fruits, God will reward us with gifts that are better than we could possibly imagine. I hope you find it useful.

The propers for the Sunday next before Advent can be found on Page 225-226:

 

The Sunday next before Advent

The Collect.

S

 

TIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

The Epistle for today came from the Book of Jeremiah, the Twenty-Third Chapter, beginning at the Fifth Verse.   Foretelling the arrival of Jesus, Jeremiah prophesied, “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”  He prophesied the New Covenant, moving reference of the Lord from Egypt to Israel and the return to one people of those driven out of their homeland across the world. 

 

B

EHOLD, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land. 

 

The Holy Gospel for today came from the  Gospel according to Saint John, the Sixth Chapter, beginning at the  Fifth Verse.  John relates one of the feeding the masses in the wilderness events.  This forshadows the arrival of the Christ at Christmas coming to feed our spiritual needs in the wilderness of this world.

 

With five thousand men with them looking for food in the wilderness, “One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down…”  Reminding us that if the Son of God gave thanks to God for His food, so ought we, “Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, ‘This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.’”

 

Compare to saving our souls and feeding the inner hunger we have for God’s love, feeding a mere 5,000 men is child’s play, but then Jesus said we should accept God and His love through Him as the children do.  So perhaps it really is child’s play.

 

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HEN Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

Sermon - Bishop Jack Arnold

Anglican Orthodox Church of the United States

Diocese of the West

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together because as is always the case there is a unifying message in the Scripture for this Sunday.   Bp Jack’s sermon and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/OuF2cE_HrE8

 

Good morning. I hope you are all doing well. In today’s sermon we will be looking at the message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message. Let us start by reading today’s collect:

 

 

The Sunday next before Advent

The Collect.

S

TIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

 

As is oft the case, today’s propers are all tied together.  As is usual, they call for action not just thoughts.  In fact, the collect is among the most direct, asking God to stir our hearts that we might ACT in a manner which will result in good things! The collect is asking for God to inspire us to ACT to produce those good works that will please Him. It is asking for God to assist us in our actions here on Earth to produce good fruits. And through those good fruits, God will reward us with gifts that are better than we could possibly imagine.

 

Jeremiah prophesies the coming of Jesus out of the branch of David that He might unite God’s people as one under a New Covenant.  Christ is the key piece to the puzzle of the Old Testament prophecies. He is the answer to all of the prophecies the Old Testament contains about our savior. John tells us Jesus comes to fill both our spiritual and physical hunger. Our spiritual hunger in that by His Coming, we will have the Word as our spiritual bread and drink. And our physical hunger by the fact if we follow what He says and do our best, we should have no problems getting food to eat. The collect is calling us to action, to perform good works to advance the cause of the Gospel. 

 

The collect is asking us to allow God into our hearts so that we can go forth and do good works that the Good News might be spread. The Good News cannot be spread without those good works. For what good is it to only spread the word and not just live it and breath it? God wants us to live His World and not just read it. We need to put into our actions the message that God has relayed to us.  The collect is asking God to stir up our wills that we might go forth and do good works for Him and effect positive change for us and members of our community on Earth If we do that, the collect assures us that we will be rewarded very well. First we have to let Him int our hearts in order for Him to stir up our wil and incline us to perform the good works. Then through these actions we will truly get our just reward. Our wills are naturally inclined towards not following Him; we need to have our wills reset towards following Him. 

 

We have to throw off our old man, to quote Saint Paul and to put on the new armor and helmet of the new man. We have to shed our old like a lizard sheds his skin and grow the new armor and helmet. Then We have to let the Holy Ghost into us and cleanse us of our old sinful selves. Because as long as we are our old sinful selves, we are unable to fully serve Him and to live His Word. We need the Holy Ghost to help us get rid of our old selves and help us put on our new better selves. In order for all of this to happen, we have to willingly let the Holy Ghost into our hearts, souls and minds and have him guide our actions. For without the Holy Ghost’s influence, we cannot truly be able to willing follow Him and act for Him on our own intuition. Our own natural intuition will lead us astray. We must follow God rather than look to ourselves to renew our hearts souls and minds. 

 

Nothing else in this world will satisfy us like God and the Word of God can. He is the answer to the missing hole in so many people’s hearts and lives.  There is so much evidence of this missing hole in people’s lives today. The sad part is that the missing hole is obvious, but to those who will not believe it is not obvious at all. They keep searching for things to fill that broken hole, but nothing they will find will come close to filling the hole as God can.

 

Our broken society is a reflection of the missing gigantic God shaped hole. Yet nobody wishes to acknowledge or recognize this hole. That is because our human nature would have us run from God rather than accept God.  The church sadly has been complicit in this by allowing the devil to enter into the church. No house divided against itself shall stand and sadly that is what is happening with the modern church.  We have found that no art or work of mammon can come even close to the pure satisfaction following God provides. Yet because so many people have been blinded by Satan, they won’t see this. This is the only possible way we can truly be satisfied, everything else is a shadow of true happiness and satisfaction. God is the only way in which we can truly be happy, for everything else is worthless to our wellbeing, except for the joy of following Him.

 

If we follow our own heart and guidance, we will seek the things of this world and will be hopelessly lost. But if we follow God’s guidance then we will not be lost but will be on course and on path towards heaven. If we stumble off from time to time, we just have to recover and get back on the path towards heaven with the help of God and the Holy Ghost. We will always make mistakes and occasionally err from God’s standards, but as long as we make the needed course corrections then all will be well with our souls.

 

Events happening in this country today show that we are not truly capable of satisfying ourselves, only Jesus and the Holy Spirit can fill the hole. We cannot replace God with man as some liberal minded folk in this country are so apt to think. This is why we truly need the Holy Ghost acting in our hearts and cleansing us of these impure thoughts. Otherwise we risk becoming like many in this country today, unhappy and angry people that do not understand that true happiness is not found in mammon but serving God and spreading the Good News to all nations.

 

As we are nearing the beginning of Advent, let us think ahead to the joy of Christmas, the birth of Christ, His entry into this world, the joy of Epiphany, His revealing to the world.  Then look ahead at the horror, pain and sadness of Good Friday.  This lets us see the joy of eternal life He gave us, came at a very heavy price. Jesus gave His Own Life so we might have eternal happiness and not only that but he had to go down into hell and do battle with the devil. 

 

The World is constantly changing things to suit its sinful desires.  However, those of us who follow God do not change from the truth. This is why we will never be fully satisfied with things of this world, but we will be satisfied with what God provides for us.

 

He asks of us nothing special; but just to do our very best, not just say it. It is something I am striving to work on more and more every day. As we are not perfect, we will stumble on this but as long as we get back on track and follow the Holy Ghost back to the course we are supposed to be on, then all will be well.

 

We must keep learning and following His Word. It is a hard concept for many of us to follow, including myself, but we must all strive more and more every day to do our very best. If we study Scriptures diligently and work hard to follow them to the best of our abilities, then we will, with the Holy Spirit’s help, be charted on an excellent course. 

 

Interestingly, He tells the disciples to “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”  It seems He is talking about the sheep that He tends to, He wishes to “gather up the fragments that remain”, meaning the people apart from His flock, that “nothing be lost”, meaning that their souls may not be lost for eternity. Think about that and take what it is offered before it is no longer on the menu! And be thankful for All His Blessings in our lives, for our friends and our family that He has placed in our lives.   

 

We are blessed and should be grateful we are in a spiritually rich group (The Anglican Orthodox Church) and in communion with some very good men and women across the Earth in the AOC Worldwide Church, who hold true to the principles of Scripture. God has blessed us all by bringing us together. I am thankful for each and every person in the AOC Church and my family and friends.  At Thanksgiving, we should be thankful most of all for God sending His Son to die for us, that we might have eternal life and happiness instead of the eternal misery that comes from the separation from God.

 

Actions speak louder than words, when we actually use that inspiration of the Holy Ghost and a couple well thought out words with actions, we can do many marvelous things in the lives of people around us, through His Spirit and Word and we will help to fill people’s spiritual hunger, through acting through His Word, in thought, word and deed.

 

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

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity - Propers with explanation – Bishop Jack’s Sermon – With Video

Bishop Jack brings the propers together today.  His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on videoHERE -> https://youtu.be/MtEQRDsWSS0

 

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel tie together, laying out, detailing and reinforcing the same message, ultimately.  We have to have faith in Christ and God, and be willing to accept the Holy Ghost into us, that through Him, we may do good works on Earth and that we will receive our just reward for doing what is right in the end. As always, Jesus proved the naysayers wrong.  He gave a very practical demonstration that much is denied men, but though God all things are possible.   I hope you find it useful.

The propers for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity can be found on Page 223-224:

 

The Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity

The Collect.

 

 

O

 LORD, we beseech thee, absolve thy people from their offences; that through thy bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the bands of those sins, which by our frailty we have committed. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.

 

The Epistle for today came from the First Chapter of Saint Paul’s letter to the Colossians, beginning at the Third Verse.  Writing to the people of Colossus, Paul tells them that he is constantly praying for them and exhorts them to do their very best to actually fulfill the promises they have made to God, to Walk the Walk, not just Talk the Talk; to study hard the Word and use the strength they will get from God to act on the things they have learned and professed.

 

W

E give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard  of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: as ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

 

The Holy Gospel came from the Ninth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew beginning at the Eighteenth Verse.  While Jesus was talking to some of the disciples of John the Baptist, one of the local politicians whose daughter had just died came to Him with faith that He could return her to life.  As he was leaving His meeting with the disciples to follow the politician, a woman who had been ill for many years, reached out in faith to “touch His garment.”  She knew He was the key to her life, though she likely had no real understanding of just how.  She had faith in Jesus.  As she touched his garment, He turned saying, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.”  She was instantly healed.  Like the Faithful Centurion[1]: Truth set her free, faith made her whole. Jesus continued on to the politician’s house and returned his daughter to the living.  Consider that in none of these cases did Jesus’ saving grace hinge on actions by the saved, but rather their faith that Jesus would save them, then acting in accordance with that faith.  It was not what they did, but what He did that saved them.  But, His actions were in accord with their faith.

 

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HILE Jesus spake these things unto John’s disciples, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: for she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, he said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.

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[1] The centurion at Capernaum whose servant is ill:  Matthew Chapter 8 verses 5 to 13:

                                                          

AND when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

 

See how this story matches that of the woman:

·       His servant was sick;

·       He knew Christ could help;

·       He was prepared to ask Christ for help;

·       He knew that Christ was in a position of power;

·       He didn't even have to be near the servant to help

 

The centurion wasn't someone who went to get a doctor, or an itinerant herbalist. He went seeking a miracle, and that is what his faith got him.  This centurion had faith, greater faith than Christ had ever found. Yet who was he? He wasn't a scribe or Hebrew scholar. He wasn't a member of the local synagogue. He was a member of the hated, oppressing, occupying army.

Sermon - Bishop Jack Arnold

Anglican Orthodox Church of the United States

Diocese of the West

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above. Bp Jack’s sermon and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/MtEQRDsWSS0

 

The Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity

The Collect.

O

 LORD, we beseech thee, absolve thy people from their offences; that through thy bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the bands of those sins, which by our frailty we have committed. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.

 

Consider these words from the Collect: … absolve thy people from their offences; that … we may all be delivered from the bands of those sins, which by our frailty we have committed…

 

The Collect asks God to pardon our offences, that is our wrongs, failures and failures to act as we should, where we have “erred and stray from His Way like lost sheep”, through His great mercy.   Note, through the mercy of God, not because we have been good, but because we cannot be good without Him in the form of the Holy Ghost.  We are utterly incapable of goodness without the help of the Holy Ghost. We are sinful, prideful beings without His Help. We are asking for His Help so that we can overcome our natural frailty. Also with His Help there is no end to the good that we can become. We have to recognize this fact and then consciously ask for the Holy Ghost to enter into our hearts and transform our hearts souls and minds. Without this transformation we are utterly lost. But with it, we become Paul’s New Man 2.0, an epic upgrade from our first revision. 

 

In this world we will find that as far as sins go, truly there is nothing new. All the sins that will exist are present in this world and we aren’t making any new ones. The human heart is always as dark and depraved without the shining light of the Holy Spirit as it ever has been. We will find no problems on this Earth that have not existed since the time of Adam. Technology may change and nations may rise and fall, but the underlying human condition has remained constant. This is why the world is full of the same problems as it always has. Humans are naturally resistant to any form of change, especially spiritual change. It has been this way since the time of Adam. People are always seeking ways to get around God and His Laws, but they truly cannot. They will never stop trying to get around God but they will also never succeed in getting around God as that is impossible. Most of the problems we face here on Earth stem from people trying to get around God. If people would recognize and worship God and do their best to follow His Word, then our problems here on Earth would go away.

 

Our only hope is to be in Him and be reborn in the Spirit. As Abraham Lincoln said in the famous Gettysburg address “That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.”  Only under God, can we be reborn a new, and as he said, our freedom will be reborn again.  We can only be reborn in the spirit and not the flesh as Nicodemus found out when he came to Jesus by night. In order to be reborn a new in the spirit, we first have to ask for our sins to be pardoned and be delivered from our sins by Jesus Christ Our Lord and Our Heavenly Father.  The key word is ask. This will never happen for us if we do not take the first step and ask God to enter into our hearts and regenerate our spirit. He will not come in uninvited into to our hearts. We have to allow the Holy Spirit access in order for our spirits to be revitalized.

 

And once we ask for our sins to be pardoned, we have to go forth and persevere in our efforts not to sin again. Only then can we be truly re-born. We cannot be truly reborn if we keep falling into the same sin again. We have to make an effort to improve ourselves and do our best not to do the same sin over and over again. Through a sense of godliness, we obtain that “new birth” of freedom. If everybody in this country followed that simple advice, just think of how great our country would be. Look at Abraham Lincoln for an example of a Godly man, one of the greatest Presidents ever elected, who by following God and His Word, helped preserve the Union of this wonderful nation, albeit at a great cost to our freedom and with a huge expansion of government.[1]

 

In the Epistle, Paul tells the Colossians if we are to be reborn through Christ into a “new birth of freedom”, as Lincoln said, we must place our hope not on Earth, but in Our Heavenly Father and his abode above. It is truly a place where nothing will be corrupted and thieves will not break through and steal. It is very safe to place our hopes in heaven in other words. So we must train our hearts, souls and minds to focus on this. 

 

In heaven, we shall encounter none of the imperfections we see here on Earth daily. It is truly a wonderful place to be. We must keep our sights on our destination of heaven. We have to always keep this in mind every time we are weighed down by the woes of the world and of troubles in our lives. We have to always keep flying our spiritual airplane no matter what happens in this life. If we put our goal as going to heaven and setting our airplane on the magenta line towards heaven, eventually we will get there. We may encounter severe turbulence from events in our lives that threaten to upset our spiritual state, but as long as we keep flying the spiritual airplane, all will be well in the end. Heaven is truly the only place where we can place any hope and not be disappointed. God will never fail us; we just need to not fail Him. We have to do our best to follow Him here on earth and do our best to spread to Word to the people around us. If we do this, the truth shall shine forth through in our work, at home, in our daily lives and people shall see Christ working through us for His purposes. If we follow what God asks, which is a very common theme in the Bible, as it is in my sermons, we prosper and do well.

 

Which brings us to the point of the Gospel, in which Christ heals a woman who has such supreme faith in Christ healing her, that if she but touches his cloak, she knows she will be healed. She did not have any doubts about Christ’s power to heal her. She truly had a solid faith.  She depended not on the talisman of the cloak, but the power of Christ with which she expected to connect. She knew Christ had the power to heal her and believed He would heal her. Christ was impressed by the woman’s faith.  If we had the faith of this woman in Christ, imagine how we could impact the world around us. There would be little we could not do for our fellow men and women.  And, I might ask, what is stopping us?  The ruler whose daughter had died also shared this amazing faith in Christ.  He had zero doubt whatsoever Christ would do these things. 

 

Also, the faithful centurion and the man whose son was sick had this tremendous faith. The faith of all of these, in particular the ruler whose daughter died, was truly strong. Christ recognizes this man’s faith and rewards with the girl’s resurrection.  Quite a surprise for those who had just laughed and scorned him, basically telling him “That is impossible, you can’t raise the girl from the dead.”

 

As always, Jesus proved the naysayers wrong.  He gave a very practical demonstration that much is denied men, but though God all things are possible.  But, we need the faith of the woman, the faith of the ruler and the faith of the centurion.  Jesus showed us that if we do indeed have the great faith of those people, there is not a lot that we cannot do. He is showing us that faith is a key corner stone to following Him. We must follow Him and the plan He laid out for us. We have to be willing to listen and be ready to follow Him.  In time, we too shall have an amazing reward, through our faith and be in a “new birth of freedom” from otherwise certain death. We can do things thought impossible, if we put our trust in Him, as I have aforementioned.  

 

This is what Jesus meant when he said we could move mountains with our faith. If we put our trust and faith in Him, nothing that we need to do is impossible for us to achieve. We must keep listening to His Guidance and to do our best to follow Him. However, we must back up our faith with actions. If we truly have faith, then we will act and perform good works for Him. Without actions, our faith is meaningless.

 

Jesus’s miracles were all about actions, not just in word, but in deed. He did both, as we must also. If we only talk the talk, but do not walk our talk, then our words mean nothing.  If we walk the walk also, our words have weight, meaning, as we become men and women of the Word. I say of the Word and not like the old saying, he is a man of his word. For we want to become a Man/Woman of His Word, not our word! If we go by His Word, we can never go wrong. We always seem to go on our word and that is where we get into trouble. It is action not just diction which counts. The two can go together, but in the end, actions speak louder than words. 

 

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel tie together, laying out, detailing and reinforcing the same message, ultimately.  We have to have faith in Christ and God, and be willing to accept the Holy Ghost into us, that through Him, we may do good works on Earth and that we will receive our just reward for doing what is right in the end.

 

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] The American Civil War was fought not over slavery, but over States Rights.  Make no mistake, the right being disputed at the time was slavery.  Many will say the wrong side won, including the noted thinker Thomas Sowell.  Slavery was an institution whose time was long passed, it did not serve anyone, master or slave.  It was counter to the Word and should never have existed here.  Truly it was an instrument of the Devil and was used to harm our country.

Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity - Propers with explanation – Bishop Jack’s Sermon – With Video

Bishop Jack brings the propers together today.  His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on videoHERE -> https://youtu.be/BdcXa0UGczo

 

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel tie together, laying out, detailing and reinforcing the same message, ultimately. We have to respect the authorities that govern us, no matter how we disagree or dislike them, and conduct ourselves like Christians. However, that does not mean that we replace the rule of God with the rule of Man. Man’s laws should merely be a restatement of God’s laws, not to replace God’s laws.   I hope you find it useful.

The propers for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity can be found on Page 222-223:

 

The Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity

The Collect.

 

 

O

 GOD, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all godliness; Be ready, we beseech thee, to hear the devout prayers of thy Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

The Epistle for today came from Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians beginning at the Seventeenth Verse of the Third Chapter.  Writing to the church in Philippia, Paul asks them to watch whom they follow, “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, … that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.”  He reminds us of our ultimate goal, of that which for us should have the principal place in our minds, “For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed unto the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.”

 

B

rethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed unto the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.

 

The Holy Gospel came from the Twenty-Second Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew beginning at the Fifteenth Verse.  Like many people today, the Pharisees took much comfort in the fact that they followed The Law to The Letter.  Not looking to what the law was trying to get them to do and to think, but rather following The Law to The Letter.  Jesus presented a threat to their very existence, because he asked the people to do what God willed, not to simply cook their food a certain way, or turn down an invitation to a luau because they served roast pig and drank Bud.  Being good followers of The Law to The Letter, they sought to trip Him up.  “…they sent out unto Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, ‘Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?”  Having for so long lived The Law to The Letter, believing The Kingdom of God would be of this world, they could not see the obvious response.  They were absolutely floored when Jesus said, “Shew me the tribute money.”  With no thought of the answer, “they brought unto him a penny.”  Jesus asked them, “Whose is this image and superscription?”  Again playing the straight man, walking into the trap they had set for themselves, they answered, “Caesar’s.”  Driving his point straight into their hearts, he told them, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”

 

This ended the encounter, “they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.”

 

T

hen went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Cæsar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.

Sermon - Bishop Jack Arnold

Anglican Orthodox Church of the United States

Diocese of the West

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

Bp Jack brings the Propers together today and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/BdcXa0UGczo

 

The Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity

The Collect.

 

 

O

 GOD, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all godliness; Be ready we beseech thee to hear the devout prayers of the Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

… hear the devout prayers of the Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain …

 

 

The Collect once again asks God to hear our prayers.  The Church is the body of believers, not a building, not a semi-political group. Many people think the Church is just a building when that is not the case at all. When the Collect refers to the church, it refers to the body of believers that are following God.  And the Collect specifies the devout prayers; that is prayers for those ideas, actions and the like that follow God’s Plan for His People.  It goes on to ask that He would grant those things we ask for faithfully, that is in accordance with His Will or Plan.

 

He is always there, always ready, to hear our sincere prayers: He may answer those things which are good for the Church and the world for which we ask and from His Grace we may receive those things which are good for us.  The part that is left unspoken is that once we receive His Advice through the Holy Spirit we have to be willing to take action. And we may not necessarily know on our own what is good for the church, but that is where the Holy Spirit will come in and guide us to what is good for the church. We must listen to what He says and then ultimately act upon what He tells us to do. We can pray all the day long but if we don’t listen to Him and then act upon what He says, those prayers will ultimately be for naught. Action and diction together shows our beliefs and where our hearts truly lie. Diction without action is not much of a belief at all.

 

In the Epistle, Paul tells us, as well as the Philippians, to follow God and not be dependent on man, as so many in this country are now. The problem is many, who claim they are followers of Christ, don’t walk the walk, they are selfish and only think of themselves. We need to ensure we are not following these peoples imperfect example and instead do our best to follow Christ’s perfect example. We will never match His Perfect example, but we will never get anywhere if we don’t at least do our best. There are too many people around the world who think and act in this manner.  They have no desire to help others, and in fact have a desire to tear others down rather than lend them a helping hand. This is not in congruence with Christ’s teachings and the Summary of the Law. He warns them will lead them onto a path of doom and destruction. We can see that being played out in our country now with an uprising of violent behavior and tendencies and the general degeneracy in the population.

 

This is clear proof to me that we cannot succeed in a positive manner without God’s help and influence in our lives. If more people would realize this, our country would be in a far better state than it is now. Let us pray that people would wake up and realize this.

 

Whereas if people would love their neighbor as themselves, it would lead them on a path to prosperity and eternal life. In times of trial and tribulation, we are not to worry, but rather lean on Our Lord. It may be very difficult but it can be done through the help of the Holy Spirit. We must realize our true and final citizenship is in heaven, for which we look to Our Saviour. If we are on the side of righteousness, of the Lord, of godliness, then who are we to fear?

 

Nobody; save a respectful fear of Our God. 

 

We will not bow before the forces of darkness; but rather stand tall, equipped with the armor of light, the shield of truth, and the helmet of faith. We will give those in authority the respect they are due but we will not be dependent upon them for our every need and whim. This is why those who seek to create a larger government are working on supplanting God’s authority over us. For if God is the authority, as He is; man has no power to determine what is right and what is wrong. Man is not responsible for his own power. This is why those who are seeking to enlarge their power over the people in this country must first destroy the Church. The good news is that Paul says in the end, these people’s efforts will be in vain and they will be destroyed, as much as they are attempting to destroy us here on Earth. We can be cheered up in these depressing times, knowing we are on the winning side for eternity. We are to turn to God; if we are to be dependent on anything, it must be God upon whom we are dependent, and not Man. Being dependent on man only leads to eternal death for us, but being dependent on God leads to eternal life for us. 

 

Which brings us to the point of the Gospel, in which Christ tells the Pharisees of how they are to deal with the problem of tribute to Caesar. They have no love for the Roman Government, as we have very little love for the swamp dwellers in our own Government. However, Christ reminds them to separate their hatred of the government, and do the right thing. Again as many things in the Gospel, this is easier said than done, but it is something that must be done all the same. As we must give God His due (our worship and prayer), we must give the government their due (taxes, etc.), but this does not mean we treat the government as demi-gods, to put it one way, as politicians often think of themselves.  The government has to earn our respect, not the other way around, which too often it and the members in it forget this simple fact.

 

We have to realize that God has granted the government their authority to govern, but not to supplant Him. God cannot be replaced by man.  If Man tries to replace God, they will fail and they will ultimately no longer have God’s blessing upon their authority. It His authority is where the government gets their authority, and will always be; whether they choose to recognize that or not, is up to them. That is what we pray for when we pray for the President, that he would recognize God’s authority and align his leadership with that of God’s will. The statists in this country believe the false lie that man can govern man without assistance from God or God’s authority. Governments which do not recognize this fact are in the end, doomed to fail. The history books are filled with pages of failed governments, all failed because they refused to recognize God’s rightful place as the source of their legal authority.

 

Jesus’ point is that we give them what they are owed, no more and no less.  The Pharisees were trying to trick Christ to say that you must honor one or the other, when you can do both.  We should be serving God and not man; that does not mean that we do not have to pay our dues to the government that rules us. It is only through God’s grace that he allows government to rule over man. The government we have was established with the recognition it serves at His pleasure. Its Declaration of Independence establishes people have rights endued them by their Creator, not the government. It is with the authority of the people the government serves. It must exist to serve the people and God. It is not to be a self-licking ice cream cone. Jesus told us to feed the poor people, not create laws that take money from other people ostensibly for that purpose, of which he commanded us to do.

 

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel tie together, laying out, detailing and reinforcing the same message, ultimately.  We have to respect the authorities that govern us, no matter how we disagree or dislike them, and conduct ourselves like Christians. However, that does not mean that we replace the rule of God with the rule of Man. Man’s laws should merely be a restatement of God’s laws, not to replace God’s laws.

 

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