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

Bishop Jack’s sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE ->https://youtu.be/u7NkDUUz1pE

 

Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we continue to celebrate Jesus’ delivery of the promise of life eternal with Him in our life to come.  We want to follow our own hearts, that is the unruly wills and affections of sinful men, which will lead us not to heaven but to hell if left unchecked. These unruly wills and affections of ours are what have caused the problems in the world. God is a Triune God; Father, Son, Holy Ghost. One of the Holy Ghost’s jobs is to open our souls, hearts and minds to God’s Will. One of His main functions to help us see where we are in error and how to fix those errors.  We are God’s creatures, first among all His Creation with all the privileges (which we like) and all the responsibility (which we are not so keen on) which come with that status.  All good comes from God, who is always with us; always the same; a true bearing in world in a constant state of flux. While the world may change, the Word will never change, no matter what happens in the world today.  It all comes together.

The Propers for today are found on Page 174-175, with the Collect first:

 

The Fourth Sunday after Easter.

The Collect.

 

O

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

 

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

 

E

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

 

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

 

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

 

J

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

Jack Arnold

Bishop of the Diocese of the West – AOC USA

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide

Director of Education and Training

Bp Jack brings 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 can be viewed on video HERE ->https://youtu.be/u7NkDUUz1pE

Good morning! I hope you are all doing well. In today’s sermon we will be looking at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we continue to celebrate Jesus’ delivery of the promise of life eternal with Him in our life to come.  Easter, perhaps better referred to as the Day of the Resurrection is when the promise of eternal life is delivered. 

 

Let’s start by reading the Collect for today:

 

The Fourth Sunday after Easter.

The Collect.

 

O

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

 

We are in the Easter Season which consists of Easter and the following four Sundays, through Rogation Sunday.  This is a time we should work on centering our lives on the central figure in our religion, Jesus Christ.  

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

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

 

The very first phrase is critical to understanding the world and our place in it.  We want to follow our own hearts, that is the unruly wills and affections of sinful men, which will lead us not to heaven but to hell if left unchecked. These unruly wills and affections of ours are what have caused the problems in the world. People wrongfully try and cast blame on God, but it is us that has caused the problems in the world and not God. If we did what God told us to do, the world would not have these problems. These problems all stem because of our natural inclination to not to want to listen to God. The Collect points out that we cannot order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men, as we are but imperfect creatures. Only God can do this and we have to rely on Him to help us get our unruly wills under control and back on the path towards righteousness. 

 

In order to get back on the path towards righteousness, we have to internalize His commands into our hearts through listening and then through repetition, action.  Like any other skill, repetition is key in order to get better with this. This is the only way we can follow His Commandments and show the World we follow Him. For all of the above to happen we have to let God into our hearts, souls, minds and bodies and let His Directions carry us through life. In order to be true believers, we have to actualize our stated beliefs. Actions show that we don’t just talk the talk, but that we walk the walk as well. This means we have to live out our Christian Faith and not just talk about it. This is easier said than done, but it is something that we must do our best to do as much as it lies within us. God can and will help us do this, but only if we let him into our hearts. 

 

Our life will be better when we follow His directions and if we will allow God to rule us and desire His help, we will be able to attain the state of happiness we will then deserve. It may not be what seems to be easy at the time, but we have to trust that God knows that He is doing and that He knows what truly is good for us. And in the end it will be easier than if we went through the “easy” route and took shortcuts in life that aren’t really shortcuts.  He knows what is right and what is wrong for us. He does not want us to lead so called puritanical lives with no fun allowed whatsoever, but we must have fun the right way and not the wrong way. The right way can lead to a lifetime of happiness, whereas the wrong way leads to a life time of misery. It is as St. Paul says moderation in all things. Too much of a good thing can end up becoming a very bad thing. Moderation in all things, as Paul so rightly notes.  This is why God puts limits on us, not to punish us, but to help us live our lives in a spiritual and a physically healthier manner.

 

Many people think that God forbids things for us, because He does not want us to have fun. Nothing can be further from the truth. He forbids things harmful for our spiritual well being, and encourages us to have clean spiritual, joyous things in our life to develop our spiritual well being. God knows what can hurt our spiritual and physical and mental  health and is advising us to avoid those things so we do not inflict unneeded harm upon our souls, bodies and minds.  Those people confuse the things harmful for our spiritual well being with fun and think things actually helpful for our spiritual well being are not fun. When it is completely not the case. The Holy Spirit will help us to truly see what is harmful for us and what is not harmful for us.

 

We need God’s help (this is one of the places the Holy Ghost comes in) to be able to want for ourselves that which He Wants for us.  Because clearly we are not capable of doing this on our own without His Help. The Collect asks us to allow God into our hearts to bend our will towards His Will and His Wants.  If we can desire what He Wants, our ability to follow His Instructions will be much enhanced. And not only will they be much enhanced, but the more we follow His Instructions, the easier it will be for us to continue on that straight and narrow path towards heaven. It is like practicing any sort of learned skill, the more you practice at it the better you will get. Of course, we will never be fully perfect at it, but as long as we keep doing our best to get as close as we can to perfection, that is all that matters.

 

We are God’s creatures, first among all His Creation with all the privileges (which we like) and all the responsibility (which we are not so keen on) which come with that status.  All good comes from God, who is always with us; always the same; a true bearing in world in a constant state of flux. While the world may change, the Word will never change, no matter what happens in the world today. His Word is a refreshing constant, in this world where nothing ever seems certain. The Ways of the World go to and fro, in a constant state of flux. However, God’s Word always stays the same; its meaning never changes, as God never changes. As God is truth, which by its nature cannot change, so should we never change in our beliefs towards Him. 

 

So, how can we hear?

 

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

 

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

 

The time is now, not tomorrow.  The time has come, indeed.  How will you ACT?

 

It is by our actions we are known.

 

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

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

Bishop Jack’s sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE ->https://youtu.be/VT11O0NmgQA

 

Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we continue to celebrate Jesus’ delivery of the promise of life eternal with Him in our life to come.  God is a Triune God; Father, Son, Holy Ghost. One of the Holy Ghost’s jobs is to open our souls, hearts and minds to God’s Will. One of His main functions to help us see where we are in error and how to fix those errors.   We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad. Act in a manner consistent with the fact you will live forever and be responsible for your actions forever. Action, not diction is what counts. It all comes together.

The Propers for today are found on Page 173-174, with the Collect first:

 

The Third Sunday after Easter.

The Collect.

 

A

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

 

The Epistle for today came from the Second Chapter of the First Epistle of Saint Peter beginning at the Eleventh Verse.  Peter tells us to live a good life, to follow the directions Jesus left us, to make ourselves positive examples of citizen to others, to be leaders of our community, drawing people towards God.  To live out the life Jesus commanded, to do nothing to draw ill repute on the Word of God.  To be truly free and follow freedom to where God wants us to be, not to Donkey Island, where false freedom takes so many. 

 

D

EARLY beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

 

Today’s Gospel came from the Sixteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John beginning at the Sixteenth Verse.

 

Jesus warns his disciples of the events about to unfold.  He is to be taken from them shortly by the painful death on the Cross for our redemption.  He will not be with them here on earth.  Yet, after three days time He will Rise from death, having overcome death for us.  When He is gone from us we are sorrowful, just like the disciples.  He came back from death for us.  And yet He was to leave again, yet not be gone from us as the Father would send the Holy Ghost to make His abode in our hearts and bring Jesus to us.

 

J

ESUS said to his disciples, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

 

Jack Arnold

Bishop of the Diocese of the West – AOC USA

Education and Training

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide

Bp Jack brings 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 can be viewed on video

HERE ->https://youtu.be/VT11O0NmgQA

 

Good morning! I hope you are all doing well. In today’s sermon we will be looking at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we continue to celebrate Jesus’ delivery of the promise of life eternal with Him in our life to come.  This Day of the Resurrection is when the promise of eternal life is delivered. 

 

Let’s start by reading the Collect for today:

 

The Third Sunday after Easter.

The Collect.

 

A

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

 

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

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

 

God is a Triune God; Father, Son, Holy Ghost.  One of the Holy Ghost’s jobs is to open our souls, hearts and minds to God’s Will.  One of His main functions to help us see where we are in error and how to fix those errors.  Thus, open our “ears” to His Voice so we can listen and make our improvements based on His Words.  He is there to guide us when we have gone astray from the path. What the Collect asks is we let the Holy Ghost in so He can change us.  Without the Holy Ghost, change is impossible.   Consider this quote from Jack Lewis out of Mere Christianity:

 

“When He said, ‘Be perfect,’ He meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are all hankering after is harder—in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”

 

It is clear from the above quote from CS Lewis that we cannot do things in half measures to follow God. It seems clear to me that we must give it our all with the help of the Holy Spirit. It does not matter if it is hard for us to listen to the Holy Ghost and attempt to follow His instructions, we must do it.  He is our perfect instructor and if we will listen to Him, God will always provide the light to show us where “We have erred, and strayed from His ways like lost sheep. Where we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. Where we have offended against His holy laws. Where we have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done[1]…”   He will shine His Light onto the dark areas in our heart and souls so we can focus on removing those evil attributes and replacing them with more Godly attributes. We just have to focus on letting Him into our hearts, souls, minds and bodies that he might be able to help us change our course guidance. In order to do that, we can’t resist Him, we have to let Him in. He will not force his way in, He has to be invited in.

 

The Holy Ghost does this this so that we can remain on the course which brings us to His World.  For without that guiding light, we will be forever lost on the path to darkness. He is our infallible navigator/GPS. If we will always rely on Him, He shall never fail us. We more have to worry about failing Him than Him failing us. 

 

One thing is clear and that is that we have to let His Light into our hearts before we can shine it to others that they may see the works of His Light. We cannot lead others to a Light we do not have within us. So, we must first make sure we have the Light of the Holy Ghost within us before we can think of leadings others to that Light.

 

We must start in our own little corner of the world and work our way outward.  That is the best place to start. We cannot change the whole world at once, but it must be changed by us, individually, one little corner of the world at a time. We are always striving to work towards total transformation of our area to the light. However, we will always find opposition from evil. If evil is thwarting our efforts then we all must put in 110% to stop evil and combat it across the world wherever it is. We must never, never, never, ever give up on this fight.  

 

We must fight evil wherever and whenever we run across it. Evil anywhere is Evil everywhere[2].  We must not let the little and big evils in this life get us down or defeat us. We must rely on the guiding power of the Holy Ghost and God’s unlimited grace to save the day. His Grace can help you out of any horrific situation; only if you ask for and accept His help, which is a universal theme in our sermons here, because it is a truth and one that Jesus preached, that is that we have to accept Him into our hearts, if we are to become truly Christians. 

 

Peter tells us our actions need to be consistent with the principles of Scripture and of Jesus’ message. In short, we need to be good citizens, be good neighbors, take particular care of our Christian family.  In short, do what Christ would do, as far as it is in us. We need to cling to the good and reject the evil thoughts and actions of our old sinful selves.  Let us do our best to think, in hard and trying times, what would Jesus do in our situation, and then act in a manner most like Him. There may be some people that are more trying to deal with than others, but it is clear that we must try and treat all as Jesus would in our place to the best of our abilities. In order to make the world a better place, we first have to start with our selves then work outward, applying the principles of Christ to our lives. God does not ask us to be perfect; He does ask us individually to do our best to try to be perfect, to follow Jesus’ lead to the extent we have it in us.  Each of us is different, some are in truth less bad than others.  God holds us each to the same standard, that is to do our best. 

 

We are not competing against each other. Christianity is not about competing against each other. It is about helping one another to reach the finish line to the best of our ability. All of us in the Church are on the same team. We are just called to do the best individually for our Team and to stay on that narrow uphill path towards heaven. We are also called to encourage and support each other on that trek on the uphill path towards heaven.

 

In the Gospel according to Saint John, Jesus tells of His impending bodily death and resurrection.    He reminds us if we have eternal life, sorrow, even the sorrow of death is transient, for He has conquered death. It is a very minor thing in the long term view the sorrow of a temporary parting of a loved one. For that is all that is, if we put our trust and hope in God and do our very best to follow Him.  We have to keep this in mind throughout our travel along the straight and narrow upward path. His One Sacrifice, made One Time, for All Mankind, for All Time is that joy that no man can take from us.  But, if we want to share in that eternal life, we need to see the error of our ways in the Light of His Light and take actions to follow Him.

 

Often it seems much easier to take the path of least resistance, to quit our work at the first sign of effort, to goof off when “no one” is looking.  But in the end, the right thing to do is always the easiest, the most profitable.  The one that will result in happiness.  It might seem hard, but it will not be as hard as doing the “easy” thing.

 

The time is now, not tomorrow.  The time has come, indeed.  How will you ACT?

 

It is by our actions we are known.

 

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

 

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.

 

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

---

[1] General Confession – BCP Page 6

[2] Lord of the Rings

Second Sunday after Easter - Propers with explanation – Bishop Hap’s Sermon – With Video

 

Bishop Hap’s sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE ->https://youtu.be/jXfttChJRUo

 

Bishop Hap’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we continue to celebrate Jesus’ delivery of the promise of life eternal with Him in our life to come.  This Day of the Resurrection is when the promise of eternal life was delivered. Remember, your eternal life does not start when your body dies, but when you accept it with your soul.  So, act in a manner consistent with the fact you will live forever and be responsible for your actions forever. Action, not diction is what counts. It all comes together.

The Propers for today are found on Page 171-172, with the Collect first:

 

The Second Sunday after Easter.

The Collect.

 

A

LMIGHTY God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

This morning’s Epistle came from the First General Epistle of St. Peter, beginning at the Nineteenth Verse of the Second Chapter. The Epistle reminds us that Christ, who was completely without sin or guile, not only died for our sins, but suffered humiliation and torture without complaint for us.  Thus, if we, because we believe in God and our Lord Jesus, are subjected to unfavorable comment, criticism or even persecution, we should bear this gladly, as our Lord gave us his example.  If we want to benefit from the Lord’s sacrifice, then we need to try to follow in his footsteps.  We need to look to His example to live our lives.

 

We are as sheep going astray who have been returned to the flock by our Lord, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.

 

We were asked the question, who is this man Jesus?  We answered, he is the Son of God; are we following him?  In this Epistle again, we are admonished to follow our Lord.

 

T

HIS is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

 

Today’s Gospel came from the Tenth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. John beginning at the Eleventh Verse. Using the words that give this Sunday its name, Jesus said: I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.  He goes on to say He is not a hireling who cares not for the flock, but rather the shepherd himself.  He understands his job and puts it first, before his desires.  Jesus knows each of His sheep and they know Him, even as He knows His Father and His Father knows Him.  Because we are His sheep, He willingly laid down His life that we might live.  Jesus also points out He is not here to shepherd only the Jews, but all men, And there are other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd.

 

J

ESUS said, I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and know my sheep, and am known of mine, even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd.

Hap Arnold

Bishop Coadjutor

Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide

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

Good morning! I hope you are all doing well. I know you were looking for a sermon from Bishop Jack, but he is on travel so you get one from me.  We are in the Easter Season which consists of Easter and the following four Sundays, through Rogation Sunday.  This is a time we should work on centering our lives on the central figure in our religion, Jesus Christ.  

 

In today’s sermon we will be looking at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we continue to celebrate Jesus’ delivery of the promise of life eternal with Him in our life to come.  This Day of the Resurrection is when the promise of eternal life was delivered. Remember, your eternal life does not start when your body dies, but when you accept it with your soul.  So, act in a manner consistent with the fact you will live forever and be responsible for your actions forever.

 

Let’s start by reading the Collect for today:

 

The Second Sunday after Easter.

The Collect.

 

A

LMIGHTY God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

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

 

To understand the importance of Jesus’ sacrifice, it is critical to understand He is the only begotten Son (John 3:16) of God.  He is also referred to in places as The Word, the means by which God has given His instructions to the world.  But, more than that, 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.   (John 1:1-3)  Though the corrupted versions of the Bible (NIV, NKJV, RSV, etc) have attempted to erase His Divine Status and the role He plays in our salvation, that does not change the reality of Who He is. He is in simplest terms, the great I AM.  He was the one who brought light into this World. He has been there since before the beginning of time, before the beginning of what we know as our Universe. He created this world, it is by rights His. It is not the true possession of the Prince of this World, otherwise known as Satan. When Satan tempted Christ in the wilderness, he offered Christ something that was not his to give away. This shows how he truly does not understand God or Christ. Christ is the one who created this world and truly is the rightful owner of it and not Satan.  God values us so highly that He sent His only begotten son that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  

 

If we recognize anything close to the magnitude of the sacrifice made on our behalf by our Lord and Savior, we will do our best to put away all hate and evil thinking that we might more successfully follow His instruction and example.  Carefully study Scripture, no matter how many times you read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them you will not find one instance of Jesus being mean or nasty, taking revenge or even being condescending.   We must do whatsoever lieth within us to do ye likewise. If we do not, we are doomed.  We will try and fail.  But, remember, you cannot be beaten if you do not give up.

 

This brings us to Peter’s point in the Epistle, Christ serves as a perfect example for the conduct of our lives. Not only was He sent to sacrifice His Life for us that we might have eternal freedom, He was sent to provide a perfect example of us, to how we should live our lives. There again the Epistle and the Collect tie together amazingly well. Very fittingly, His Ministry acts as the pattern we should look to emulate in our trials and tribulations here on Earth. His Ministry was based upon action. It then follows that we should we in our earthly attempt to follow Him center our words on action.  We need to not just speak nice words but back them up with nice actions as well. As our friend KT pointed out recently, our actions show who we truly are and what we truly believe.  This also connects with the Bible verse from Matthew (6:21) that says “For where your treasure is, your heart will be also.” If we treasure and believe upon Him, our actions will show that we do indeed believe and value Him highly.

 

If we do wrong actions and suffer for it, there is little honor; for we were wrong.  But, if we do right actions, that is follow God’s Will, and suffer for it, there is in fact glory, laud and honor there.  Jesus went to His death on the Cross that we might be accounted as perfect at our final accounting rather than being held accountable for our failures.  He who is, was and always will be perfect suffered great pain that we might live life eternal.  If He did that for us, should we not follow that example and follow His Direction, counting the cost only after the work is done? We can be assured that no matter how bad our sufferings and tribulations here are on Earth, Jesus had it far worse. Not only did He die a painful death, but then He had to descend into Hell and fight the Devil. I think we have it better than He did as far as suffering goes. Just something to think about next time we think our sufferings are so awful. 

 

We are, after all, much like sheep, following the lead of those around us, somewhat like lemmings, it seems.  We have great need of a shepherd to lead us back from the edge of The Pit and to life, back to those verdant pastures and still waters. This Shepherd never will fail to lead us back to the pastures, we just have to pick up the guidance from the Holy Ghost and follow the path He has set for us. 

 

In order to follow His Directions to the path He has set for us, we have to let go of our pride, vanity and arrogance and accept His Guidance and teachings of humbleness and humility into our hearts. We have to realize we cannot do this on our own; we cannot save ourselves and we need God’s influence in our lives.   We have to allow the Holy Ghost to enter into our hearts and once He is in accept His Direction and Guidance and then act upon that guidance. It is not good enough just to say we believe, we must actually believe. Actually, believing means if we truly believe on Him, we have no choice but act in a manner consistent with Scripture.  

 

Acting is the key word here, not just talking about it, but acting. It isn’t good enough just to read Scriptures and go on our merry way and act like we did before we read them. We have to apply the key principles of Scripture in our lives and shine the light of Christ to those around us.

 

The Gospel notes the difference of ownership.  Our true owner will, and I might add, has, given His Life so we might be protected from the ravening wolves of this world, the Prince of this World.  We are cautioned to 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:(1 Peter 5:8) But, sobriety only gets you so far; sheep do poorly against wolves and lions. We alone cannot defend ourselves against this great spiritual threat. We need one who is experienced in protecting our souls against the spiritual wolves and lions of this world. Jesus is that experienced protector we need.  Make no mistake, we need the help of that Good Shepherd.  That Good Shepherd calls to each of us, we need the Holy Ghost in our hearts to hear the call.  Regardless of what you have been told by those of this world, there is only One God, One Lord, One Savior.  Thus, there is only One Flock; there are many ways to follow Scripture, but they must all have the same general plan.  That is the reason for the creeds, the reason we tell all to compare what is preached against what is in Scripture.  We need to daily work towards doing a better job of following God’s Will.

 

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

 

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

 

Heaven is at the end of an uphill trail.  The easy downhill trail does not lead to the summit.  But, it takes Action, not Diction, to get there.  The way is hard, it is just not as hard as that easy downhill trail to The Pit everthing considered.

 

Hard as it may seem at the time, there is much joy and satisfaction to be found in proper action.

 

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

First Sunday after Easter - Propers with explanation – Bishop Jack’s Sermon – With Video

Bishop Jack’s sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE: 

>https://youtu.be/JBGgwt86B1U

 

Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we continue to celebrate Jesus’ delivery of the promise of life eternal with Him in our life to come.  In the Collect, we acknowledge by the sacrifice made on Good Friday by the One and Only Perfect Man, a single sacrifice, made one time, for all mankind, for all time by our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ of God, we have eternal life.  Malice and wickedness are pervasive; like leavening, that is yeast, mixed into bread dough, they permeate our being, worming their way into the most remote corners of our souls, hearts and minds.  The only way for us to survive is to seek and destroy that leavening as much as possible then rely completely on that one time for all time sacrifice made on our behalf by the Christ of God. Action, not diction is what counts. It all comes together.

The Propers for today are found on Page 170-171, with the Collect first:

 

The First Sunday after Easter.

The Collect.

 

A

LMIGHTY Father, who hast given thine only Son to die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification; Grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve thee in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Today’s Epistle came from the First General Epistle of Saint John, the Fifth Chapter beginning at the Fourth Verse: 

 

W

HATSOEVER is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.  And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 

 

The Holy Gospel for this Sunday comes from the Twentieth Chapter of the Gospel of Saint John beginning at the Nineteenth verse: 

 

T

HE same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.

Jack Arnold

Bishop of the Diocese of the West – AOC USA

Education and Training

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide

Bp Jack brings 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 can be viewed on video HERE ->https://youtu.be/JBGgwt86B1U

Good morning! I hope you are all doing well. In today’s sermon we will be looking at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we continue to celebrate Jesus’ delivery of the promise of life eternal with Him in our life to come.  This Day of the Resurrection is when the promise of eternal life is delivered. 

 

Let’s start by reading the Collect for today:

The First Sunday after Easter.

The Collect.

 

A

LMIGHTY Father, who hast given thine only Son to die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification; Grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve thee in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

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

 

In the Collect, we acknowledge by the sacrifice made on Good Friday by the One and Only Perfect Man, a single sacrifice, made one time, for all mankind, for all time by our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ of God, we have eternal life.  Malice and wickedness are pervasive; like leavening, that is yeast, mixed into bread dough, they permeate our being, worming their way into the most remote corners of our souls, hearts and minds. Tiny, wanting only to be fed so they can grow and distort our being.  They are much like the weeds in our backyard that I rooted out yesterday. Weeds like malice and wickedness are extremely pervasive and if left unchecked can cause great harm to people’s gardens and pets etc. Malice and wickedness will choke the garden that is our souls and make us into heartless and cruel people. Thus in order to serve God, we need His Help, in the form of the Holy Ghost, to root out all malice and wickedness so we might serve Him with pure souls, hearts and minds.  He will help us root out that malice and wickedness that has wormed their way into our souls, hearts and minds. Without that help, we are destined to fail.  On the other hand, with God’s help all things are possible.

 

In his general Epistle, Saint John continues that thought that without God’s help, that is being re-born in Him, as Saint Paul says becoming or putting on the New Man, we are destined to failure.   He points out that if we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, we will have overcome the world. It stands to reason then if one does not believe Jesus is the Son of God, then they cannot overcome the world. Only with the help of Jesus and the Holy Ghost can we overcome the world. He also says that those who do not believe on Him are lying to themselves. And lying to ourselves is never a good idea. John says that if we are to choose to believe either the witness of men or the witness of God, to believe that of God. God is infallible, versus men who are very much fallible. We can always trust God to be true in whatever He tells us. That is not the case with men who we cannot trust to say what is right all the time. That is why we need the help of the Holy Ghost to discern what the truth is and what the truth is not, when men speak.

 

Saint John makes it clear the entity we refer to as God is a Triune Being, that is Three in One; Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  What he does not make clear is the relationship between the Three.  He does not make this clear as we do not really need to know the relationship between the three. All we need to know is that God is comprised of three separate entities who are of one substance and form a single entity. Besides God and Jesus, the Holy Ghost is an important member of this entity. He is here to help give us God’s guidance and direction and understanding God’s will for us. 

 

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

 

·      Comfort

·      Understanding

·      Patience

·      Insight

·      Perseverance

·      Courage

·      Sympathy

 

He is our key to finding Jesus in our souls, hearts and minds.  Without His Guidance, Scripture seems a poorly written fairy tale, with His Guidance we find Truth, the Truth that is our Lord and Savior.  

 

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

 

·      He came into a closed room in bodily form;

·      Then gave them His Peace;

·      He breathed the Holy Ghost upon them.

 

The entry into the closed room is of interest.  When we leave the Shadowlands, we will gain an optimized body with shape and form, but as Jesus demonstrated things are different in the Real World.  Different can be better or worse.  In this case, He demonstrates the better.  We will no longer be halt, blind and maimed, we will live as God has meant for us.  Quite a nice feeling.

 

Jesus gave them His Peace.  Not peace like world understands it, but God’s Peace.  This is a totally different concept.  A perfect and stabilizing peace, not what the World considers as Peace.  Jesus’s Peace is what will really help us. Jesus brings us, like those disciples, the peace of mind and soul which comes with giving all our worry, sadness and terror to Him.  It is the knowledge that the enemy can only hurt our physical body, they cannot hurt or destroy our souls. We are safe in God’s grasp. We would do well to remember that whenever things get difficult. When things get hard in this life, we must return to Him and allow Him to offer us His Peace that we might do what is right even when it seems difficult. His Peace will give us that confidence we need to carry out actions for Him.

 

He leaves in His wake not confusion, but order and wellbeing.  This is totally opposite of the world that follows the devil’s modus operandi of chaos and confusion. With Him in our hearts we cannot fail at anything that needs be done.  His Peace.  This Peace is what we are looking for and have been looking for since we came into this world, for it is our passport out.

 

The Holy Ghost is the breath of life, not just physical, whereas to die is to give up the Ghost, which really means to have our soul leave our body for heaven.   He is our spiritual life, for without Him in our souls, hearts and minds we cannot see the narrow road to the summit.  Without Him we see only the broad even way which gently curves downward and gets smoother and smoother as it nears the Pit.   The Holy Ghost is the key to knowing our Lord! He is our perfect vision in place of our defective natural vision, that will help us see the way.

 

Without the Holy Ghost, we are lost.  With Him we find and join Jesus and are found.  Then we can act accordingly and enjoy our time here on earth to the extent it is to be enjoyed.  

 

Note the parting line of this Scripture: … He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.  Jesus gave this power to those present, He did not establish an intermediary priesthood.  The Triune God is the only one who has the power to remit us of our sins.  And, He does when we ask and act in accordance with the request.

 

There is much joy and satisfaction to be found in proper action.

 

When the time comes, how will you ACT?

 

It is by our actions we are known.

 

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God