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| James Parker Dees First Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Orthodox Church |
Today we celebrated the Twenty-Second
Sunday after Trinity; it is also the Fifty-First Birthday of the Anglican
Orthodox Church. While our numbers
are small in the United States, we have churches in 26 separate countries
around the world acting as a guiding hand, safe handhold and refuge in an ever
down spiraling world from a small Worldwide Headquarters in Statesville, North
Carolina. The stability of the AOC
is due to the vision of James Parker Dees, the founding clergyman of the AOC. His vision continues under the command
of Jerry Ogles, the current Presiding Bishop who just came back from a trip to
the former Yugoslavia where he established an Anglican Orthodox Church of
Macedonia, as well as an Anglican Orthodox Church of Serbia complete with
ministers, deacons and congregations. See the article on Founders Day later in this report.
239th
Birthday of the
United
States Marine Corps
No
better friend, no worse enemy
On 10 November 1775, Captain Samuel Nicholas formed two
battalions of Continental Marines at Tun’s Tavern in Philadelphia as naval
infantry in accordance with a resolution of the Continental Congress. They were to "be able to serve to
advantage by sea when required" and "that they be distinguished by
the names of the first & second battalions of American Marines."
No better friend: someone who will kill to protect you;
someone who will give their life for you; someone who will be right there in
your times of trouble and, thinking of you and your problems, will sacrifice so
that you might get through your problem.
No worst enemy: someone who will not hesitate to destroy
you even if that means destroying himself in the process; someone who will
chase you down to the ends of the earth to extract revenge; someone who will
cause you blood and tears and smile when it happens.
With a Marine as your friend, you have a person who will
kill to protect you. With a Marine as your enemy, you have a person who will
kill you. Pretty simple, huh?
The concept comes from the epitaph of Lucius Cornelius
Sulla, famous general and legendary dictator of ancient Rome:
"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever
wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
Happy
239th Birthday, USMC!
Veterans Day – Guest Editorial
Tuesday
11 November 2014, was, is Veterans Day.
The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month. Is not the first Monday in anything, it
is not an occasion to sleep in or barbeque. It was originally Armistice Day, the day the Great War
(World War I) ended. The armistice
was signed on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month
ending the War to End all Wars which took the lives of about 20 million
people. We remembered that day
until World War II, a war which took the lives of about 70 million people, not
including the 25 million killed by the Soviets internally. In total, almost 100 million people
lost their lives during the period of this war.
Our
country has chosen this day, Armistice Day, to honor those who have served our
country. This is not the same as
Memorial Day, the last weekend in May, during which we honor those who have
given their lives for our country.
On
this day, we honor those who have and do serve our country: men and women who
have stepped forward when their country called; some even before the call. We honor those who have put their
country before themselves and families.
Sometimes
we forget the sacrifices made by the families. It is one thing to be in combat, forward deployed or on TDY
at Christmas. It is another to have
your son, daughter, husband or wife gone.
We
can both tell you from personal experience that it is a lot easier to go to war
than to send someone to war.
It
is easy to think the country is going to hell, in or out of the proverbial hand
basket and it may well be. Yet, so
far we have young people who step forward and fill the breech in the line. How long we know not, but still they
come forward. While they come we
are safe. When they stop, we fall.
Rev LTC Hap and Captain Dru Arnold, USAF Retired
Founders Day
16
November 1963- 2014
James Parker Dees, a Bishop of Vision and Courage – (1915-1990) Few would have suspected a member of the New York Opera
Company would become a bishop who would wage war against a corrupt and arrogant
branch of the Church of England[1]
– the Episcopal Church. But Bishop James Parker Dees was just such a fellow.
Bishop Dees was ordained in 1949 following his graduation from Virginia
Theological Seminary. After serving charges in Beaufort and Statesville (to
include serving as rector of an all-black church in Statesville), Rev Dees became
disillusioned with the unbiblical teachings of the Episcopal Church. He
strongly objected to the teaching of men such as Bishop Pike who was in obvious
disregard of the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion and the Holy Bible itself.
Realizing Pike’s actions were egregious enough to warrant his being brought up
on charges before the Church Court, he filed charges under the Church Canons.
Though the charges were unquestionably factual, the Church took no measures
against Pike. Other issues involving infidelity to Holy Writ, a lowered view of
the marriage covenant and intensifying liberal tendencies drove Dees to
separate from ECUSA in 1963 and form the Anglican Orthodox Church.
Clergy who assured Dees of their support and loyalty
deserted him. He was consecrated a bishop by Bishop Wasyl
Sawyna of the Holy Ukrainian Autocephalic Orthodox Church of North
and South America, assisted by Bishop
Orlando Jacques Woodward of Old Catholic succession, on 15 March 1964.
Clergymen from the local Episcopal churches demonstrated,
day and night, on the sidewalk in front of his home with placards and
loudspeakers. Dees, never wavered in his conviction and determination to
preserve the faith of the Reformation. He insisted on strict conformity to the
Received Text versions of the Holy Bible, the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion
and traditional Book of Common Prayer as the arbiter of all truth and doctrine.
Expending much of his personal and family savings to sustain the church, Bishop
Dees was successful in maintaining a Remnant of the true Gospel among the
purveyors of heresy and apostasy. The church grew, under his wise oversight, to
include more than twenty foreign national churches. Dees founded the Orthodox
Anglican Church to act as an ecclesiastical umbrella for these foreign
churches, but still remaining an organ the Anglican Orthodox Church. He never
slumbered nor rested in his zeal to serve God and to build His Church.
Bishop Dees underwent non-life-threatening surgery in
December of 1990, but died a few days later as a result of complications of
pneumonia. He died on Christmas Day, five days short of his seventy fifth birthday.
Like the Reformers of old, Bishop Dees discovered the
modern church had become corrupt and heretical. It needed reforming, and Bishop
James Parker Dees was that Reformer of our Modern times. We shall ever be
thankful to God for such men!
Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity
On
Point
Someone asked, where do the quotes come
from? The answer is from the
people who uttered them. But, how
did you find them? Oh, that. Some from Bishop Jerry, many from Rev
Bryan Dabney, a few from other places, some from Rev Geordie Menzies-Grierson,
but overall mostly from Bryan. He
always has some great ones to share.
On to the On Point quotes –
Do not
blame Caesar (or fill in a substitute name), blame the people of Rome (USA) who
have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of
freedom and danced in his path and given him triumphal processions. Blame the
people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the “new wonderful good
society” which shall now be Rome’s, interpreted to mean "more money, more
ease, more security, and more living fatly at the expense of the
industrious".
Marcus Tullius Cicero
It would
tire the hands of an angel to write down all the pardons God bestows upon true
penitent believers.
William Bates
Do you
think that you deserve forgiveness? If you do, you are not a Christian.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
There is in
the nature of sovereign power an impatience of control that disposes those who
are invested with the exercise of it, to look with an evil eye upon all external
attempts to restrain or direct its operations.[2]
Alexander Hamilton
Federalist
No. 15, 1787
Blessed is
the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; that
thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged
for the wicked.
Psalm 94:12-13
The words
of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up
himself.
Ecclesiastes 10:12
Blessed are
the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
St. Matthew 5:9
Blessed are
those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching...
St. Luke 12:37
... A man
is “without Christ: when the Holy Spirit’s work cannot be seen in his life. Who
can avoid seeing... that myriads of professing Christians know nothing of
inward conversion of heart? They will tell you that they believe the Christian
religion; they go to their places of worship with tolerable regularity; they
think it a proper thing to be married and buried with all the ceremonies of the
church; they would be much offended if their Christianity were doubted. But
where is the Holy Ghost to be seen in their lives? What are their hearts and
affections set upon? Whose is the image and superscription that stands out in
their tastes, and habits, and ways? Alas there can only be one reply! They know
nothing experimentally of the renewing, sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost.
They are yet dead to God. And of all such, only one account can be given. They
are “without Christ.”
JC Ryle
19th
century Anglican bishop and author
(Holiness,
pp. 319-320)
They are
foolish who give their enemy the means of destroying them.
Aesop
6th
century BC Greek philosopher and author
(The
Trees and the Ax)
Goodness
It has sometimes been asked
whether God commands certain things because they are right, or whether certain
things are right because God commands them. . . . I emphatically embrace the
first alternative. The second might lead to the abominable conclusion . . .
that charity is good only because God arbitrarily commanded it—that He might equally
well have commanded us to hate Him and one another and that hatred would then
have been right. I believe, on the contrary, that “they err who think that of
the will of God to do this or that there is no reason besides His will.” God’s
will is determined by His wisdom which always perceives, and His goodness which
always embraces, the intrinsically good. But when we have said that God
commands things only because they are good, we must add that one of the things
intrinsically good is that rational creatures should freely surrender
themselves to their Creator in obedience. The content of our obedience—the
thing we are commanded to do—will always be something intrinsically good,
something we ought to do even if (by an impossible supposition) God had not commanded
it. But in addition to the content, the mere obeying is also intrinsically
good, for, in obeying, a rational creature consciously enacts its creaturely
role, reverses the act by which we fell, treads Adam’s dance backward, and
returns.
Jack Lewis
Problem of Pain
Reward
If you run now, without a
moment’s rest, you will still be in time to warn King Lune.”
Shasta’s heart fainted at these
words for he felt he had no strength left. And he writhed inside at what seemed
the cruelty and unfairness of the demand. He had not yet learned that if you do
one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and
better one. But all he said out loud was:
“Where is the King?”
Jack Lewis
The Horse and His
Boy
Prudence
…practical common sense, taking
the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it.
Nowadays most people hardly think of Prudence as one of the ‘virtues’. In fact,
because Christ said we could only get into His world by being like children,
many Christians have the idea that, provided you are ‘good’, it does not matter
being a fool. But that is a misunderstanding. In the first place, most children
show plenty of ‘prudence’ about doing the things they are really interested in,
and think them out quite sensibly. In the second place, as St Paul points out,
Christ never meant that we were to remain children in intelligence: on the
contrary. He told us to be not only ‘as harmless as doves’, but also ‘as wise
as serpents’. He wants a child’s heart, but a grown-up’s head. He wants us to
be simple, single-minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are;
but He also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and
in first-class fighting trim. The fact that you are giving money to a charity
does not mean that you need not try to find out whether that charity is a fraud
or not. The fact that what you are thinking about is God Himself (for example,
when you are praying) does not mean that you can be content with the same
babyish ideas which you had when you were a five-year-old. It is, of course,
quite true that God will not love you any the less, or have less use for you,
if you happen to have been born with a very second-rate brain. He has room for
people with very little sense, but He wants every one to use what sense they
have.
Jack Lewis
Mere Christianity
Propers
The propers for the Twenty-Second
Sunday after Trinity can be found on Page 220-222:
The
Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity
The
Collect.
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ORD we beseech thee to keep thy household the Church in
continual godliness; that through thy protection it may be free from all
adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of
thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle for today came from Saint Paul’s letter
to the Philippians beginning at the Third Verse of the First Chapter. Writing to the church in Philippia, Paul
sends his greetings letting them know he has been praying for them
constantly. He tells them that the
good work God has begun in them will surely continue until Christ returns to
them. Paul tells them he prays
that they will find more and more joy in following the will of God. Continually reminding people of the joy
of being born a new person, Paul prays that their “love may abound yet more and
more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are
excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto
the glory and praise of God.”
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thank my
God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all
making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day
until now; being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: even as it is meet
for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as
both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are
partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all
in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love may
abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve
things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the
day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by
Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
The Holy Gospel came from the Twenty-Eighth Chapter
of the Gospel according to St. Matthew beginning at the Twenty-First
Verse. On the subject of
confession, repentance and forgiveness, knowing the rabbis had ordained
forgiving one’s transgressors three times Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how oft
shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus
saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy
times seven.” Knowing Jesus as he
did, Peter no doubt expected Jesus to say more times than three, but 490 may
have been somewhat more than he expected.
In one of the more important stories in the Bible concerning God’s
forgiveness of us and our obligation to forgive others, Jesus went on to liken
the kingdom of heaven to a king, who was balancing his accounts. He found a servant who owed him, in today’s
terms, a million dollars. The man
had no money, but promised to pay and begged for mercy rather than have himself
and his family sold into slavery as the law allowed to repay the debt. The king forgave him the debt and set
him free. Upon release, the man
being reminded of his debts, began to attempt to collect from those who owed
him. The first debtor he came
across owed him $10.00 and had it not.
The one who had been forgiven cast the $10.00 debtor into prison. The king found out and bye, bye.
The quote is - Do unto others as you would have them
do unto you. Not – Do unto others
before they do unto you.
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eter said unto Jesus, Lord, how oft shall my brother
sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I
say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore
is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account
of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him,
which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his
lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had,
and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him,
saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of
that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the
debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants,
which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat,
saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet,
and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And
he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came
and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had
called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt,
because thou desiredst me: shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy
fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and
delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts
forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Bishop Ogles’
Sermon
We are oft fortunate to get
copies of Bishop Jerry’s sermon notes.
Today is one of those Sundays.
Today’s sermon starts off with the collect, and like always, it will
give you a lot to consider in your heart.
Sermon Notes
Twenty-Second
Sunday after Trinity
16 November
2014, Anno Domini
The
Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity
The
Collect.
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ORD we beseech thee to keep thy household the Church in
continual godliness; that through thy protection it may be free from all
adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of
thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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hen came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against
me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith
unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times:
but, Until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a
certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought
unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord
commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and
payment to be made. 26 The
servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience
with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with
compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his
fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and
took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and
besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into
prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they
were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said
unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou
desiredst me: 33 Shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on
thee? 34 And his lord
was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was
due unto him. 35 So
likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts
forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
(Matt 18:21-35)
Peace of mind is one of the fruits of forgiveness. Even when we are
sure in our minds that we have been irreparably wronged, there is a sore spot
in our hearts that says, FORGIVE.
The wrong done you will not result in the loss of an arm, or of one’s life. Go
to that person who has wronged you. He is hurting more than you are. Frankly
forgive him in the same way Christ forgives you. But how does God forgives us
our sins.
A tree grows and produces fruit because of the outward benefit the
leaves provide through the process of photosynthesis to the inward tree, just
as the inner tree gives grow the to the leaves. If we take away the leaves, the
inner tree will die. Forgiveness is the leaves of the tree of our hearts.
Peter seems
to be the spokesmen of choice for the disciples. He is fearless in being open
and frank. One of the others most likely planted the question in Peter’s mind –
most likely Judas – the least forgiving of all. So Peter frames the question in
a manner consistent with the Law of Moses. He feels that seven times is a large
number, but Christ gives him an answer that is intended to indicate that, like
love, there should be no bottom to our forgiveness.
There are
three stages of forgiveness consistent with the manner in which God forgives:
1 When a
brother, not one of the world, offends me, I should forgive that person in the
silent chambers of my heart , but not yet openly. And be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you. (Eph 4:32) The
bitterness of unforgiving spirit is then taken from our own hearts.
2
I do not
inform him of my forgiveness for him since that would not be consistent with
the manner in which God forgives. I must go to him, in love, and rebuke
him for his offense. Take heed to yourselves: If
thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
(Luke
17:3)
3
Immediately
upon the friend’s apology, you must inform him that he is forgiven. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and
seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive
him. (Luke 17:4)
22 But I
say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause
shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother,
Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool,
shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if thou bring thy
gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against
thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way;
first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. (Matt 5:22-24)
There are reasons for righteous anger and
indignation. It spurs us to action to remedy a wicked circumstance such as
rape, murder, molesting little children, etc.
We now have the parable of the Kingdom involving a King. That King is
God the Father.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him,
which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him
to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be
made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him,
saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion,
and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
In the days of this accounting, the amount of ten thousand talents was
an enormous amount – more than $20,000,000. The King in this story
represents God. The debtor – you and me. Without the remission of
our debts (sins) we are sold off into slavery and bondage to Satan. In fact, we
sell ourselves out to that merciless master.
We may deem it a simple thing for a great King to forgive even an
enormous debt, and feel that we are justified in demanding the last cent owed
us by a poor man; but though God is a great King, He has a great Heart and is
willing to forgive. It was no simple thing for Him to forgive our sins and
remit them. It cost Him the life-blood of His only Begotten Son!
A minister was discussing forgiveness with some school boys one day. One
of the boys was incensed that his friend had struck him on the playground. The
minister asked, “Jimmy, do you think, in view of the Scripture passage we just
read on forgiveness, that you could find it in your heart to forgive another
boy who hurt you, or struck you, on the playground?” Jimmy responded,
“Y-e-e-s-s, Sir, I suppose I could,” and then added, “I could if he was bigger
than me!” Well God is bigger than all of us. But He desires that we love others
as a measure of our love for Him.
The debtor in the parable pleads for patience. Apparently, the King has
long exercised patience with this man, and there is no more time for it. God’s
Spirit will not always strive with man. And the Lord said, My spirit
shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh (Gen 6:3)
God cannot renew an unwilling spirit to reconcile that spirit to His own Spirit
of Righteousness. Those whose hearts are not full of love and forgiveness do
not belong to God.
28 But the same
servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an
hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying,
Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his
fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with
me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not:
but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So
when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and
told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord,
after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave
thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on
thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to
the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
See how this unworthy servant has received such a mighty forgiveness,
and at enormous cost (as you and me through the blood of Christ) – yet cannot
forgive even a small debt (100 pence or three months average wage at the time)
of a fellow servant of less means. He will sell him into bondage! This is not
God-like. This is not Christ-like! This is very much like the devil that
deceived Eve.
You may have had a dear friend spite you in a small matter, but the
resentment has built in your heart – it has grown beyond the proportions of a
normal Mustard Tree and taken over your whole heart. You are weary day by day
and avoid even looking into your dear friends eyes. He is hurt by your
behavior, but who suffers more: the offender, or the victim. Seeds of wrath in
the heart bare trees of hatred and misery.
We have all fallen so very short of the righteousness of God that it is
completely beyond our sight, but Christ gives us the means to assume that
righteousness of His own. He forgives our sins, washes us clean, and is ever
ready to renew our hearts when we repent of every offense. He suffered
intensely for you and me. Can we not overlook the smallest infraction by a
friend?
The criminal has no rest of conscience in constantly contemplating his
being discovered. Many would find greater joy in confessing their faults and
paying debt than in whiling away in constant fear. The sinner suffers no such
dilemma. The King stands at the ready to forgive promptly and completely every
sin confessed, and those unthought of sins unconfessed. We need only remove the
shroud of false pride and bitterness, empty our hearts of hate, and come to Him
seeking forgiveness in repentance. There is no cost to the sinner for such a
benefit for the cost has already been paid by the King’s Son.
If you have resentment and hate in your heart growing from unforgiven
offences, open you heart to the Dipper of Love in God’s Hand and forgive all.
Then you may have rest to your souls. Amen.
Sermon - Rev Jack Arnold
Church of the Faithful Centurion -
Descanso, California
Today’s sermon tied the Collect, Epistle and
Gospel together and talked, as is oft the case, of the need for action, not
simply diction and are all tied together.
Consider these words from the Collect:
… keep thy household the Church
in continual godliness; that through thy protection it may be free from all
adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of
thy Name …
In the Collect we ask the Lord to
keep His household (that would be us) in continual godliness (that is to keep
Him as our leader and follow Him), so that with His Help we can have as smooth
a path as practical and serve Him in happiness.
Saint Paul follows this same
thought in his Epistle when he thanks the Philippians for their fellowship and
talks about how they in the bond through Christ have strengthened his faith as
a result which enabled him to continue doing his good works for the Lord. In
this same way our friends in the AOC, strengthen our faith as we tell others
about the good news of our Lord and the faith in which we all share. The more we love the Lord, the more it
will show through in our actions and our judgment. So let us keep loving the
Lord, so our actions and judgment will align His!
Which brings us to the point of the Gospel, in which Christ tells Peter about forgiveness and how we must be ever patient with our fellow humans, and if they are repentant grant them that forgiveness, no matter how many times they might err and vex us. It doesn’t matter if we want to or not, if they are repentant then we must forgive them, regardless of how we want to do otherwise. If they are truly sorry for their sins, then God will forgive them, so must we forgive. For if we hold the evil of non-forgiveness in our hearts, it is to our own detriment. We can only forgive those sins against us, for those that are against God, only God can forgive. When one sins against a fellow creature, they sin against God also. When we say we forgive them, we are not forgiving them ourselves only, but informing them God has forgiven them for their sins. Remember, we can forgive them for personal trespasses against us, but through God’s power, only He can grant absolution of our sins, not us. I do not remember Christ telling Peter humans have the power to forgive sins, like the Roman Catholics claim they have, but rather that God must forgive sins, but we can tell others that God has forgiven them. It is more of an announcement of God’s forgiveness, then the actual act. God has done the actual acting of forgiveness, but it falls upon us to tell people about it.
The parable illustrates what happens to those who are forgiven, but yet turn around and do not forgive their neighbor (in this case, a debtee) for their sins and have thus abused their forgiveness from Our Lord, and will find himself in a very poor spot in the life hereafter. Let us not be like that fellow, but let us forgive our neighbor, if he is truly sorry and willing to repent and start the friendship, and turning a new leaf so to speak.
If God has been so good to forgive us, why should we not inform others God has forgiven them of any sins against Him or us for that matter? It would be truly selfish not to do so and to go against what He has commanded us to do, in spreading the Word to all nations. The lessons today speak of the power of Our Lord in forgiveness and how we must remember our bond with our fellow Christians in Christ, especially in times of great sorrow or trouble and use that to strengthen us in our day to day lives. We must always remember there are others in our heavenly family who are struggling along with us, stuck together with the mighty ultimate, stronger than Gorilla Glue, glue of Jesus Christ and God the Father. With the help of the Holy Ghost and our bond with Christ, we shall not fail.
The Collect’s prayer the Collect, Epistle and Gospel tie together, laying out, detailing and reinforcing the same message, ultimately. We have to be willing to forgive others, tell them about God’s forgiveness, and not turn around and commit the grave error of not forgiving others as God has forgiven us for our sins. We have to act more like God everyday, though we are not perfect. If we try our utmost best, then that is all we can do.
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
Bishop
Dennis Campbell’s Sermon
Bishop Dennis is a brilliant
speaker. He is able to take
biblical precepts and make them perfectly understandable, even to me. Oft he provides the text of his sermons
and I take the utmost pleasure in passing them on:
God and Godliness
Psalm 32, Philippians 1:3-11, Matthew 18:21-35
Twenty -second Sunday after Trinity
November 16, 2014
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rant, O Lord, that by thy holy Word, read
and preached in this place, and by thy Holy Spirit grafting it inwardly in the
heart, the hearers thereof may both perceive and know what things they ought to
do, and may have power and strength to fulfill the same.
It has been
said truly the longest journey begins with the first step. Sometimes we look
at the spiritual journey to which God has called us, and, seeing it is long and
difficult and filled with dangers, we shrink back from it, afraid to make such
a commitment or to devote ourselves to such a seemingly impossible task.
In such times we need to remind ourselves that we cannot accomplish the entire
journey in one mighty leap. We must take it one step at a time. Put
one foot in front of the other, and keep on walking until we reach our Heavenly
home.
It is
also true that each step is a new beginning. It is a new chance to put
one foot in front of the other, or to stop, quit, or turn back. Everyone
knows we cannot reach our destination by quitting. Only those who
continue the journey will reach the goal.
This is
more true in spiritual things than in any other sphere of life. A writer
may never achieve the goal of writing a great masterpiece, yet still have some
measure of success. An architect may never achieve the goal of designing
a great cathedral, yet still plan useful buildings for homes and businesses and
churches. But in spiritual things there is no such thing as partial
success. We either continue in Christ to the end, or we do not. We
either follow our Lord to Heaven, or we allow the devil to take us to hell.
Thus we come to the point we are trying to draw from this morning's Scripture
readings; continue in Godliness.
Philippians
1 commends the Church at Philippi for their fellowship in the Gospel.
This fellowship is much deeper than simply believing the same doctrines and
enjoying one another's company. It is a common participation in a way of
life It is consciously and intentionally uniting together in
Christ. It is sharing life together as the people of God and body of
Christ. It is intentionally allowing their fellow Christians to become a
part of their lives, and intentionally becoming a part of the lives of other
Christians. It is also having a compassionate and active concern for one
another, similar to that which Christ has for them. One of the sad
misunderstandings of contemporary evangelicalism is its neglect of the communal
aspect of the faith. It has emphasised personal autonomy and personal
salvation and personal relationships with God so much that the Church has been
reduced to a voluntary association which we are free to take or leave according
to our own convenience or preferences in music or style. In such
thinking, the Biblical teaching of oneness in Christ is in danger of being
reduced to a mere metaphor, or a spiritualised reference to the invisible
Church.
According
to scripture, the visible Church is a connected Church, and the individual
Christian is a connected Christian. The Church does not consist of
autonomous Christians in independent churches associating with one another by
choice. It is one body, the Body of Christ in which individual
congregations and Christians are members of the organic whole.
Paul
urges the Philippians to "abound yet more and more... till the day of
Christ." He is telling them to continue in Godliness. They have
made good start, but a good start is nothing unless they continue in Godliness.
Matthew
18 shows an important aspect of continuing in Godliness. We are to
forgive as Christ has forgiven us. Forgiveness means to wipe the record
clean of offences, and to treat others as though they have committed no
offenses against you, and, as though there is nothing in their mannerisms that
is offensive to you. Matthew 18 also shows us how to deal with serious
offences and breeches of fellowship, and I urge everyone to read and practice
our Lord's teaching there.
I think
it is important to remember that Christ was talking about our relationships
within the Church. He was talking to Jews who were fellow members of the
people of God. This does not mean we don't have to forgive
unbelievers. But the Lord's concern here is the preservation of unity and
harmony within the Church. Nor does forgiveness mean we are to allow
ourselves to be assaulted with false doctrine and practice within the local
church or denomination. If such things exist in our fellowship, we must
make a serious, loving attempt to remedy them. If such attempts fail, we
have no choice but to remove ourselves from them.
The main
point here, today, is that we do not allow offences against us to prevent us
from continuing in Godliness. We forgive offenses, and continue to place
one foot in front of the other in the journey of faith.
There is
no doubt about the difficulty of this. We grow weary of fighting the same
battles and temptations over and over. We are saddened by the unGodliness
in our nation and world, and, of course, in ourselves. We grow tired of
the burdens we carry, and when we see another problem coming toward us, we are
tempted to move away like a horse that doesn't want to be ridden.
But it
is not only the burdens and trials of life that tempt us to give up on
God. It is more than even offenses committed against us by other
Christians. The weight of our own sins, and the consequences of them in
our daily lives deprives us of our joy in Christ, and tempts us to quit, rather
than continue in Godliness. Psalm 32 addresses this. Written by
David after his sin with Bathsheba, David recognises that he has brought most
of his problems upon himself. That is probably true of most of us.
We follow our own desires, either unconcerned about the will of God, or
convincing ourselves our sins will have no great effect on our lives and
relationships, and in doing so we pile hot coals upon our heads. A person
who habitually drives in a careless fashion will eventually lose the right to
drive, one way or another. A person who refuses to do his job will find
himself unemployed. A person who neglects the means of grace will, at
best, find that the passing years bring him no closer to God, and may even find
that his faith was a pretense all of those years, and now it is completely
dead. As St. Paul wrote in Galatians 6:7, "whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap."
I want
to quickly address two other points of this Psalm. First, now is the time to
devote yourself to continuing in Godliness. Now is the time to start
putting one foot in front of the other and keep on walking until you reach
Heaven. This is accomplished by recognising and turning away from sin,
and trusting in Christ. It is accomplished by diligence in prayer,
worship, Scripture, Church, and obedience in the everyday things of life.
These are the steps on the journey of faith. Doing these things is the
way we put one foot in front of the other and follow Jesus. I think we
are sometimes like Naaman in that we want God to ask us to go on some great
mission and undertake some great quest for Him. Instead He tells us to go
home and care for our families, mow the lawn, rake the leaves, cook the meals,
earn a living, go to Church, read the Bible, pray, and love one another.
These are the small steps of daily continuing in Godliness.
The
second point is, God will help you. In the first 8 verses of Psalm 32,
David is speaking to God. Here David repents of his sin and commits his
way unto God again. But in verse 9 God speaks to David. God says,
"I will inform thee, and teach thee in the way wherein thou shalt go; and
I will guide thee with mine eye." God is promising to help
David. He is promising to teach David what He needs to know about living
a life that is happy and fulfilling and avoids some the pits into which David
has recently fallen. He makes the same promise to you. Most of all,
He promises to show David how to continue to walk with God. Or, as I have
put it in this sermon, God is teaching David, and us, how to continue in
Godliness. And all the means of grace I talk about so often, are the
means by which God teaches and guides you in Godliness, now in this life.
They lead you into the gladness and joy expressed in Psalm 32:12. That's
a wonderful verse, but I think verse 11 is the great conclusion of the Psalm,
and an appropriate closing to the sermon; "whoso putteth his trust in the
Lord, mercy embraceth him on every side."
Father
of all mercies, keep us in continual Godliness, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
+Dennis
Campbell
Bishop,
Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector,
Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan,
Virginia
Roy Morales-Kuhn,
Bishop and Pastor - St. Paul's Anglican Church - Anglican Orthodox Church
Bishop Roy is pastor of the biggest AOC
parish West of the Mississippi and is in charge of the Diocese of the
Epiphany.
Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity
Foundation Day
16 November 2014
Let us pray:
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lmighty and ever living God, we
yield unto Thee most high praise and hearty thanks, for the wonderful grace and
virtue declared in our founding bishop, James Parker Dees of Thy Church in
America and throughout the world, who has given unto us Thy holy Word in a
language understood of the People, together with a rich heritage of civil and
religious freedom, and the blessings of Apostolic faith, order, fellowship and
worship, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
As an interesting point, the second Psalm reading for
this date in Morning Prayer includes the five part aspect that David brought
forth in the psalm. God is his judge, his strength, his guide, his joy and his
hope.
When we look at the latter days of our founding
bishop’s ministry, we see a similar concept coming into view. Bp J.P. Dees would in his life and
ministry show that he like David relied upon God for these five aspects of his
walk with God.
Bishop Dees did not care that his contemporaries and
erstwhile compatriots had abandoned him when he stepped out to follow God not
man. God was his judge. The good bishop relied upon God to be
his strength(when all others seemed to abandon him), his guide when no one of
his conviction seemed to come to his side and go with him. And we know most certainly, that
God was bishop Dees hope and joy.
Our first bishop turned to God in hope, he turned to
God in joy, for he knew that it did not come from those who mocked him, those
who scorned him, those who left him for fear of their own reputations.
For the rest of this study I am going to turn to that
classic Bible scholar, Matthew Henry and his commentary on Psalm 43.
Psalm 43
King James Version (KJV)
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udge me, O God, and
plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and
unjust man.
2 For thou art the God of my strength: why
dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the
enemy?
3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let
them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God
my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why
art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is
the health of my countenance, and my God.
David here makes application to God, by faith and
prayer, as his judge, his strength, his guide, his joy, his hope, with suitable
affections and expressions.
1. As
his Judge, his righteous Judge, who he knew would judge him, and who (being
conscious of his own integrity) he knew would judge for him (Ps. 43:1): Judge
me, O God! and plead my cause. There were those that impeached him; against
them he is defendant, and from their courts, where he stood unjustly convicted
and condemned, he appeals to the court of heaven, the supreme judicature,
praying to have their judgment given against him reversed and his innocency
cleared. There were those that had injured him; against them he is plaintiff,
and exhibits his complaint to him who is the avenger of wrong, praying for
justice for himself and upon them.
2. As
his strength, his all-sufficient strength; so he eyes God (Ps. 43:2): “Thou art
the God of my strength, my God, my strength, from whom all my strength is
derived, in whom I strengthen myself, who hast often strengthened me, and
without whom I am weak as water and utterly unable either to do or suffer any
thing for thee.” David now went mourning, destitute of spiritual joys, yet he
found God to be the God of his strength. If we cannot comfort ourselves in God,
we may stay ourselves upon him, and may have spiritual supports when we want
spiritual delights. David here pleads this with God: “Thou art the God on whom
I depend as my strength; why then dost thou cast me off?” This was a mistake;
for God never cast off any that trusted in him, whatever melancholy
apprehensions they may have had of their own state. “Thou art the God of my
strength; why then is my enemy too strong for me, and why go I mourning because
of his oppressive power?” It is hard to reconcile the mighty force of the
church’s enemies with the almighty power of the church’s God; but the day will
reconcile them when all his enemies shall become his footstool.
3. As
his guide, his faithful guide (Ps. 43:3): Lead me, bring me to thy holy hill.
He prays, 1. That God by his providence would bring him back from his
banishment, and open a way for him again to the free enjoyment of the
privileges of God’s sanctuary. His heart is upon the holy hill and the
tabernacles, not upon his family-comforts, his court-preferments, or his
diversions; he could bear the want of these, but he is impatient to see God’s
tabernacles again; nothing so amiable in his eyes as those; thither he would
gladly be brought back. In order to this he prays, “Send out thy light and thy
truth; let me have this as a fruit of thy favour, which is light, and the
performance of thy promise, which is truth.” We need desire no more to make us
happy than the good that flows from God’s favour and is included in his
promise. That mercy, that truth, is enough, is all; and, when we see these in
God’s providences, we see ourselves under a very safe conduct.
4. As
his joy, his exceeding joy. If God guide him to his tabernacles, if he restore
him to his former liberties, he knows very well what he has to do: Then will I
go unto the altar of God, Ps. 43:4. He will get as near as he can unto God, his
exceeding joy. The nearer we come,
the closer we cleave, to God, the better. 2. Those that come to the altar of
God must see to it that therein they come unto God, and draw near to him with
the heart, with a true heart: we come in vain to holy ordinances if we do not
in them come to the holy God. 3. Those that come unto God must come to him as
their exceeding joy, not only as their future bliss, but as their present joy,
and that not a common, but an exceeding joy, far exceeding all the joys of
sense and time. The phrase, in the original, is very emphatic—unto God the
gladness of my joy, or of my triumph. Whatever we rejoice or triumph in God
must be the joy of it; all our joy in it must terminate in him, and must pass
through the gift to the giver. 4. When we come to God as our exceeding joy our
comforts in him must be the matter of our praises to him as God, and our God:
Upon the harp will I praise thee, O God! my God. David excelled at the harp (,
and with that in which he excelled he would praise God; for God is to be
praised with the best we have; it is fit he should be, for he is the best.
5. As
his hope, his never-failing hope, Ps. 43:5. Here, as before, David quarrels
with himself for his dejections and despondencies, and owns he did ill to yield
to them, and that he had no reason to do so: Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
He then quiets himself in the believing expectation he had of giving glory to
God (Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him) and of enjoying glory with God:
He is the health of my countenance and my God. That is what we cannot too much
insist upon, for it is what we must live and die by.
From Matthew Henry Commentary on the Holy Bible
A Prayer for
the Anglican Orthodox Church
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ord our heavenly Father, look down
from heaven, we pray, on thy holy church, and especially on our Anglican
Orthodox Church. Fill it with thy Holy Spirit of peace, power, wisdom, and
goodness, and make it strong in will to do thy will. Keep it from all danger,
evil and error, and defend it from all of its enemies. Bring into its fold thy
countless children who are wandering today as sheep without a shepherd, that
they may be fed with the Living Bread and nourished with the Water of life.
Move the hearts of thy people to give to it generously of their bounty as Thou
hast given to them, that it may flourish for thy Name’s sake, witnessing to the
glory of thy Son our blessed Saviour, and fulfilling its mission of training
sound men for its ministry and spreading the mission of training sound men for
its ministry and spreading the good news of reconciliation to all mankind, that
thy kingdom come and thy will be done through all the earth: all of which we
ask in the Name of thy dear Son our blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
✟
Rev Bryan Dabney
of Saint John’s Sunday Sermon
We are fortunate to
have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon. If you
want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, expouse the
truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I
commend it to your careful reading.
Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity
Consider, if you will, the message of St. Paul in the epistle wherein
he admonished young Timothy to, Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou
hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing
which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us (II St. Timothy 1:13-14). It is a message to every minister who has
been called and sent forth since that time. Holding fast, or keeping to those
doctrines which have been set down within the pages of Scripture ought to be of
paramount importance to every Christian pastor. Keeping the word within and
proclaiming it to others is what a true and faithful minister of the gospel
will do. Because he has been called of God via the Holy Ghost to preach the
word to others, so he has been given of that same Spirit the deposit of the
word.
In another epistle, the apostle noted that, But the manifestation of
the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal (I Corinthians 12:7). Matthew Henry noted that, “Whatever gifts
God confers on any man, he confers them that he may do good with them... The
outward gifts of his bounty are to be used for his glory and employed in doing
good to others. No man has them merely for himself. They are a trust put into
his hands to profit all; and the more he profits others with them, the more
abundantly will they turn to his account in the end. [These] gifts are bestowed
not for show; but for service... not to magnify those who have them, but to
edify others.”
Look back at the life of Moses. He was given spiritual gifts to lead
the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt to liberty in the Promised Land.
Look at Joshua’s life and leadership. He too was filled with the Spirit as he
led Israelites across the Jordan River to victory after victory over the
numerically superior forces of the Canaanites.
Look at the life of Ruth, whose tribal roots were set aside by her love
for her mother-in-law. In her love and devotion for Naomi, she embraced the
LORD and found favor in his eyes. She later became the wife of Boaz whose
descendant was King David, son of Jesse.
Look at the life of Daniel. He and his friends faced many challenges as
members of Nebuchadnezzar’s court. In spite of those things, he survived and
prospered via the power of the Holy Ghost and all because he was faithful to
God’s word written.
Consider also the apostles of our Lord who proclaimed the good news of
our Lord across the known world. And because of their teaching and preaching,
the gospel of truth was made available to us. All of the above sought to follow
God’s commandments and thus became a blessing to others. The gospel minister
ought to do likewise.
Now it should be woefully apparent not all ministers today adhere to
the sound words of Scripture. These false shepherds hold to an image of our
Lord which is the antithesis of that found within the pages of the Bible. They
preach a false gospel and a de-natured Christ. Oh, they will admit that Jesus
was a good teacher whose words we ought follow as a philosopher, but not as the
only begotten Son of God. They are unable to preach a convincing sermon on the
resurrection of our Lord because many do not believe that it was a real event and
hence, there will be no resurrection of the dead in Christ. (Truth be told, a
road- kill sermon is likely the only one you could get them to honestly preach
regarding the resurrection. Not much spiritual comfort there.) If there is
divinity in their understanding of Jesus, it’s the longevity of his words of
caring and compassion, but not about those things of the supernatural such as
his coming kingdom and, goodness no, not about judgment, hell and everlasting
damnation for those who have rejected his offering of free grace. They believe
that God will show his love to all persons unconditionally, regardless of their
belief or behavior. And with that in mind, they will not preach or teach
anything that would dissuade or denigrate a wayward soul to turn from his or
her wickedness and live.
But all of this is academic as the sound words— sound doctrines— of
Scripture do not support modernist position. They may worm and squirm around
the passages that call them out as frauds, but they cannot confront them directly
without being crushed by them. That is why they will avoid them if they can, or
brush them off as irrelevant if they must consider them at all.
But true gospel preaching will include the love of God for us through
his free gift of salvation in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It
will include the need for confession as well as obedience. It will also include
the admonition that God’s wrath will fall upon all who would resist his word
and commandment.
Sound words are found in the presentation of God’s law. It convicts us
in our hearts and humbles us before a righteous and holy God. At that point the
apostle asked, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of
this death (Romans
7:24)? He then supplied the
answer: I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:25). There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2). We have
hope in our Lord Jesus Christ that as he has overcome death and is at the right
hand of the Father, so too will we also overcome death and rise to life eternal
in his kingdom.
But there can be no admission into God’s kingdom without the blood of
Christ being upon those who desire to enter therein, and for that to happen a
person must accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. It is more than a mere
belief in God, or in some philosophical understanding of Jesus as a good
teacher. It means accepting him for who he is as God’s only begotten Son. It
means accepting the virgin birth, his miracles, his commandments, his suffering
and death on the cross, his descent into the earth, his glorious resurrection
and ascension, and his coming again to establish his kingdom which will have no
end.
The New Ager, the errant, the deviant, the mocker, the doubter, and the
patent refusenik of the gospel message has no capacity to accept Christ Jesus.
They are natural rather than holy. They are infidels rather than of the true
faith. They are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. They are covetous,
boasters, blasphemers, without natural affection, possessing a form of
godliness but in denial concerning its real power in their lives (II St. Timothy 3:1-5).
Those who would hold fast to the form of sound words will do as God has
commanded. They will receive with joy the gospel of our Lord. They will be
justified and sanctified in the faith. They will love God with all their hearts
and souls. They will seek to become more Christ-like every day. Holding fast
the truth of God’s word written means also seeking to add to the kingdom such
as will come in and be saved via the hearing of the word. The true minister of
the gospel will not hesitate to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ before
others. May our most gracious heavenly Father bless each of you with true
repentance, amendment of life and the grace and consolation of his most holy
Spirit. That with his indwelling, you will go from strength to strength,
working in that field of endeavor which he has called you. So then, my
brethren, hold fast to the sound words which he has given you and be thankful.
Let us pray,
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ather, assist us as we hold fast to that which you
have given us in thy word written and help us to administer the same to others;
for this we ask in the name of thy dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Have a blessed week, Bryan+
