Read more about this scene HERE.
Christmas Eve
While this is an AOC publication, we are often asked as
the Western Most Parish, how goes it in the far reaches of the unknown
West? So, occasionally we put in
some local color!
As the song goes, Oh
the weather outside is frightful, But the fire is so delightful, And since
we've no place to go, Let it snow! Let it snow! Actually, while we have had snow this year already, there was
none for today not likelihood of any tomorrow! The Outside Air Temperature was a lovely 71°F and clear
today and 47°F at Mount Olympus’ 3,500’msl altitude, as we ended our service, so
no snow. We are thankful for the
coming of our Lord and the freedom we have. The weather was bright and sunny, as were the dispositions
of the three people attending the service were!
By the way, each year we have a rosemary bush Christmas
“tree” that we plant afterwards.
No shortage ever of that seasoning here, or bay leaf for matter!
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 –
Government has three primary
functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should
enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes
against themselves or their property. When government-- in pursuit of good
intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special
interests, the cost comes in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of
freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player.
Milton Friedman
When you see that trading is
done, not by consent, but by compulsion- When you see that in order to produce,
you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing- when you see that
money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors- when you see
that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t
protect you against them, but protect them against you- when you see corruption
being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice- you may know that your
society is doomed.
Ayn Rand
Atheist, but correct on
economics
Atlas Shrugged
Truth
“I suppose there are two views
about everything,” said Mark.
“Eh? Two views? There are a dozen
views about everything until you know the answer. Then there’s never more than
one.”
Jack Lewis
That Hideous
Strength
Propers
Each Sunday there are Propers:
special prayers and readings from the Bible. There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought
prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in
the 1540s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of
Canterbury after the re-founding.
The Collect for the Day is to be
read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. The
Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in
the New Testament. The Gospel is a
reading from one of the Holy Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Collect is said by the minister as
a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we do in
our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the
service in our church is read by an ordained minister.
The propers are the same each
year, except if a Red Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook,
falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White
Season, where it is put off. Red
Letter Feasts, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in
red, are special days. Most of the
Red Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saints instrumental in the development
of the church, others to special events.
Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be
used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent.
We used the propers for the first
service of Christmas Day for our Christmas Eve service which are found on Page
96-98, with the Collect first:
The Collect.
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GOD, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of
the birth of thine only Son Jesus Christ; Grant that as we joyfully receive him
for our Redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him when he shall come
to be our Judge, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God,
world without end. Amen.
The Epistle, which
came from Paul’s letter to Titus beginning in the Eleventh Verse of the Second
Chapter. Paul tells Titus that it
is only God’s grace that gives us salvation. If we are going to accept that grace, we need to live the
life to which God has called us. Regardless of cost, we need to live the life
God has purchased for us.
We need to trust in God and in this world live
cleanly, conservatively, thoughtfully, looking towards God for our
salvation. We need to encourage
and exhort other Christians to do likewise.
To live in harmony with others.
To be, to the extent we are able, paragons of
virtue. Serving as good examples,
not bad. Paul tells Titus to do
what is right, trust is God and worry not. Quoting a later author, “Trust in God and Dread Naught.”
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HE grace of God
that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly,
in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us,
that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with
all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Tonight’s Gospel is the narrative of the Nativity
from the Gospel according to Saint Luke, the Second Chapter, beginning at the First
Verse.
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ND it came to pass in those days, that
there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be
taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up
from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem;
(because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his
espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were
there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought
forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in
a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same
country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by
night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord
shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto
them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall
be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the
babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was
with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Sermon - Rev Hap Arnold
Church of the Faithful Centurion -
Descanso, California
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and
Gospel together and is partly contained
in the forewords above.
As I was readying tonight’s
sermon, the thought came to me, surely not original at all, that as we begin
our celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, consider Jesus, the only begotten
Son of God, was sent by His Father, God the Father, the Almighty Creator of
Heaven and Earth, into this world that we might have life eternal. While it is
an amazing thing that God would send His only begotten Son, His Christ, here to
this miserable planet for our redemption, is even more amazing and worthy of
awe that Jesus came to this world knowing how He would leave. He knew he would be born in a manger
and die on a cross; a horrible horrible death that we might have eternal
life. As we go through
Christmas and we remember the joy, remember Jesus, the Christ of God, came into
this world with full knowledge aforethought as to how He would leave and yet He
came that we might live.
Tonight we remember and celebrate
the coming of our Lord, the first time; we look to the coming of our Lord, the
second time. The Jews were looking
to God to send the Messiah, the one who they determined would free them from
the brutal yoke of the Romans and put them on top again. They looked to being the veritable Top
Dogs. They wanted a Champion to
lead them to victory over the Romans, throwing the Roman yoke off Israel. What God sent was a baby. Well, The Baby, but nonetheless a baby. Shepherds came to worship Him, but Herod was looking to kill
Him. No good in having a Champion
putting Herod out of the well paying petty quisling dictator job.
What God sent the Jews was His only
begotten Son. In point of fact, He
sent Him to the Jews first, but not only.
The “Wise Men” showed up to worship Him and regardless of who they might
have been, they certainly were not Jews.
This Son was to free the Jews from the Prince of Darkness and the
finality of death. That really did
not fit the Jews’ plan.[1] They were still looking for Expulsor,
he who would toss the Romans out on their heads.
“Grant that as we
joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold
him when he shall come to be our Judge[2].”,
With sure confidence, if we receive him now as our Redeemer, we shall be filled
with sure confidence of being received by Him when we are standing before his
Judgement seat. If we do not joyfully receive him now, how can we expect him to
be joyfully receiving us when we come to meet him.
In joyous rememberence
of His Birth, we must keep in mind the end goal of his arrival here on Earth,
which was to free us from the bondage of sin and death, by giving his life so
that we might be free of this terrible oppression. We must Rejoice always and
again I say Rejoice, in the fact that we are free from the wages of sin, by the
fact that He gave his life for us, and was born that He might save us from a
final death.
The key word is
joyfully, meaning we must of our own free will receive Him into our hearts, and
feel the joyousness of His Birth, for this holiday of His Birth is a happy
time, to not only feel the joy of his physical arrival, but of what He came to
do for us, that we might be free for all eternity. He shall be our confidence
and our spiritual dwelling place, rather than place our hope in men, who shall
always fall short, but God shall never lead us astray or fall short of our
hopes and expectations, unlike Men.
Remembering His Birth
each year, we must consider what the cost was for our freedom from death, which
soon after he ascended to be with Our Father.
Some guy coming to save their
souls, without the need for slaughtering the profitable sacrificial animals did
not really fit their plan. They
had The Law, what more did they need?
The Jews concentrated on their
wants and ignored their needs.
Need, Want – both four letter words, oft used interchangeably. Sadly, they don’t mean the same thing.
So, that is where the Jews were
on Christmas Eve; Christmas Day for that matter? God intended to fulfill their needs, they looked to have
their wants fulfilled.
How about us on this Christmas
Eve; or Christmas Day for that matter?
Are we looking for someone to make us rich, thin or cool? Or are we looking for someone who will
save our souls? Do what God asks,
you will not only gain eternal life, but eternal happiness and as a plus you
will be happy. You may think you
can have more fun, but He guarantees you will be happy.
As we come upon this midnight
clear, the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ waits for us. Will we accept it? Follow Him, accept His Grace and all
will be good forever.
He comes!
Be of
God - Live of God - Act of God
Christmas Day
The weather for the Christmas Day service was very nice,
54°F, the blues skies of a Santa Ana (not a Santa Claus) and a lot of
wind. The lovely weather brought 3
people to worship the Lord on the day of his birth.
Propers
The propers for today are found
on Page 96-98, with the Collect first:
The Nativity of our Lord, or the Birthday of Christ,
commonly called Christmas Day.
[December 25.]
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY
God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and
as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate,
and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy
Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with
thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave.
The Epistle for Christmas Day came from the Epistle
of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews, the First Chapter, beginning at the First
Verse:
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od, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake
in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds; who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all
things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than
the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day
have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to
me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he
saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith,
Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the
Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of
righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and
hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of
gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the
foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they
shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou
art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
The Gospel for Christmas Day came from the Gospel
according to Saint John, the First Chapter, beginning at the First Verse. This particular Gospel is known as the
Last Gospel as it comes from the last Gospel to be written, that of St. John,
and it brings the final Word of Jesus to us.
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n the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the
beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any
thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to
bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not
that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true
Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto
his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth.
Sermon - Rev Hap Arnold
Church of the Faithful Centurion -
Descanso, California
Today’s sermon is the message of Christmas. “He came unto His own and they received
Him not.” Christ came unto His own, the people he created, to show them the
Word which He is the living embodiment of, the Living and True Scripture. They
received Neither the written Word that his Apostles wrote, nor the spoken Word
from His Mouth that He spake unto them. “But as many as received Him, to them
he gave the power to become the sons of God.” He has adopted us unto his
family, through His Word, which he has spoken unto us, that we may fulfill it
and live in harmony with others in this word.
“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
This speaks to the living incarnate nature of the Word, (Christ) who dwelt
among us 2,000 years ago, that he might understand our nature more, so that He
could teach us with more understanding. If He lived in our conditions, it would
be easier for Him to relate to us when He taught and spake the Word of His
Father. “And we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth.” In That Word, He spake both full of grace and of truth as John talked
about in the last Gospel. Through His grace and truth that we accept, only can
we do things for His Glory. Without the Word, we cannot do anything for Him, as
imperfect creatures, now having been accounted and spoken for by Christ. With
the Word, we are empowered to do things for Him. The birth of Christ would
foreshadow his death, which would bring about the ultimate freedom, that from
sin and death.
That is such an important point. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. (John
3:16) Not just that God, the
Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, would send His only begotten Son, but
that the Son came knowing not only that He, King of Kings, would be born in a
manger, live a life of relative poverty, but that He would die a horrible
horrible death that we might have eternal life. He came to this miserable planet for us, to give us life
eternal! Think of that on this
Christmas Day!
Today we recall the birth of our Lord and Savior, the
only means by which we, imperfect creatures with free will, might be accounted
as perfect before God when our day of judgment comes. Born, not in a palace, but in a stable, He is all that we
have been promised. Taking the
substance of Man, all Man and all God, He knows our temptations, He knows our
failures, He knows our failings, He knows our sorrow; He also knows our
happiness, our small triumphs, our hopes and our dreams. He is the only one in this world who
will never fail us in the slightest.
He gives us His example to follow.
If we will but follow Him, we will draw closer to God. He made the world, He knows the
world. He defeated the Prince of
this World, thus with His Help, so will we. This is a day of joy, foreshadowing a day of sorrow, leading
to the greatest joy of all.
Let us joyfully receive Him into our hearts and
homes, that we might do what He asks and spread the Joy of His Arrival on Earth
that we might prepare for His Second Coming. If we do this and what he asks,
which is a common theme that stays the same throughout the Christian Year, we
shall be Blessed with good things, as a result of doing what He asks. On the
Christmas Day, let us Rejoice in His Coming and begin our preparations for His
Second Coming
Let this be a blessed and happy Christmas. He has come to us!
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
Sermon - Rev Geordie Menzies Grierson
AOC United Kingdom
He Walked Out
Of Heaven
He came from splendor to be born in poverty. He left
the presence of angels for the company of me. He laid down a scepter in heaven
to be laid in a manger and exchanged the worship of Arch-angels for the praise
of lowly shepherds.
He walked into the world with all the power of
Almighty God at his bidding but He was carried out a mutilated body lowered
from a cross.
He rebuked the pious but He comforted the sinner. He
refused earthly Kingship although He was still a King. He loved His mother yet
gave her away at the Cross. He healed the broken-hearted yet He himself died
with a broken heart.
He loved the fellowship of friends yet was cast out
by His kinsmen. He rebuked both sage and seer and then blessed the little
children. He held an executive meeting on the Mount of Transfiguration then
wept alone in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He could walk on water, but could not walk away from
the tears in the eyes of the Widow from Nain. He could command the stars in
their orbits but he refused to change the circumstances of His own execution.
His mission was a commitment to free all menyet He was imprisoned on the
testimony of one man.
He delivered many from pain but He was delivered to
suffer agonizing pain. He dried the eyes of multitudes but no one dried His
eyes in Gethsemane. He carried the burdens of the world but only one was
brought forth to help Him bear His Cross to Calvary.
His execution was thought to be insignificant, but
became the controversy of the ages. His life was extinguished in a brief second
of time but then ignited to lighten the world. His short span of thirty-three
years on Earth should have passed unnoted were it possible but no one life has
ever had such impact on the minds of men.
His three and one-half years in the public’s eye was
brief indeed but His achievements are the greatest ever recorded.
He has inspired more men conquered more hearts
delivered more prisoners consoled more mourners than any figure in the history
of man. He spoke of love but was murdered with hate. He shared all that he had
and then on the Cross...He shared paradise with a thief. He gave the World
light only to be driven into the cavern of Death. He gave mankind guidance only
to be guided to Golgotha. He pointed men to the Tree of Life and they nailed
Him to a tree on a hill called The Skull. He laid down a scepter in heaven to
be laid in a borrowed tomb.
He walked out of heaven pure perfect and beautiful.
He returned beaten mutilated and nail scarred. He fulfilled all that was
written of Him and yet man did not believe Him. His coming changed the course
of nations His return will be to judge the nations. His title was simple as
stated on the Cross “Jesus of Nazareth • King of the Jews”; but to those
who have ever known Him, He is Jesus Christ the Son of the living God.
