241110 AOC Sunday Report
Anglican Orthodox Churchsm
Worldwide Communion
Twenty- Fourth Sunday
after Trinity
Sunday Report
The Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity – November 10, 2024
Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity Propers:
The propers are 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 1540’s 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 saint’s 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. The Propers for today are found on Page 223-224, with the Collect first:
The Collect for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity
The Epistle for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity. The Epistle. Colossians i. 3.
WE give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: as ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellow‑servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
The Gospel for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity. The Gospel. St. Matthew ix. 18.
WHILE Jesus spake these things unto John's disciples, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: for she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, he said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.
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, others from Rev. Geordie and many from Rev Bryan Dabney and a few from other places.
Rev. Geordie Menzies-Grierson – England (above)
Points to Ponder:
Commit thy works unto the
LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Proverbs 16:3
The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.Isaiah 50:5
Let us
lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
Lamentations
3:41
Take heed
therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
St. Luke
11:35
If it be
possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Romans 12:18
And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good
deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.
Ostwalt Chambers – So Send I You
Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to
know God.
Andrew Murray
Those who
have their spiritual senses exercised will be aware of the voice of Satan, even
in a friend, a Though we may pour out our complaints before God, we must never
exhibit any complaints against God.
The Rev. Matthew Henry
With every
morning’s dawn, lift up your notes of thanksgiving, and let every setting sun
be followed with your song. Girdle the earth with your praises; surround it
with an atmosphere of melody, and God himself will hearken from heaven and
accept your music.
The Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon
I dare say
[if] you are planning on a late repentance, you do not know what you are doing.
You are planning without God. Repentance and faith are the gifts of God, and
they are gifts that He often withholds, when they have been long offered in
vain. I grant you true repentance is never too late, but I warn you at the same
time, late repentance is seldom true. I grant you, one penitent thief was
converted in his
last hours, that no man might despair; But I warn you, only one was converted,
that no man might presume. I grant you it is written, Jesus is 'Able to save
completely those who come to God through him' (Hebrews 7:25). But I warn you,
it is also written by the same Spirit, 'Since you rejected me when I called and
no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you' (Proverbs 1:24-26). Believe me, you
will find it no easy matter to turn to God whenever you please.
The Most Rev. J. C. Ryle
Have I then no work to work in this great matter of
my pardon? None. What work canst thou work? What work of thine can buy
forgiveness or make thee fit for the Divine favour? What work has God bidden
thee work in order to obtain salvation? None. His Word is very plain and easy
to be understood, “…To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
There is but one work by which a man can be saved. That work is not thine, but
the work of the Son of God. That work is finished.
Horatius Bonar (1809 – 1889)
I have been driven many times to my knees by the
overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go.
Abraham Lincoln
The true spirit of prayer is no other than God's own
Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the saints. And as this spirit comes from God,
so doth it naturally tend to God in holy breathings and pantings. It naturally
leads to God, to converse with him by prayer.
Jonathan Edwards
In what
ways does God demand answers from us in prayer. Quite often, it is by a
stunning silence, a feeling that we may have gone a bit far in our requests, an
awareness of conscientious presumption. Remember the Canaanite woman who came
out of the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and her prayer? To begin with, there was
nothing wrong with her prayer of faith, but Christ seemed to make a gentle
rebuke. The rebuke was not made for the amendment of the woman’s prayer, but
for the edification of faith in the eyes of the disciples – many of whom did
not possess such mighty faith
Bishop Jerry Ogles- AOC Metropolitian – Answer Me
Jerry Ogles
Presiding Bishop
Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
We are fortunate to get copies of Bishop Jerry’s you tube links, devotions on the Prayer of the Collect and sermon notes.
Bishop Jerry creates videos on various subjects, they last just under ten minutes and this week’s videos are listed below:
Bishop Ogles has a You Tube Channel that is free to subscribe: all of his videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuW3bgXBJFomPB5mZ4Oigxg
Afterthoughts on the American Presidential Election
Brief
Devotion by Bishop Jerry Ogles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtQ1evATu1U
The Names of Jesus Series: The Chief Cornerstone
Article 23 of the 39 Articles of Religion: Of Ministering in the Congregation
Brief Devotion by Bishop Jerry Ogles
Sermon for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity
The Gospel - St. Matthew ix. 18.
This Sunday represents the end of Trinity Season. Next Sunday (Sunday next before Advent) is like a transition Sunday between the two Seasons of Trinity and Advent. Trinity Season itself may be divided into two halves each comprised of twelve Sunday’s – the first deals with Christian ‘motives’; the second with ‘character.’
Our two biblical texts today from both the Epistle and the Gospel reveals the matter of Christian deliverance. The Epistle deals with the character of the Christian in relation to God, toward others, and to one’s self. The relationship to God is revealed in our faith in Christ Jesus; to others in the demonstration of their love for the saints; and, finally to oneself in the hope laid up for us in Heaven.
The Gospel addresses the sinner’s deliverance from both the disease of sin and from the death of sin.
Imagine this poor woman described in the Gospel text with an issue of blood who, in her seeking for a cure, expended all her treasures on the service of man to heal her – for a period of twelve years. She did not improve at all during this time, but only grew worse. How disheartening when the only help to which we believe we have access is impotent to help, and even harmful. Having expended all her savings, she is left without hope of recovery and the specter of death appeared nearer day by day. But she doubtlessly had heard much chatter on the streets and in the bazaar of a man named Jesus who professed to be the Son of God that had the power to heal – even to lift from the jaws of death. Having failed in her search for a cure at the dry fountains of the world, she longed in her heart to see this man, but was not fit to physically travel to seek him out. We all have been at this point of desperation ere we knew Christ as our Lord and Savior. We sought after the shiny ornaments of the world that could neither heal nor make alive. But the mysterious working of the Holy Spirit spurs in our hearts a question – “Is this all there is, or is there something far better, if only we could find it?”
Though we are not able, on our own frailty, to seek out Christ, He comes to us at the very moment of His discretion while we were yet diseased with sin and the very odor of death.
Having no other life than to sit and dread the effects of her advancing affliction, the woman sat hopelessly beside her window overlooking the street below. There was nothing of any particular interest to the woman in those darkened streets of the worldly city, but the dim light of the world was all she had to brighten her gloom as she sat there and awaited the inevitable.
One day, as she stared at the souls who traveled those streets for its small pleasures or barter, she observed a sudden excitement among those on the street below. Something had excited their interest, but what? She called down to ask the passersby – “Why all the excitement?” They responded that a man called Jesus was coming that way. Thank goodness, He also came our way as well while we were yet dead in trespasses and sins, and without hope.
Suddenly, there arose in the soul of the woman a dim light of hope. She had heard of the peculiar love this man demonstrated toward the downtrodden just like herself. If only she could get close enough to attract His attention. She hobbled down to the street below. We all must come down from our prideful and self-righteous towers in order to approach Christ. But, arriving at her gate below, she saw that the crowd was growing so enormous that she could hardly step into the street, yet, she felt she MUST see Jesus – He was her only hope. He is OUR only hope as well.
As the bustling crowd surged more intensely, she heard many voices shouting out, “Jesus, Master!” Jesus is nothing to us if not our Master. Slowly the woman’s eyes were drawn to the central figure of all the attention – it was Jesus Himself, the one in whom the woman had placed her only hope. But it seemed impossible to get near Him. Each faltering step she took to get near Him, those nearest kept shoving her aside so that she could barely stand. It is true that the people who feel closest to Christ are the very ones who, through their pride and sense of privilege, prevent others from coming near Him. They feel their seniority in the Church allows them special privilege. They have labored too long and hard in their positions to allow a stranger to enjoy their same prestige in the Church. Such people have lost the meaning of what it is to be a Christian. None come to Christ in robes of man-made righteousness but only by means of a broken and contrite heart.
The poor woman, believing in the holiness and power of Christ to save, desperately sought Him. She finally gave up all hope of approaching Him in her standing and fell upon her knees in order to crawl to Him and perchance to touch even the hem of His garment. Even such a small touch, she thought, would be sufficient to heal her. None can approach Jesus in their prideful walk. We must all come to Him on our knees depending on His mercy alone to save us and to heal us from the deadly leprosy of sin.
Finally, the woman was able to get close enough beneath the crowds to desperately reach out and touch the hem of our Lord’s garments. Suddenly, she felt everything had changed in her body, but not that alone, but in her soul as well. She felt her disease drop away as if a heavy burden had been released from her shoulders. She felt as if she could run, she could sing, she could dance again as a child. What a wonderful change! I am reminded of the first verse of a hymn written by Mr. Rufus McDaniel:
What
a wonderful change in my life has been wrought
Since Jesus came into my heart!
I have light in my soul for which long I have sought,
Since Jesus came into my heart!
But now a feeling of dread came upon the woman as Jesus stopped and asked, “Who touched Me?” He seemed to be speaking to her alone! And He was! “Have I offended the Master?” she wondered. Now, she felt as if she had offended the very soul who had wrought such a healing change in her soul and body. “It….it was I” she stammered. She looked into His eyes that seemed to be filled with love and mercy. Then, to her amazement, the Master said to her, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.” What a wonderful feeling to be healed again and to feel the glory of youth and health, but of greater grandeur was to be called ‘Daughter’ by the Savior of her soul. She was “made whole!” – not simply healed of her affliction, but made whole through her faith in the One who is able to forgive to the uttermost! She had not been called ‘daughter’ since the death of her beloved father, but now she was the daughter of her Lord and Master!
It was not merely the touch of the linen of His garment that healed the lady, but her faith in the One who wore those robes of virtue and healing. The same is true of each of us.
We may be drawn to Christ in many diverse ways – perhaps idle curiosity, or even a burning desire for healing. Whatever means by which we are drawn to Him, it is not our merit, but the grace of God that draws us there. That is not only a gift that expects reciprocation, but a ‘free’ gift of God that demands no future re-payment.
Have you wondered about this woman – who she was, and from whence she came? I will reveal her to you if you will trust me to tell you – that woman was you and me while we were yet dead in trespasses and sin, and are made alive by the quickening of the Holy Spirit. We were that woman without hope of life or healing apart from Christ who was drawn mysteriously to Him and to newness of life. We may be great, or lowly, in the eyes of the world. We may be a great commander of armies such as was Naaman, but it was only God who could cure him of leprosy, and only God who can cure you and me from the leprosy of sin. Or you may have been a young blind boy without hope of healing until Jesus came into your life. You could have been a fellow dishonest in his dealings with others like Zacchaeus, but Jesus came your way and changed everything – even your whole house!
I beg your indulgence to hear a parable of my own making: As I write this sermon, I am being watched by a stray cat from the windowsill of my office. She comes every morning to sit and watch me until I see her and feed her (which I do daily). She believes if only I will look and see her, she will be fed. She doesn’t know where I get the food, or at what cost, but she cares only that I see her and feed her. She also has three kittens that she brought into the world in a shelter in my backyard. She keeps them also near to me so that I feed them as well. We named this mother cat, Mama, because she is a good mother who raises her young near the source of sustenance. I believe this reflects the same character of the Christian believer who knows, like Hagar, if only Christ will look upon her, she will be fed. And a good parent will also bring their young near to that source of life and substance.
Our Lord Jesus Christ not only grants healing in the body, but life for the soul just as He raised the little daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, Jairus.
May the Holy Spirit draw us near, as well, to that source of the Bread of Heaven and the Fountain of Living Waters by looking upon us in our misery and remove our unbecoming yoke of sin.
In Christ Alone during Season of TRINITY,
† Jerry Ogles
Presiding Bishop.
Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity
Sermon – Bishop Jack Arnold -
Time and Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion
Descanso, California
The Collect.
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O LORD, we beseech thee, absolve thy people from their offences; that through thy bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the bands of those sins, which by our frailty we have committed. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.
Consider these words from the Collect: … absolve thy people from their offences; that … we may all be delivered from the bands of those sins, which by our frailty we have committed…
The Collect asks God to pardon our offences, that is our wrongs, failures and failures to act as we should, where we have “erred and stray from His Way like lost sheep”, through His great mercy. Note, through the mercy of God, not because we have been good, but because we cannot be good without Him in the form of the Holy Ghost. One thing is clear, that we are utterly incapable of good without the Holy Ghost, as by our very nature we are very sinful and prideful beings. Both things that hinder us from following God truly. That is why we need the help of the Holy Ghost in order to truly follow God.
In this world we will find that as far as sins go, truly there is nothing new. All the sins that will exist are present in this world and we aren’t making any new ones. The human heart is always as dark and depraved without the shining light of the Holy Spirit as it ever has been. We will find no problems on this Earth that have not existed since the time of Adam. Technology may change and nations may rise and fall, but the underlying human condition has remained constant. This is why the world is full of the same problems as it always has. Humans are naturally resistant to any form of change, especially spiritual change. It has been this way since the time of Adam. People are always seeking ways to get around God and His Laws, but they truly cannot. Despite this, they will never stop trying to get around God but they will also never succeed in getting around God as that is impossible. Because they do not have the Holy Ghost within their hearts, they wil not recognize this and they will keep trying to get around God. We need to realize that most of the problems we face here on Earth stem from people trying to get around God. If people would recognize and worship God and do their best to follow His Word, then our problems here on Earth would go away.
Our only hope is to be in Him and be reborn in the Spirit. As Abraham Lincoln said in the famous Gettysburg address “That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.” Only under God, can we be reborn a new, and as he said, our freedom will be reborn again. We can only be reborn in the spirit and not the flesh as Nicodemus found out when he came to Jesus by night. In order to be reborn a new in the spirit, we first have to ask for our sins to be pardoned and be delivered from our sins by Jesus Christ Our Lord and Our Heavenly Father. The key word is ask. My father Hap had a saying “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” And it applies here. If we do not ask for our sins to be pardoned and be delivered from our sins by Jesus and God, it will never happen. He will not come in uninvited into to our hearts. We have to allow the Holy Spirit access in order for our spirits to be revitalized.
And once we ask for our sins to be pardoned, we have to go forth and persevere in our efforts not to sin again. Only then can we be truly re-born. We cannot be truly reborn if we keep falling into the same sin again. We have to make an effort to improve ourselves and do our best not to do the same sin over and over again. Through a sense of godliness, we obtain that “new birth” of freedom. If everybody in this country followed that simple advice, just think of how great our country would be. Look at Abraham Lincoln for an example of a Godly man, one of the greatest Presidents ever elected, who by following God and His Word, helped preserve the Union of this wonderful nation, albeit at a great cost to our freedom and with a huge expansion of government.[1]
In the Epistle, Paul tells the Colossians if we are to be reborn through Christ into a “new birth of freedom”, as Lincoln said, we must place our hope not on Earth, but in Our Heavenly Father and his abode above. It is truly a place where nothing will be corrupted and thieves will not break through and steal. It is very safe to place our hopes in heaven in other words. So we must train our hearts, souls and minds to focus on this.
We shall encounter none of the imperfections we see here on Earth daily. It is truly a wonderful place to be. We must keep our sights on our destination of heaven. We have to always keep this in mind every time we are weighed down by the woes of the world and of troubles in our lives. We have to always keep flying our spiritual airplane no matter what happens in this life. If we put our goal as going to heaven and setting our airplane on the magenta line towards heaven, eventually we will get there. We may encounter severe turbulence from events in our lives that threaten to upset our spiritual state, but as long as we keep flying the spiritual airplane, all will be well in the end. Heaven is truly the only place where we can place any hope and not be disappointed. God will never fail us; we just need to not fail Him. We have to do our best to follow Him here on earth and do our best to spread to Word to the people around us. If we do this, the truth shall shine forth through in our work, at home, in our daily lives and people shall see Christ working through us for His purposes. If we follow what God asks, which is a very common theme in the Bible, as it is in my sermons, we prosper and do well.
Which brings us to the point of the Gospel, in which Christ heals a woman who has such supreme faith in Christ healing her, that if she but touches his cloak, she knows she will be healed. She did not have any doubts about Christ’s power to heal her. She truly had a solid faith. She depended not on the talisman of the cloak, but the power of Christ with which she expected to connect. She knew Christ had the power to heal her and believed He would heal her. Christ was impressed by the woman’s faith. If we had the faith of this woman in Christ, imagine how we could impact the world around us. There would be little we could not do for our fellow men and women. And, I might ask, what is stopping us? The ruler whose daughter had died also shared this amazing faith in Christ. He had zero doubt whatsoever Christ would do these things.
Also, the faithful centurion and the man whose son was sick had this tremendous faith. The faith of all of these, in particular the ruler whose daughter died, was truly strong. Christ recognizes this man’s faith and rewards with the girl’s resurrection. Quite a surprise for those who had just laughed and scorned him, basically telling him “That is impossible, you can’t raise the girl from the dead.”
As always, Jesus proved the naysayers wrong. He gave a very practical demonstration that much is denied men, but though God all things are possible. But, we need the faith of the woman, the faith of the ruler and the faith of the centurion. Jesus showed us that if we do indeed have the great faith of those people, there is not a lot that we cannot do. He is showing us that faith is a very key component to following him, a corner stone as a matter of fact. Without faith, we can do little. With faith, there is not a lot that we cannot do.
This is what Jesus meant when he said we could move mountains with our faith. If we put our trust and faith in Him, nothing that we need to do is impossible for us to achieve. We must keep listening to His Guidance and to do our best to follow Him. However, we must back up our faith with actions. If we truly have faith, then we will act and perform good works for Him. Without actions, our faith is meaningless.
Jesus’s miracles were all about actions, not just in word, but in deed. He did both, as we must also. If we only talk the talk, but do not walk our talk, then our words mean nothing. If we walk the walk also, our words have weight, meaning, as we become men and women of the Word. I say of the Word and not like the old saying, he is a man of his word. For we want to become a Man/Woman of His Word, not our word! If we go by His Word, we can never go wrong. We always seem to go on our word and that is where we get into trouble. It is action not just diction which counts. The two can go together, but in the end, actions speak louder than words.
The Collect, Epistle and Gospel tie together, laying out, detailing and reinforcing the same message, ultimately. We have to have faith in Christ and God, and be willing to accept the Holy Ghost into us, that through Him, we may do good works on Earth and that we will receive our just reward for doing what is right in the end.
Heaven is at the end of an uphill trail. The easy downhill trail does not lead to the summit.
The time is now, not tomorrow. The time has come, indeed. How will you ACT?
It is by our actions we are known.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
Presiding Bishop
AOC France Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide
We are fortunate to have a sermon from the Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Orthodox Church of France and the Administrative Coordinator of Europe and Africa. As you will read, he is an excellent writer. The sermon is easy to read and provides much insight.
SERMON for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity
Colossians 1:3-12; Matthew 9:18-26
FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY and HEALING
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit
The two readings chosen for the 24th Sunday after Trinity overlap wonderfully. The Gospel tells us of two miracles: a healing and a resurrection. The Epistle speaks to us of faith, hope, and charity, which are the three theological virtues, as well as three gifts of the Holy Spirit. He who has faith cannot lack hope or charity. Faith is an unshakeable trust in Christ who promises Heaven to those who believe in Him. Having this hope of the good things to come on the new earth, in the new Jerusalem, we relativize the goods of this passing world, and which we will leave anyway, sooner or later; it is therefore futile to cling to it.
THE EPISTLE (Colossians 1:3-12); (v. 3): “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you” Paul speaks in the name of the Church, speaking in the plural. It is not a plural of majesty - it is really not his style, he who claims to be the most unworthy of all, an abortion - but a collective plural representing all believers in Jesus Christ, God made man, the true image of the Father.
(vv. 4-5): “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.” In the first place, Paul speaks of the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. These three virtues are the hallmark of Christians. That's how they ought to be recognized and spotted. Note that faith is not a mere belief, but a sure trust in God, His wisdom, His power, and His holiness. He is the Creator and the source of all good, Himself being the supreme good, the absolute perfection. And it is this trust in God, to whom all things are possible, that our hope rests: God will keep all His promises, contained in the Gospel of Christ because He is almighty and faithful.
Finally, charity flows naturally, logically, from this trust that God will give us double all that we give up to others in this life, as He did for Job when He restored him after his trial: “And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” ... “So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning…” (Job 42:10 & 12a). Christians have nothing to lose, and this is what worries the political authority of this world. They are neither manipulable nor influenceable. No one has a hold on us, for we belong to the kingdom of heaven; we are the subjects of the King of Kings. This is why our charity is exercised primarily towards "all the saints", Paul says, that is, among subjects of the same God. Let us not throw our pearls to swine, but rather let us set an example of a united and fraternal society: the Church of Christ, which is the one where the gospel is preached, as Paul and Epaphras did.
And Paul speaks to us of the Gospel (v. 6): “Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth” From the time of the Apostles, the Gospel was spread throughout the known world, and even beyond the borders of the Roman Empire. A job that must be taken up again with each generation, starting with our own children. But not all of them bear fruit in the same way. Not everyone hears the Gospel in the same way, because it is God who opens the ear of His elect... and the ear gives access to the heart, which then becomes a believer: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17).
(vv. 7-8): “As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.” There are two kinds of charity... Make no mistake! There is the generosity of the Holy Spirit”, which is a consequence of faith given by the same Holy Spirit, and there is a worldly, boastful, envious, jealous charity that wants to break all records of generosity by wasting the hard-earned money of others, with the avowed aim of showing that their secular charity is better than that of the Christians. When in reality it is a huge sin of pride, even if it benefits the beneficiaries, whose conscience is thus bought at a price of money. This is nothing more and nothing less than widespread corruption and atheistic electoral propaganda.
(vv. 9-10): “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” In 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18, Paul commands us to do this: “Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” And he is not content with commanding us to do so, for he himself applies this evangelical counsel, submitting himself to the will of God, expressed by Jesus Christ who declares in Matthew 24:42: “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
(vv. 11-12): “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” God gives us His strength to love and serve Him, in obedience to His will. We are thus transformed from day to day and configured to Christ and are thus made conformed to the image of God, as in the time of Creation when God made man in His image; Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” The Lord wanted to create each and every one of us in His image, which means: perfectly fit and good - Tov Meod. But sin has disfigured this image of God in us, destroyed the perfection that God had put in Adam when He created him, because, like Adam, we have all disobeyed God. Do you now understand the importance of obeying God? It is precisely by being subject to God that we reproduce the image of God in us. Jesus Christ did nothing but obey the Father... and who is more in the image of God than His own begotten Son?
Christ, the image of the Father, is clothed with His power and He puts it to work through His works of compassion and charity, for those who believe and hope. This is what today's Gospel tells us:
THE GOSPEL (Matthew 9:18-26); (v. 18a): “While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him…” A lord is someone of importance, a nobleman, an aristocrat, a member of the elite, accustomed to command and to be respected by means of the sword he carries at his side, and which is the mark of his superior dignity. Now, behold, this Lord prostrates himself before Jesus; he throws himself on the ground and crawls at his feet. He forgets who he is, what his authority, his dignity, his office is, because only one thing matters to him: that Christ revive his dead daughter. He renounces everything, out of charity for his daughter, even though she is dead. This unfortunate Lord is desperate, but not hopeless, for the glimmer of faith is already shining in his heart. He does not prostrate himself before an ordinary physician, but before Him by Whom all things were created; He is therefore able to recreate his little girl in a state of perfection, as in the six days of Creation.
He prostrates himself before Christ, “… saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.” (v. 18b). What a statement! What faith in Jesus Christ! What confidence in the power of God, always available; and what charity, what love for his innocent little daughter, victim of an evil that only God can cure! And we know where this evil comes from; (Job 2:4-7): “And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.” Note that where God expects charity, Satan sees only a mercantile bargain where salvation would be bought by dint of good works and money: “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.” Now salvation is a grace; it is free. It is not earned. It is a gift of God to those whom He has chosen, even before the creation of the world. The purpose of the Adversary is to cause us to curse God before we die and end up in hell. "Curse God, and die!" says Job's wife (Job 2:9). And many are in this case, alas. But God has certainly chosen this Lord whose daughter is dead, since far from cursing God, he prostrates himself before His only begotten Son.
(v. 19): “And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.” Christ does not submit Himself to His petitioner, as one might imagine, but to the will of the Father, which is to manifest His power, compassion, and glory through exceptional works of charity. He does not miss an opportunity to show the divine goodness that is in Him and His power, in order to arouse in us an unshakeable confidence: the confidence of faith in God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
(vv. 23-24): “And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.” This is the reaction of the laity who surround us, in the face of our faith, our hope, and even our charity: they mock us, as Jesus Christ. Their pride, once again, impels them to make a great noise in order to be noticed, unless it is the fear of evil spirits; but it is too late to drive them out, and in any case they have no power to do so. Only Christ has this power. And when he says that the girl is asleep, he says that their din disturbs her in her sleep, but does not succeed in waking her. Their behavior is therefore perfectly inappropriate, offbeat and vain. (1 Corinthians 13:4 & 7): “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,” ... It “Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” You see clearly that charity is the key to the Gospel, and the cardinal virtue of the Kingdom of Heaven, for it hopes all that God promises to His elect, and therefore presupposes faith. This is why “Charity never faileth” (1 Corinthians 13:8a). But do not think that charity gives access to salvation! Otherwise, grace would no longer be a grace, because by definition, a grace cannot be paid for. What were the musicians hoping for, when they made a hellish racket, worthy of Hell Fest, around the young dead girl? Absolutely nothing. All this was vain agitation and waste of time. “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Nothing has value except what is eternal. (Ecclesiastes 7:17b) says, “… why shouldest thou die before thy time?” Yes, why? This is an unanswered question (Ecclesiastes 3:18): “I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.” The truth is that we know nothing except what God is willing to reveal to us. And this scene proves it to us.
(v. 25): “But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.” With a single gesture, without a word and therefore in the silence of a Trappist monk who communicates only through gestures, Jesus revives the young girl: He recreates her, in all discretion.
(v. 26): “And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.” But the facts speak for us. Our acts speak louder than our words. It is through our behavior, our submission to God and our mutual aid that we bear witness to the Gospel. It is said that the Church is sown with the blood of martyrs. A martyr impresses more and does more to bring people to Christ than all our best preaching. For it is the contempt for death that proves our true faith and hope. (1 Peter 2:20b): “… but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.” God is not sadistic, but the suffering of His chosen people is inevitable in a hostile world, dedicated to Satan, as the story of Job shows. If the world speaks well of us, then there is reason to be gravely worried. But if he speaks ill of us and persecutes us, it is because we are strangers to him, as subjects of the King of kings. In John 15:20b, Jesus says, “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you”
There is still one line that we have skipped so as not to cut off the story of the dead girl. Let us read it again (Matthew 9:20-22): “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.” Some rely on this passage to justify the cult of relics: but this is a mistake. Jesus declares: “thy faith hath made thee whole”, and it is only at the moment when Christ tells him so that the miracle takes place: “And the woman was made whole from that hour.” Touching the hem of Jesus' garment did not bring her anything good. This gesture only manifested her faith and hope in the One who alone can save us. And Christ heals the woman on her faith in Him. It is not Jesus' garment that heals her, but the Word of Christ! By saying to herself, “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole” she is on the wrong track. But she declares her faith and her hope, and that is the main thing.
But why then, “But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort”? This is because until Jesus has said to her, “thy faith hath made thee whole” she is not healed and still suffers, even after she touches the robe that Jesus was wearing. Her naïve strategy was null and void. It didn't work... Admit that it's depressing! Her last hope is gone! This is why Christ encourages her, until His next word has its effect: “thy faith hath made thee whole” (Psalm 51:17b): “… a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” And it is also out of divine charity that Jesus intervenes in the life, in the body, and especially in the heart of the sick woman.
Every healthy person is a sick person who is unaware of himself. We all suffer from some malformation, disease or infirmity. All these evils are the work of the devil. But if, like Job, we do not deny God and keep faith in Christ, hope in His promises of eternal life with Him in His paradise, and love God and our Christian brethren for the love of God who first loved us, then we know that we are saved and that we will be healed of all our diseases, and even of death that Christ conquered by rising from the dead on the third day. And it is this event that we celebrate, every Sunday that God makes.
My friends,
let's do as Job did, have patience and remain faithful to God! (1 Corinthians
10:13): “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are
able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be
able to bear it.” To God alone the glory! Amen.
Rt. Rev. Yves Méra, AOC Bishop of France.
Rev Bryan Dabney of Saint John’s AOC Vicksburg, Mississippi - 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, espouse the truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I commend it to your careful reading.
Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity
In the Book of Hebrews (13:17), the apostle Paul called upon the faithful to: Obey them that have rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. And with regard to that last passage, the Rev. Matthew Henry noted that, “The duty for Christians is to obey their ministers,
follow the faith and do not depart from it. It is not an implicit obedience or absolute submission that is required, but only so far as is agreeable to the mind and will of God revealed in his word.” Bishop Dees was not a schismatic. He followed his overseers until it proved impossible to continue in the faith under
their direction. As Matthew Henry reminded his readers: “Pastors and elders watch for the souls of the people, not to ensnare them but to save them; to gain them not to themselves but to Christ; to build them up in knowledge, faith, and holiness. They are to watch against everything that may be hurtful to the souls of men, and to give them warning of dangerous errors, of the devices of Satan, and of
approaching judgments. They are to watch for all opportunities of helping the souls of men forward in the way to heaven.” That last comment encapsulates the motives of Bishop Dees as he was concerned for not only his immortal soul, but that of others and tried his best to bring them along. Consider now the familiar words of the apostle Paul who called on the faithful to, ... come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you... (II Corinthians 6:17). And so since 1963 the Anglican Orthodox Church has remained an independent Anglican body, upholding those doctrines that are firmly grounded upon the inerrant word of God without compromise and without apology.
And with regard to our church’s stand against apostasy, the Anglican Orthodox Church has consistently stood against ecumenism, or the acceptance of all brands of religion regardless of their tenets and doctrines. For if what they believe runs counter to God’s word written, we are obliged to reject it. The same is true for political correctness, or Cultural Marxism, which is more about silencing criticism rather than preventing injustice. Via political correctness, what Modernists and Progressives have sought to do is free themselves from the judgmental aspects of their sinful behaviors as found in the Bible. And on that account they don’t want to hear any criticism for their actions by Bible believers. Thus it follows that they will work to ensure that the various forms of political correctness are observed in an effort to shut down all comments and remarks to the contrary.
Another aspect of their apostasy is theological liberalism, which embraces some or all of the following: the denial of Scripture as inerrant truth. This may include a denial of the virgin birth of our Lord; a denial of individual and hierarchal evil in the personage of the Devil and his hosts of fallen spirits; a denial of the existence of hell as a place of eternal punishment for sin; as well as an acceptance of any number of sinful behaviors which have been plainly prohibited by Scripture. Now these things did not come about overnight, but were introduced gradually so as not to shake the unsuspecting congregants from the comfort of their pews. Only after some of the more controversial elements were introduced
did there arise a hue and cry among the faithful. Unfortunately, by that time the leadership positions within those church bodies were so compromised that there was little hope of recovering that which was lost. It was gone, having mutated into another belief system that follows another gospel and, by inference, worships another Christ (see Galatians 1:6-9). I remember my last vestry meeting at the
denominational body of which I was a member back in 2003 where several of the points I have noted previously were raised. When we asked that the church take a stand on the truths of Scripture, we were told that “this process took a long time to work itself out and it will thus take a long time to change it.” Needless to say, nothing regarding biblical truth was even acknowledged as binding upon us to
carry out in response to the evils the church had accepted. The majority of that body was not going to act in defense of bible truth and so after some reflection, my family and I left that denomination.
And let us not forget the modernist churches abandonment of the King James Bible as their source of truth. The Authorized Version of Scripture is a trusted translation that has stood the test of time. Since 1611, countless believers have relied on it for comfort and for edification in their Christian walk. It is the word of God written in a very elegant and reverent form of the English language. If you use the other versions and compare them with the King James Version, you will find that they will have missing words, phrases and passages. It is well documented that the new versions may have some 64,000 plus words less than the Authorized Version. Additionally, I have heard King James Bible critics say that the Authorized Version is an incomplete translation, or it is hard to understand.
Well, let’s consider a few points for clarity. The King James Version is based on the Textus Receptus: a Greek text of the New Testament which was developed in the 16th century from a host of Byzantine manuscripts and fragments while the new versions are largely based on two texts— one of which was likely the product of Origen, a noted Christian heretic from the 3rd century A.D. These were later
collated by two apostate Anglican scholars named Hort and Westcott who used them to develop their own Greek text from which the Revised Version of the Bible was created in 1881. Their corrupted Greek text has become the base for all of the new bible versions. Now, why on earth would you accept a bible that has a base text developed by one heretic and formulated into another by two others? Such is a good example of spreading bad seed and the master of deception is behind it.
Bishop Dees set out to found an episcopal body that would remain faithful to God’s word written. He sought to educate young men in the fundamentals of sound doctrine and worship. He might be compared to the noble Epaphras of Colosse (Colossians 1:7-8) in that he was a learned and faithful minister of Christ and well-grounded in the knowledge of the Scriptures. So when the naysayers
criticize us because we hold to the foundational doctrines of Anglican Christianity; my reply is simple: We are remaining faithful to our Lord’s commands and we will not give them up for whatever prize the devil and his earthly puppets might dangle before us. Bishop Dees resisted such in 1963, and we
are obliged to do the same. As we remember his sacrifices and his trials, let us vow to keep our church firmly grounded on the Rock of Christ and his word written. May it please our heavenly Father to assist each of us in this quest as we await our Lord’s return.
Let us pray:
Dear LORD, who art the author of all sound doctrine; guide this our Anglican Orthodox Church into all truth; and fill our ministers and members with thy most holy Spirit; that through our witness, we will bear fruit in thy service; and this we ask in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have a blessed week,
Bryan+
Roy Morales-Kuhn, Bishop and Pastor
Saint Paul's Anglican
Church
Diocese of the Midwest Anglican
Orthodox Church
Suffragan
Bishop of the AOC
Sermon for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity
The Epistle. Colossians 1:3-12 The Gospel. Matthew 9:18-26
O LORD, we beseech thee, absolve thy people from their offences; that through thy bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the bands of those sins, which by our frailty we have committed. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.
“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13)
There’s a lot packed into this verse. One can’t live it out without understanding something of the grace Peter mentions. When Jesus Christ is revealed, He apparently plans to add some great grace to those who eagerly expect His second coming. What will this grace be?
We are to remember His return each time we partake of the Lord’s Supper. “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come” (1 Corinthians 11:26). The cup reminds us of His blood, and His blood reminds us that He died in our place so we may have eternal life. Thus, one great grace He will bring with Him is the final abolition of death. There will be no more death for those whose names “are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27).
But He will bring an even greater grace than everlasting life. Paul taught the churches that our reunion with Christ is the great goal. He wrote, “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming” (1 Thessalonians 2:19)?
What does it mean that “so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17)?
We will reach our true fulfillment in Him. “Then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
No wonder we “hope to the end” for this great grace.
Oh, to be alive and in fellowship with our Creator and Savior forever! BDT
~Notes from Bp. Roy Sermon on Epistle and Gospel Lesson ofor the 24th Sunday after Trinity~
Bishop Roy Morales-Kuhn
Rev Stephen Cooper Church of the Redeemer Fairbanks, Alaska
From time to time we are fortunate to receive a sermon from Rev Cooper in Fairbanks Alaska. The head of our northernmost church, Stephen is a brilliant and inspiring speaker. I wish we had video of him rather than just audio; but I am confident you will enjoy this. This sermon is for last week. Please take the time to listen to it.
Click below to listen to this wonderful sermon
For the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITLJeq5-ICQ
AOC Worldwide Prayer List –
I have received updates from a few and those will be the first added to the list. Please send all prayer requests and updates to aocworldwide@gmail.com for future reports. If you would like to be removed from list just respond with remove in the subject line.
Keep Praying for the following:
Shamu, Tom, Craig, Jim, Dotty, Jan Jessup, Steve, Josh Morley, Jennifer, AOC USA,
AOC Missions, Zach, Jess, Luke, Jacquie, Harper
Prayer Needed:
Donald Roesch – ICU – Heart attack - Pleas pray for his wife Ashley and children, also
Mike Gettinger– heart related difficulties
Jim Sevier – God’s Peace in his life
Mauri Turner – Stomach Cancer
Anne Lee – Lung Cancer – recent diagnosis
Colin Beall and daughter Lowery – each has a different type of cancer
Bishop Zephaniah – Kidney stones
Extended Issues need continued prayer;
Laurie with long Covid Symptoms - Extreme exhaustion, heart palpitations, breathing problems and unstable blood pressures are constant worries causing depression to settle in.
Malcom Allred – Cancer Treatment
Jim Kniffen – came out of surgery for Staph infection in knee replacement – continues with IV Antibiotics three times a day and has begun to start oral antibiotics as well, it is wreatking havoc with his stomach – this is treatment to continue to defeat the blood born Staph infection following surgery.
Katie Pope – Just beginning treatment for Stage 4 Pulmonary Carcinoma “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14)
Hurricane Helen Recovery
Please keep praying for all the people and towns affected by Hurricane Helene – Many in the mountains of NC have still not received help.
Hurricane MILTON Recovery
Prayer Answered: Praise God from Whom ALL Blessings Flow.
Linda Derewsky – issues cleared, her chemo is working for her multiple myeloma and her numbers are good – Prayers Ansered. Praise God for answered Prayer- keep praying for fatigue
Dallas Minner – tests negative for cancer – out of the hospital after 6 days-pancreatitis- on the mend
Donna – Surgery for bleeding brain
cancer - DISCHARGED HOME THIS DAY!
Brett Wydra – back at home and still recovering
[1] The American Civil War was fought not over slavery, but over States Rights. Make no mistake, the right being disputed at the time was slavery. Many will say the wrong side won, including the noted thinker Thomas Sowell. Slavery was an institution whose time was long passed, it did not serve anyone, master or slave. It was counter to the Word and should never have existed here. Truly it was an instrument of the Devil and was used to harm our country.
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