Anglican Orthodox Churchsm
Worldwide Communion
Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday Report
The Fourth Sunday after Trinity – June 23, 2024
Third 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 191-192, with the Collect first:
The Collect for the Third Sunday after Trinity
O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may, by thy mighty aid, be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle for the Third Sunday after Trinity. 1 St. Peter v. 5.
ALL of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen
The Gospel for the Third Sunday after Trinity.
St. Luke xv.1.
THEN drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
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.
On Christian Living
The apostle [Paul] exhorts [us] to a prudent conduct towards the heathen world… Be careful in all your [dealings] with [those without the church that you] not get hurt by them or contract any of their customs, and to do no hurt to them or increase their prejudices against religion. Do them all the good you can and by all the fittest means recommend religion to them… or else walking [in] circumspection, to give them no advantage against you.
The Rev. Matthew Henry– 17th and 18th century English pastor and author.
Satan’s plan to deceive man is clear from the Scriptures. When the serpent first appeared in the Garden of Eden, he immediately enticed Eve to fall for his plan. While God had made it clear that eating the ‘forbidden fruit’ would bring about physical death and shatter the harmonious relationship between God and man, Satan convinced Eve otherwise… The Bible teaches that the lie Satan used to trick Eve triggered the fall of man and brought the curse upon the original creation… is still effective.
Roger Oakland– 20th and 21st century Canadian-American Bible scholar and author.
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.
I Corinthians 10:13
How often do we supply our enemies with the means of our own destruction!
Aesop– 6th century B.C. Greek fabulist (The Eagle and the Arrow)
It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.
James Madison– 18th and 19th century American patriot &President of the United States
Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Proverbs 27:20
The purpose of the church is to regenerate and sanctify the individual to prepare him by purifying and training him for the high pursuits of eternal life.
The church is like a net cast into the sea. The purpose in not to change the sea but to catch the fish out of the sea. Let the sear roll on its essential nature while the net catches its fishes.
E. M. Bounds, Guide to Spiritual warfare, p. 54.
Jerry Ogles
Presiding Bishop
Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
We are fortunate to get copies of Bishop Jerry’s you tube links and sermon notes.
Bishop Jerry creates videos on various subjects, they last just under ten minutes and this week’s video is listed below:
Article 4 in the Series Articles of Religion -Most important!
https://youtu.be/uRTPJuTHR4U
THE LOST SHEEP
“But He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24; all scripture quoted is from the King James Bible)
Who are these lost sheep of Israel? Are they some racial group related in physical features to the Jews? Are they chosen of God for their race and blood, or by their claims to faith in Jesus Christ, and His foreordained knowledge of them? In other words, who are the children of Abraham and the recipients of that promise of a Redeemer made to Abraham? Since our Lord is the “Way, the Truth, and the Life,” (John 14:6) can any come to the Father by any other means than by redeeming faith granted by the grace of God? Does God account any righteous other than those who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb sacrificed for us before the foundation of the world? Would God extend salvation to any who reject that great blood offering of His only Beloved and Begotten Son? I think a serious student of the Word of God will know the answers to those questions.
So why did our Lord Jesus Christ go to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile? Though the greater number of Jews did not regard the promise of a Seed that was made to Abraham in any spiritual manner, they did have some legacy of prophetic writings upon which to kindle belief in their Messiah. I believe the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ found it expedient to begin a fire of faith where the smoldering coals of faith could be best gathered into one spot to complement a growing flame. Here is a comment taken from a sound Commentary in answer to the Canaanite woman:
“ . . . . a speech evidently intended for the disciples themselves, to satisfy them that, though the grace He was about to show to this Gentile believer was beyond His strict commission, He had not gone spontaneously to dispense it. Yet did even this speech open a gleam of hope, could she have discerned it. For thus might she have spoken: “I am not Sent, did He say? Truth, Lord, Thou comest not hither in quest of us, but I come in quest of Thee; and must I go empty away? So did not the woman of Samaria, whom when Thou foundest her on Thy way to Galilee, Thou sentest away to make many rich! But this our poor Syrophoenician could not attain to. What, then, can she answer to such a speech? Nothing. She has reached her lowest depth, her darkest moment: she will just utter her last cry.” Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
The Old Testament Church was the Church of believers in that Promise of a Seed made to Abraham before its fulfillment in Christ. “…A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: 39To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt.” (Acts 7:37-39) Is a lost sheep any less the property of our Lord than those that are found to be secured in the fold? I think not! The ownership is still vested in Him.
The Jews (primarily the Tribe of Judah and Benjamin) possessed the books of the Law and of the Prophets, but they only interpreted them in terms of worldly benefit. They sought a Messiah who would rule physically from Jerusalem and subdue, militarily, every enemy of the Jewish state. The God of Abraham was too big for their small understanding. Abraham was promised that ALL nations would be blessed through the promised Seed and, indeed, it is so today. The advances in medicine, science, and the human condition arising out of an enlightened faith in Christ, and informed by it, has truly blessed every creature on this globe.
What of the one lost sheep of the one hundred? “How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matthrew 18:12-14) Our Lord, consistent with that truth, departed, for the first time, the borders of Israel and went to the coastal region of Tyre/Sidon. It was not happenstance that led Him there, for none of His works were by chance or of an unknowing but a predestined nature. He went there for a purpose, and one of those purposes was for the opening of the eyes of his disciples to the overriding element of faith in the calling of the Lord. He knew the Canaanite woman would meet Him there just as surely as He knew the Samaritan woman would meet Him at the noon-day hour at Jacob’s Well. The people of God are not identified by the blood that flows through their veins, but by that blood of Him to whom they have been drawn by grace and faith. A child was spared the demon’s curse, and a woman’s faith was kindle to tensile heat.
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)
How are baby lambs born into this world. Do they decide by their own volition to be born, or is a prior act required by their parents to bring about their birth. What of Christians who are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world? Before the quickening and making alive of our spirits, were we not dead in trespasses and sins. It was the express grace of God that warmed our hearts with faith and knowing grace.
Do the dead know anything at all? Can they, through any imagined ‘spontaneous generation’ bring themselves to life again? No, this can never happen. See in the following text how we were dead in the old man, and made alive in Christ – all beyond our understanding or conscious effort: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:1-7) The Woman of Canaan was made a member of the household of God by her calling and faith. So were you and I if we are of the Kingdom of Heaven – and so are all who are the people of God from Abraham to today.
“That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 3For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 4Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. 6Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” (Romans 9:1-8)
You will note the heaviness of Paul’s heart for the people of his own bloodline (Israel) who had been gifted of so many things of God such as the matter of adoption of sons into the household of God, the glory of the past blessings and benefits of God’s beneficence, the old covenants, and the law and the prophets. They had every advantage except for the fact that they did not accept that promise made to Abraham of a Promised Seed. But those who did, are accounted the true sons and daughters of Abraham.(Israel). These were bonded over to Abraham and the promise. Those after Abraham who believed that future promise were accounted sons of God in the same sense that those who look back upon the accomplished sacrifice in faith are sons and daughters.
“For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 15Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. 16Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,” (Romans 4:13-16) God knew us long before we knew Him: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) and, “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
There is no good work that we can do to save ourselves – it is all of God. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) There are so many additional proofs of God’s sovereign will over our lives, but space prohibits a deeper discussion in the scope of this devotion.
Rejoice in your salvation!
Third Sunday after Trinity
Sermon – Bishop Jack Arnold – Time and Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion
Descanso, California
Consider these words from the Collect: … hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may, by thy mighty aid, be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities…
The Collect starts as they often do by asking God to hear us. It seems to me this is rather odd a thing to ask as He hears us all the time. His hearing is always perfect. It is our hearing that is imperfect. That being said, when we do accept the Holy Ghost’s Help to pray, we can expect to receive spiritual, mental and physical comfort from God. The key is that we have to accept God’s help in order to receive these comforts. In order to receive the comfort from God, we have to first let him into our hearts to begin his renewal of our spirit. If we do not accept the Holy Ghost’s help, then God will not be able to help us. So, in order to receive the benefits of the Holy Ghost, we need to open our hearts to Him and ask him to enter into our hearts that He might begin his transforming process.
It would be foolish not to accept the Great Physician’s help to transform our spirits. It would be like having cancer, and there being a cure for cancer and rejecting that cure because we don’t like it. It doesn’t matter if we like it or not, what matters is that God has a solution ready for us, we just have to accept it and let Him enter our hearts, souls and minds to begin that transformation process. Without the help of the Holy Ghost into our hearts, we truly cannot follow Christ. We, of ourselves, cannot follow God without His Divine Assistance. We are sheep gone astray from our shepherd and without Jesus, are wolf food. But with Jesus’s protection, we are safe from the wolf/lion known as Satan. We must be aware that Satan is like the lion seeking to devour our souls and we must maintain constant vigilance at all times. If we maintain constant vigilance and allow the Holy Ghost to guide us in our actions, then we will be safe from the threat of Satan devouring our souls.
In order to have the Holy Ghost’s help into our heart, we must let go of self-centered and prideful ways. Prideful beings cannot be followers of Christ. Peter makes this point when he says that God resists the proud and gives His Grace to the humble. The humble are those who are more likely to accept His Grace and the Holy Ghost’s help to renew their spirit. The proud believe they are self-made people and scoff at the very idea of God sending his only begotten Son that we should not perish but have life everlasting (John 3:16). These proud people are very resistant to God and the Holy Spirit. This is why prideful beings cannot be followers of Christ. They cannot let go of their skepticism and pride to see that they cannot make it through life and have eternal life without the help of God and the Holy Ghost.
These skeptics are the people that scoff at us and do not understand the benefits of the power of God and the Holy Spirit. They will continually be living in their own delusion unless they are otherwise shaken from it. And this is an extremely powerful delusion and it is difficult for these folks to be shaken from it. It is possible, but it does require that they allow the Holy Spirit in them, in order to be snapped out of the delusion. They do not understand that our self-centered and prideful ways hurt us way more than it can ever help.
The humble know they cannot make it into heaven on their own; thus, they know they need that divine help and are willing to accept it. They know that without God’s help they are nothing and thus they are more willing than the proud to rely on God. This is illustrated very well in the publican and the Pharisee, where the Pharisee is loudly praying to God and boasting of his great deeds and showing off his pride. “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” (Luke 18:11-12) You can see in this passage from Luke that the Pharisee was very arrogant and prideful, not very conducive to being a follower of Christ.
In contrast, look at the publican who wouldn’t even look up his eyes to heaven in his shame of being a sinner and knowing that he was indeed a sinner and said “God be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13)
Therefore, we must strive to be humble in our lives and less prideful. We need to be more like the publican and less like the Pharisee. When we let go of our pride, we can see where we are in error. This is a life-long process for most of us. It is a very difficult thing to let go of our pride, but it is something that must be done to further our character development all the same. Next time you are thinking prideful thoughts, stop and try and switch to a more humble attitude. In life, being humble will get you a lot farther than being prideful ever will.
When we accept help from the Holy Ghost, we can begin to fix the cracks and faults in our spiritual character. He can shine a light into the darkest areas of our hearts. Jesus could do this as well and He knew very well the spiritual character of each person He encountered in His Earthly Ministry. He knows which areas we need to most work on and He will tell us. We must trust His Knowledge and act upon His Wisdom that he provides us. Listening and then acting is the key phrase here. Without listening we’ll never know what we need to change and without acting we will never be able to change. So, we must listen to what He has to say, regardless of how we feel about it and then act.
With a clear view of the inner most thoughts of their hearts, Jesus tells the Pharisees the story of the shepherd who loses a sheep and searches for it. When he finds the sheep, he carries it back to the flock on his shoulders. He goes on to tell the story of the woman who loses a piece of silver and turns her house inside out to find it. That story ends in a very interesting word play in English, “Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece (peace) which I had lost.” Jesus ends the story with, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” No doubt the Pharisees missed the point of the parable as their hearts were too blackened by pride to hear His Word. They missed the point of all of His Parables as they were too proud to truly have the Holy Ghost in their hearts. They were much like the proud and self-made men that we talked about earlier that resist God and His Offer for help. We must strive in our lives to be more like the humble men and less like the Pharisees.
The moral of the parable is Jesus is all about saving the sinners, not those who are already “righteous.” But currently on this Earth there are none who are truly righteous. I liken the church as a hospital for sinners. And all of the saints were sinners in their past too. Therefore, Jesus is all about saving all of us, as none of us are truly righteous without His Influence in our lives. Having said that, there is also joy when we do not sin, but choose God’s way. And we enjoy it more also. So, it is preferable if we do not sin in the first place, but if we can’t do that, then God finds joy when we truly repent and turn back to Him and ask for His help and be willing to listen. There are no holier than thous in Christ’s flock, we are all equally non perfect folk or sinners that have let the Holy Ghost into our hearts to inspire us to change and become better humans and children of God.
Notice Jesus’ actions when He finds a lost sheep, He carries it back to the flock on His shoulders with a smile on His face. He rejoices in each lost soul saved. This is what the Church is about, bringing lost souls to Our Shepherd of Souls, Our Savior, Our Advocate, Jesus Christ, to His Kingdom of Heavenly Joys.
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
Yves M. Méra
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 3rd Sunday after Trinity
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. 39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. 41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.” (Luke 6:36-42)
JUDGE YOURSELF BEFORE OTHERS
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
“Judge not…” (Luke 6:37a) is the favorite verse of unrepentant sinners. It is so easy to justify oneself cheaply by taking care to eliminate all the context of this verse. But in the previous verse, our Lord Jesus Christ gives us the general framework of His speech (verse 36): “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” Our Heavenly Father is merciful, and we must imitate His compassion for sinners who do penance. God hates sin, He cannot bear it; but He forgives those who repent, who change not only their attitude and behavior, but their way of thinking, by adjusting their judgments to those of the Father, which is clearly comprised in His Holy Word – the Bible.
Do not imagine that our sins are very small things, forgivable in themselves, as automatically. Denying sin is not the solution. On the contrary, the Word of God insists on the seriousness of any disobedience to God’s will for us, sanctioning it by death and eternal hell promised to our first ancestor, the unfortunate Adam (Genesis 2:16-17): “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die .” Death is not a natural phenomenon. It is the punishment of sin, and an honest examination of conscience reveals to us quite quickly that we deserve this death that awaits us around the corner – our own death. Death has a spiritual dimension that contemporary people voluntarily forget: our death is the consequence of our sin. And we have all sinned. There is no need to compare ourselves to other people worse than us by trying to reassure ourselves cheaply (Romans 3:22b-23): “… there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
(Psalm 51:5-7): “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Indeed, we need to be cleansed. Baptism and confirmation are not enough. We are purified only by the blood of Christ, shed on the cross. Without His unique sacrifice, the efficacy of which applies both to the past eternity and to the eternity to come, no one could be saved. And we repent when we realize what our sin has cost the Father’s begotten only begotten Son, no more and no less than the death penalty, accompanied by cruel tortures, both physical and moral (Matthew 27:46): “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Christ divested Himself of His royal dignity by becoming incarnate in the womb of Mary, a simple Jewish maiden who asked nothing of anyone but to obey God; Christ stripped Himself of His seamless royal robe at the moment of being nailed to a wicked wooden cross, naked as a worm, exposed and humbled in the sight of all; Christ emptied Himself of His own life by giving up the ghost on this same cross, having accomplished everything for our salvation (Luke 23:46): “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is through this abominable sacrifice that we who believe are delivered from death, and it is a proof that sin is no small matter. Jesus says in John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” Our sin damned us, condemned us to eternal hell, but the blood shed by Christ cleanses us of our sin by faith, and delivers us from the Satan’s clutches. The devil no longer has any power over us, for we are safe in the hand of the Father. God the Creator is stronger than Satan, who is only a creature and a fallen one. The devils are enraged to know that we are saved. And if we sometimes have doubts about it, the demons have none. Rest assured! And if these vile spiritual creatures tempt us as their priority, it is precisely to frighten us and make us doubt. But don’t be afraid! Peter, James and John were terrified by the voice of God that accompanied the Transfiguration of Our Lord (Matthew 17:5b-7): “… a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.” … “Jesus came and touched them” … Imagine just for a second that Christ is touching us… What a privilege to physically feel the reality of God! But our sin is just as real as is Christ’s sacrifice. This should lead us to humility for ourselves, and to compassion for others, especially the unbelievers, the rebels against God, and the ignorant who dwell around us.
It is in this context that we must understand the famous verse “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). It is followed by two others, that resemble it (Luke 6:41-42): “… why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.” These words of Christ invite us to humility. They invite us to not feel superior to others. We have been touched by Christ, at His initiative and according to His will alone. It’s pure grace. We had deserved nothing like that, because we were lost sinners, like the others. Our will is destroyed by divine grace. It is replaced by the will of God who comes to dwell in our hearts, by His Holy Spirit. This is what we call Repentance!
The consequence is obvious (Luke 6:43-45): “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” If our mouths utter insanity, it is because we are evil. But if we say good words, then we are good, touched by Christ. And the best that our mouth can express is the Word of God. Let us fill the treasury of our hearts with these good Words of God, let us nourish our minds with the reading of the Bible. Let us listen to the preaching of our pastors. It’s free, in the shelter, and it enriches you much more than participating in a garage sale in the rain.
If, therefore, our hearts are filled with biblical words, we will be keen to quote them to those who need them because they do not know the Bible. So, it is not we who judge, but God who judges. We are only His spokespersons. It is even our duty to teach the way of God to all (Mark 16:15): “… Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Matthew 28:19): “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” And if people criticize us for appearing to judge them, contrary to God’s commandment, we can answer them that God judges all men, including us, and that we are already judged: the Father saves His adopted children, because they are united to His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, the only Savior.
Where do you stand in this teaching? Among lost sinners, in solidarity with error and lies? Or in the hand of the Father, in Jesus Christ? (John 10:27-29): “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” So be reassured and don’t be afraid! (John 14:19-21): “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” My friends, you are not dreaming! These Words of Christ are true. All sincere believers have experienced them in their lives and confirm them to you. Listen to them again (Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Yes, we were the ones who shouted out “Death, crucify Him!” when we were still unrepentant sinners. We crucified Jesus through our sin, He who had come to deliver us from it. And we killed Him Who is the Lord of Life. And precisely because He is truly the Lord of life, He rose again on the third day, in accordance with Holy Scripture.
His first words of the Risen Christ to the Apostles are words of forgiveness and appeasement (John 20:19c): “Peace be unto you!” – Shalom! Of the Twelve, one betrayed him by selling Him to be judged and killed (Judas), another publicly denied him three times (Peter), and nine others fled at the time of His great trial. Only one, the youngest, assisted him with his presence to the foot of the cross: John. And yet, Christ restores and forgives them – except for Judas who committed suicide (Peter repented humiliating himself before Christ by acknowledging his own weakness during the trial). Christ renews His trust in them and entrusts them with His mission, the mission of the Father, the mission of the Church (John 20:21): “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”; and Christ tells them to judge all men (John 20:23): “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” because in the previous verse He had given them the right means to judge people (John 20:22b): “ … he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost”
It is therefore with God’s authority that we judge sinners, either to forgive them if they have repented, or to hand them over to Satan if they refuse (1 Timothy 1:18-20): “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; 19Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” Is that clear enough?
This is why Peter, in his first epistle, recommends that we submit to the elders (1 Peter 5:5a): “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.” But who is that elder, you may ask? It is all the generations of Christians who have gone before us, going back to the Apostles and Jesus Christ, and consequently their traditional biblical teaching.
The same passage from the Epistle of Peter concludes in verse 11: “To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Our little muscular arms will never have the strength to do what God does. But God gives us the strength to maintain the truth of what the older generations have handed down to us: the deposit of faith (2 Timothy 1:13-14): “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.” Our strength is in Christ: (1 Peter 5:10): “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Here, Peter speaks from his own experience!
And Peter is therefore right to invite us to drape ourselves with humility by placing ourselves “under the mighty hand of God” (verse 6), by being “sober” and “vigilant” (verse 8). We do not know how to fight Satan, because he is invisible. But God will fight him for us if we ask Him in prayer. Those who do not pray to God just give themselves up to Satan as Judas gave Jesus Christ to the same. But Judas was acting in vain, for Christ is alive, risen, and we too will be alive on the last day.
(1 Corinthians 6:2a… 3a): “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? … Know ye not that we shall judge angels?”. So, let’s judge people! But let’s start by judging ourselves before God, in conscience, and the compassion flooding our hearts will soften our judgment of others! Amen.
Rt. Rev. Yves Méra, AOC Bishop of France.
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, espouse the truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I commend it to your careful reading.
Third Sunday after Trinity
In our gospel lesson today (St. Luke 15:1-10), our Lord presented the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin. He spoke of the ninety-nine sheep and nine coins which were deemed to be found, or by inference were safe. These no doubt were representations of the teachers of the law who had come to criticize him. While they may have regarded themselves as the safe sheep and secure coins of our lesson, the reality of their spiritual states was quite different. The prophet Isaiah (53:6) once admonished, All we like sheep have gone astray; and we have
turned every one to his own way… And St. Paul advised the Roman Christians (3:10-12), As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. If the scribes and Pharisees had been godly men, after having heard the words of our Lord, they would have recognized themselves to be, in actuality, the lost sheep and lost coins that he was talking about.
So then, why was it so difficult for the teachers of the law to understand these parables? Let us first consider the following charge by our Lord, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil (St. John 8:42-44). The Bible tells us that we are involved in a great spiritual war which demands that we take a side. Unlike warfare in our earthly sphere, there is no middle or neutral ground. You will either be in God’s camp, or you will— by default— be counted within the camp of the Devil. Down through the ages, God has called on those who are his to come out from among the heathen and be separate (see Deuteronomy 28:1-68; II Corinthians 6:14-18). As these men had rejected our Lord as the Messiah, they were as described: Ye are of your father the devil.
A second point of interest would be the mindset of those men with regard to their duties under the law. Our Lord spoke of their arrogance when he said, The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say and do not… all their works they do for to be seen of men… whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted (St. Matthew 23:1-12). He then pronounced a series of stinging indictments upon them as well as their ancestors when he said, But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in your selves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in… for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith… you are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye outwardly appear righteous… but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity… Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell (St. Matthew 23:13-39)? Consider our epistle lesson for today (I St. Peter 5:5-6) wherein the apostle admonished, All of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.
It would seem that their slavish devotion to their tradition along with their lack of humility before God prevented them from realizing that their Saviour—God robed in flesh— was rebuking them for their extra-biblical notions and their lack of faith (St. Matthew 15:1-3). Scripture advises us to, Study to shew thyself approved unto God… (II St. Timothy 2:15). It also tells us that a wise man rebuked and instructed in the word will increase in knowledge, for he will recognize his error and turn away from it to righteousness (Proverbs 9:8- 9). Our Lord sought to convict his critics in their hearts, but they would not turn unto him in godly wisdom. They had already been overtaken by Satan who had snatched the words of truth from their hearts at the moment it was communicated (St. Matthew 13:19).
Thirdly, we need to understand that Satan blinds men’s minds to the truth of God all the while offering a false sense of security to his charges. We have expressions here in the South such as: “he (or she) has a skeleton in the closet;” or “don’t air your dirty linen in public;” are just a few of those which have been passed down from generation to generation. They have their foundation in the universality of mankind’s propensity for sin as everyone has done things which they, to a greater or lesser degree, have come to regret. Only the arrogant and the prideful would attempt to sweep such remembrances “under the rug” without some
form of contrition or at a minimum, to cause them to bow their heads in shame should they ever come mind.
No doubt many an unrepentant soul has counted time as an ally. For with its passage, the memory of their errors seem to fade and are of no real importance to them. How often have the unregenerate sought to apply their faulty reasoning to God assuming that he does not see what they have done, or are now doing? So, when our Lord preached to the sinners and publicans, they responded to him by repenting of their evil deeds. They knew they were unclean as did the scribes and Pharisees. But the real difference between the former and latter was that former recognized their sins and sought a remedy, while the latter did not recognize that they too were sinners: as much if not more so than those whom they had labeled
sinners and publicans.
The scribes and Pharisees were not looking for a personal Saviour of their souls, especially one who would embrace sinners and publicans. They were looking for a conquering Messiah and a collective redemption based upon their kinship to the Patriarchs. They did not reflect upon the law of Moses except to point out the deficiencies of others, but not themselves. Their hardheartedness and lack of humility reflected their true spiritual natures. Indeed, those who were truly lost were those who believed they had no need of a Saviour. The prophet Micah gave us God’s expectation on this matter when he said (Micah 6:8): He hath
shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Let us close with the first verse from the hymn Amazing Grace: “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” May our good and gracious God open your eyes to see yourselves as you really are and to turn your hearts to true repentance in the name of his only begotten Son.
Let us pray,
Holy Father, assist us as we carry the gospel to those around us; that such as will hear might also turn unto thee and be saved; for this we ask in the name of him who came to seek and save the lost, even our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have a blessed week,
Bryan+
The Rev. Don Fultz
Rector of St. Peter’s AOC
located in the AOC National Office
We are grateful to have this sermon of the beautiful Psalm
Nineteen today from Rev. Don Fultz from St. Peter’s AOC, Statesville, NC.
Sermon Luke 15, 1-10, Parables of the lost sheep and coin.
St Luke ends the 14th chapter with the following words from Jesus “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Today’s gospel begins with the following text: ‘Then drew near to Him all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him” They had ears to hear what the savior was teaching. But the Pharisees and Scribes murmured, saying this man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them”.
What a great word of hope that is for sinners! If the thought of standing before the Holy God who knows everything you have thought, said, or done frightens you because you know your sin is great, don’t run. Rather, do what these sinners in Jesus’s day did: draw near to Him and listen to Him. He will receive you. Jesus tells us in John 6:37 “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
Jesus owns up to the Pharisee’s charge and defends himself by telling three parables; the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. The first two are in today’s Gospel text. They all make the same point with different emphasis.
First, Jesus tells us the parable of the lost sheep. A lost sheep in the Judean wilderness was doomed. Sheep unlike other animals have no natural defense against their predators. They have no horns, claws, sharp teeth, and can’t run. In addition, they have no sense of direction and sometimes could stray away from the flock and get lost and be easy prey for a lion, bear, or a pack of wolves.
As such is a picture of a lost sinner. The sinner may not even know that he is lost and headed for destruction, but that is the truth.
Unbelievers are lost and helpless unless God intervenes. But thank God, He has intervened. Jesus shows us that in the two parables.
The shepherd leaves his 99 sheep in a safe green pasture area of the wilderness and goes after the lost one, searching until he finds it.
In Jesus day, a person who owned 100 sheep was considered quite wealthy. One sheep lost would only be 1 percent of what he owned.
However, God doesn’t want anyone to perish…He wants everyone to come to him in repentance, especially one of his lost sheep. Here’s what God told King Soloman in 2nd Chronicles 7:14 “If my people whom are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear them from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.”
The woman who lost the silver coin sets aside all her other work and diligently searches until she finds it. Both the shepherd and the woman realized the problem and took the initiative to deal with it. They both began searching for the lost item. The lost sheep and the lost coin were passive in the process. The only reason they were found is that the shepherd and the woman initiated a diligent search for them. Scripture is clear that if we are saved, it is because the Lord took the initiative, we did not. That initiative springs out of His great love and compassion. As the Apostle Paul tells us in Eph1, 4,5): “According as he hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
Also Paul tells in Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
In the case of the shepherd, he had to take whatever time and risk it took to search for his lost sheep. He had to expose himself to the dangers of the wilderness and the weather. The same lions, bears or wolves that were stalking his sheep might stalk him as well.
In Samuel 17:34-36, we read about David telling Saul how when he was keeping his father’s sheep, he had on two separate occasions, a battle with a lion and a bear that were attacking one of his lost sheep. In both incidents, he slew the lion and the bear.
In the case of the woman and her lost coin, everything was set aside until she found the missing silver coin. The value of such a coin was equivalent to about a day’s wage. That was a lot of money to a poor person! However, it may have had a much greater sentimental than monetary value to the woman if it was part of her wedding head ban. In those days, when a husband took a bride, he gave her a headband with ten silver coins. She wore this headband in public to show she was married.
So, she lighted a candle, and swept the house, and searched diligently, and spared no pains until she found the lost piece of silver. Keep in mind the small huts lived in had dirt floors and had no artificial and little or no natural lighting so if you needed to find something you had to light a candle or a lamp. People without God are the same. They are not just lost; they are in the dark. They need Jesus, the Light of the World. He turned the light on the Pharisees and exposed what they were really like. So, in the parable, the woman represents the bride or church and the lighted candle represents the light of the Holy Gospel!
I can relate to the woman who lost her silver coin. A couple years ago I lost my gold wedding band ring. It had more of sentimental than monetary value as it was given to me by my wife for our 30th year wedding anniversary. I looked for it for several days, searching the house, and even borrowed a metal detector going over my whole lawn to try find it. However, after several days searching no ring could be found. Then, I thought about where I had gone before I had lost my ring. I remembered going grocery shopping at Aldis with my wife. So, I hurried and got in my car and drove there. I asked the store manager if anyone had found a ring. Yes, he said. I was so happy. A lady had found one in one of the lower chest freezers on top of some frozen desserts. The ring must have slipped off my finger when I had reached into the freezer. She had left a phone number so I called her and went and met her and her husband at a restaurant in Troutman, NC. After a few questions, she was gracious to return my ring back. Her husband was a retired Minister…I offered the lady a reward but she declined.
In the case of our salvation, the cost is much greater than any material possession lost. God did not spare his only begotten son, but delivered Him up for us all (Rom 8:32). Jesus did not selfishly cling to the glory and beauty and comfort of Heaven, but He laid aside His rights and came to this earth, not as the mighty King to judge sinners, but as a lowly servant to give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
He willingly endured the abuse of arrogant men in order to secure the salvation of his sheep. “He endured the cross, despising the shame.” (Heb 12:2) “He laid down his life for his friends. “(John 15:13). Greater love than this cannot be shown. Jesus truly is our “Good Shepherd”!
When the shepherd found the lost sheep, he didn’t just lead it back to the fold. He put it securely on his shoulders and carried it home. He’s holding it by its legs so that it will not get lost again. It is quite a load as sheep could weigh anywhere between 70-120 pounds. It is a picture of Christ carrying the weight of the cross for the burden of our sins.
God knows what it feels like to lose something. He is searching for something…but not because he can’t remember where he left it. He knows where it is and knows who it is. Jesus described His mission in Luke 19:10, “For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” This verse sums up the entire life and ministry of our Lord. Jesus Christ came to seek and save lost sinners. He came to restore our lost relationship to God, the Father. Jesus came to reach out to the outcasts. The lord actively reaches out to spiritual drifters and backsliders. He promises restoration to those who return.
The biblical description of those who do not know Jesus is not “unsaved” but lost. It’s an empty hopeless word when used in reference to things or to animals, but it’s an especially bleak word when it is used in reference to people. In what may be one of the saddest verses in the Bible, St. Paul describes the former condition of his Gentile church: in Ephesians chapter two verses twelve: He tells them: “That at the time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”
There is a marked contrast in this text between the murmuring of the Pharisees and Scribes and the great joy in heaven and on earth when the lost sheep and coin are found. Note verse 5, “rejoicing: verse 6 “rejoice; verse 7 “joy”; verse 9, “rejoice”; verse 10, “Joy”.
Heaven is already filled with joy but there is an abundant more when a sinner gets saved!
God’s joy is over sinners who repent, not over the righteous who need no repentance. There seem to be different views on what Jesus meant in verse 7. However, both Matthew Henry and JC Ryle take the same view which is as follows: In all three parables, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the Prodigal son all represent the lost Publicans and sinners who were coming to hear Jesus and getting saved.
The 99 sheep and the nine coins there were not lost all represent the Scribes and Pharisees. It is not that they did not need repentance for themselves, but rather that they thought that they were good enough not to need repentance. They thought their righteousness was in just keeping the law. We saw the same thing back in Luke 5:32, when the Pharisees complained because Jesus and His disciples ate with Publicans and sinners at Levi’s house. Jesus replied: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
The Lord hates pride and so the Pharisees were just as sinful as the most outwardly notorious publicans and other sinners whom they despised. But they were blind toward their own hypocrisy and pride.
Jesus also confronted them in Luke 16:15 when he said “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. “
Thus the “righteous” are the self-righteous who need to repent just as much as the publicans and sinners, but who are blind to their need. Repentance means turning to God from our sins.
Such repentance is God’s gift, not the work of man (Acts 11:17,18), and is always bound up with saving faith. You cannot have one without the other. When a person savingly believes in Christ, he turns from his sins and trusts in God’s mercy. A person who says I believe in Jesus, but who does not repent of his sins, has not truly believed in Jesus unto salvation.
When a sinner turns from his sins to God, all heaven rejoices because God gets the Glory. When a self-righteous person continues in his self-righteousness, he gets the glory and God is not pleased.
In closing, these parables show God’s love, concern and compassion for all sinners. He calls them individually to come to Himself. He cares about every lost sinner who needs repentance. If you know there are sins in your heart that need God’s merciful forgiveness, confess and ask forgiveness for them in your prayers to Him. 1John 1:9 tells us “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
There is no benefit to us to know Christ’s love, if we don’t accept and use it. St. John 8:17 tells us “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them”.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen
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
Keep Praying for the following:
Laurie,
Shamu,
Tom,
Craig,
Jack and Dru Arnold,
Jim, Dawn and Harper,
Roberto & Bianca
Phylis
Rachel and Joshua
Dotty
Sue
Sandra
Madison and Hilda
Steve
Josh Morley
Lourie
Jennifer
Candy
Tricia
AOC USA
AOC Missions
Zach
Jess
Luke
Jacquie
Angie
Doug
Clark
Mr. Kim
Linda
Prayer Needed:
Bishop Hap Arnold – Military interment/funeral will be on 27 June at 1300 at Miramar National Cemetery
Bishop Ernest and Eileen Jacobs on travel from Pakistan to Miami and then Statesville and US
June 25-July 25, 2024
Extended Issues need continued prayer;
Jim Kniffen related to his Traumatic Brain Injury – ongoing symptoms the doctors say at least 6 months more for recovery with abbreviated work and much rest
Laurie with long Covid Symptoms – Extreme exhaustion, heart palpitations, breathing problems and unstable blood pressures are constant worries causing depression to settle in.
Jessie – pneumonia (Mom) daughter Brenda – long term Laryngitis – help speaking again
Jodi – cancer that has spread to her brain stem with no cure and her family (The Bermans)
Joyce – Melanoma removed awaiting biopsy report
Praise Reports for Answered Prayer:
Rachel Richards ear surgery went well and she is expected to go home today or tomorrow.
