Anglican Orthodox Churchsm
Worldwide Communion
Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday Report
The Fourth Sunday after Trinity – June 23, 2024
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 194-195, with the Collect first:
The Collect for the Fourth 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 Fourth Sunday after Trinity. Romans viii. 18.
I RECKON that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity. St. Luke vi. 36.
BE ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 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. And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. And 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.
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.
“The privilege of being with Christ in heaven” |
“Let us all be exhorted hence earnestly to seek after that great privilege that has been spoken of, that when we are absent from the body, we may be present with the Lord. We can’t continue always in these earthly tabernacles: they are very frail, and will soon decay, and fall, and are continually liable to be overthrown, by innumerable means. Our souls must soon leave them, and go into the eternal world.
O how infinitely great will the privilege and happiness of such be, who at that time shall go to be with Christ in His glory, in the manner that has been represented!
The privilege of the twelve disciples was great, in being so constantly with Christ as His family, in His state of humiliation.
The privilege of those three disciples was great, who were with Him in the mount of His transfiguration, where was exhibited to them some little semblance of His future glory in heaven, such as they might behold in the present frail, feeble and sinful state. They were greatly entertained and delighted with what they saw, and were for making tabernacles to dwell there, and return no more down the mount.
And great was the privilege of Moses, when he was with Christ in Mount Sinai, and besought Him to show him His glory, and he saw His back-parts, as He passed by, and proclaimed His name.
But is not that privilege infinitely greater, that has now been spoken of, the privilege of being with Christ in heaven, where He sits on the right hand of God, in the glory of the King and God of angels, and of the whole universe, shining forth as the great light, the bright sun of that world of glory, there to dwell in the full, constant and everlasting view of His beauty and brightness, there most freely and intimately to converse with Him, and fully to enjoy His love, as His friends and spouse, there to have fellowship with Him in the infinite pleasure and joy He has in the enjoyment of His Father, there to sit with Him on His throne, and reign with Him in the possession of all things, and partake with Him in the joy and glory of His victory over His enemies, and the advancement of His cause in the world, and to join with Him in joyful songs of praise, to His Father and their Father, to His God and their God, forever and ever?
Is not such a privilege worth the seeking after?”
–Jonathan Edwards, “True Saints, When Absent From The Body, Are Present With The Lord”
Points to Ponder:
Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.
Psalm 119:17-19
We must keep a watchful eye and a strict hand upon all the motions of our inward man. God, who gave us these souls, gave us a strict charge with them. We must set a strict guard, accordingly, upon all avenues of the soul; keep our hearts from doing hurt and getting hurt, from being defiled by sin and disturbed by trouble; keep out bad thoughts; keep the affections upon right objects and in bounds [for] out of a heart well kept will flow living issues… to the glory of God and the edification of others.
The Rev. Matthew Henry– 17th and 18th century English pastor and author.
Unless the people, through unified action, arise and take charge of their government, they will find that their government has taken charge of them. Independence and liberty will be gone, and the general public will find itself in a condition of servitude to an aggregation of organized and selfish interest.
Calvin Coolidge– 20th century president of the United States.
Persevering means never giving up on the hope that is within us. “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) Not only not giving up, but following steadfastly that Light given from above. I have never had the opportunity to plow, but when I was a lad, many farmers in my area still used mules to plow the fields. In plowing, I observed that they never looked back, but always forward. One cannot see to plow a straight row if he is looking back where he has been and not forward to where he is going.
Bishop Jerry L. Ogles – Reason for Love
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:
Article 5 in the Series Articles of Religion This is a bit long (13+ minutes. I could not reduce the length and still do justice to the Article) JLO
Part One of the lost Sheep:
PRAYER OF COLLECT for 4th Sunday after TRINITY
O GOD, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy, that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O GOD, the protector of all that trust in thee. We see, not only in this prayer, but in scripture itself, a thing condemned by the world but practiced by God. God profiles and discriminates in his dealings with His people. Those who do not trust in God may not claim the privilege of His protection. He seeks those who have the faith to trust in Him under any and all circumstances of life. Remember that there are only two families and classes among all the people of the earth – past, present, and future – the family of God, and the family of the Prince of Darkness. There is NO MIDDLE GROUND! Trust is all important. We all tend to place our trust in SOMETHING – our friends, our job, our wealth, or our own hand. But trust misplaced is trust abandoned. Trust is so important to God that He places it in the very center verse of Holy Scripture: “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.” (Psalms 118:9) The national motto of our United States is “In God we Trust.” We consider it of such importance that we place it on every coin minted by our government. Sadly, the motto is dead without the real trust that should back both our money and our motto.
When the storms and billows build upon the seas of your life, you may take courage in the Psalmists words of encouragement and strength: “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” (Psalms 139:9-10) If we have made our election in Christ sure, we may rely upon the promises found in Isaiah: “…Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” (Isaiah 43:1-2)
“. . . without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy”” Apart from God there is NOTHING! There was only a void where the earth now stands, and even the void was created by the Word of God. There is NO LIFE apart from His loving provision. So there can be NO STRENGTH apart from God. He is the PRIME MOVER and SUSTAINER of all things. And can there be holiness apart from God. None whatsoever, for there are none righteous – no not ONE! There can be no holy thought, no holy ground, apart from a Holy God to provide it.
“Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy” God’s mercy is as abundant as a gushing fountain. We can never reach a point when we believe we have had enough. It continually flows forth and bathes us in its resplendent waters of light. If we magnify our Lord, He will magnify His mercies upon us.
“. . . that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal.” Do we not pray to get through the fires of life un-scorched? In the burning building, as in the world of smoke and mirrors, we desperately seek the way that leads to safety. We may grope and stumble until the fires consume us because we have no Guide in the fires. But we do have a strong Guide and Ruler who is our King and Sovereign. His eyes are forever on His own. He will go through the fires with us, sheltering us with His wings, and bring us, unscathed, to safety. But we must keep our hand, and our trust, in Him during the danger. Those things of the world may cause us to break hold of Christ and wonder into places that lead us to perish. Can we cast aside the false glitter and dim lights of this world and keep our focus fixed on that Light that never fails. If we are able to persevere to the last, we shall be saved to enjoy the splendor of Heaven.
How can our saving mercies be granted on behalf of One who has already gained the Kingdom of His Father? How is Christ profited by our grant of mercy? “Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.” The very dying desire of Christ was that we might be saved. His ordeal of torture and earth was all for us. He purchased our salvation with His atoning death if we will only place our trust in that mighty Salvation! It is for the sake of His Son that God the Father will admit us into His Heaven as pure and righteous sons of God.
Have you placed your absolute trust in Him, Friend?
Sermon Notes for 4th Sunday after Trinity
“And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?” (Luke 6:39; all scripture quoted is from the King James bible)
One of God’s greatest gifts to mankind is the gift of sight. He has created our ability to see by His first act of Creation – the blessing of LIGHT. “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (Genesis 1:2-3)
But the gift of vision is not limited to physical vision – there is a greater vision, by far, that is spiritual. This latter vision is often enhanced when a believer is deprived of his physical sight. We all remember Fanny Crosby who wrote thousands of hymns many of which alluded to seeing her Savior ‘face to face.’
In developing my expositional sermons, I often attempt to extrude the fullness of each verse of the text in question; however, this text today from the Gospel of St. Luke 6:36-42 is so packed with truth and beauty that I have elected to expound upon the single verse that forms the text for this sermon.
Just as the physical eye can reveal marvelous beauty in God’s Creation, so can the spiritual reveal even greater beauty in that which exists beyond the physical Creation in the realms of our Triune God beyond the Gates of Splendor. In as attempt to explain this beauty, John the Revelator falls short of adequate human vocabulary to describe it.
There are often threats and dangers in life that actually reveal a hidden beauty that results by the passing of such threats:
Through the darkness of the midnight the observer often catches the radiance of a stream of light. It is a meteor. And what is a meteor? From the vast depths of space, flying with tremendous force, come fragments, perhaps of exploded planets, hurtling through space, and ready to strike with tremendous force, as sometimes they have done, destroying anything that stood in their way, and burying themselves deeply in the soil. These meteorites, coming within the limits of the atmosphere, and driven with such terrific speed, are ignited by friction, flash out their brightness amid the gloom of night, and in most instances, unless they are very large, they are entirely consumed before they reach the earth. So, the meteorite becomes a meteor; and the stone flying through the atmosphere, instead of smiting the earth illuminates the sky. And there are troubles, and trials, and dangers which seem sometimes to threaten to crush us, and destroy us, which only light up the heavens with new glory and flash brightness on our pilgrim way.
The blind eyes of the spirit, however, are far more egregious than those of the physical body. The Light of God is an invisible beam to such blind eyes. “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23) In the case cited above by our Lord Jesus Christ, it is that ‘spiritual blindness to which He makes reference.
Now we consider the audience to whom Christ addresses our selected verse today: in its most profound application, He was addressing the religious leaders of the day whose pretentions of righteousness were based on false and judgmental claims. In a broader application, His counsel applies to us all. We have all been blind to truth. The more we learn and study the dark mysteries of biblical truth, the greater becomes our vision to distinguish truth from the false. In the reverent study of God’s Word, we are assuming a greater garment of the Mind of God and His Will for our lives. Knowing truth, we can readily discern error and falsehood – a decidedly critical characteristic in a day in which evil is called good, and good is called evil. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20) We see examples of this ‘Woe’ at every turn – in society, in politics, in education, and, regrettable, even in the churches of America. In mainline churches of America, the very abominable sins to which the Scriptures make certain reference are being embraced from the pulpits as being Holy.
“But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judæa flee to the mountains.” (Mark 13:14) May I suggest that we already see that abomination of Leviticus 18:22 standing in the pulpits and Holy places of American churches – “…Blind leaders of the blind!” (Mattew 5:14) Have we completely disregarded Holy Scripture as our rule and compass of life? I am afraid that American churches have already fallen into the ditch along with their congregations who blindly follow.
When we encounter Christians who have been deceived by their false prophets and phony churches, what should be our reaction? If we have studied the word of God in love and reverence, and understood His clear will to expose error wherever it raises its ugly tentacles, we must let the blind use our spiritual eyes to expose the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Each day of our lives is composed of alternating periods of light and darkness. This is a natural blessing in the physical world that allows daily light for labor, and nocturnal shadows for rest and sleep. But the spiritual world in which we, as believers, must fervently desire to abide is forever illuminated by the Light of Christ. We may, from time to time, experience moments of spiritual darkness, however, we must no linger in such periods. If we do, our spiritual eyes will slowly lose their appreciation for the light and we will become as dwellers of the dark world of the lost.
While a young boy, my father took me to a very special natural wonder near Sweetwater, Tennessee = the Lost Sea. After a descent of two or three hundred feet beneath the surface, we arrived at a very large underground body of water. This was the Lost Sea which had been kept in smothering darkness for centuries, and perhaps, millennia.
The Lost Sea is America’s largest underground lake and Registered National Landmark. Upon boarding a small glass-bottomed vessel, we were escorted out over the deep of the Sea whose depth has never been able of fathoming. The Sea is teeming with fish that follow the vessel as it navigates the waters. But these fish are quite strange. They are snow white in color and are all blind – not because they have no eyes, but because their scales have grown over the globes of their eyes. The position of the eyes is clearly observed from the bulge the scales form over the eyes. Trout and bass are easily identified in this condition.
Since there has been no sunlight on those waters for eons of time, the fish have lost their color and luster. The scales have grown over their eyes because they have lived too long in darkness. They have no need of vision in a dark place.
I believe those blind fish illustrate the condition of a nation that has known God but, owing to an extended period of darkness, have lost their ability to see. I am afraid our beloved America is thus illustrated. We have allowed the darkness of false teaching and wicked indoctrination to blind our eyes so that we can no longer discern light; we are blinded to truth and reason.
If those fish could be removed from the Lost Sea and taken to the surface, I do not know if they could ever again be made to see by the skills of the surgeon; however, spiritual blindness is capable of restoration to sight by the resplendent light of the Holy Spirit.
Fourth Sunday after Trinity
Sermon – Bishop Jack Arnold – Time and Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion
Descanso, California
Consider these words from the Collect:
… protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal…
We desperately need God’s Help, yet paradoxically, God can only help us if we put our trust in Him; we can never be strong, nor set aside to Him, if we do not let Him be our leader. He will not force us to let Him lead us, this is something that we must decide to do, to allow the Holy Ghost in and allow Him to give us God’s counsel. No one except God can be their own leader, no one. Each of us, no matter our position, must have an immutable directional reference or we become hopelessly lost. For navigation, we have a magnetic compass or better yet the Pole Star, Polaris, which will tell us True North so we can keep headed in the right direction. People have died of starvation in a closely wooded area less than a mile across because they became lost while following their own sense of direction. By definition, they were always less than 3,000 feet from safety, yet they died after many days. So it is with our spirits.
This message is a constant theme in most of the collects, as it is a pretty common theme for us that we are totally lost without God’s guidance. Like Peter, if we are separated from Christ, then we too shall become lost. But, if we have the Holy Ghost, we are not separated from God and Christ and will thus become stronger. When we lost Bishop Hap, we felt lost, but like the apostles when Christ ascended to heaven, if we lean upon the Holy Ghost, we will get a renewed strength and sense of purpose to help
carry on the work that Bishop Hap had been doing for the church. So, if we have the Holy Ghost in our heart, he will both strengthen us and help us to holy, that is set aside. He can also help us be merciful to other people. We just need to listen to what the Holy Ghost says and act upon it.
It is a simple truth that we cannot be our own leaders. We need a leader that is infallible and perfect and we do not meet those requirements. If we try to become our own leaders, it will not work. But fortunately for us, we have God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost. if we will follow Their Lead, we will pass through this world in good order and go on to the next in eternal happiness. This is a very common theme within Scripture, do what God asks, be happy; don’t do what God asks, don’t be happy. This has been a constant truth from the beginning and will be true all the way through the end of time. If we can internalize this message and truly take it to heart, we will be a much happier people as a result.
We should not consider what man thinks of us. In the end it will matter less what man thinks of us than what God thinks of us. If we consider more what man thinks than what God thinks, then that is when we get into trouble. Man’s counsel is fallible, but God’s counsel is infallible and that is who we must listen to and not man. To this end, we need to be concerned with what God thinks of us. If we follow Him, then those who really matter will like us for who we are and how we conduct ourselves while following God and those who don’t are of no concern. Do what is right, avoid what is wrong and you will be happy are the basic principles of the Christian faith. Paul builds on this, telling us walking God’s path, though it may seem hard at the time, is nothing compared to the reward we receive in heaven for following God’s will. We may undergo tremendous suffering and face many challenges here on Earth, but in the end it will all be worth it. We shall receive eternal life and happiness. This is certainly a lot better deal than going to the Pit!
This concept ties in also with the collect saying that we need to focus not on things temporal, but things eternal. Meaning we need to look at ourselves and our actions with the long long-term view with the goal of getting to heaven for eternity. We must reflect on our actions and how they can affect not just us in the short term but also us in the long term. It is very easy to get wrapped up in matters of this Earth but we must realize that Earth is only temporary. Bishop Hap once said that a parent had two jobs and the first is to raise their children to know and follow God and His Word so that they can get into heaven and the second job is that they should be there to meet them. Both of these jobs require looking at the long- term view of our actions and not just the short-term view. And it must also be remembered eternal life doesn’t just start when you die and leave this Earth for Heaven, it starts right now. The Collect is asking for God to help us make our way through this temporal universe to His Realm, the ultimate eternal universe of Heaven. We need His help to guide us through all of life’s trials and
temptations
In the end, our reward will outweigh all of our struggles, if we will but keep our eye on the true prize. Our struggles here on Earth in the eternal view will not be as big as what our eternal reward will be, if we but stay the course that God has set for us. God gave us free will, which if we exercise it properly, that is the will to overcome temptation. We just have to let the Holy Ghost into our hearts and focus on never ever giving up! And remembering Paul’s message to us whenever we are tempted to give up!
What at first seems like a constrained way of living, once actually lived is really perfect freedom. It only seems constrained, because we cannot conceive how following His Word will allow us true freedom. If we overcome temptation to do what we want and do what God wants, we will receive the gift of eternal salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke presents a simple message, yet one that is often misunderstood, with majestic language which brings the message to a point of incredible sharpness. We are to be a guide to others to Christ, yet we cannot help others until our own problems are on the way to “solvation”, that is being solved through the salvation offered by Christ. We need to follow Him, before we ask others to follow us. After all, if we are not going in the right direction, what positive value is there in others following us? We can’t very well lead people to Christ if we ourselves are not on the road to Christ. So let us first make sure
we ourselves are on the road to Christ before we work on guiding others to Him.
We do not want to be leading others towards The Pit, rather, we want to be sure we are on the right path before we guide others along the path. We must not lead others astray by our actions and judge unrighteously, but judge with righteous judgment through the Holy Ghost and on the solid foundations of Holy Scripture.
When he said use righteous judgement, he was talking about judging people’s behavior by the standards of Scripture, not condemnation. He was talking about using the Scriptures as the standard for judging individual’s behavior. He does not mean us to condemn others. People today get the concept of righteous judgement confused with God’s judgment of somebody’s eternal destination. They get this confused as they do not have the Holy Spirit within them to differentiate between those two concepts. That is for God to decide and not for us to decide. We must trust in God’s superior and perfect judgement. This is connected with the parable of the mote. Often times when we are tempted to condemn somebody, we often ignore our own failures and focus on theirs.
Let us get our act together first, before we help others. So, how can we, imperfect as we are, be honest with ourselves? The answer is easy, hard to implement, but easy! The Holy Ghost! Let Him into your heart and do what you are told. Simple, yet hard to do. Speaking of doing, what we do to others is a good measure of how we follow God’s Will and Direction. We are expected to treat others as we would be treated. Remember the Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have done unto you. How you treat others says a lot about your spiritual and moral character. Our real earthly fortune, as well as
are eternal lives, are a reflection of our commitment to God.
We are so ready to condemn the performance of others when our own is even worse. Jesus addressed this in the parable of the moat. He reminded us that we need to remove the moat out of our own eyes, or take care of our problems first before we try to help others. It is common within all of us, especially me particularly. As Paul tells us, “all fall short.” The operative word here is ALL. If we look to condemn and repair our own spiritual lives before condemning others, we will be better suited to help them. Our beam before their mote.
For only when we have taken care of our own spiritual health by looking to God for help to evaluate and improve how we follow His Word, we will be able to effectively spread the Word of His love for us.
And that is our job, to improve ourselves to effectively spread His Word by example; our action, not our diction, is the measure. 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.
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 Fourth 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.
Fourth Sunday after Trinity
In our gospel lesson , our Lord admonished his listeners to, Judge not, and ye shall be not judged (St. Luke 6:37). And he prefaced those words by encouraging his listeners to be forgiving and merciful, as your Father also is merciful (v.36). Sadly, the message of verse 37 has become a sort of talisman of false piety which the unregenerate have used to defend their errant lifestyle choices and behaviors. For much as a sorcerer might use a magical incantation to ward off his adversaries, the unregenerate will employ the very words of our Lord to do likewise. And while such might throw off a novice or carnal Christian, it will not have much effect on those who have been schooled in the truth of, Judge not. To begin our examination of St. Luke 6:37, let us hear from the apostle Paul on this subject: I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person (I Corinthians 5:9-13).
Given the apostle’s remarks, the unregenerate might counter with the following: “Oh”, so who then do we believe: Paul the man, or Jesus?” Or: “How can any church comply with the apostle’s command if they are forbidden to judge as set forth in our gospel lesson?” That is where our study of the Bible comes into play. If we are rightly dividing the word of truth (II St. Timothy 2:15), then we will have that answer which will nullify their arguments and reveal them to be the hypocritical and unrighteous sinners they are in their attempt to cloak their sins with the very words of God. Often in our Christian walk we will encounter those who will question us regarding our stand on the prohibited behaviors found in Scripture. Such persons may be looking to challenge our beliefs in the fundamentals of the Bible, or they may deride our faith if they suspect that we have exhausted our scriptural understanding regarding a particular issue. As we have seen, such persons will seek to use the scriptures against us. St. Paul warned us that, such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works (II Corinthians 11:13-15).
Consider the Greek word krino which was translated into English as “judge”. It means “to decide, to distinguish, and by implication, to try, condemn, or to punish.” It has a largely legal connotation forasmuch as a judge is one who makes decisions, or judgments, about those matters which have been brought before him. As Christians, we have been called to make righteous judgments (St. John 7:24). We have been called to discern between the godly and the ungodly. And, we have been called to witness against all ungodliness within the body of Christ and admonish with all longsuffering of doctrine those of the wicked that they might repent and be saved ( Ephesians 5:11; II St. Timothy 4:2). But before we ever think to point out the deficiencies in others, we must first judge ourselves. The apostle Paul reminded the faithful of this necessity for self-judgment prior to our partaking of the Holy Communion when wrote, But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation (condemnation) to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep (have died). For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world (I Corinthians 10:28-32).
Self-judgment requires us to confess to God our ills of thought, word and deed. That is why our church fathers set the confession before the taking of the Lord’s Supper. God expects us to examine ourselves and come clean before him. He also expects us to be self-disciplined. Confession of sin ought to be an ongoing event. Nevertheless, we ought to do so at least twice a day: once in the morning and once in the evening. That is why the Book of Common Prayer has a General Confession placed in both daily orders of worship as well as in the Order for the Holy Communion. Without a proper confession to God in Christ, we leave ourselves open to chastening by the LORD for that is what he will do if we will not recognize our sins and seek his forgiveness on their account. He will bring us to our knees if we will not go there of our own volition. Psalm 51 speaks of what God desires from us in self-judgment and confession before him: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (v.17).
While God desires us to judge in righteousness, Satan desires that we judge improperly or not at all. He will seek to undermine our Christian witness by luring us into sin via our love for, and association with our relatives and friends who do not adhere to God’s word written. St. Paul explained it this way in his second epistle to the Corinthians, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness (6:14)? And such is in agreement with the admonition of our Lord who said, Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household (St. Matthew 10:34-36). We have been called of God to resist evil, and not simply give in to it on account of our friends and relatives. Whom shall we obey? God or man (Acts 4:19, 20; 5:29)? Satan likes churches where his minions are left to their own devices by pastors and congregants who have been schooled in the false assumption of judge not.
And if we are to be successful in contending for the faith which was once delivered unto saints (St. Jude 3), then we must be well acquainted with the scriptures. For once we have learned them, we will have the confidence and the humility to successfully engage in spiritual warfare against our adversary. As St. Paul once observed, And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to acknowledging the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will (II St. Timothy 2:24-26).
Please bear in mind that the godly purpose of judging has always been to warn sinners, not condemn them. If we will follow God’s precepts, our work will bear fruit; if we do not, God will judge us at the last apart from our confession to him for our shortcomings in his service. Don’t be fooled by the supposed wisdom of this world because you will find it has a serpent’s hiss behind its words. Our Lord once said, God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth… for the Father seeketh such to worship him (St. John 4:24-23). If we are seeking God’s will, then we must resist a carnal and unrestrained life. As St. Paul noted in his epistle to the Romans, For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you… (8:5-9). Ergo, to live in the Spirit requires self-examination and self-judgment. And so we have learned that rather than rejecting the concept of judgment, we ought to exercise such in a godly and righteous manner. If we know and understand the Scriptures, then we will win that victory over the world, the flesh and the devil and we will carry forth our witness to others in such a manner that they too might see the need to repent and be saved in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Let us pray,
Father, help us to properly judge ourselves; that by means of our confession we would be purged of our sins, and thus enabled to call upon others to end their wicked ways; for this we ask in the name of thy Son, even 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
O God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
God Will Judge with Equity
Psalm 75
Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
Starting with verse one of Psalm 75 the psalmist is expressing actions of giving thanks to God.
Notice he is actually including those who are listening to the psalm as it is being sung.
“We recount your wondrous deeds.”
This is an accounting of the assembly to always speak about and remember the great things God has done for them. This is an appropriate way to open a time of praise.This idea or action is what we call common prayer or the very thing that we are doing here in this church this morning.
- God wants us to worship together.
- He wants us to come together as family and to seek his guidance, comfort, instruction, his love.
- We call this corporate worship or common, as in all the people coming together to seek God.
- He warns us of what happens to those who reject God.
Now let us look at the benefits of worshiping together as the family of God:
In a familiar ‘compare and contrast’ method, the psalmist now switches to what God will do those who are not keeping God’s great deeds in mind or praising him for those things. He is pointing out to us that we need to understand that being away from God is not the true option for believers. And as we will see today we are not the ones who will set the time for him to do his job, as it pertains to those who do not follow God and his statues.
2When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. 3The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
God speaks of a time of judgement. It is at his set time, he will show his power. He is the strength of the pillars. Why does he tell us this? Don’t you sometimes wonder why God lets evil thrive? It seems like sometimes those who are bad get by with everything. We must always keep in mind, that God will take care of his world. After all didn’t he create it? It was in his time that he sent his Son to die for us on the cross. There were plenty of times that the prophets warned the people of the coming wrath of God. They also spoke to the coming salvation of God. There was even a period of time when God did not speak directly to the people through his prophets, we call the period the four hundred silent years.
Then without any help from mankind, God began to unveil the coming One, he who would bear the sins and judgement of us all. This One did not come on a white horse to destroy the Roman occupiers, he did not come down with a vengeance to take out all the evil in the world, no he came as a little child, helpless and small.
We would have had God’s help come as a cleaning broom, someone who would sweep away all the evil from our world and bring us peace. Instead he sweeps away evil in our lives, he makes us cleansed and covers our sin so we can approach the absolute holiness of God. We cannot approach God’s holiness as we are, we must have the sin covering that is provided by Jesus shed blood.
Now let’s see what God does about evil.
God does not let this go unnoticed. He will bring his judgement to bear. He will take care of the problem as he says in the next three verses.
4I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: 5Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. 6For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. 7But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
We now read what God will do to the wicked. But I refer you to verse two. This judgement will be in God’s time, not ours. We sometimes are so impatient that we can’t wait on God to do what we think is the right thing. In his time, he will take care of all evil. He will take care of the things that are against him and his people. In verse seven we read that he will put down one and lift up another. He is the final judge. It is he who will have the final say, we need not worry about who gets rewarded and who gets punished
8For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
It is interesting that one form of this punishment comes in what seems to be a good form, a well-mixed cup of wine, but the foaming part describes a wine that has gone bad, and the end of the cup is the skins, stems, seeds, and the resulting dregs left over from the making of the wine. Not a very flavorful type of wine. It really isn’t very tasty. So when we think that the evil are getting away with so much, think back to this verse and the promised drink that the evil of this world will finally get. We really don’t need to worry, God is so much wiser than us, he knows what to do, really he does .
9But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
Now the psalmist goes back to the praise mode of the beginning of the psalm, he gives an expression of praise and will do this forever, as we see in verse nine. This is the return to a praise attitude that we all need to remember. Our job is to praise God, in both good times and bad. We sometimes forget to praise him in good times. And we definitely forget to praise him in bad times.
10All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
We see a switch back to God explaining to us what he will do to the wicked. The symbol of a horn is a sign of power or leadership. So, when God says he will cut off the horns of the wicked he is telling us that the wicked are not going to prevail. They will be one day put down, they will not prevail, they will be taken out of power. He then tell us what will happen to the righteous, they will be lifted up. That action indicates that they will be given a position of greatness. They will be raised up to a position of honor. We do not need to worry about what God will do in this tired and wicked world. He has told us again and again, in various places through out the Bible. Our job is to praise God, to know that he is in control and that everything in the end will be fine. He is in control of it all.
Let us pray:
Father, we ask that you illume us with your Holy Spirit, help us to see what work we have been set aside for, the work that you have for us to do, for the advancement of your Kingdom, give us the sense of urgency, the need is great, the workers are few. These things we ask in the Name of God the Father Almighty, Christ Jesus his Only Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, now and forever. Amen
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, who knowest our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: We beseech thee to have compassion upon our infirmities; and those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask, vouchsafe to give us, for the worthiness of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 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:
Shamu,
Tom,
Craig,
Jack and Dru Arnold,
Jim, Dawn and Harper,
Roberto & Bianca
Phylis
Rachel, Joshua & family
Dotty
Sue
Sandra
Madison and Hilda
Steve
Josh Morley
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;
Kathy Grant – hospitalized for a Grand Mal Seizure contibutingg to a fall with injuries and resulting in confusion
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.
Brenda – long term Laryngitis – help speaking again
Jodi – cancer that has spread to her brain stem with no cure and her family (The Bermans)
Praise Reports for Answered Prayer:
Rachel Richards ear surgery went well and she recovering at home.
Jessie has returned to her home cured from her pneumonia.
Joyce biopsy report resulted in complete healing with no cancerous cells.