Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide Communion

Second Sunday after Trinity Sunday Report

The Second Sunday after Trinity – June 2, 2024

 Second 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 Second Sunday after Trinity

O LORD, who never failest to help and govern those whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love; Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle for the Second Sunday after Trinity. 1 St. John iii. 13..

MARVEL not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of com-passion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.  

 The Gospel for the Second Sunday after Trinity. St. Luke 14: 16.

A CERTAIN man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For  I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.  

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, a few from other places.

 The Stability of God’s Promises

Every promise is built upon four pillars:
I. God’s justice and holiness, which will not suffer Him to deceive.
II. His grace and goodness which will not suffer Him to forget.
III. His truth which will not suffer Him to change.
IV. His power which makes Him able to accomplish.

1. G. Salter Bp of Wescott
   He who is the slowest in making a promise is the most faithful in the performance of it.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Peace from God’s Promises

If I am not today all that I hope to be, yet I see Jesus, and that assures me that I shall one day be like Him.

 Charles H. Spurgeon

Oh, the happy peace and serenity that a believer enjoys in every condition which befalls him. He can rest and calm himself upon the promises and power of God.  No valley of trouble will be to him without a door of hope, no barren wilderness without manna, no dry rock without water, no dungeon without light, no fiery trial without comfort because he has the same promising Word and God to trust. It is the same God whose power opened the sea as a door to be a passage for the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan. It is the same mighty God who fed Israel in the desert with bread from Heaven and water from a rock. It is the same God who filled Peter’s prison with a shining light. It is the same powerful protector who allowed three children to walk to and fro amidst the fiery furnace with joy and safety. It the same loving God that will keep His promises to you and lead you through your life.

William Spurstowe

On Point

 Right worship on the part of every Christian consists of humble reverence before God: kneeling to ask for pardon and laying our petitions at the Master’s feet.

Rev. Bryan Dabney

While it is true that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, it is not true that a mere utterance of that phrase will suffice. The utterance must be a genuine and sincere confession of faith from the heart and not the head. It must be followed with evidence of salvation. A new man must be in evidence following the confession.

The Most Rev. Jerry L. Ogles– 20th and 21st century Anglican Orthodox

Presiding Bishop.

Repentance, then, is the great, immediate, and pressing duty of all who hear the gospel.

The Rev. Dr. Charles Hodge– 19th century American theologian and author.

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:

 Dead in Trespasses and Sin –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gRmGzyDgMY&t=316s

Today’s sermon starts off with the collect, and like always, it will give you a lot to consider in your heart.

 The Second Sunday after Trinity-Bishop Jerry L. Ogles

 The Collect.

O LORD, who never failest to help and govern those whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love; Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The all-pervasive theme of this past Sunday, as well as today’s lectionary text, deals with the love factor both of God and of His people. As our Epistle of 1^st Sunday after Trinity proclaims, “BELOVED, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” (1 John 4:7) Love is the one element that binds all else together in Christ. Without love, we remain dead souls.

The Collect for today emphasizes that love which is tempered by a fear, not of mortal care, but of disgracing the Holy Name which we bear as Christians in our lives and works. Loving the Name of God means loving all that name represents – fellow believers as well as those who are lost by the wayside of life. Love of God not only bears us up in Holy devotion, but also is our teacher to compel us to know more of the love of God and to share that love abroad. Not only is love our teacher, but also the lesson that it teaches in God’s school of love. We first fear that we will fail to obey Him in love, and once we learn that truth, we do apply that love to our lives, and that love drives out fear.

Our Epistle reading informs of the necessity of love in the service of God. But our love of God exposes us to the hatred and persecution of the world. The modern hatred of anything dealing with the Name of Jesus Christ stands as monument to that truth. Hatred is the very opposite of love. Hatred seeks to kill and destroy with the same motive of the Serpent of Eden; but love is the one treasure that survives death and which we carry to the Father as emblems of our faith. (see Romans 8:32-39 which clearly points us to that immortality of love). “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” (1 John 3:14) The position of that Godly love makes us alive in Christ.

We also learn from the Epistle that the token of love is sacrifice of our lives. We die daily to self and live for Christ. Christ laid down His life for us, and many. Can we do no less for our brothers and sisters in Christ?  Love unites us in Christ.

A second token of love is the sacrifice of our possessions. How can we maintain many coats in our closet while our neighbor’s child freezes for lack of apparel? Love, like the Good Samaritan, sacrifices for others.

A third token of love illustrated in the Epistle is its rewards of confidence toward God and His Presence with us. Loving our brothers and sisters with a burning and inextinguishable love supply magnifies in our hearts the abundant reservoir of love the Father has for us – even in giving His only Begotten son for our Redemption.

The purpose of the Collect is to gather our hearts upon the same summit for the lessons of the day. Therefore, the Epistle bears out the salient qualities of love while the Gospel provides human and practical examples of the Father’s love for us in preparing all things needful for our well-being in Him. Both of these Sundays after Trinity provide us with examples of the love of God framed in human terms that we who have ears to hear can comprehend.

A CERTAIN man made a great supper. That CERTAIN man is God the Father, but we cannot grasp the enormity of His love without feeling it in human terms. This CERTAIN man issues an invitation to not a few, but many, to come to His supper. This feast of joy is for as many as will come that are invited. The Church represents those whom the Lord invites, but the entirety of thew Church will not respond to His invitation at such time as He separates the sheep from the goats. The invitation of God assures us of present happiness and future glory. It is a serious invitation whose messenger is the Holy Ghost.

The invitation issued by this CERTAIN man goes unheeded by those initially invited. They refuse with a multitude of excuses. There are diverse excuses given for refusing to come, but only ONE reason – lack of love for the One who has invited them. This May reflect the Old Testament Church to which Christ came first, but, more and more, it has come represent our modern-day churches many of whom have openly embraced perversions and willful sins as acceptable lifestyles.

How would we feel if we went to a very great expense in preparing a great supper, yet none invited came? God went to an infinite expense to purchase our place at the Table – His only Begotten Son. How dare any who are called refuse such an exalted invitation! But just as in this case, the Lord tells us: “Many are called, but few chosen.”

In rejecting those first guest invited, the love for others is not dampened in the heart of the man who issues the invitation. “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.” Luke 5:31 Instead of the wealthy and self-satisfied persons who have refused His invitation, He now invites those for whom the world has little regard – “the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.” (Luke 5:31) Those having been invited, there is always adequate space for others in the Kingdom of God. So, the call is extended the general category of those whom the Holy Spirit will draw to the Mercy Seat. Those who formerly were not considered the sons and daughters of Abraham by the flesh are now accounted so by the promise made to Abraham in which they have come to believe. This includes, in the family of God, both Jew and Gentile (who believe) are accounted the Children of Abraham according to faith. These commoners now invited are well-acquainted with hunger and need. They come according that hunger for the love of God represented by His invitation. We must have a hunger for the supper before we can have a taste for it.

The above promises are well summarized in Ephesians Chapter two: “That at that 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: ¹³But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; ¹⁵Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; ¹⁶And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: ¹⁷And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. ¹⁸For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. ¹⁹Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; ²⁰And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:12-20)

You see in these lessons the grand truth that the love of God makes us One in Christ, and in Him is no Death.

Do you have that kinship?

  

Second Sunday after Trinity

 Sermon – Bishop Jack Arnold – Time and Action
Bishop of the Diocese of the West- AOC USA

Church of the Faithful Centurion – Descanso, California

Consider these words from the Collect:

 … who never failest to help and govern those whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love; Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name…

We must fully understand and acknowledge God will help and lead us, but only if we will look to Him for that help and leadership. The key being here we have to look to Him for said help and leadership. The spiritually blind (us) cannot lead the blind (also us). We are spiritually blind without God’s help. We need His Help, in the form of the Holy Ghost, to direct our hearts, minds and souls to look to Him for that Help in our time of need. He is the only reason that we can accomplish as much as we do on this Earth in our sinful condition. The Holy Ghost will give us that spiritual eyesight we need to receive His Guidance and act upon said guidance. Thus, we continually ask God, through the offices of the Holy Ghost, to help us understand we actually need help and be open to accepting it. And we must note that to fear God is not to be scared of Him but to respect Him for who He is, our creator and heavenly Father, and loving Him involves loving the others around us with the Holy Ghost in our hearts. Fear is not being used in a negative context in this case, but a positive that is we are using it in the term of respect. It is not a bad thing to fear God, in this case it is a marvelous thing to have a healthy fear of God!

Speaking of time of need; when do we need God? Pretty much whenever we are not perfect, which would be all the time.

The Epistle is a great illustration of why we need guidance from the Holy Ghost all the time. The world is not a nice place and at times it gets depressing to be in. The world is not a friendly environment to those of us who are on God’s side. John says we should not be surprised that the world hates us. For the World does not know of God and His Word so they fear that which they do not understand, namely the Word. In this case they are using fear in the negative context and not in the positive context that the collect uses the word fear for. They not only fear but they hate God as they do not understand Him. They serve Satan who also hates God and thus they share that same anger towards God as Satan.

God is the only one who can protect us spiritually from the assaults of the Satanic forces in this world. The help of the Holy Ghost is an advantage that we have over those who are of this world. They do not have the Holy Ghost to help them understand and give comfort and thus will always be upset, depressed, or angry in times of trouble. Also, we are called to love our fellow humans, regardless if they are believers or not. We are not called to lord our faith over them but to use our faith to help people. In other words, we are not to be Pharisees showing and boasting, but to good things to help people, with the help of the Holy Spirit. This is harder to do than to say, but it is something that must be done none the less.

We are to perform this task of loving people around us with great cheer. There is no true love without cheerfulness and a giving heart. In order to have God’s love, we have to love those around us. It is harder to put the actual love into practice. We have actually love those around us and not just say it. Sometimes it can be very hard to put actual love into practice, but it must be done. However, as long as we do our best to actually love those around us, then that is all God asks. We may be serious at times, but we can still be cheerful in that we have the love of God within our hearts and we can spread that to others. Don’t forget the little reminder from GK Chesterton:

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.

The Gospel focuses on prioritization. It calls us to put the things that are really important in the list of things to do above the things that are not really important. We tend to put things that are not really important above the things that are really important and that is why we get in a lot of trouble in our lives. It all goes back to the want versus need issue. Two different words, often used interchangeably by people, but this is incorrect. We need to think about what is important to us and to God. We will find that most of the time that they are different. Then, we need the Holy Ghost to get our priorities in order. We need to focus on what is important to God and not as much as what is important to us. We have to recognize that our wants are not as good for us as our needs. We need Him to help us identify our needs and overcome our wants. We need Him to overcome our natural inclinations to not prioritize correctly and get our priorities straightened out. Without His Help, we will never be able to see what is important in our lives, which is loving God and loving our neighbor as ourself. Prioritization I would say is a key skill to have in living a successful Christian life.

People do what is important to them. When they feel guilty they come up with excuses, but in reality, they please themselves. This is a common reason why there are so few people in churches these days, besides the fact that the churches have by and large embraced heretical teachings, which puts the people off of going to churches.

So, what we need to do is ask the Holy Ghost for help to make God’s agenda ours; thus, when we please God, we please ourselves. A win – win situation. And it will make us far happier people as a result, which is what God’s plan is for us all along

If we do not make time for God, how do we expect Him to make time for us? If we will not diligently study the lessons He has left for us, how can we expect to know what He wants us to do?

Do you recall more sage words from GK Chesterton?

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.

We need to come to church and read the Bible so we can find out what God wants. But the idea is not to find out what He wants so we can work around it or live with it, but rather to live it. Once we find out what God wants for us, we need to live that reality He has planned for us, not the one that we want for ourselves. This means putting into practice in our day to day lives, wherever we may be, the principles of Scriptures. Think about the 613 Mosaic laws and the Pharisees who made a good living telling people how to comply with them to the letter and still do just as they wanted. There are many people who still do this to this very day sadly. In the end it will not get them to eternal life. However, if we follow Jesus and God, we will not have to worry about our eternal future.

If we find out what God wants and decide to actually do it instead of avoid it, we are still faced with an often huge problem of where do we get the strength to accomplish this task. However, the answer is simple, it comes from God, the Holy Ghost. He never asks us to do anything we cannot do good enough for Him if we rely on Him. Never.

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 2nd Sunday after Trinity

Gospel Readings: Luke 14:16-24; 1 John 3:13-24.

RUDENESS TO GOD

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

When Our Lord Jesus Christ has harsh or hurtful things to say to us, He does so in parables. The parable of the guests at the Last Supper is one of them, a particularly violent one.

In this parable, Jesus says that “A certain man made a great supper, and bade many” (Luke 14:16). The previous verse clearly draws a parallel with the royal wedding of the Lamb and the Church, his beloved bride (Luke 14:15): “… one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.” It is therefore indeed the Kingdom of Heaven, and the “certain man” in the parable can only be God Himself, the King of Heaven.

Our Father “bade many” and these people are God’s called. Imagine their privilege to be invited to a royal feast! Who would refuse an invitation to dine at King Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles? All those whom President Macron invited there did not need to be asked. They all came, and for a little they would have fought to get in. Fortunately, the security service was present in large numbers, clearly visible.

And what does God say in this case? “And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.” Question: “Who is this servant sent by the Father?”; Is he one of the prophets? No, for the prophecy stopped four centuries before Christ, and in their time, everything was not ready to welcome the Messiah, far from it, since Israel was indulging in pagan idolatry. For everything to be ready, more than a prophet was needed – a forerunner: John the Baptist (John 1:19-23): “And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” By his own admission, John the Baptist is neither the Messiah nor a prophet, but the one who prepares hearts for the coming of the Messiah (Mark 1:4-5): “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.” John’s baptism is a baptism of repentance, but it only prepares hearts to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit by purifying them and causing them to renounce sin, Satan, his pomps and works. It’s a bit like washing and putting on your evening dress to go to dinner at Versailles, in the Hall of Mirrors. We dress up, we put on makeup, and we silence our usual recriminations, in order to present ourselves in the best light. And let the party begin!

And who are the guests at the royal dinner? The Jewish people, prepared by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:5-6): “Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.” All were repentant and baptized by John, before the coming of the Messiah, the only begotten Son of God. All? No, because the religious leaders resisted, they took a dim view of this competition with their official assemblies (Matthew 3:7-9): “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” “We have Abraham to our father!” Inevitably, this makes one think of those descendants of Reformed Catholics (i.e. Protestants) who pride themselves on having Huguenots among their ancestors, or even Camisards from the Cevennes, victims of the King’s soldiers, and look down on those whom they think are not part of their genealogy, or their coterie, without even bothering to verify it. I know something about it!

“And they all with one consent began to make excuse.” All of them are hypocrites! Both the Pharisees and Sadducees – unmasked by John the Baptist – and the Judeans baptized by the same John the Baptist. All of them have abjured and put themselves back under the thumb of the treacherous religious leaders who forbid them to go to the feast of the King of Heaven. They are kept in fear of punishment by rejection by the community, under social pressure, rather than in fear of God and His Judgment on the last day. Here too, I know something about it.

Naturally, they invent all possible pretexts, from the most serious to the most fanciful and far-fetched, to apologize. See for yourself: “I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it” – obliged by whom, please? By no one, of course! “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them” Can’t he leave them alone, at rest for a few hours? And what does this fad of choosing precisely the time of the banquet at Versailles to try his oxen mean? Isn’t that making a mockery? Finally, a third lad has a valid reason for a Jew: “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” A Jewish marriage exempted the groom from all military and civil service for twelve months after the wedding. For us, this is a far-fetched excuse, but not for a Jew, for it is biblical. You will note that this one does not ask to be excused like the others; he is sure of his good right: “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come” Period; there is no arguing about it.

And what is the reaction of the King of Heaven, please? (Luke 14:21): “So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.” The Jews recuse themselves and reject the invitation to the feast of the King of Heaven, which is a marked rudeness. In England, as in France during the Christian Kings’ time, it was impossible to refuse a royal invitation, whether to Versailles or to Buckingham Palace. If you don’t turn up, the police come to your home and take you there by force! There is no question of the royal table being saddened by empty chairs. If the Jews do not come, others will take their place, and this time they will have no choice: God’s grace is irresistible! (Luke 14:22-23): “And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” Not a single chair should be left empty! The King can jolly well count, and He knows the exact number of chairs and cutlery set up at the table of the great feast. There are many. The King will see to it that all of them are filled, and nothing and no one will be able to oppose Him.

God gave a certain freedom to Adam, the first man. Adam misused it and his freedom was taken away from him. Even the Jewish people misused their so-called freedom: locked in submission to Satan, and while they believed themselves to be free, they rejected the Messiah sent by the Father, Our Lord Jesus Christ, screaming “Let him be crucified!” (Matthew 27:22 & 23). They betrayed, seized, tortured, and murdered the suffering Servant whom the Father had sent them. And they shut their own eyes and ears, to his resurrection on the third day.

“… salvation is of the Jews” Jesus says to the Samaritan woman in John 4:22. And paradoxically, the Jews reject a Salvation that does not come from themselves but from Christ alone. We know many of those people today, and not all of them are Jews. They have Luther for a father, or Calvin, or this or that revival preacher in sight.

Now salvation is in Jesus Christ alone (Acts 4:12): “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” In other words, to refuse God’s call is to misuse one’s freedom, to damn oneself for eternity. For we have but one King, one God, one Lord and master, one Father: it is not Abraham, as the Jews think, but the God of Abraham: Father, Son, Holy Ghost. The nuance is significant!

My friends, let us be careful not to find excuses when God calls us (Romans 11:29): “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” God will not change His mind. And the consequences of our eventual refusal are particularly disastrous (Luke 14:24): “For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” Who, then, are those who will partake of the feast in the Kingdom of God? They are those to whom God has given the grace to force them to enter it, even against their insignificant will as men hitherto bound by sin. See how Paul was converted on the road to Damascus by an apparition of Jesus Christ, when he breathed nothing but hatred towards Christians and against Christ…

Seized by the grace of God, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, we are transformed into the image of Christ and to His likeness. We enter the family of God, the King of Heaven, and we become its adopted children. Admit that this is enough to make jealous those who, “bidden, shall taste of my supper” (Luke 14:24). They will have declined the Father’s invitation, too long, too late.

(1 John 3:13): “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” The world is going to perdition; It knows this but voluntarily blinds itself to its unfortunate fate. It prefers to end up in hell than to submit to God and His Law, by practicing His Commandments. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” (verse 14). Loving one’s brothers can lead far away: to the stake! “… he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (verse 16).

Love costs something: “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (verses 17-18). Let us be generous with our Christian brothers and sisters. Let’s not get attached to what we own and what thieves can take away from us. Let us cleave to Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and only Saviour. There is no greater wealth than belonging to Him.

And because we belong to Him, we are subject to Him and we put in practice His blessed Commandments (verses 22-24): “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” John gives us here a summary of the Christian life: A whole program of love of God and obedience to His holy Will.

Now, His Will is that we love one another, as an exemplary family. And the Book of Common Prayer invites us to pray For a Blessing on the Families of the Land: “… enkindle fervent charity among us all, that we be evermore kindly affectioned with brotherly love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (1928 BCP p. 335).

My friends, let us not reject the Lord’s call to love and serve Him. The world hates us, but this world will pass, whereas we shall live forever in the Kingdom of Heaven, dining at the table of the feast that God has prepared for us. Let us not be afraid. Let’s go for it, head on, because everything is ready. Amen.

Rt. Rev. Yves Méra, AOC Bishop of France.

Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide

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.

Second Sunday after Trinity

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. ³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ³⁸ For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, ³⁹ And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24: 36-39)

As regenerated souls in Christ, we have an excellent teaching tool right at our fingertips in the form of the Holy Bible. For within its pages are lessons concerning God’s power to act within our frame of reference. Per our gospel lesson for today (St. Matthew 24:36-39), our Lord described the end of days as being like the days of Noah. And we know from reading Genesis, that God spared Noah and his family (6:1-22) because, as the apostle Peter explained in his second epistle, The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished (2:9).

Scripture also tells us that God had Noah build an ark in the presence of his ungodly neighbors, and that he preached to them until the day the LORD called him, his family and selected creatures, into the ark. As our Lord explained in our gospel lesson: But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and

drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, unto the day that Noe entered the ark. And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away… (St. Matthew 24:37- 39). And St. Peter confirmed the same when he wrote, [For God] … spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly (II St. Peter 2:5).

So as we have seen, our Lord plainly stated that there will be a similar state or condition between the days of Noe and the time prior to his return. And on that account, he gave us this prophecy so that we would not be caught unawares. For with his use of the expression in the days of Noe, he reminded his listeners not only of the tragic end of those who had rejected the preaching of Noah, but of a future judgment that will come upon all who reject God’s free gift of grace in Christ Jesus. So with that in mind, let us now examine Genesis 6 and view those conditions which led to the destruction of the antediluvian world.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (v.5). That is the Bible’s summation of the world of Noah. New Agers, on the other hand, claim that the antediluvian world was full of wonders and great achievements wrought by men who possessed a level of knowledge more advanced than those of our postdiluvian civilization. And the contrary position is fully expressed in Genesis 6 wherein we are told that, There were giants in the earth in those days… the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown (v.4). Such men were described as “men of renown” but they were also described as “giants” which is a translation from the Hebrew word “Nephiyl” and is a derivative of “Naphal” which may be translated as “a tyrant or bully, one who has fallen, one who is a fugitive to be judged, or one who has been thrown down or cast out.” No doubt, that is what happened to such men because their world was washed away and them with it. The fathers of these men of renown were spoken of in St. Jude as angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, [whom God] hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day (v.6). The knowledge which those beings possessed was passed on to their offspring with mortal women and no doubt included all sorts of sinful behaviors and practices. Ergo, it is clear from Scripture that God did not regard these “men of renown” as being anything other than minions of Satan.

We are also told in Genesis 6 that, the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth (vv.11- 12). New Agers deny the truth of these passages as they are only interested in conveying an idyllic vision of the earth’s antediluvian past. But researcher James

Bailey believes differently. As he explained: “…contemporary spiritual evolution goes backwards! … The clocks have to be put back (for we are in the presence of) a powerful pagan/Gnostic theological agenda, claiming to be spanking new, objective and scientific, but is as old as the hills.” And Christian author Phil Johnson once observed that, “…the whole New Age belief system flows from the same falsehood the serpent enticed Eve with in the garden: For God doth know, that in the day ye eat therof, then your eyes shall bee opened: and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Gen 3:5).” It may be “as old as the hills” but that hardly gives it any credence. Quite to the contrary, it would seem to be as much a failure today as it was in those places from whence it came. As author Linda Kimball explained, “…many New Age historians claim their occult religion and techniques originated in Atlantis and afterward were preserved in the ancient land of Babylon.” And, unsurprisingly, the Devil continues to use New Age beliefs and practices to carry forth his agenda for the simple reason that, after all, he is their author. Never mind that the aforementioned localities are mere figments in the

minds of ungodly men and women of our day. Sure we know where the ruins of Babylon are located; and we suspect that the ruins of Atlantis might be under the Atlantic, or, are they, as one historian has proffered, the ruins of Troy in Asia Minor? But even if they were to be “resurrected” as functioning communities, that does not change what they were known for and the nature of the people who inhabited them. God’s word stands.

One expert on New Age teaching and practices has concluded that, “The essence of New Age religious doctrine is that man is neither sinful nor evil, and that Jesus’ sacrifice… was meaningless and futile. In their way of thinking, humanity does not need a Savior to atone for sin… because mankind has been evolving toward perfection and godhood.” Predicably, a religious philosophy that deifies man and is totally devoid of absolute moral restraints is extremely attractive to those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. This unholy doctrine is tailor-made for the Antichrist, who is described in the Bible as a man who will exalt himself above every other man and will portray himself as more worthy of worship than any other god. The Antichrist will say, “Worship me because I come to initiate you into the Mysteries of the Ages, after which you will be your own god.” But there is a catch. For only after their initiation will men learn the awful truth that they will not be gods at all, but slaves

to Satan.

Without a doubt we are witnessing via the expansion of New Age ideals an escalation in the growth of evil in our world. The actions and behaviors which have been described in Scripture— as mentioned in the commandments as found in Exodus 20:1-21; as well as the social sins as noted in Leviticus 18-21; Romans 1:18-32; I Corinthians 6:9-10; and II St. Timothy 3:1-5— and which are

considered abominable to God, are now considered commonplace within our society. Mankind is adrift on a sea of immorality because he has loosed himself from the moorings of Scripture. He has embraced the errors of the wicked. For in his efforts to alter Christian morality, mankind has licensed forms of murder, robbery, theft, and the abandonment of family values. These have, in many instances, fostered a disrespect for the rule of law which has noticeably contributed to the destruction of our civilization and prepared the ground of man’s heart for the coming of the man of sin, the son of perdition spoken of in Scripture as the Antichrist.

When our Lord warned that the world will witness an ever-increasing level of violence and ungodliness as the end of days approaches he wasn’t speaking in the abstract. He was speaking concretely! He warned that wars, rumours of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes in divers places will come but that the end is not yet (St. Matthew 24:6-7). The expression, in the days of Noe, describes the unwilling nature of the unregenerate to give any consideration to God. The old saying of “this will all blow over” is an apt expression for the unregenerate given their penchant for ignoring God’s Word and witnesses.

And rejection of God in favor of the siren cries of the New Age will come with a price. As the apostle Paul noted in his second epistle to the Thessalonians, …for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2:11-12). When our Lord returns, he will not give the

unregenerate “another chance” to repent. The Bible says every eye will see him and every unrepentant sinner will know in their hearts that their time is up much as the drowning wicked of Noah’s day knew it was their time to die with no hope of redemption.

As regenerated souls in Christ, we have not been called to face God’s wrath, neither shall we be cast away from his presence. Christ’s coming for us will be a moment of joy like we have never experienced before. There will be a shout of victory as we see him in the clouds calling us to himself and his marriage feast. O let it be that we might witness to those who are still in darkness and the shadow of death that more will turn unto Christ and be spared. That is our duty. That is our labor in God’s harvest. Therefore, occupy till he comes and be found working for him, bearing fruit in his service. The end of days are indeed before us, so let us live and walk by faith knowing to whom we are accountable and before whom we must give that account. To our gracious Triune God, be all the glory, laud, and honor, now and forever.

Let us pray,

O gracious Father, bless us with such an in-filling of thy most holy Spirit that we may witness more effectively for thee against the various false teachers of this world; and this we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. 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

We are grateful to have this sermon of the beautiful Psalm
Nineteen today from Bishop Roy Morales-Kuhn.

 “The Wonder of God’s Creation”

Now that the nights are warmer, if we do not have a rain storm, you can go outside and see the very night sky that David gazed upon so many millennia ago which inspired his nineteenth psalm.

When he wrote of this wonder; the night sky and the day time sky; he tells us that it is God’s glory that is declared by the very handy work of the Creator.

This psalm can be divided into at least two parts, honoring the Creator and the perfect law of God, with a subscript about how to use said law.

1. The book of that created, in which we may easily read the power and godhead of the Creator,

Ps 19:1-6

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. ²Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. ³There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. ⁴Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, ⁵Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. ⁶His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.” (Psalm 19: 1-6)

Just the very existence of the creation, especially the heavens, the sun, the moon and all the lesser lights speaks to something or someone who created it all.   We find a similar reasoning in the book of Romans the first three chapters.  St. Paul writes that those without Christ really have no excuse to not seek Him, because everything around them speaks of creation and a Creator. This ‘creation language’ is uttered around the world, there is no place that cannot see the handy work of God.

The heat of the sun as it transverses the sky, nothing is hid from that heat; today it may be hard to see that unless you have no air conditioning at your place of work or home.  Ask the gardener about the heat of the sun in full summer when we have had no rain for weeks!  Yes, the heavens declare the glory of God.

1. The book of the scriptures, which makes known to us the will of God concerning our duty.

“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. ⁸The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. ⁹The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. ¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. ¹¹Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.” (Psalm 19:7-11)

These five verses outline the will of God in six parts.

1. The law of the Lord is perfect, when we understand it, it converts the soul. {turning us from wickedness to life}.
2. The Lord’s testimony is sure, it is unwavering, secure; it makes the simple wise.

III. The statutes of the Lord are right, that makes one’s heart rejoice.  There is no question that His statues are correct, thus the heart is at peace.

1. The Lord’s commandment is pure. That is a simple concept and being as such will enlighten the eyes of the reader, in fact will continue to enlighten them.
2.  The respect and worshipful position the reader takes toward the Lord is cleansing. That clean is forever.
3. And finally, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous.  We know that when the Lord judges his own, he will be just and in that judgement we know that he will only be righteous.

It is of great peace that we should know that the Lord judges us, not we ourselves.

We finish out this section of the psalm with eternal aspect of following the Lord.  These precepts are to be more desired than gold or sweet honey; in fact they are so important to David, and by example us, that he writes this last verse.  ‘…moreover by them {the six concepts in these verses} is thy servant warned: and in keeping them there is great reward.’   He implies that this great reward is Salvation.  Nothing else matters, honey may spoil, gold can be stolen, but your Salvation is a gift from God, no one can take that from you.

III. He shows the excellency and usefulness of that book  and then teaches us how to improve it,

“Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. ¹³Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. ¹⁴Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:12-14)

In the final three verses we find David petitioning the Lord to keep him from all sin, to not let the sin dominate his life, to cleanse him from secret faults, to make him innocent from the great transgression. That being the sin that separates us from God.  David understood the sin of Adam, he understood that because of Adam, he, David was also separated from the Lord.

In one of the great ascriptions of the prayer book, David pens the following: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.”

When David finishes this psalm in that manner, he signals to us that the Lord is our strength.  The Lord is our redeemer. We too should ask the Lord to accept the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart.   As followers of His Son Jesus, we too should be open to his Word, open to his correction, open to his Way.    Amen.

Let us pray:

O Lord, we join our unfeigned thanks for all thy mercies; for our being, our reason, and all other endowments and faculties of soul and body; for our health, friends, food, and raiment, and all the other comforts and conveniences of life. Above all, we adore thy mercy in sending thy only Son into the world, to redeem us from sin and eternal death, and in giving us the knowledge and sense of our duty towards thee. We bless thee for thy patience with us, notwithstanding our many and great provocations; for all the directions, assistance, and comforts of thy Holy Spirit; for thy continual care watchful providence over us through the whole course of our lives, and particularly for the mercies and benefits of the past day: beseeching thee to continue these thy blessings to us; and to give us grace to show our thankfulness in a sincere obedience to his laws, through whose merits and intercession we received them all, thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE LORD bless us, and keep us. The LORD make his face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. The LORD lift up his countenance upon us, and give us peace, both now and evermore. Amen.

Christ alone during Trinity:

† Roy

Roy Morales-Kuhn, MA
Bishop of The Diocese of The Epiphany: The Anglican Orthodox Church International.
Bishop for Latin American Missions and Administrative Oversight.
Rector of St. Paul’s Anglican Church.

Rev Stephen Cooper Church of the Redeemer Fairbanks, Alaska

From time to time we are fortunate to receive a sermon from Rev Cooper in Fairbanks Alaska. The head of our northernmost church, Stephen is a brilliant and inspiring speaker. I wish we had video of him rather than just audio; but I am confident you will enjoy this. This sermon is for last week. Please take the time to listen to it.

Please click on link below to listen to:

First Sunday after Trinity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvpHowMrDXI

 Second Sunday after Trinity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL_8s_cGWY4

 

AOC Worldwide Prayer List –

In order to get this report out in a timely manner this week, the prayer list will be more detailed in future reports.

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

I thank you for your patience while putting together this wonderful minister’s report made for the common man.

 

 

Prayer Needed for coming procedures:

Rachel Richards: June 14^th Ear Surgery

Hap’s Military interment will be on 27 June at 1300 at Miramar National Cemetery

 

Praise Reports for Answered Prayer:

Rachel Richards recovery is on track and she is able to walk unassisted in the Park with her family:

 

Mr. Kim has received cancer free diagnosis
Linda Derewsky treatment has put her MM back into remission

  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.

Phylis– healing but needs more back surgery to manage pain