AOC Two

  A ND  the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.   9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  10  And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.  11  The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;  12  And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.  13  And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.  14  And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.  15  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.      (Gen 2:8-15)               Men need me

  O  H  that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!  24  That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!  25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:  26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:  27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me .  (Job 19:23-27)               Job was a man of the ancient days who had everything a man could desire; a wife, and seven sons, and three daughters; 7,000 sheep; 3,000 camels; 500 oxen; 500 she asses; and a great household that numbered him as the greatest man of the east. He loved God and hatred evil. Job had no great need for much patience for he had all the world had to offer. While it is true that Job hated the devil, it was also true the devil despised Job and his Communion with the Lord.               One day, God gave Satan the po

     W HERE  there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he .  (Proverbs 29:18)   Today’s hymn,  Be Thou My Vision  ( Bí Thusa 'mo Shúile ), is a classical Irish hymn of the 8 th  century. It is sung to the Irish folk tune of  Slane . It is a Celtic Christian hymn whose author is rumored to have suffered blindness later in life – that is, physical blindness perhaps to hone his spiritual vision. It is a reminder of the perfect love and Presence we have in our Lord Jesus Christ when our hearts are stayed on Him.   Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee .  (Isaiah 26:3)   Be Thou My Vision   Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; naught be all else to me, save that thou art - thou my best thought, by day or by night; waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.   Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word; I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord. Thou my great Father; thine own may I be, thou in me d

   Happy Third Sunday after Trinity! The AOC Sunday Report can be downloaded  RIGHT HERE ! As usual, today we have excellent sermons from Bishops Jerry and Roy, as well as Revs Jack and Bryan. Each of them is very different and I think you'll enjoy each of them considerably.  Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video  HERE  -> https://youtu.be/8Hd8NkBXZZc The Collect starts as they often do by asking God to hear us.  This is rather an odd thing to ask as He hears us all the time. His hearing is perfect. It is our hearing that is imperfect. In order to have the Holy Ghost’s help into our heart, we must let go of self centered and prideful  ways. Prideful beings cannot be followers of Christ.  In the Epistle, Peter makes this point when he says that God resists the proud and gives His Grace to the humble.  The Gospel recounts Jesus tells the Pharisees the story of the shepherd who loses a sheep and searches for it.  W

   Third Sunday after Trinity. The Collect.   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.     T HEN  drew  near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.  2   And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.  3   And he spake this parable unto them, saying,  4   What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?   5   And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.   6   And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.   7   I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner th

Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video  HERE  ->   https://youtu.be/8Hd8NkBXZZc   The Collect starts as they often do by asking God to hear us.  This is rather odd a thing to ask as He hears us all the time. His hearing is perfect. It is our hearing that is imperfect. In order to have the Holy Ghost ’ s help into our heart, we must let go of self centered and prideful  ways. Prideful beings cannot be followers of Christ.  In the Epistle, Peter makes this point when he says that God resists the proud and gives His Grace to the humble.  The Gospel recounts Jesus tells the Pharisees the story of the shepherd who loses a sheep and searches for it.  When he finds the sheep he carries it back to the flock on his shoulders.  He goes on to tell the story of the woman who loses a piece of silver and turns her house inside out to find it. It all comes together.  Having trouble visualizing that?  Read or listen to Rev Jack ’ s

  Third Sunday after Trinity. The Collect.   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.               Before our prayers are answered, they must be heard and recorded in Heaven.   One cannot expect prayers that fall short of the will of God or which are offered out of a heart that harbors sinful inclinations to be acceptable to our almighty Father. So, the opening line pleads for the hearing of our prayers by God Almighty. God hears our prayers, precisely as the Collect says, out of mercy and not some presumed constraint. There are churches today who have opted for the heresies of ancient days in teaching God has no choice but to hear and grant our prayer requests. Who is Sovereign, God or Man? I may upset the comfort of many in declaring my belief that there is more error taught in the modern

  B UT  these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.  11  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core .  (Jude 1:10-11)               It may be coincidental Cain was the first man conceived on earth, and was a liar and a murderer, or, knowing that all things occur at the will of God, his coming may have been a result of Eve’s sin at the Tree. Cain was a nefarious creature who murdered his own brother out of envy. Since forgiveness of sin only comes by the shedding of blood, his brother Abel brought an acceptable sacrifice of his flock while Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground – a cursed source.   Unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it:  cursed is the

  Y E  are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it .   (John 8:44)               It will not likely come as a surprise to our readers the devil is head of a larger family than the Church itself – at least for the present moment. Every death upon earth is attributable to the Lie Satan told in the Garden at Eden. If we bear his likeness in lying and contributing to his evil works, then we are his children whom he covets. How many tv evangelists and mundane prophets who have had a dream or a vision that did not come from God will suffer the fate of their father the devil?               Several years ago, I had a Nigerian military student pilot who shared some comments about the deadly python snake of Africa. That snake is powerful and is almost all muscle. It can grow to a lengt