AOC Two

    Happy Eighth Sunday after Trinity! The AOC Sunday Report can be downloaded  RIGHT HERE ! We have excellent sermons this morning from Bishops Jerry and Roy as well as Rev Jack. Rev Bryan is still off as a result of his quadruple bypass surgery on 6 July 2023.  He is home and seems to be doing well.  He is beginning physical therapy and cardiac rehabilitation.  Please give thanks for the apparently successful surgery and pray for a full and complete recovery. Continue to comfort Brian, his wife Lisa, and son Thomas as they deal with his recovery. Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE  ->   https://youtu.be/jsnC100D6mU   Today’s Collect, Epistle and Gospel all come together with one theme. That theme is that if we listen to Him in word and in deed, God will protect us from hurtful things and will lead us to profitable things. Note in deed and not just words!   In the Collect, we must understand in our hearts G

  Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video  HERE  ->   https://youtu.be/jsnC100D6mU   Today’s Collect, Epistle and Gospel all come together with one theme. That theme is that if we listen to Him in word and in deed, God will protect us from hurtful things and will lead us to profitable things. Note in deed and not just words!   In the Collect, we must understand in our hearts God does indeed “ordereth all things” here as well as in heaven. Even though it might not seem like it at times, we have to understand ultimately He is in control of all of the Universe.  Paul says before receiving the Holy Spirit or the spirit of adoption, we were under Satan’s bondage. He points out that if we live as our old sinful selves, after the flesh, we will die.  In the Gospel, Jesus points out if we are of the good tree, our actions will produce good fruit. Before, we were of the bad tree and that is why we produced nothing good. He als

  The Eighth Sunday after Trinity.   The Collect.   O  GOD , whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen. The  Collect  for today is extraordinary in its depth of meaning and its appeal to the absolute and unconditional sovereignty of God.                   Archbishop Cranmer re-crafted the introduction of this  Collect  to reflect that reformed view of the omnipotence of God Almighty in things heavenly as well as things temporal. It is also such a comfort to know that the One who “sticketh closer than a brother” shares that omnipotence in the Triune Godhead.   All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth .   (Matt 28:18)   God is never taken by surprise either in Eden or in our own times. This  Collect , like all others, is not intended for a limited application of  collecting  our thoughts b

  B E  still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.     (Psalm 46:10)   A  TIME  to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak     (Ecclesiastes 3:7)               When chaos reigns in our midst, it is difficult to sit still and do nothing, but often, the wiseman will determine if there is any human solution to the problems at hand. If not, any steps taken will be futile to calm the storm. When circumstances exceed our ability to influence an outcome the only resort is to leave the outcome up to our Lord by placing our trust in His care. I will tell you a story of one of my childhood heroes as an example:               One day when Stonewall Jackson and his sister-in-law were crossing the boiling current just below the American Falls at Niagara, in a small boat manned by two oarsmen, the current so swirled the boat that the lady became terrified, believing they were surely going to the bottom. Jackson seiz

I  AM  the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this ?   (John 11:25-26)               We all may have had the experience of deep regret over some duty or consideration we should have paid a friend or close loved one before their passing from this life. In my case, I regret I did not send more pretty flowers to my mother (she loved flowers) before her passing from my reach; or did not express my admiration and fondness for an old friend who has gone to his reward; or done more to alleviate the suffering of little children who had not man to stand on their behalf. I believe these are regrets common to many of us. Additionally, there are numerous opportunities upon which we neglected to capitalize upon that would have made a difference for us, our families, or our friends and neighbors.               I have a dear friend who recently underwent a routine health

   F OR  God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ .  (2 Corinthians 4:6)               Here is a hymn that appeals to the heart filled with the Light of Christ. Both the tune and lyrics are the work of Mrs. M.T. Haughey in 1886. The hymn precedes the publication of another beautiful hymn entitled  There is Sunshine in My Soul  (1887) by one year.   Sunlight in my Heart   There is sunlight on the hilltop, There is sunlight on the sea; And the golden beams are sleeping On the soft and verdant lea; But a richer light is filling All the chambers of my heart; For Thou dwellest there, my Savior And ’tis sunlight where Thou art. Refrain: Oh, the sunlight! beautiful sunlight! Oh, the sunlight in the heart! Jesus’ smile can banish sadness; It is sunlight in the heart.   In the dust I leave my sadness, As the garb of other days, For Thou robest me with gladness, And Thou fi

   Happy Seventh Sunday after Trinity! The AOC Sunday Report can be downloaded  RIGHT HERE ! We have excellent sermons this morning from Bishops Jerry and Roy as well as Rev Jack.   Rev Bryan had quadruple bypass surgery on 6 July 2023.  He is home and seems to be doing well.  Please give thanks for the apparently successful surgery and pray for a full and complete recovery. Continue to comfort Brian, his wife Lisa, and son Thomas as they deal with his recovery.   Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video  HERE  ->   https://youtu.be/KZYxMJMzADk In the Collect, we acknowledge to get anywhere, we must acknowledge in our hearts all good is of and comes from God. That is the trouble with many people in the world today. They simply refuse to acknowledge in their hearts this very simple fact. Once we acknowledge this, we are in a position to ask God to put in toour hearts love of Him and all that is His.  When Paul wrote his

Rev Jack brings the Propers together today.    His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video  HERE  ->   https://youtu.be/KZYxMJMzADk In the Collect, we acknowledge to get anywhere, we must acknowledge in our hearts all good is of and comes from God. That is the trouble with many people in the world today. They simply refuse to acknowledge in their hearts this very simple fact. Once we acknowledge this, we are in a position to ask God to put in toour hearts love of Him and all that is His.  When Paul wrote his Epistle to the people of Rome, he was writing to all of us; for truly nothing is new in the world. There is truth to Solomon’s saying there is nothing new under the sun.  In this morning’s Gospel, the clear message of the feeding of the multitude is action, and the whys and hows behind all of it does not matter as much as the simple message that He did it. It is all too easy to get wrapped around in fine details, when it is the bigger picture that matters.  Having