AOC Two

   Happy First Sunday after Christmas! The AOC Sunday Report can be downloaded  RIGHT HERE ! We have excellent sermons today from Bishops Jerry, Roy, Jack and Dennis, as well as from Rev Bryan. Each one of these is quite different and very good. I'm confident you will enjoy them.   Bishop Jack brings the propers together.  His sermon can be viewed on video   HERE  ->   https://youtu.be/b84T6HfiBCY .   Bishop Jack ’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message as we look for our place in this world.  At  this Christmastide, we have been concentrating on the joy of the Christ’s coming to earth; rightly so!     But, in our liturgical calendar, the days go on.     At this Christmastide, it is not surprising to find “To take our nature upon him”, is a key phrase of the Collect, preceding “To be born of a pure virgin”, meaning He could not have been born from anyone else but Mary, who was at the time a pure virgin

The First Sunday after Christmas Day. The Collect.   A LMIGHTY  God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end.  Amen .    The Epistle Galatians iv. 1.   N  OW  I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his S

  Bishop Jack brings the propers together.  His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video   HERE  ->   https://youtu.be/b84T6HfiBCY   Bishop Jack ’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message as we look for our place in this world.  At this Christmastide, we have been concentrating on the joy of the Christ’s coming to earth; rightly so!  But, in our liturgical calendar, the days go on.  At this Christmastide, it is not surprising to find “To take our nature upon him”, is a key phrase of the Collect, preceding “To be born of a pure virgin”, meaning He could not have been born from anyone else but Mary, who was at the time a pure virgin (this is before the birth of James, Jesus’ biological half-brother.  As Paul says in his letter to the Galatians, we are not to be servants or slaves of God, but His own children.  As we came upon this midnight clear, the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is here for us.

    The Collect Holy Innocents O  ALMIGHTY  God, who out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast ordained strength, and madest infants to glorify thee by their deaths; Mortify and kill all vices in us, and so strengthen us by thy grace, that by the innocency of our lives, and constancy of our faith even unto death, we may glorify thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen .   T HEN  Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.  17  Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,  18  In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.   (Matthew 2:16-18)         The failure of the Wisemen to report Jesus’ location t

  Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist. [December  27 .] The Collect.   M ERCIFUL  Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of light upon thy Church, that it, being illumined by the doctrine of thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John, may so walk in the light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen .    The apostle John presents an interesting case, among the youngest of the apostles, he was the last to die and the only one to die of natural causes.  John was the author of the Gospel of John, the Revelation of John the Divine and the three Epistles of John, together often referred to as the Johannine works.   John was the son of Zebedee and the younger brother of James the Great. According to tradition, their mother was Salome, according to some traditions, the sister of Mary, Jesus' mother.  Thus John the Apostle and James were Jesus' cousins.  John is traditionally believed to live on for more than fifty y

Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr [December  26 .] The Collect.   G RANT , O Lord, that, in all our sufferings here upon earth for the testimony of thy truth, we may stedfastly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed; and, being filled with the Holy Ghost, may learn to love and bless our persecutors by the example of thy first Martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed for his murderers to thee, O blessed Jesus, who standest at the right hand of God to succour all those who suffer for thee. our only Mediator and Advocate.  Amen .   The text serving as the Epistle for this morning comes from the Acts of the Apostles, the Seventh Chapter, beginning at the Fifty-Fifth Verse:   The Epistle. ( Acts vii. 55. )   S TEPHEN , being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out

  A ND   there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  9  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  10  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  11  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  12  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  13  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,  14  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.  15  And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.  (Luke 2:8-15)     

x   A ND   there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  9  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the gloxqry of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  10  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  11  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  12  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger .  (Luke 2:8-12)               I have heard it said Easter is the most important of all Church Holy Days, and, on the other hand,  I have also heard it argued the Birth of Jesus supersedes them all. The argument is nebulous in that it has no definitive answer. It is very much like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. Without the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, there would be no other days to celebrate in the