AOC Two

B E  strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee .   (Deuteronomy 31:5-6)   In the days in which heroes and heroines have lived, their names may have been the center of dialogue in every household. How sadly strange that men and women of great spiritual presence and self-sacrifice are so easily forgotten with the passage of time. We would be better served if we continued to honor such persons as Sir Francis Drake, Joan of Ark, Wycliffe, Tyndale, Luther, Cranmer, Washington, Lee, and Livingston. Our youth would profit even more than we by their examples.   In the 19 th  century, the African continent was steeped in the darkness of superstition, slavery, sorcery, cannibalism and internecine warfare between villages and regions. God had people in the darkest corners of that continent who needed to know that they belonged to Him. So, he pr...

  Richard Rowland Kirkland, known as "The Angel of Marye's Heights", (August 1843 – 20 September 1863)   L ET   brotherly love continue.  2  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.   (Heb 13:1-2)   The history and traditions of our country are rich in examples of great heroism and patriotism. These great examples are mirrored at every turn in our country's national experience. One such example comes to us from a period of great suffering and sadness as our nation underwent the tortuous ordeal of War...a war that pitted brother against brother and father against son - the great War Between the States.   Richard Kirkland was a young South Carolina Confederate volunteer of 18 years of age at the beginning of the War. He fought in most of the major battles early in the War from First Manassas to Fredricksburg and, later, Chickamauga.   Serving under Colonel Kershaw at Fredricksburg, Sergeant Ric...

  N OW  when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.  21  And as they did eat, he said,  Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.   22  And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him,  Lord, is it I ?  23  And he answered and said,  He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.   24  The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born .  25  Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said,  Master, is it I ? He said unto him,  Thou hast said .  (Matthew 26:20-25)   In da Vinci’s  Last Supper , Christ is the central figure via ‘point-perspective.’ All the lines on the floor, ceiling and wall converge to a point of meeting in infinity directly behind the heart of Christ. If extended outward, the...

A  MAN  that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother   (Proverbs 18:2)   T   HIS  is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.   13   Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.   14   Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.   15   Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.   16   Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.   17   These things I command you, that ye love one another.   ( John 15:12-17)           ...

    Happy Third Sunday in Lent!  The AOC Sunday Report is available  RIGHT HERE ! Today we have excellent sermons from Bishops Jerry and Roy, as well as Revs Jack and Brian.  Rev Jack's sermon can be viewed on video  RIGHT HERE . There are always a lot of people needing your prayer, today is no exception.  Please start with Shamu, whose old port site is infected, Tricia, who is plagued by headaches on top of her stroke, for Jim who has so much difficulty recovering his mobility, for Mrs. Kay, whose knee is keeping her from mobility, and work out from there. There is a lot of evil in the world, there always has been, the Prince of this World is always on the lookout for a new home.  Open your heart to the Holy Ghost, see the good, identify and reject the bad. Speaking of good, there is a lot of that in the week ahead.  Look for it. Godspeed, Hap Church of the Faithful Centurion Descanso, California United States of America

Rev Jack's sermon can be viewed on video  RIGHT HERE ! Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action Church of the Faithful Centurion Descanso, California Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.    Consider these words from the Collect:   … look upon the hearty desires of thy humble servants, and stretch forth the right hand of thy Majesty, to be our defence against all our enemies …   In the Collect, we ask God look in to our hearts, and see our desire to be His children and defend us against evil.  That also means we are looking for His Help which comes in the form of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost will assist us in the process of changing of our hearts to actually have “hearty desires” to do His Will and to be “humble servants”, not our usual and customary self-centered selves.  Quite a combination of thoughts in a small bit of verbiage!  It is amazing...

  The Propers for today are found on Page 128-130, with the Collect first:   The Third Sunday in Lent. The Collect. W   E  beseech thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of thy humble servants, and stretch forth the right hand of thy Majesty, to be our defence against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.   And due to the rubric, the Collect for the Day is followed by the Collect for Ash Wednesday, which is found on Page 124:   The first day of Lent, commonly called Ash Wednesday. The Collect.   A LMIGHTY  and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.   ¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the Collec...