1st Sunday after the Epiphany

Epistle 1928 BCP Mass

Romans 12:1-5 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

What better time is there for us to make a move toward repentance and amendment of life, than the Sunday following the Feast of the Epiphany – that time when God through Christ, the Light of the world, came to us to illumine our pathways and to reveal our shortcomings and sins.

Yes, we have sin in our lives; all of us, every day, transgress against the Word of God. However, we have in His Word, the means through His Grace, to lay aside that awful weight of sin, because that Word tells us in verse 2, to be transformed to that perfected will of God, and not to conform to the ways of the world.

Verse 4 tells us that we, who believe, are members of His body, the Church; yet not all are the same in the body. We each have our own unique gifts to bring, our own service to offer, our own niche to fill in His kingdom.

But yet, not all whom we know will have a place, only those who have purposed in their heart to submit to His will, to obey His Word, to receive Him into their lives as Lord and Master.

O God, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we, who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
-collect for Epiphany Octave, 1928 BCP

O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
-collect for the First Sunday after the Epiphany, 1928 BCP

Feast of the Epiphany (Twelfth Day of Christmas)

2 Corinthians 4:1-6 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
For 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. (KJV)

My little children, we did not cause the light to shine, God did. Many today are feeling self-actualized in their ‘theology’, they have convinced themselves and others around them, that they are the enlightenment of their souls and minds, that they have the answers within themselves for life’s problems, that their brand of social interaction and good works is sufficient unto salvation.

But we know better, as we search the Scripture for God’s plan for our lives, His plan for our interactions. Remember the summary of the law from the Mass:

‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it; thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets’.

Too many have perverted these words of Christ to mean that we should love all men, everywhere, and love and accept their sin; that we should work solely to provide for men’s creature comforts and uphold their sinful habits and ways; that we should include everyone, and not those who are unrepentant and fail to accept the mercies of God through Christ for their saving.

We all are sinners, saved by the Grace of God through the shed Blood of Christ; the main difference being that we recognize our sins, bewail them, confess them, repent from them, and accept His sacrifice for them. May we ever be aware of the gift that was given for us, for the Light that shone forth on that first great Epiphany, that ‘Star of Wonder, Star of Light, Star of Heavenly Beauty Bright’, that shone for us, to light our way through our very own dark and dreary world.

May His Grace + rest upon us as we honor His work for us this Octave of the Epiphany.


O God, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we, who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
-collect for Epiphany Octave, 1928 BCP

Words to live by

1Jn 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
…
1Jn 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. (KJV)

Words, truly, to live by. In these times of some manner of confusion about the person, work, efficacy, and deity of Jesus, whom we call the Christ, this chapter proves the reconciliation provided by God through the Passion of our Lord.

God, in His great mercy, gives us verses like today’s Morning Prayer lesson (1928 BCP lectionary) to remind us that we do matter, we do belong, someone does care for us, we are special!

All we must do is keep His commandments, love Him, and acknowledge Him.

Which brings us to the last verse in the small chapter, verse 21,

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”

How sweet to be called the children of God! How tender to know that He is in control, no matter what is happening around us…in our personal lives, in our families, in our churches, in our small worlds; He is there for us, if we only trust Him, if we only love Him, if we only obey Him…and not our own ideas and notions of what might be good, or comfortable, or fun in our lives, according to our own small self image…obey Him.

Father, as Christ brought the little children to Himself, receive us unto yourself, that you might guide us, protect us, and bring into your perfect peace, In the Name of Him who died for the atonement for our sins, and lives now to reconcile us, Jesus Christ, your Son. Amen.

January 4, Morning Prayer

Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

As we look into the new calendar year, this verse speaks particularly to our hearts in western South Dakota. God is indeed doing a 'new thing', not in the sense of a grand new 'revelation' for that canon is closed; but in the sense of recreating His Church for His Glory.
In a physical sense, we are looking for rain, yet in a spiritual sense, the rain (the latter rain) is already falling already, and we are being soaked in His love and peace, even in the midst of troublesome times.
A song we used to sing in another church years ago went like this:

Troublesome times are here,
Filling men's hearts with fear.
Freedoms we all hold dear
Now are at stake.
Humble your hearts to God,
Free from the chastening rod.
Seek the way pilgrims trod,
Christians awake!

How true it is that the times of our discontent are upon us; but God already has a plan in motion, He will not suffer His children to be lost, if we will just wait on Him.

"I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. " Believe this, and praise God.

Launch of AAC/SDK

The South Dakota Chapter of the American Anglican Council is set to launch. The by-laws are in process of final edit before filing with the SD Department of State, officers and directors are in process of being nominated.

Fr. Timothy Fountain, rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Sioux Falls is the motive force and coordinator of the effort to start a Chapter in the Northern Plains.

Plans include a web page which will target Anglican issues in the Northern Plains area, particularly South Dakota issues of Church and community, and a 'chat area', to allow dissemination of information and discussion pertinent to the area's Anglican work.

Directors and officers will be selected from across the state to insure representation for 'east river', west river', and mid-state conservative Anglicans within the chapter organization.

For more information, contact
Fr. Fountain at 605-332-1474 or tfountain@sio.midco.net; or
Dcn Chip Johnson at 605-745-5586 or sdanglican@gwtc.net.