In an effort to reduce our outlay, we have dropped our DSL and dial-up acocunts.
Therefore, [sdanglican@gwtc.net] is no longer valid, instead, we have gone back to basics...sdanglican@excite.com...is our new e-mail home.
Thanks,
Fr. Chip
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Fourth Sunday in Advent
“Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you…”
Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at His coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever. Amen.
- Book of Common Prayer, 1979
Alleluia. I am the servant of the Lord: may His will for me be done. Alleluia
In today’s Gospel, we find the Lukan account of the visitation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary, to announce the birth of the Christ. Verse 26, ‘In the sixth month…’, the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist, Gabriel was sent to Nazareth to visit Mary, betrothed to Joseph, to announce to her that the Christ would be born of her, even though she was a virgin (not just a young maid, as in some newer translations), …’You have found favor with God…you shall conceive after the Holy Ghost has come upon you…you shall bear a child and call His Name Jesus. He will be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High…and He shall rule over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.’
What a heady message…even today this would be a shocker to a young girl, about to be married. What would today’s modern, enlightened, empowered young lady do at such a message? Would the Christ be just another statistic of abortion, would He perhaps be left at the police station or the local hospital? Would the world ever know that He had been born, if He were to come as a babe again today?
Mary’s response, found in verse 38, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done in me according to your word.’ should be our response; but would we, could we respond in such a manner? Or would our false sense propriety kick in and cause us to number our Lord among the lost millions of fetal catastrophies?
In Mary’s day, premarital knowledge and adultery were stoning offenses. How easy it would have been for her to seek out a person to help her ‘tend to her difficulty’. How simple to say, ’No’ to God and let Gabriel pass on by. But she did not, she accepted the gift that was offered to her and to the world through her, and allowed the workings of God to continue.
We have the same power over God that Mary had…we can, and often do, say, ‘No’ to God, sometimes daily. As we expect Him this Advent, may we be ever ready to just say, ‘Yes Lord, Your will be done in my life.’
In His Name,
Fr. Chip
Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at His coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever. Amen.
- Book of Common Prayer, 1979
Alleluia. I am the servant of the Lord: may His will for me be done. Alleluia
In today’s Gospel, we find the Lukan account of the visitation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary, to announce the birth of the Christ. Verse 26, ‘In the sixth month…’, the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist, Gabriel was sent to Nazareth to visit Mary, betrothed to Joseph, to announce to her that the Christ would be born of her, even though she was a virgin (not just a young maid, as in some newer translations), …’You have found favor with God…you shall conceive after the Holy Ghost has come upon you…you shall bear a child and call His Name Jesus. He will be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High…and He shall rule over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.’
What a heady message…even today this would be a shocker to a young girl, about to be married. What would today’s modern, enlightened, empowered young lady do at such a message? Would the Christ be just another statistic of abortion, would He perhaps be left at the police station or the local hospital? Would the world ever know that He had been born, if He were to come as a babe again today?
Mary’s response, found in verse 38, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done in me according to your word.’ should be our response; but would we, could we respond in such a manner? Or would our false sense propriety kick in and cause us to number our Lord among the lost millions of fetal catastrophies?
In Mary’s day, premarital knowledge and adultery were stoning offenses. How easy it would have been for her to seek out a person to help her ‘tend to her difficulty’. How simple to say, ’No’ to God and let Gabriel pass on by. But she did not, she accepted the gift that was offered to her and to the world through her, and allowed the workings of God to continue.
We have the same power over God that Mary had…we can, and often do, say, ‘No’ to God, sometimes daily. As we expect Him this Advent, may we be ever ready to just say, ‘Yes Lord, Your will be done in my life.’
In His Name,
Fr. Chip
Friday, December 05, 2008
Second Sunday of Advent
Second Sunday in Advent
7 December 2008
Mark 1:1-8
“Make ready the way of the Lord…”
This week we look at two of the forerunners of Our Lord Jesus Christ; the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, and the first cousin of Christ, John the Baptist, foretelling of the ministry and suffering of the Lord, as recorded by Mark in his Gospel.
All of mankind shall see the salvation of God, provided through the merits of His Son, Jesus; but we will have to wait for His benefits to be fulfilled in and for us. And why not, we are willing to wait for other expectations in life…a good mate, children, job satisfaction, etc., etc. Why not wait for the Lord? Advent is a season of waiting, a season of penitent expectation. The word advent means preparation or coming, and that is exactly what Christians should do during this pre-Christmas period; we prepare our lives for another visit from His Grace through the Nativity.
The Gospel text for the Second Sunday of Advent, taken from the first chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark, opens with the announcement by John, quoting from Isaiah 40.3, “…Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Our comment is simply this: In your own life, in your own family, in your own community…prepare the way for the Lord…make a place in your life for Jesus, the King of Glory; because no one else can! Only you can prepare your heart to receive Him afresh this coming Christmas season.
In His Name,
Chip+
7 December 2008
Mark 1:1-8
“Make ready the way of the Lord…”
This week we look at two of the forerunners of Our Lord Jesus Christ; the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, and the first cousin of Christ, John the Baptist, foretelling of the ministry and suffering of the Lord, as recorded by Mark in his Gospel.
All of mankind shall see the salvation of God, provided through the merits of His Son, Jesus; but we will have to wait for His benefits to be fulfilled in and for us. And why not, we are willing to wait for other expectations in life…a good mate, children, job satisfaction, etc., etc. Why not wait for the Lord? Advent is a season of waiting, a season of penitent expectation. The word advent means preparation or coming, and that is exactly what Christians should do during this pre-Christmas period; we prepare our lives for another visit from His Grace through the Nativity.
The Gospel text for the Second Sunday of Advent, taken from the first chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark, opens with the announcement by John, quoting from Isaiah 40.3, “…Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Our comment is simply this: In your own life, in your own family, in your own community…prepare the way for the Lord…make a place in your life for Jesus, the King of Glory; because no one else can! Only you can prepare your heart to receive Him afresh this coming Christmas season.
In His Name,
Chip+
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Advent 1, 2008
First Sunday in Advent
30 November 2008
Mark 13:24-37
The Parable of the Fig Tree
Now learn a lesson from the fig tree; as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you recognize that summer is near. (v.28 – Amplified Bible)
As we look toward the season of Christmas, beginning with this first week of Advent, we reflect on our lives, on those events of the past weeks, months, and year; we read that Jesus himself has just given us a list of signs of the times in the beginning verses of the Sunday Gospel…But in those days after [the affliction and oppression and distress of] that tribulation …which he mentions and enumerates in the verses preceding… the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the power of the heavens will be shaken. (v. 24, 25)
And THEN (26),… and THEN (27),… NOW learn (28).
Our Lord told the Parables for shock value; to move the hearers to action; to shake them (us) out of lethargy. This Parable of end time events should have moved His hearers to change their lives in such a manner that their lives would conform to the standards of God and Scripture. You would think so, wouldn’t you?
Well they didn’t. The majority of the good citizens of Jerusalem, exercising a true democracy, ruled a short time after this teaching was given, and the Christ was accused, condemned, and crucified. They failed to understand His teachings, just as we also misunderstand and ignore His Word today.
Back to the Gospel, v 29and 36,37, So also, when you see these things happening, you may recognize and know that He is near, at the very door…[Watch ,I say] lest He come suddenly, and unexpectedly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to everybody: Watch (give strict attention, be cautious, active, and alert).
Advent, the season of expectation, the season of preparation, that time in the Church year when we focus our attention on both the Christ who is about to come, as well as the Christ who has already come and given a written record of His expectations for us. As we enter the joyous season of Advent and Christmas, may we truly examine our lives in the light of His Word; may we make proper preparation for Him in our lives.
Fr. Charles Johnson
St. Francis Anglican Community
sdanglican.blogspot.com
890-2313
30 November 2008
Mark 13:24-37
The Parable of the Fig Tree
Now learn a lesson from the fig tree; as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you recognize that summer is near. (v.28 – Amplified Bible)
As we look toward the season of Christmas, beginning with this first week of Advent, we reflect on our lives, on those events of the past weeks, months, and year; we read that Jesus himself has just given us a list of signs of the times in the beginning verses of the Sunday Gospel…But in those days after [the affliction and oppression and distress of] that tribulation …which he mentions and enumerates in the verses preceding… the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the power of the heavens will be shaken. (v. 24, 25)
And THEN (26),… and THEN (27),… NOW learn (28).
Our Lord told the Parables for shock value; to move the hearers to action; to shake them (us) out of lethargy. This Parable of end time events should have moved His hearers to change their lives in such a manner that their lives would conform to the standards of God and Scripture. You would think so, wouldn’t you?
Well they didn’t. The majority of the good citizens of Jerusalem, exercising a true democracy, ruled a short time after this teaching was given, and the Christ was accused, condemned, and crucified. They failed to understand His teachings, just as we also misunderstand and ignore His Word today.
Back to the Gospel, v 29and 36,37, So also, when you see these things happening, you may recognize and know that He is near, at the very door…[Watch ,I say] lest He come suddenly, and unexpectedly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to everybody: Watch (give strict attention, be cautious, active, and alert).
Advent, the season of expectation, the season of preparation, that time in the Church year when we focus our attention on both the Christ who is about to come, as well as the Christ who has already come and given a written record of His expectations for us. As we enter the joyous season of Advent and Christmas, may we truly examine our lives in the light of His Word; may we make proper preparation for Him in our lives.
Fr. Charles Johnson
St. Francis Anglican Community
sdanglican.blogspot.com
890-2313
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
And on we go!
Since June, we have visited several different congregations, ECLA, LCMS, Weslyan, and Episcopal; as well as served as supply for a small (very small) UMC congregation out on the prairie.
We have been invited to read, but nothing else at TEO.
We are praying seriously about the situation on the Pine Ridge Mission which has been reported by Stand Firm and the Northern Plains Anglican...the gist of which is that the TEO bishop here in South Dakota has decided to close nine reservation missions. The tribes own the land, and if we can help, we will, most definitely!
Pray for us, and them...especially since some on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud have been out of home for a week and will likely be out another week before power is restored following Wednesday's freak blizzard.
Chip+
We have been invited to read, but nothing else at TEO.
We are praying seriously about the situation on the Pine Ridge Mission which has been reported by Stand Firm and the Northern Plains Anglican...the gist of which is that the TEO bishop here in South Dakota has decided to close nine reservation missions. The tribes own the land, and if we can help, we will, most definitely!
Pray for us, and them...especially since some on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud have been out of home for a week and will likely be out another week before power is restored following Wednesday's freak blizzard.
Chip+
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