Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Vigil of Pentecost!
Vigil of Pentecost
Greetings in Christ Jesus
Sunday May 20, 2018
Old Testament Joel 2:21-3:2 (The land, the beasts, and the people are told not to fear, because the Lord has done great
things, and the people will know that “I am the Lord your God, and there is
none besides: and my people will not be confounded for ever.” And after this,
the Lord will pour out His Spirit on al flesh, and in the last days, everyone
that calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.)
Epistle: Acts 2: 1-21 (At Pentecost [which was the day of the giving of the Law of Moses] a
mighty rushing wind comes upon the Apostles and they are filled with the Holy
Spirit, and they go out and speak in all foreign languages to all people in
Jerusalem.)
Gospel: John 14: 15-29
Jesus tells the Apostles that He will
ask the Father, and the Father will send the Holy Spirit that He may live with
them forever.
Psalms 149 and 150 “Sing
you to the Lord a new canticle: let His praise be in the church of the saints.
Let Israel rejoice in Him that made him: and let the children of Sion be joyful
in their king…” “Praise you the Lord in His holy places: praise you Him in the
firmament of His power. Praise you Him for His mighty acts: praise you Him
according to the multitude of his greatness…”
My Friends,
We are in worship today on a Sunday at the time of
Pentecost, so why is today’s worship called the Vigil of Pentecost? Well,
tomorrow Monday, May 21 is actually the day of Pentecost; 50 days after the
resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ according to the Western Rite.
So that makes today the Vigil of Pentecost. Let us begin.
In our Old Testament reading we have a prophecy that has
been partially fulfilled. We see in our epistle reading today that on the day
of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and they spoke to the
people in all languages, Peter stood and stated that the prophecy of Joel;
speaking about the spirit being poured out on all flesh was now fulfilled. We
all receive the Holy Spirit in our Baptism and Chrismation. Being poured out on
all flesh does not mean that all who are born are given the Holy Spirit. All who
are born are given the light of life, a spark of Christ at birth; That was the true Light, that lights every man that comes
into the world. (Gospel of John). But not everyone recognizes this light,
many refuse to see and are called blind and they fight against this light that
is in them, this light guides one’s conscience. Once one sears their conscience
it is rare for that one to come back bit in God it is not impossible because
all things are possible with God.
When we recognize this light and begin
searching for truth there will be many false teachings that will be shoved into
our life, these false teachings, coming from false prophets and false preachers
of the Gospel come in swiftly and appear to be truth. This is why we must never
cease to seek the truth and not simply settle for the charm and smile of a nice
church that makes us feel good when we are there. Remember that the devil was
the supreme angel, he appears as light. Satan is the shining one spoken of in Isaiah; he was the most beautiful and
powerful of the angels. He still appears as light and he is the great imitator of
the true Light which is Jesus the Christ. We must seek diligently the true
light through much prayer and worship, never being complacent when we are
seeking.
The rest of the prophecy in Joel is
only partially realized, the earth and all that is in it should be rejoicing in
the knowledge that Jesus has come and is now seated on the right hand of God
serving as our Great High Priest and Mediator and that He will come again and
then the rest of this prophecy will be fulfilled.
In our gospel we see Jesus promising
the gift of the Holy Spirit who will remind the apostles of all that Jesus had
taught and to further relate to them things that they could not possibly bare
now until the Holy Spirit was in them fully. The same is true for us today, without
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we cannot possibly understand all that we
could understand. Do not fooled, as I spoke earlier, beware of the wolves. Many
false prophets and false teachers and preachers of the gospel misuse the words
of our Lord and claim new revelations and new doctrines claiming the continuing
revelation from the Holy Spirit. These wolves love to speak about the things
that we cannot know until the proper time, although this may be true, the
things that we learn do not change the true Gospel which has already been
preached.
We are not to know the time of the
coming of our Lord, period. Discern all you want, the teaching is plain and
clear, it is not for us to know the day and time. Jesus states in today’s Gospel
that He is leaving and also that He is the times coming back. Discern the times
but never will we know the day and time. Do not waste time looking, preach the
true Gospel and warn as many as will listen, plant as many seeds as possible.
Do not attempt to second guess our Lord and determine the day and time that
only the Father knows.
Let us along with the Psalmist; praise
God in all things and at all times. Rejoice in His name and the glory that is
His alone and that He is coming for those who live a life confessing and
repenting and living the life that Jesus commands. Love God first; with all of
your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, and all of your strength. Then
love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets.
God can do all things; there is no situation that we get
ourselves into that God cannot help us out of. Don’t think though that if there
is some earthly penalty that we must pay that we will escape this because we
suddenly come to God for help. We simply must have the faith and believe. Keep
in mind however; God's plan is far above ours. We suffer and we have plenty
coming based on what God Himself has in store for us whether it is for purging,
for testing, or for reward or necessity for our life. God is in control.
We do not know when this will end and the new beginning will be, in spite of the many modern prophets who make a living selling Jesus and the destruction of the world; we have no clue when it will be. In the meantime, it rains on us all, haters and lovers of Jesus. The sun shines on us all, haters and lovers of Jesus. We remain together in this world until that day. So take a lesson from the readings. Continue to praise and worship Jesus the Christ and the Father through Him. Never cease to pray and live according to the gospel. Allow the Holy Ghost to guide you. Love God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength; love your neighbor as yourself. You never know whose life you will change because of this love of God in you.
The light has entered the world and the times; they are
a-changing.
If one does not have love for the soul of mankind and the
desire that all come to the truth than one does not have Christ in them fully.
Little children, love one another; because this is our
Lord’s command and if you fulfill this, nothing else is needed. Through love
and because of love we will follow all of the commandments that we have been
given. They are written on our hearts by the hand of Almighty God. We simply
need to see them within us and follow.
Remember; if we confess our sins and repent, he is faithful
and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.
May the peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with you
throughout this day and the rest of your life. May the Holy Spirit fill us all
to overflowing so that everyone in whose path we cross may receive a blessing
from our Lord Jesus the Christ.
Blessings
In Christ.
Bishop William’s videos; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW8XyPtkmtu6a1vVg6MEiNg
Many Blessings!
+William
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Sunday after the Ascension!
Sunday after the Ascension
Greetings in Christ Jesus,
Sunday May 13, 2018
Epistle: Acts 18: 22- 19:12 A better Baptism, of Christ
Gospel: John 17: 1-26
The Prayer of our Lord for those who come to believe in Him
Psalm 72/73 How good
is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart!
My Friends,
We begin today by reading about a man, a Jew called Apollos.
This man was eloquent and mighty in the Scriptures but he knew only the baptism
of John which means that he knew the Lord through the teaching of John the
Baptist and through his sound knowledge of Scripture which would be the Jewish
Law and the Prophets, Apollos went down to Ephesus and began preaching the
things of the Lord. Even though he knew only the baptism of John he was fervent
in spirit in his preaching of the Lord Jesus. God can use a fervent spirit who
is somewhat less informed much better than He can use one who may be fully
educated but lazy or not so fervent in preaching the Gospel.
Apollos was also bold enough to go into the synagogue and
preach the Gospel to those Jews in Ephesus. He was well learned in the Law and
the Prophets and understood John the Baptist when he spoke of Jesus as the Christ
and so Apollos being bold and fervent began teaching the Lord. This is two
characteristics that one who is to preach needs to have. Understand that we
need true knowledge though, it cannot be some untrue understanding, it cannot
be a false understanding, it has to be true, it may not be the complete truth
but what is spoken is truth. So many people today go off half cocked with a
false understanding and not only is the truth not told but in their pride of
their knowledge they will attack others for what they see as the other’s lack
of understanding and truth. This is not Christian. This leads us to our next
point.
Two Jews who learned from St. Paul, Aquila and his wife
Priscilla heard Apollos preaching and realized that while he preached truth, he
was lacking in some areas, so they took him aside privately and taught him in the ways that he was still lacking. We
have more points here to learn from, Aquila and Priscilla showed love for
Apollos and for the preaching of the Gospel. They took Apollos aside without
making a big show of themselves in their pride of their knowledge. They were
not puffed up in their taking Apollos aside; they were in fact humble and
loving. Apollos also show another good Christian trait in that he was also
humble and allowed two tent makers; one of them a woman, to take him aside and
teach or further explain the ways of the Lord where Apollos was lacking.
How much can we learn from the reading of Holy Scripture if
we ask first, pray, and then actually pay attention to what we read? We are all
guilty of this and many other infractions as well. Pride is incredibly subtle
and often times we believe we are doing some good when actually in our pride we
are doing much harm. Pray on this.
Today’s Gospel is a marvel in itself. Our Lord is praying
for everyone throughout time who will come to believe in Him. Here are some
highlights; 1 These things Jesus spoke, and lifting up his eyes to
heaven, he said: Father, the hour is come, glorify Your Son, that Your Son may
glorify You. 2 As you have given him power over all flesh, that he
may give eternal life to all whom You have given him. 3 Now this is
eternal life: That they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth; I have finished
the work which You gave me to do. 5 And now glorify You me, O
Father, with Yourself, with the glory which I had, before the world was, with You.
How much can we learn from these verses? Jesus, as man,
prays to the Father. The hour is come;
Jesus is in complete control. He controls the time and events. He wants all to
have eternal life that come to Him. This is eternal life; to know the father,
the only true God, and Jesus the Christ whom the Father sent. Jesus is to
return to the glory with the Father that He had before the world was created. Jesus
has always been with God, there has never been a time when Jesus did not exist.
11 And now I am not in the world, and these are
in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name whom You
have given me; that they may be one, as we also are. 14 I have
given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the
world; as I also am not of the world. 15 I pray not that You should
take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from evil. 16 They
are not of the world, as I also am not of the world. 22 And the
glory which You have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, as
we also are one: 23 I in them, and you in me; that they may be made
perfect in one: and the world may know that You have sent me, and have loved
them, as You have also loved me. 24 Father, I will that where
I am, they also whom you have given me may be with me; that they may see my
glory which You have given me, because You have loved me before the creation of
the world.
Oh all that call themselves Christian take a lesson. The
Father will keep those who love our Lord. But what does this mean? Will we
become financially rich and successful in all that we do because we say the
name Jesus in public? No, as Jesus has stated, the world will hate us as it
hated Him. Some will become successful and are required to assist those who are
not because there will be those who are poor, sick, frail, born with
afflictions. Jesus prayed that we are not removed from the world but that we
would be kept from the evil, that we would not succumb to temptation to commit
sin, it does not mean that we will not be tempted or tested or pushed to our
limits. But that the Father would give us the strength to endure and persevere.
Another lesson; that they may be one.
This is such a difficult thing to do isn’t it? So much hate,
prejudice, discrimination, and violence both physical and in word that is done
from one group to another. Are there complete fakers? You had better believe
it. Are there many false prophets? We know that there are. Do we see pride in
someone’s preaching while they attempt to disguise it by speaking about it and
calling it a gift from God because they are just so good at being Christian? Of
course we do. Are we told by many that we all deserve the good things in life
and we can get them if we apply ourselves and tithe to them, whoever the
speaker of the moment is? Of course we do.
What are we to do? Do not support them. Pray for them. Give to
the poor and the widow and the orphan. Someone who preaches and asks for money
for his own personal use so that he/she can afford some luxury? Do not support
them. Pray that their heart will be changed.
Pray today with the Psalmist who says that God is good to
the upright in heart. His feet had almost slipped because he was jealous of the
lawless sinner who was at peace with himself and did not look up to God. This
jealousy, this envy of the lawless and the false prophet is a downfall and
leads to perdition. Do not be trapped by the desire of luxury and fine food, or
big houses so that we give up our soul to the evil one. Pray that this does not
come upon anyone.
God can do all things; there is no situation that we get
ourselves into that God cannot help us out of. We simply must have the faith
and believe. Keep in mind however; God's plan is far above ours. We suffer and
we have plenty coming based on what God Himself has in store for us whether it
is for purging, for testing, or for reward or necessity for our life. God is in
control.
We do not know when this will end
and the new beginning will be, in spite of the many modern prophets who make a
living selling Jesus and the destruction of the world; we have no clue when it
will be. In the meantime, it rains on us all, haters and lovers of Jesus. The
sun shines on us all, haters and lovers of Jesus. We remain together in this
world until that day. So take a lesson from the readings. Continue to praise
and worship Jesus the Christ and the Father through Him. Never cease to pray
and live according to the gospel. Allow the Holy Ghost to guide you. Love God
with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with
all of your strength; love your neighbor as yourself. You never know whose life
you will change because of this love of God in you.
The light has entered the world and the times; they
are a-changing.
If one does not have love for the soul of mankind and the
desire that all come to the truth than one does not have Christ in them fully.
Little children, love one another; because this is our
Lord’s command and if you fulfill this, nothing else is needed. Through love
and because of love we will follow all of the commandments that we have been
given. They are written on our hearts by the hand of Almighty God. We simply
need to see them within us and follow.
Remember; if we confess our sins and repent, he is faithful
and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.
May the peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with you
throughout this day and the rest of your life. May the Holy Spirit fill us all
to overflowing so that everyone in whose path we cross may receive a blessing
from our Lord Jesus the Christ.
Blessings
Bishop William’s videos; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW8XyPtkmtu6a1vVg6MEiNg
Many Blessings!
+William
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Saturday, May 5, 2018
VI Resurrection. 5th Sunday after Resurrection Day. Western Calendar.
VI
Resurrection
5th Sunday after Resurrection Day
Beginning of
Rogations
Greetings in Christ Jesus,
Sunday May 6, 2018
Epistle: Acts 16: 19-36
Gospel: Mark 7: 31-37
Psalm 70/71 “In thee,
O’ Lord, I have hoped
My Friends,
It is now time to introduce the Days or Rogation, this is a
Western Christian celebration that has actually been removed from the church
calendar and is rarely celebrated in the United States. So what are the Rogation
Days? Rogation is simply an English form of the Latin rogatio,
which comes from the verb rogare, which means "to ask."
The primary purpose of the Rogation Days is to ask God to bless the fields and
the church geographic area that they fall in.
Starting at the church, (whether inside or outside, either
one), the congregation would begin the Litany of the Saints and proceed to walk
the grounds, not just the building itself but the whole of the property. This
would be repeated as necessary depending on the size of the property and the
length of time that it took to walk it. Or rather than repeating the Litany
they would supplement it with some of the penitential or gradual Psalms. Thus,
the entire church and property would be blessed, and the boundaries of the church
would be marked.
After this a worship service would be held in which all were
expected to attend. Rogation Days are tied to the spring planting. The Rogation
days end on ascension day which is May 10, 2018. The Rogation Days are days of
prayer, and formerly also of fasting, instituted by the Church to ask
protection in calamities, and to obtain a good and bountiful harvest.
In the readings today we see troubles, there are health
issues; a man is brought to Jesus who is deaf and has a speech impediment, Jesus heals the man. This healing may also be symbolic of the healing of mankind through the acceptance of Jesus the Christ. We first must hear the word and understand it before we can go out and explain it. The fact that the man's friends came to Jesus bringing the man along and the fact that the man agreed and allowed Jesus to put His fingers into the ears of the deaf man and then also to touch the man's tongue shows a faith in Jesus, his friends had the faith to lead him to Jesus and then the man had the faith to believe and so he was healed. The same as we and all who come to Jesus and believe are healed of our sins.
Notice that Jesus groaned before He healed the man; we have read this before
when Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead after four days in the tomb.
We have read that Jesus wept. This in fact shows that Jesus was not only God was was man as well. A man with emotions, one that could feel pain and hurt, one that demonstrated love physically for all people. Jesus is the God/Man.
We see the Apostles are imprisoned because St. Paul cast an unholy
spirit from a girl who was being used for profit by her keepers because she
could divine or tell the fortunes of those who she came into contact with. This young girl was annoying the Apostle by following them around and constantly announcing who they were and what they were dong.This
of course made those who were her keepers much money. While the Apostles were
in prison they began praising God, an earthquake came and shook the prison, the
doors of the prison were opened and the bands fell off of all of the prisoners.
Our Psalmist speaks of his troubles and of those who seek
his life and cause him great grief. Yet in spite of these things, even though
his life is in peril, he praises God. He glorifies Him as savior and protector,
he believes the promise of God, and he has great faith. The Psalmist as well as
the Apostles, who are imprisoned after being beaten, never stops praising God
in spite of their life being in great jeopardy.
These are lessons for us today. Regardless of our life and its many
difficulties, we are loved and helped. We cannot know how much more difficult
it would be for us if our Lord Jesus did not love us. Jesus groans at the
healing of those who ask, Jesus weeps at the grave of His friend. Jesus does
indeed love us to the point of giving His life for us.
Notice however that all of these people faced great
challenges in their life. They had no easy life because they praised and
preached Jesus, no, their life was indeed difficult. The world does not want
anyone to live in eternal glory because the world is ruled by Lucifer the
devil. He was and is the first to defy Almighty God and he suffers greatly for
it. So how can he rule the world that God created? Because man allowed him into
the world and followed him, this is how. Man continues to allow Lucifer to
control him and the world system. Because we have been given free will by the
Father, this will continue. We need to struggle against the devil and live for
Jesus on this earth. There will come a day when man no longer praises the
Creator and when this day comes it will finally signal the end. Currently
people are still being born who turn to the Savior Jesus the Christ. Enough so
that Almighty God has not instituted the end of the world as we know it and a
new earth begins.
We do not know when this end and the new beginning will be,
in spite of the many modern prophets who make a living selling Jesus and the
destruction of the world; we have no clue when it will be. In the meantime, it
rains on us all, haters and lovers of Jesus. The sun shines on us all, haters
and lovers of Jesus. We remain together in this world until that day. So take a
lesson from the readings. Continue to praise and worship Jesus the Christ and
the Father through Him. Never cease to pray and live according to the gospel. Allow
the Holy Ghost to guide you. Love God with all of your heart, with all of your soul,
with all of your mind, and with all of your strength; love your neighbor as
yourself. You never know whose life you will change because of this love of God
in you.
The light has entered the world and the times; they are
a-changing.
If one does not have love for the soul of mankind and the desire that
all come to the truth than one does not have Christ in them fully.
Little children, love one another; because this is our Lord’s command
and if you fulfill this, nothing else is needed. Through love and because of
love we will follow all of the commandments that we have been given. They are
written on our hearts by the hand of Almighty God. We simply need to see them
within us and follow.
Remember; if we confess our sins and repent, he is faithful and just,
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.
May the peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with you
throughout this day and the rest of your life. May the Holy Spirit fill us all
to overflowing so that everyone in whose path we cross may receive a blessing
from our Lord Jesus the Christ.
Blessings
In Christ.
Bishop William’s videos; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW8XyPtkmtu6a1vVg6MEiNg
Many Blessings!
+William
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Saturday, April 28, 2018
V Resurrection! 4th Sunday after Resurrection Day!
V Resurrection!
4th Sunday after Western Resurrection
Day
Greetings in Christ Jesus
Sunday April 29, 2018
Epistle: Acts 4:36-5:11
Gospel: John 9:1-38
Psalm: Psalm 69/70
Friends,
Christ has risen. In today’s Epistle the Apostle Peter is
speaking to someone who sold a piece of property and brought the money to the
church to be used to help others who may have a need. The man lied and stated
that he was giving all that he had. When Peter confronts him the man drops
dead. Later his wife comes in and Peter then questions the man’s wife who
backed up her husband’s amount therein again another lie was told, when Peter
confronts the woman she falls down dead as well. Why? The issue here is not
that the couple kept back some of the money or proceeds from the sale of the
property, the issue is also not because the couple lied to Peter, when Peter
confronted the man he said; you did not lie to us but to God, when the man
heard these words he fell dead.
This is the lesson; we cannot hide anything from God, we
cannot lie to God. There is no where we can go that He will not see, there is
nothing that we can do that He will not also see, and there is nothing that we
can say that He will not hear. We must be honest and upfront in all that we do.
Lying to God or attempting to trick Him is always a bad idea. We must confess
and repent of these things now or we will pay a price.
In our Gospel we see that Jesus is healing a blind man by
putting clay on the blind man’s eyes and then telling him to go wash in the
Pool of Siloam. Jesus can obviously heal the blind man Himself without anything
else needed so why did Jesus use clay on the blind man’s eyes and then tell the
man to go and wash in the pool?
A few things here; one is obedience, do we obey God when He
directs us to do something or do we whine and question? The blind man did not
question but obeyed and came away seeing. Two; Jesus spit on the ground and
made clay. When man was created God Himself used clay to form man from the
earth, by spitting and using the clay Jesus is symbolically showing the old man
made of clay which is placed on the eyes of the blind man and then by obedience
the blind man goes and washes in the pool of Siloam which is symbolic of
obedience and being baptized in water for the washing and regeneration and
forgiveness of sins, thus washing away the old man (the clay) and walking away
seeing symbolizes the new man created in Jesus who is now no longer blind to
faith but can now see.
In spite of those who refuse baptism claiming it is simply a
sign, and in spite of those who feel as if because they said a special prayer
calling on Jesus so that now they are saved that they can continue living their
life as they please making no changes. This is incorrect. Once our eyes are
opened it is our job and duty to change for the good. We are saved unto good
works. We are saved to glorify God.
We have received a new life. Be thankful
for that and tell others, live a life in Jesus, do good. When we fall, confess
from our heart and repent. Get back up and keep on going. Praising God.
So from the Psalm let us pray; O God come to my assistance,
O Lord make haste to help me. Let those who seek you rejoice and be glad in
you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is Great!” But I am
poor and need; hasten to help me O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O
Lord, do not delay!
The light has entered the world and the times; they are
a-changing.
If one does not have love for the soul of mankind and the desire that
all come to the truth than one does not have Christ in them fully.
Little children, love one another; because this is our Lord’s command
and if you fulfill this, nothing else is needed. Through love and because of
love we will follow all of the commandments that we have been given. They are
written on our hearts by the hand of Almighty God. We simply need to see them
within us and follow.
Remember; if we confess our sins and repent, he is faithful and just,
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.
Bishop William’s videos; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW8XyPtkmtu6a1vVg6MEiNg
Many Blessings!
+William
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