Proverbs 26: 6-16
Wisdom is different from knowledge.
Knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting one in a fruit salad.
How can we learn to grow in wisdom?
From God's creation
From God's word
From God's people
From God himself
Parish Communion: Third Sunday of Epiphany
Hail to the Lord’s anointed ( Crüger )
O Thou who at thy eucharist did pray (Song 1)
King of glory, king of peace ( Gwalchmai)
Seek ye first
O for a thousand tongues ( Richmond)
Today’s sermon was based on the Gospel reading, where Jesus reads from the scroll in the synagogue. A link was made with the sermon by Bishop Budde for President Trump.
Later came a comment that the early church did not have buildings or budgets but had the Holy Spirit. We have buildings and budgets- do we see the Holy Spirit at work?
We use the Narrative Lectionary. Today's sermon was about the call of Jesus to be fishers of people. Of note, Luke does not has a specific call of the Disciples. He just tells them they will be fishers of people. They were told to go out to the deep to cast their nets, The church is still called to go to the deep to cast our nets.
Today’s sermon was based on the Gospel reading, where Jesus reads from the scroll in the synagogue. A link was made with the sermon by Bishop Budde for President Trump.
Marriage is a covenant based on a practice of love, not feelings. It is a three-legged stool, the three legs being Fidelity, Permanence and Provision. Divorce does happen but it should not; there's always a way back.
(Making it clear, as I'm sure it is from the thread's title, that I'm only reporting, not sharing my views... )
Jesus is not saying oaths are bad, but he is targeting honesty. Dishonesty makes it difficult to establish relationship. Jesus means what he says and does what he promises.
Proverbs 27: 5-10
The value of friendships with those people we trust and can rely on. Sometimes a close friend can be a better sounding board, confidant and advisor than family.
A new-to-us stand-in priest recommended by the Archdeacon took the service today so we were expecting great things, or at least a comment about being called, etc.
No, not a bit of it. What we got was a 13 minute rant which can be summarised as "How wrong it is that "people" are questioning the amount that the CofE spends on admin". Just as I was about to leave the loft to do something useful a deaf member of the congregation said loudly I've had enough of this and walked out 🤣😂
Mark's adaptation of Q shows his particular concerns.
If we submit to Jesus authority, we can only be attacked by evil spirits if Jesus gives permission for them.
We need to love the Bible because it has the power to help us in all circumstances.
Mark's adaptation of Q shows his particular concerns.
If we submit to Jesus authority, we can only be attacked by evil spirits if Jesus gives permission for them.
We need to love the Bible because it has the power to help us in all circumstances.
Was it said that Mark adapted Q? I have not heard this before.
I understood that Q was the secondary source for Matthew and Luke, who additionally used Mark. And wasn't there even an idea that Q used Mark? I guess there's so much we can never know.
Proverbs 19 talks about Justice. Dealing with transgressors can be left to our judicial system and, ultimately, God. Our task is to helps the victims of injustice.
Epiphany 6. My turn again. Drawing on Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 and the metaphor of the tree planted by the water, extended to drawing in God's love like a tree draws water, and how we keep ourselves rooted in God so that we can flourish and stand strong in drought or flood. Making reference to Bishop Marianne Budde, but also to Tutu, Bonhoeffer, Liddel and Ten Boom and their relevance to the choices American Christians are facing.
Matthew 5:38-42
Turning the other cheek, offering a coat as well as a shirt and going the extra mile are not acts of self-humiliation but statements of equality and empowering (my word) and a calling out of those who oppress the poor. This is exemplified by Jesus himself, who was slapped, stripped and who went the extra mile to Golgotha.
Jesus is our saving King and he has come to restore us.
Jairus and the suffering woman had obstacles to overcome before they could ask Jesus for help. More important than how much faith you have is that your faith leads to reaching out to Jesus. He will restore us. The issue is whether this is before or after he returns in glory.
A powerful sermon on Sunday from Fr. Paul, who is obviously very exercised by the statements of certain US politicians. These he contrasted with Our Lord's beatitudes (Fr Paul keeps to the BCP lectionary).
PTL.
Who is Jesus and what does it mean to follow him?
God's purpose for the Messiah is suffering and servanthood
Who do you say Jesus is and what are you doing about it?
We are getting another Pastoral Letter from our bishop. No doubt it will be the usual "Do your religion in church, quiely praying, and only do it outside church if its on a red button issue that matters to me."
Bleurgh. I will not listen.
Based on the stilling of the storm- who is Jesus? What place do we give him?
I read the first lesson, Revelation ch4. I am always disappointed when there is no reference to the first lesson, especially when I have read it, but our priest preaches on the Gospel. The hymns covered all bases.
The beheading of John the Baptist as recounted in Mark 6: 14-29.
Herod fell victim to the sins of lust (the preacher reckoned Herodius' daughter's performance was more like a lap dance than ballet) and pride (having promised the daughter anything she wanted, he was too concerned what others would think if he went back on his word). In contrast, John was not concerned about what others thought when he called out Herod's sin.
Do we succumb to peer pressure by keeping quiet when we should speak out?
The Tower of Babel, in which our minister was determined to make sure God appears to be the good guy and find excuses for his actions while avoiding any questions about who wrote the story and why. I don't think he's bonkers enough to think this is a verbatim historical account but he seemed intent on treating it as one, including the claim that God must have gone down to the city as a person to see the tower, and that God referring to "us" must imply the trinity. I sometimes wonder about the quality of instruction on the UHI theology course.
My attention span was even worse than usual this morning (and that's saying something 😄) but I remember hearing something about how we're all different and often annoy each other and something about forgiveness.
I sometimes wonder about the quality of instruction on the UHI theology course.
I think this is par for the course. Ministers who have surely been exposed to historical & textual Biblical criticism in their training never seem to share that learning from the pulpit!
Mark 6: 30-44 - Feeding of the five thousand.
If we bring to God whatever we are holding in our hands, He will use it in ways that we often do not understand.
Mark 8:27-38 It was meant to be only 34-38, but the Preacher had other ideas.
It isn't possible to be a Christian and not put Jesus on the throne of your life. Just like in Jesus' day we are living in an adulterous and sinful generation. There are lots of pressures but The Spirit can help us.
I stewarded today at our Cathedral's children's and caregivers service. The sermon was on the Transfiguration. After a starter using a variety of packages advertising "translucent white" products like toothpaste, the LLM who delivered it told the story as a monologue through the eyes of St. Peter. She is a superb primary school teacher (I know her from the days when I was still teaching) and she brought those skills and more to the task and left all of us of all ages with something to think about.
The Transfiguration. It was our curate's last Sunday with us before moving on to his own parish. He spoke of St Peter's wish to stay on the mountain and how we must resist the urge to stay with past spiritual highs but move on to the next challenge that God may be calling us to.
Our Place is taking a Lent break from our current slog through series on Matthew's gospel and this week took a wander through the book of Daniel.
Nebuchadnezzar's statue was a symbol of political power and where political leadership goes when it uncouples itself from God; the beasts came out of the chaotic sea, symbolising a move backwards into chaos by the nations and empires of the world. Like it or not, God has given a measure of sovereignty to human rulers and from time to time history seems to be in the grip of chaotic bestial fires. But this is not the end of the story. It is during these reigns that God sets up a kingdom that will never be destroyed: one day there will be justice, peace and righteousness for ever.
Thursday morning's sermon at a Catholic parish tied in well with the readings (Deuteronomy's "..today I set before you life and prosperity, death and disaster..." being one) and was a great encouragement to persevere in Lent. I even shot off an email afterwards (I needed to leave early) to say Thank You. Just the right words at the right time.
The first passage from the Lent material our church is following, all about befores and afters. Before we were dead, in a hopeless situation, falling short of God's standards and wilfully acting in ways we knew were wrong, under Satan's authority and deserving of God's wrath. But now (key phrase) we are saved by grace - not because of who we are or what we have done but because of who God is.
We had a visiting speaker from a well-known mission organisation. When the disciples suggest to Jesus to send the people away to find there own food, he tells them to sort it out themselves. We can't pray telling God what he needs to do. We should listen to God and become the solution. Even if every Christian in the world told all their relatives, friends and acquaintances about Jesus there would still be 2.2 billion people who wouldn't be reached. That's why we need to go.
If that's more than I usually write about the sermon, that's because it took 40 minutes to deliver. That's a huge chunk out of of an hour long service.
Significance: the world attributes significance to , the influence you have in your life and after your death. We see significance in being brought into Christ, by the Father's grace and the Son's faithfulness. Good works have been prepared for us - we need to get on with them!
Comments
Wisdom is different from knowledge.
Knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting one in a fruit salad.
How can we learn to grow in wisdom?
From God's creation
From God's word
From God's people
From God himself
Jesus has the authority to forgive sin because he is God. He proved this by healing the paralytic.
We should be as keen as the paralytic's friends to bring our friends to Jesus so that they can be forgiven and brought to eternal life.
Adultery.
Don't.
Hail to the Lord’s anointed ( Crüger )
O Thou who at thy eucharist did pray (Song 1)
King of glory, king of peace ( Gwalchmai)
Seek ye first
O for a thousand tongues ( Richmond)
Later came a comment that the early church did not have buildings or budgets but had the Holy Spirit. We have buildings and budgets- do we see the Holy Spirit at work?
Ditto.
Marriage is a covenant based on a practice of love, not feelings. It is a three-legged stool, the three legs being Fidelity, Permanence and Provision. Divorce does happen but it should not; there's always a way back.
(Making it clear, as I'm sure it is from the thread's title, that I'm only reporting, not sharing my views...
Jesus is not saying oaths are bad, but he is targeting honesty. Dishonesty makes it difficult to establish relationship. Jesus means what he says and does what he promises.
The value of friendships with those people we trust and can rely on. Sometimes a close friend can be a better sounding board, confidant and advisor than family.
No, not a bit of it. What we got was a 13 minute rant which can be summarised as "How wrong it is that "people" are questioning the amount that the CofE spends on admin". Just as I was about to leave the loft to do something useful a deaf member of the congregation said loudly I've had enough of this and walked out 🤣😂
Appalling and inappropriate. How does that nourish God's people?
One must wonder if that same sermon has been preached in other churches and, if so, with the AD's tacit cognisance?
Mark's adaptation of Q shows his particular concerns.
If we submit to Jesus authority, we can only be attacked by evil spirits if Jesus gives permission for them.
We need to love the Bible because it has the power to help us in all circumstances.
Was it said that Mark adapted Q? I have not heard this before.
Turning the other cheek, offering a coat as well as a shirt and going the extra mile are not acts of self-humiliation but statements of equality and empowering (my word) and a calling out of those who oppress the poor. This is exemplified by Jesus himself, who was slapped, stripped and who went the extra mile to Golgotha.
Jesus is our saving King and he has come to restore us.
Jairus and the suffering woman had obstacles to overcome before they could ask Jesus for help. More important than how much faith you have is that your faith leads to reaching out to Jesus. He will restore us. The issue is whether this is before or after he returns in glory.
PTL.
Who is Jesus and what does it mean to follow him?
God's purpose for the Messiah is suffering and servanthood
Who do you say Jesus is and what are you doing about it?
Bleurgh. I will not listen.
I read the first lesson, Revelation ch4. I am always disappointed when there is no reference to the first lesson, especially when I have read it, but our priest preaches on the Gospel. The hymns covered all bases.
Herod fell victim to the sins of lust (the preacher reckoned Herodius' daughter's performance was more like a lap dance than ballet) and pride (having promised the daughter anything she wanted, he was too concerned what others would think if he went back on his word). In contrast, John was not concerned about what others thought when he called out Herod's sin.
Do we succumb to peer pressure by keeping quiet when we should speak out?
How do we love our enemies? Be perfect; by prayer; turn our enemies into our neighbours by sitting together at the table as Jesus did.
I once preached an entire Advent sermon on the theme of "proleptis" without ever mentioning the word.
Yep.
If we bring to God whatever we are holding in our hands, He will use it in ways that we often do not understand.
It isn't possible to be a Christian and not put Jesus on the throne of your life. Just like in Jesus' day we are living in an adulterous and sinful generation. There are lots of pressures but The Spirit can help us.
Nebuchadnezzar's statue was a symbol of political power and where political leadership goes when it uncouples itself from God; the beasts came out of the chaotic sea, symbolising a move backwards into chaos by the nations and empires of the world. Like it or not, God has given a measure of sovereignty to human rulers and from time to time history seems to be in the grip of chaotic bestial fires. But this is not the end of the story. It is during these reigns that God sets up a kingdom that will never be destroyed: one day there will be justice, peace and righteousness for ever.
The first passage from the Lent material our church is following, all about befores and afters. Before we were dead, in a hopeless situation, falling short of God's standards and wilfully acting in ways we knew were wrong, under Satan's authority and deserving of God's wrath. But now (key phrase) we are saved by grace - not because of who we are or what we have done but because of who God is.
We had a visiting speaker from a well-known mission organisation. When the disciples suggest to Jesus to send the people away to find there own food, he tells them to sort it out themselves. We can't pray telling God what he needs to do. We should listen to God and become the solution. Even if every Christian in the world told all their relatives, friends and acquaintances about Jesus there would still be 2.2 billion people who wouldn't be reached. That's why we need to go.
If that's more than I usually write about the sermon, that's because it took 40 minutes to deliver. That's a huge chunk out of of an hour long service.
We overran by 5 minutes.
Introduction will be on Bad Moon Arising.
Talk about the many times we have seen bad moons rising in our lives.
Talk about how some Pharisees warn Jesus about a bad moon rising for him in Jerusalem.
Jesus response. He has a higher agenda.
Jesus sees a bad moon rising for Jerusalem
Still wants to gather them in like a hen gathering her chicks.
Community of faith like that hen for us today.
Conclude with Hymn, My Life Flows on in Endless Song
Significance: the world attributes significance to , the influence you have in your life and after your death. We see significance in being brought into Christ, by the Father's grace and the Son's faithfulness. Good works have been prepared for us - we need to get on with them!
There were three transformations for Matthew the tax collector:
(1) Meeting with Jesus
(2) Eating a meal with Jesus - table fellowship was significant, a sign of friendship
(3) Treating - it is the sick who require a doctor.
What is our response? What do we need from Jesus?