St. David's News & Notes, July 16, 2010

Blessings to you all this very summery Friday.

Since it's too hot to go outside, why not stay inside a read? May I recommend this short article by Dallas Willard called, Why Bother with Discipleship?

I'll also take the time here to remind us all of the the basic ideas and questions behind the Sunday sermons right now. These will continue to frame my teaching and preaching for the next several weeks in a focused way. I appreciate your patience and interest as we continue this series. And I hope you will find this teaching as helpful as I have in my life.

As we come to the subject of sermons (why have them?), and the Bible (why read it?) and Church (what is it? and why go?), we might ask this fundamental question.

Who is your teacher? And what does your teacher teach? All of us have a teacher, maybe several of them. And we'd better make sure our teachers our good ones.

Well, quite obviously, I'll say that Jesus is the best one there is. There is another short, helpful article by Dallas Willard titled, Who is Your Teacher? that may help you see my point (well, Dr. Willard's point). I've found this article very helpful in presenting a sound view of Jesus, and revealing how much I value (or undervalue) Jesus' authority as a teacher of real life in the real world.

The next four questions are also from Dr. Willard. I've found them in teaching and his books, particularly Knowing Christ Today, from which they are taken.

These are all questions that we answer each day, usually subconsciously. Bringing to our conscious mind these questions and our answers to them helps us reflect on them and, if necessary, make needed corrections.

Question 1: What is real? What is reality? The answer is of Jesus is: Reality is God and his kingdom. And the kingdom is, in the simplest terms, where God is active, where what God wants done is done.

Question 2: Who is well-off, or blessed? The answer of Jesus is: Anyone who is alive in the Kingdom of God, that is, anyone who is interactively engaged with God and with the various dynamic dimensions of his reigning. Such engagement with God is an eternal living, an eternal life (cf. John 17:3).

Question 3: Who is truly a good person? A really good person, as Jesus teaches, is anyone who is pervaded with love: love for God who first loved us and who in his Son taught us what love is (1 John 4:9-11).

Question 4: How do you become a really good person? You place your confidence in Jesus Christ and become his student in kingdom living. In other words, you learn from him how to live in the kingdom of God as he himself did.

I'll keep unpacking these questions and showing how our lessons in Luke specifically address them (1) because Jesus is a good teacher and (2) so is St. Luke who wrote an authoritative record of of Jesus' life and teachings so that we can "have certainty regarding the things [we] have been taught" (Luke 1:4).

The readings for this coming Sunday are:
Genesis 18:1-14
Psalm 15
Colossians 1:21-29
Luke 10:38-42

Announcements
 

Our Wednesday evening Bible study following the 6pm Mass will cover Ecclesiastes chapters 7-9.  Also, our St. Augustine's Prayer Books are in. We are suggesting a donation of $15 per copy.

Blessings to you all,

Fr Greg+

St. David's News and Notes, July 10, 2010

Blessings to you this fine week of . . . well . . . "the season after Pentecost" as the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) says, or "the 6th week after Trinity" as the 1928 Prayer Book says, or "14th week of Ordinary Time" as the Roman Catholic liturgy says.

I always get a kick out of the phrase "Ordinary Time." It sounds so plain. But then, if you put in a blender and mix it up with our traditional Anglican language, "After Trinity," and our revised 1979 BCP language, "after Pentecost," then the word "Ordinary" doesn't seem quite so . . . ordinary.

Our participation in the love of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit is what is revealed by the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The revelation of God as Trinity is what we celebrate the following week on Trinity Sunday.  This means that at Pentecost, we're caught up in that fellowship of love who we call the Trinity, who is the One God from whom all creation flows. So if life in that love is "ordinary" (which it is for all baptized) then our Christian definition of "ordinary" is quite extraordinary.

In other words, we are loved beyond our understanding of the concept of love. And that speaks not of the smallness of our minds, but of the greatness of our God.

I want to tell you all that this Sunday we will pray together a portion of what may be my favorite Psalm, and is certainly the most influential Psalm for me, Psalm 25. I began to engage Christianity in my early 20's, not because my parents told me so (which they did and that was a good thing), but because I believed it just might be true (which is a better thing). I found Psalm 25:3-4 and wrote the verses on a note card, taped them to the dashboard of my car, and memorized them. "Make me to know your ways, O Lord; Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me; for you are the God of my salvation. For you I wait all the day."

I have to say now that I had no idea what I was getting into. But God's ways and His paths are the best thing that I have ever committed to, or ever will, or ever could.

So I hope you don't mind if I repeat myself.

I am loved. And, my friends, you are loved. More than our capacity to know what we're getting into. So, by all means, let's get into it. Get into the love of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

To help us grow in the grace, knowledge, and love of God, the readings for this week are:
Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Psalm 25
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

Announcements

St. David's - Our Wednesday evening Bible study following the 6pm Mass will cover Ecclesiastes chapters 1-3 and 4-6 if we can get to them. We had a great discussion this week, which only scratched the surface of the beginning of the book. Read what you can of chapter 1-6 of Ecclesiastes and come and join the fun. Also, our St. Augustine's Prayer Books are in. We are suggesting a donation of $15 per copy.

Blessings to you all,

Fr Greg+

St. David's News & Notes, July 1, 2010

Our series in Luke continues this week with the calling of the seventy-two (ESV) or seventy (RSV) disciples.

Which was it and why do different versions have different numbers?

For much more information here is a teaching video on the subject of the transmission of the Bible.

Here's is a short summary of the issue from the ESV Study Bible with my additions in brackets (and emphasis added):
"Should the presence of textual variants [i.e. seventy, or seventy-two disciples in Luke 10:1], then, undermine the confidence of ordinary laypersons [and their ordinary priests] as they read the Bible in their own language? No—actually, the opposite is the case. The abundance of variants is the result of the very large number of remaining New Testament manuscripts, which itself gives a stronger, not weaker, foundation for knowing what the original manuscripts said.

"In addition, modern Bible translation teams have not kept the location of major variants a secret but have indicated the ones they think to be most important in the footnotes of all “essentially literal” modern English translations [such as the RSV, NASB, & ESV], so that laypersons who read these footnotes can see where these variants are and what they say. The absence of any such footnote (which is the case with far more than 99 percent of the words in the English New Testament) indicates that these translation teams have a high degree of confidence that the words in their English translation accurately represent the words of the New Testament as they were originally written.

What Is at Stake?

"The most significant textual variants certainly alter the meaning of various verses. And where the meaning of verses is changed, paragraphs and even larger units of thought are also affected to some degree. At times, a particular doctrine may not, after all, be affirmed in a given passage, depending on the textual variant. But this is not the same thing as saying that such a doctrine is denied. Just because a particular verse may not affirm a cherished doctrine does not mean that that doctrine cannot be found in the New Testament. In the final analysis, no cardinal doctrine, no essential truth, is affected by any viable variant in the surviving New Testament manuscripts. For example, the deity of Christ, his resurrection, his virginal conception, justification by faith, and the Trinity are not put in jeopardy because of any textual variation. Confidence can therefore be placed in the providence of God in preserving the Scriptures.

"In sum, although scholars may not be certain of the New Testament wording in a number of verses, for the vast majority of the words in the New Testament the modern English translations accurately represent what the original authors wrote, and therefore these translations can be trusted as reproducing the very words of God."

The Scriptures that we will hear together on Sunday are:
Isaiah 66:10-16
Psalm 66
Galatians 6:1-18
Luke 10:1-20

Announcements
 

Our Wednesday evening Bible study following the 6pm Mass will cover Ecclesiastes chapters 1-3.

A few final reminders: Please keep each other in your prayers as we travel and enjoy our summers. Please be faithful in your regular Sunday worship when you are in town (and even on the road, if possible). And please make the effort to stay faithful in your giving, especially over the summer months.

Blessings to you all,

Fr Greg+

St. David's News & Notes, June 25, 2010

Just in case you missed it, yesterday was the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist. In celebrating St. John's birthday, I was reminded that just as God sent John to go before Jesus to prepare the way, God always prepares His people with grace to receive the full measure of His grace.

And as I've been turning my attention back to the Gospel of Luke in preparation for our summer and fall preaching series, I've been reminded that God's grace not only precedes but follows the saving work of Jesus.

Luke begins his Gospel this way: "Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught" (Lk 1:1-4, ESV).

A few quick observations: (1) There was (and is) the actual event of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection itself in human history, these are "the the things that have been accomplished among us;" (2) there was the preaching and proclamation of those events by eyewitnesses, "those who from the beginning (i.e. when it happened) were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word" (please notice that they were ministers, they served the message, they didn't make it up); (3) there was and is the Scriptures, which are the trustworthy and authoritative writings that we have, "it seemed good to me . . . to write."

And why? "That you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught."

We don't follow a made up gospel in the midst of a cloud of uncertainty. God the Father sent His Son Jesus to save us, and he did just that. The people who saw it and were saved by Jesus were sent by Jesus to spread the news about what He and His Father had done, are doing, and will do. And people like Luke wrote it down so that people like us can have certainty (real knowledge) about the message we hear from faithful priests and bishops who continue to share the truth about what Jesus actually did, is doing, and will do.

What wonderful reminders. God sends John the Baptist before Jesus. God sends Jesus. And God sends the Apostles to spread the word and evangelists to write down and confirm the word.

What goodness and grace! As St. John the Apostle writes, "And from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16).

I'm excited about this series in Luke, and I anticipate many gifts of God's grace as we grow in certainty, assurance, and real knowledge of the things God has accomplished in Jesus.

Readings for Sunday, June 27, 2010:

1 Kings 19:15-21
Psalm 16
Galatians 5:1-25
Luke 9:51-62

Announcements

Our Wednesday evening Bible study following the 6pm Mass will cover Amos chapters 7-9.

A few final reminders: Please keep each other in your prayers as we travel and enjoy our summers. Please be faithful in your regular Sunday worship when you are in town (and even on the road, if possible). And please make the effort to stay faithful in your giving, especially over the summer months.

Blessings to you all,

Fr Greg+

St. David's News & Notes, June 11, 2010

Blessed Feast of St. Barnabas to you all.

Barnabas was an early Christian convert and leader in the Church in Jerusalem. When people in Antioch fist believed the Gospel, Barnabas was sent from Jerusalem to see what was happening. Luke writes in Acts, "The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith" (Acts 11:22-24).

What an honor to be described in Holy Scripture as "a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith." And this passage also tells us why Barnabas is described as good. For when he saw the grace of God (i.e. people trusting Jesus and His Gospel) "he was glad, and exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose." Now, think about an enthusiastic coach more than an angry preacher and I think we'll have a sense of Barnabas' goodness. Barnabas recognizes God's goodness in Jesus as good, and encourages the faithful to remain faithful to God's goodness which is Jesus.

The passage continues, "And a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians" (Acts 11:24-26).

Barnabas brought Paul, the former persecutor of the faithful, to Antioch to teach the faithful. And together with Paul, Barnabas was in the place where the word "Christian" was coined. Wow! What goodness, indeed.

And His goodness can become our goodness, because it's God's goodness shared freely through faith in Jesus who is "our great God and savior . . . who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works" ( Titus 2:13b-14). This self-giving love of God in and through Jesus is what is celebrated today by Christians who observe this day (the Friday after Corpus Christi) as the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The main idea of this celebration is to adore the love of Jesus, and ask for grace to return His love by asking for God's help to live the Great Commandment. As it says in the prayer book, "Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 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." And as it says in Scripture, "We love because he first loved us" ( 1 John 4:19).

Enjoy this day giving thanks for the examples of a good man named Barnabas, whose character was transformed to share the loving heart of his savior, Jesus.

The lessons for this coming Sunday are:

2 Samuel 11:26--12:10, 13-15
Psalm 32:1-8
Galatians 2:11-21
Luke 7:36-50

Announcements

There are no mid-week Masses this week. Wednesday in Mary will lead Evening Prayer at 6pm.

The Wednesday evening study at St. David's, Gilmer, will resume on June 23 after 6pm Mass and will cover Amos chapters 1-6.

Blessings to you,

Fr Greg+

Calendar for the Week of February 14, 2010

Sunday, February 14th
THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
9 am, Mass

Monday, February 15th
Thomas Bray, Priest and Missionary, 1730

Tuesday, February 16th
Shrove Tuesday

Wednesday, February 17th
ASH WEDNESDAY
Fast
6:00 pm, Mass with Imposition of Ashes

Thursday, February 18th
Lenten Weekday

Friday, February 27th
Lenten Weekday
Abstinence

Saturday, February 28th
Lenten Weekday

Next Sunday's Readings: Deuteronomy 26:(1-4)5-11; Psalm 91:9-15; Romans 10:(5-8a)8b-13; Luke 4:1-13

Calendar for the Week of February 7, 2010

7 - The Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany – Sexagesima
9am, Mass
("Sexagesima Sunday" is the eighth Sunday before Easter, and the second before Lent)
Readings for Mass

8 - Monday

9 - Tuesday

10 - Wednesday - 6pm, Mass,
Scholastica, Virgin and First Benedictine Nun (Churchman's Calendar)

11 - Thursday - Our Lady of Lourdes (Churchman's Calendar)

12 - Friday

13 - Saturday, Absalom Jones, Priest, 1818 (BCP Calendar)

Readings for Sunday, February 28