Inconceivable!

What seems impossible makes us powerful.

 

The Easter Vigil

 

Hear the words from An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, (Church Publishing Online):

The liturgy intended as the first (and arguably, the primary) celebration of Easter in the BCP (pp. 284-95). It is also known as the Great Vigil. The service begins in darkness, sometime between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter, and consists of four parts: The Service of Light (kindling of new fire, lighting the Paschal candle, the Exultet); The Service of Lessons (readings from the Hebrew Scriptures interspersed with psalms, canticles, and prayers); Christian Initiation (Holy Baptism) or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows; and the Eucharist. Through this liturgy, the BCP recovers an ancient practice of keeping the Easter feast. Believers would gather in the hours of darkness ending at dawn on Easter to hear scripture and offer prayer. This night-long service of prayerful watching anticipated the baptisms that would come at first light and the Easter Eucharist. Easter was the primary baptismal occasion for the early church to the practical exclusion of all others. This practice linked the meanings of Christ's dying and rising to the understanding of baptism.

The Easter Vigil is the “hinge” service that transitions God’s people from Lent into the Joy of Easter. In the early church (likely common as early as the 4th century) catechumens (those seeking baptism/membership into the church) would engage a process (usually, starting much before Lent) to prepare for baptism spiritually, theologically, and communally. It was then the custom that most baptisms would occur at the Vigil.

This year, a family of five and an infant of another family will be baptized during the Easter Vigil. If someone were to ask me: “Which service would you prefer me to attend”? I would likely direct you to the Easter Vigil Service for its immersion in scripture, its journey from "darkness into light", and its unique and focused pageantry.

Let us give thanks for the wonder and blessing of the resurrection.

Why is Good Friday, Good?

 

The contradiction of Good Friday is contained in its name. How can the manipulated trial, torture, and brutal killing of an innocent man be considered in any way, shape, or form “good”?

The answer to this question is revealed by the gracious and merciful nature of our God who in his holiness and justice owed the guilty no mercy or reprieve (we, who inherit Adam and Eve’s guilt and rebellious nature, and in turn, engage in disobedience from birth).

The foolishness of rejecting the cross, as many are want to do (especially, within Protestantism) is a rejection of the depth of human evil in our history, experience, and lives. To advocate the foolish covering over of infected, festering wounds by the “band-aids” of surface moralism, also reveals a dishonesty regarding the depth of our need.

We are now told by many “prominent Christian leaders” that the “good news” of salvation preached by Jesus Christ is that He wants we humans to “find God within ourselves”.  For some, this is now the accepted approach to “evangelism”. I submit, that taking this path is tantamount to a patient with a serious cancer diagnosis being told to think “positive” thoughts and focus on all the good health they have in other ways. Somehow, their focus on the healthy biological parts of their body will address their spreading and destructive disease. Accepting this denial, the cancer left untreated will feed on and destroy their health. In the end, the cancer must be irradicated, or the person will not be healed.

To see Jesus as a good prophet who is needlessly crucified as a moralistic ideal to be pursued is not “good”. This kind of crucifixion transforms no one, nor can it address the evil in us or in the world. But, a gracious God, who without compulsion or a need for us, who sends His only son to be our ultimate sacrifice? This is a whole other matter. The death of Jesus covers our sins, transforms our hard hearts, and provides us with a forgiveness that we could never produce ourselves. With the church catholic, I say: This is good.

While most of the Jewish world looked on with disinterest and disdain, our Lord Jesus Christ sacrificially provided for us the way of salvation. He did not die in vain.

Thus, at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, we offer two different holy and focused ways on Good Friday to walk alongside Christ on the day of his death. At noon, we offer a “Way of the Cross” service (the stations of the cross) highlighting and worshipping the important people and moments as Jesus journeyed toward his crucifixion. At 6:00 PM, in an abbreviated but poignant service, we rightly engage the grief and gloom which, in turn, prepares us for the joy of Easter. We leave this service in darkness and silence as we revere the sacredness of Christ’s love and sacrifice on our behalf.

I hope you will plan to join us on this day of personal and communal fasting and meditation (BCP, pg. 17).

What is Maundy Thursday?

 

During Holy Week, Jesus is quite active in his ministry while in Jerusalem before he and his disciples celebrate the Passover on Thursday afternoon-evening. On Monday, he clears the temple of the money changers (infuriating the Temple officials and other Jewish leaders.) Through the rest of the week, he continues to teach and is confronted by various Jewish leaders trying to entrap him.

Maundy Thursday is the most ancient of the Holy Week Services in our catholic tradition. It is a service of great significance, and when we engage our God in worship in this service through Word and Sacrament, we connect ourselves in a unique way to those who celebrated this “new Passover” for the first time. In this special Thursday service, we are also unified to all who have celebrated the Eucharistic Sacrifice in time and space, and to all who will be celebrating it together on this night across our nation and across the globe.

On Thursday, the disciples secure a room where they can all celebrate the Passover meal. It is at this meal that Jesus does and says some very surprising things. Firstly, he insists on washing the apostles feet, teaching them that spiritual power and service are interrelated in the Kingdom of God. What often looks humiliating to a world drunk with power, is life giving for those who lead and love the true followers of God.

Secondly, he gives them a mandate: “That you love one another”. While this commandment is taught in the Old Testament, Jesus calls it a “new” commandment based on his example, humility, and his coming redemptive work: “as I have loved you”. The next few days would be monumental. Thus, we get the name for Mandatum (mandate) Thursday, or Maundy Thursday.

Finally, Jesus fulfills the Jewish Passover by being THE true Passover sacrifice that had come to save the world. Thus, He establishes the new Passover Meal: The Lord’s Supper, i.e., Holy Communion. Earlier on Thursday, myriads of lambs would have been slain and prepared for roasting at the Temple in  preparation for the multiple Passover meals occurring throughout Jerusalem. On Friday morning, Jesus, the Lamb of God would be slain as the truly perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Soon following the Passover dinner, Jesus is betrayed, arrested, and stripped of his clothing. At the end of our service on Thursday, we also strip the table and altar area and leave it stark and barren. We leave in silence, honor, and meditative focus on the gifts the Lord gives us on this night, and the reality of their extreme expense.

I hope that you will join us for this service on Thursday, April 17^th at 6:00 pm.

Palm Sunday - Starting off on the "right foot"

 

The first day of Holy Week in the Christian Calendar is Palm Sunday (this year it appears on April 13th - we will only have one service at 10:00 am). It is the tradition here at St. Matthew's to also celebrate this day as Passion Sunday, and to see Holy Week through the eyes of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Thus, Holy Week is often called Passiontide.

Palm Sunday reminds us that the people in Jerusalem did not understand who Jesus truly was or the significance of his triumphal entry. They were hoping that he would be a Messiah that was better suited to a white stallion instead of a donkey. Their hope was that he had come to make their political and economic dreams come true. Many traditions of Christianity still want these same things from him (and so do we at times). Jesus was never to be that kind of Messiah. That Messiah has no redemptive or life-giving power.

But Jesus was on a triumphal path to his crucifixion and resurrection where he would defeat sin, evil, and Satan. His path would be glorious, but it would only be seen this way by those with "eyes to see".

By being present at the Mass on Palm Sunday, we communicate to those in attendance (and some that are not) that we want to be among the followers of Christ who "see". We welcome and celebrate afresh (although, in muted ways) the ride that Jesus takes which would lead him to the cross. Through a spiritually accused week, we re-engage the tragedy and the victory that must come before the glory of the resurrection. Without it, there is no resurrection, life, or spiritual power. Without it, there is no hope.

 Let us start Holy Week on the right "foot" (pun intended).

  

Fr. Tom



The Christian Year and Holy Week - An Introduction

 

For those who are new to worship at St. Matt's, you might wonder about the different seasons of our church year and their corresponding colors. In our confirmation/membership classes, we cover and explain "The Christian Year".

Essentially, the Christian Year models itself on the life of Christ as revealed to us in Holy Scripture. During ordinary time, while still focusing on the ministry of Jesus, we also focus on the growth and ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. I encourage everyone to watch the brief video below that I use in our inquirer classes to introduce the Christian Year (I also have a wonderful booklet free to anyone who inquires):

 

The Christian Year (Video)

 

The culmination of the Christian Year is EASTER. In the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), the Easter Vigil service (which we celebrate at the conclusion of Holy Saturday in the evening) is the pinnacle FEAST/Service of the Year. What helps us to prepare and draw closer to the reality of Christ's suffering and then his glorious resurrection is Holy Week (capping our Lenten preparation and thrusting us toward the conflicts that would arise for Jesus in Jerusalem). Holy Week begins on Palm/Passion Sunday.

In my next few articles, I am going to introduce you to the services of Holy Week, and the importance historically that they have played for Christ's church. Our Holy Week services beckon us to "put the brakes on" during a normal week (with all the usual distractions) and enter more deeply into the sacrifice and victory of Christ. He welcomes us to walk with him. For this to happen, we will likely have to plan and schedule for it. Will you walk this road with us?

 

Fr. Tom



A "Powerless" Christianity

 

I highly commend the below article by the Rev. Dr. Eugene Schlesinger to those with "ears to hear".

Fantastically scriptural.

Powerless Christianity - The Living Church

MAKING THINGS NEW

 

 Revelation 21:

5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ ⁶Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. ⁷Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. ⁸But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.’

 Salvation is all about newness; so is the Season of Epiphany. This Sunday we will look at the miracle of the wedding feast at Cana where Jesus reveals that He has come to "make all things new".

 The newness of Jesus in his teaching, however, has little to do with innovation, the latest trend, or a fashion that may come or go. Nor does it have anything to do with being hostile to the past. The newness Jesus brings is the restoration of all of God's creation. It has to do with the transformation of human life and a reconciled relationship with the Father.

 The kingdom of this world is "old" in the sense that it has been shaped and polluted by the rebellion and sin of mankind - a rebellion that has infected the entire creation (see Genesis chapter 3 and Romans chapter 8). This is the kingdom that Jesus entered, and with Him, He brought the newness of salvation. Hear the words of St. Paul:

 Ephesians 4:

²²You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, ²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

 and

 Romans 6:

⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For whoever has died is freed from sin.

 ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

 At our baptism we died to a life enslaved by sin and to our "old man"; the old way of life was bound to defeat and defeated. Now, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we live to follow and obey Christ and His ways. We hunger and thirst after Him, and we are continually given new life in Christ. Now, we know what life is, and when we engage our "old ways" of living, we also know what death feels and looks like.

 BUT, that is not who we are as the baptized. We have been transformed.

Christ has come into the world that we might know life and know it abundantly. Those who do not know this life will consistently and constantly live out "the old man" in their thinking, and their ways. Let us embrace the newness of Epiphany.

Preparing for the Christ-child

 

Advent is about preparation. It is telling how we often act differently about our homes when we are going to have guests. My Father and Mother-in-law have been to visit us several times since we have moved to Bloomington-Normal. While I take care of my yard, and enjoy doing so, there are times when the grass has to wait another day due to my schedule or motivation. However, when I am having out of town guests, I am more likely to have everything done and cleaned up on time. Karen takes a similar approach inside the house so that everything is ready when our guests arrive. We want to make them comfortable and please them, not for some kind of unhealthy approval, but to bring them joy.

The Historic Church has taken a similar approach. While the Season of Advent is not penitential for most traditions (as the Season of Lent is), it is certainly a time of preparation and reflection. The Christ took on flesh and came among us. Jesus will return in the final day to be the savior or judge for all of humanity. Our hope is to have our house in order because of our desire to serve and please our God. We want Him to find us reflecting His heart and actions. We prepare by repentance of sin and the change of our thinking through the transforming power of the Spirit. But we must engage, work, and accomplish these changes through effort. We discipline ourselves when we are struggling with our motivations or energy levels in doing what is right, as we work toward a growing and genuine desire to Love the Lord our God and the "neighbors" He has given us to illuminate with His light.

 

Let us prepare in Word and Sacrament together this Advent Season!

 

Maybe it does take a village?

Stimulating article.

Maybe it does take a village? 

A Distracted Thankfulness

 Colossians 3:6-7

 6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

 Being thankful takes discipline and a reliance on the Holy Spirit. I remember one holiday break in college when I had decided that on Thanksgiving Day, I would spend some time in prayer by myself focusing all of my prayer on the blessings that the Lord had provided me in this life and the life to come. It was harder than I thought.

 I always enjoyed coming home from school for break. In the house that I grew up in, it was always festive, smelled of good coffee, and was decorated to the hilt. Having three other siblings and my parents present, there was always something interesting to talk about, good food being served, and plenty of good football on the television.

 I eventually did get away by myself briefly, but I had to marvel at the difficulty of the whole pursuit. However, even as a clergy member, I know that being thankful, like any other act of prayer, meditation, and character development - is plagued by distraction (usually by things that in and of themselves are not bad).

 May God lead us to become more and more a people who are thankful instead of so easily critical; accepting of the decisions of others when our preferences are not realized; more resilient facing things out of our control. As we do, we will find thankfulness a salve to our unhappiness and a reminder of the gifts of God's grace and love all around us.

Community and Intimacy - Genesis 2:18-24

 

It is not God's desire that we live our lives alone.

Discipleship Article #7 (Final)

 

In considering daily discipleship to Christ, and in addition to the Book of Common Prayer, there are also other wonderful aids available to help us meditate, pray, and reflect on scripture. One is just below under the heading: The Good News Daily. This daily devotional was being made available when I came, and I have continued to offer it in our newsletter every week. I know a few of our people use this resource in their daily prayer time.

For many of us who have been engaging in daily prayer for many years, it keeps things fresh during the week when we can occasionally use different resources. In the link below, I am suggesting a few resources that you might find helpful or stimulating to jump-start your prayer life. While pictures are not links, they will give you a jump start to see if these resources are available on your smart-phone and/or computer:

DEVOTIONAL HELPS

As always, I am here to assist you in any way that I can.

Father Tom

Why Do Episcopalians Call Their Priests, "Father"?

Why do Episcopalians and other catholic traditions call their clergy, “Father”?  Below I am taking several different portions from an article that a fellow Anglican priest wrote:

Jesus reproached the religious leaders of His day with some strong words about being called, "father," which sounds like this name is off-limits (to save space I will not be printing most of the scripture texts, but I would challenge you to read the passages in full for a better understanding of what is being written. - Fr. Tom - Matthew 23:1-12 ).

Jesus' words to His disciples on not calling anyone else "father" seems to make the catholic practice of addressing a priest as "father" completely unbiblical, and a proud and Pharisaic thing to do. At least, a straightforward reading of the text might lead us to think that (what some would call a "literal" reading). 

The problem with such a reading of this text is that it would also prevent Christ's followers from calling their earthly male parent, "father." Jesus is pretty explicit: " . . .call no man your father on earth . . ." The same thing applies to teachers, of course. We would have to cease calling all teachers by that name--Jesus doesn't restrict it to religious teaching--if one takes this statement at face value. But, human society and the Church within it still need parenting and teaching. Of course, if we stopped using those terms altogether it would be very problematic, because then we wouldn't even be able to explain Who the heavenly Father is in relation to Jesus, or why Jesus alone is our Teacher, because those words would no longer apply to their earthly counterparts. No, Jesus wasn't teaching His disciples to stop using a name, a label, a way of referring to or addressing someone, whether "father" or "teacher." A literal reading of Jesus' words here just doesn't make sense.

We run into further problems when we read the Apostle Paul's comments to the Corinthians and Thessalonians (see I Corinthians 4:14 – 17 and I Thessalonians. 2:11-12 - "admonish you as my beloved children" and "we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children")

The early Christians followed Paul's pattern. The Aramaic word "abba" ("father" or many argue, "dad") (e.g., Romans 8:15; Gal. 4:6) is the source of the English word "abbot" which the Celts first used for the head of their monastic communities. The French "Abbe" is similar, common for a parish priest. 

Oddly enough, the Christians that find it offensive to call the priest "father" routinely call their ordained church leader, "pastor." That term, however, is derived from the Latin word for "shepherd." Apparently, in their view, we have only one Father (as Jesus said) and so don't call their leader "father," but we have more than one shepherd. This is odd because Scripture is very clear on this:

The LORD is my shepherd . . . (Psalm 23:1)

But, its even more specific. At one point during the ministry of the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord rebuked the shepherds of Israel, His flock (Ezekiel 34:2), and later called David (as a type of the Messiah) the shepherd of his people (Ezekiel 34:23 and 37:24).

One Shepherd and yet we call our church leader “pastor” (shepherd)?

But, in fact, calling your church leader "Pastor" isn't wrong. For Christ is our "chief Shepherd" (see I Peter 5:1-4).

Peter commands the leaders of the Church in I Peter 5 to "shepherd" the people of God, yet they have a chief Shepherd. With pastors(shepherds), it isn't that God doesn't use humans to do that work--He does--but they are only obedient and beneficial as God's shepherds if there is a clear understanding of who the Real Shepherd is. 

Isn't this, however, exactly the case with fatherhood? We have a physical father, yet only one heavenly Father. We may have a spiritual father as well, perhaps several, yet understood as utterly insignificant in light of our heavenly Father because such "fathers" are only by analogy.  

So, why did Jesus say, "call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven"? For the same reason He said,

"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell."(Matthew 5:29-30) 

He was making a point, a strong one, about the seriousness of sin. But, if we took it literally we might wind up killing ourselves to keep from sinning! Repentance is what Jesus was getting at, not self-mutilation. 

With giving our church leaders titles, whether "pastor", "teacher", or "father," Jesus' point is clear and driven home by the forceful way He expressed it: don't mistake anyone for the only Real Shepherd, Real Teacher, Real Father that you have. 

I believe the best and first way to see a local church body is as a "family".  Jesus talks of those that "do the will of his Father" as those who are his true family.  We are "adopted" to be heirs with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.   The Apostles in their writings also use family terms constantly: "household of faith", "brothers", "brotherly love", and "sons and daughters" of the Father God, being "children of God", etc.  In scripture, it is also revealed that the biblical, communal love we have, is one of a close and intimate family.  

Thus, as an Episcopalian clergyman (especially, in the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield), I am referred to as "Father" (and our women priests often referred to as "Mother").  I have a responsibility to guide, care for, walk with, and confront (and redirect) poor behavior for the betterment of each family member (and the greater parish family as a whole). I am also a shepherd, caregiver, and an authority figure regarding the centrality of Christ's teaching of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God.

However, in my basic membership in the household of God, I am one family member in a local church of many members. We are all equally valuable in the eyes of God being created in the image of God and redeemed through the work of Christ. We have differing roles due to the gifting, calling, and passions given to us by Jesus Christ our Lord, but we are loved and saved together as the Body of Christ.

Thanks, be to God.

A Limited Window - Proverbs 1:20-33

 

The wise lay aside complacency, hostility, and foolishness.

The Feast of St. Augustine

 

Augustine, perhaps the greatest theologian in the history of Western Christianity, was born in 354 at Tagaste in North Africa. In his restless search for truth, he was attracted by Manichaeism and Neoplatonism, and was constantly engaged in an inner struggle with his personal morals. Finally, under the influence of his mother Monnica, Augustine surrendered to the Christian faith in the late summer of 386. He was baptized by Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, on Easter Eve in 387. After returning to North Africa in 391, Augustine found himself unexpectedly chosen by the people of Hippo to be a presbyter. Four years later he was chosen bishop of that city. His spiritual autobiography, The Confessions of St. Augustine, written shortly before 400 in the form of an extended prayer, is a classic of Western spirituality.

Augustine wrote countless treatises, letters, and sermons. They have provided a rich source of new and fresh insights into Christian truth.

The Manichaeans had attempted to solve the problem of evil by positing the existence of an independent agency eternally opposed to God. In refutation, Augustine affirmed that all creation is essentially good, having been created by God; and that evil is, properly speaking, the privation of good. A rigorist sect, the Donatists, had split from the Great Church after the persecution of Diocletian in the early fourth century. Against them, Augustine asserted that the Church was “holy,” not because its members could be proved holy, but because holiness was the purpose of the Church, to which all its members are called.

Stirred by Alaric the Visigoth’s sack of Rome in 410, Augustine wrote his greatest work, The City of God. In it he writes: “Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by love of self, even to the contempt of God, the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The earthly city glories in itself, the heavenly city glories in the Lord. . . . In the one, the princes, and the nations it subdues, are ruled by the love of ruling; in the other, the princes and the subjects serve one another in love.”

Augustine died on August 28, 430, as the Vandals were besieging his own earthly city of Hippo.

Lord God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the hearts that serve you: Help us, following the example of your servant Augustine of Hippo, so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Scripture Readings:

Hebrews 12:22–24,28–29

Psalm 87

John 14:6–15

(Lesser Feasts and Fasts, pgs. 360-361, Church Publishing, 2006)

An Earthy Redemption - Luke 24:36-48

 The created order is restored through the resurrection of Jesus.

Christian Behavior

Because of the Redemption of Christ, our character is constantly changing.

 

Using the Daily Office (Discipleship Article #6)

 

For Anglicans, the Daily Office forms the foundation of how we see weekly, systematic prayer. Based on the monastic "hours", our Prayer Book provides us with five different services during the day where we may set ourselves apart for prayer (BCP, pg. 35) The two foundational services in the Daily Office are Morning and Evening Prayer.

I have from time to time trained anyone interested in how to "read" Morning Prayer and use the daily lectionary. This offer stands open to anyone (member or attendee) who would like such direction. If there is enough interest, I would be willing to teach a class on the same. In addition, I have also created introductory booklets for those who would like a more abbreviated approach to beginning Morning Prayer. Both the "Intro to Morning Prayer" and "Intermediate Guide to Morning Prayer" can be found in our booklet stands found at each entrance to our building, or you can click on the two links below:

Intro to Prayer - (BCP)

Intermediate Prayer (BCP)

In our next article, we will consider other ways to supplement and aid us as we journey in discipleship to Jesus, seeking and knowing our God.

Getting into the Specifics (Discipleship Article #5)

 

So, as we seek to live out our Discipleship during the week what does this look like? How do we start? Where do we start?

First of all, we choose and strive to have an awareness of God's presence with us everywhere we go. Paul teaches us that in Christ we "live, move, and have our being" and that we are indwelt with the person of the Holy Spirit (see Romans 8, the Spirit connecting us to the very being of God and his power in our lives"). We are told in I Thessalonians 5 that we should go through our day in a prayerful state of mind:

 

16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

 

Secondly, we set time aside for prayer, scripture reading/reflection, and meditation. It is one thing to read scripture or listen to a homily. It is completely another to reflect on how that scripture and/or teaching can help shape our character, beliefs, and life. Sometimes the meditation we engage may be necessary before we begin our prayer so that we can put the random swirling thoughts and many responsibilities aside and rest in the "peace that passes all understanding." Other times, we may need meditation after our time of prayer and/or Scripture reading to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit's clarity and applicational wisdom.

 

Thirdly, set this time of prayer aside daily, at the same time of the day, and for a specified amount of time. I often tell new believers that it is better to start with only five minutes a day than to take on too long of a time which then becomes drudgery. The hope is to develop good habits. Don't rely on willpower first of all, but ask the Lord to strengthen and help you in this discipline.

 

Lastly, get help from a spiritual guide for the best ways to accomplish these spiritual disciplines, or if you have engaged in these disciplines for a long time, inquire of a spiritually mature person how you might approach your personal prayer life in some fresh and meaningful ways. Your Priest or Pastor is always the best place to start.

 

In our next article, we will investigate some resources that can aid us as we seek to develop a life of prayer.

Meditating on the Word (Discipleship Article #4)

  

Joshua 1:

8 "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. 9 I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

 

The Lord here is giving instructions to Joshua, not the entire assembly of Israel. However, Joshua is being given a source to know and meditate on so as to understand the Lord's wisdom and direction for the people that he is to now lead. He would need courage to trust the Lord as he sought wisdom from his God.

 

This means that, like the future kings to follow him, Joshua would have likely had a copy of the Torah of that day.

 

Deuteronomy 17:

18 When he has taken the throne of his kingdom, he shall have a copy of this law written for him in the presence of the levitical priests. 19 It shall remain with him and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 neither exalting himself above other members of the community nor turning aside from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel.

 

The copy of the law the king received would have come from the Holy Scriptures that the priests cared for; most of the people would have had no access to the written Scriptures. And yet, we are told in Psalm 1:

 

  1   Happy are those 

  who do not follow the advice of the wicked, 

  or take the path that sinners tread, 

  or sit in the seat of scoffers; 

  2   but their delight is in the law of the LORD, 

  and on his law they meditate day and night. 

 

The righteous are taught to delight and meditate regularly on the Law of the Lord. This meant that they had to rely on the teaching of the priests, prophets, and other wise sages for their exposure to the written Holy Scriptures, which were only available to a certain few. Those certain few could meditate on that which they read and studied.

 

WE today are the "certain few". We are blessed to have a complete, written account of God's actions, ways, and teachings. We can meditate not only on what we hear and are taught, but can also read the Holy Scriptures for ourselves. We need care to realize the varied genres, literature, and complexities of interpreting Holy Scripture, but we are still able to swim in it's truths and expose ourselves to content that can later be expounded for us by those with the spiritual gifting, training, and ordination.

 

The Old and New Testament ideas of God's covenant people being "priests of the church to the world" (the "priesthood of the believer") has never meant that any baptized person with the Scriptures in their hands will understand and interpret truth equally. However, it does mean that we all have responsibility for what we know and how God has gifted us to serve the church and the world. We can each come before God through Christ for a relationship with him, and He has gifted each one of us to be light and salt in the world.

 

Are we taking advantage of all of the "gifts" that he has given us? How can we better come to know and serve him in our everyday lives?

 

In the next few articles, we are going to focus on some of the specific, practical steps, and actions we can take in becoming more disciplined and strong followers of Jesus. He longs to walk with us every moment of the day, but, like Adam and Eve in the garden, we must come out of the shadows of guilt, shame, and fear and engage Him.

 

Walking with God (Discipleship Article #3)

  

 

Gen 3:

8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 

 

In Genesis, Adam and Eve represent the entire human community. We are given insight into a very interesting fact: God came to visit Adam and Eve, and his visit is pictured in such a way as to indicate that this was a regular, if not daily, occurrence. In the past, "hearing" that God had come to fellowship with them would have been a delight. Now, after their disobedience, it made them afraid.

 

In short, we were created, first of all, to have a relationship with God. This relationship while personal, is also communal. It is also intimate. But for Adam and Eve to have fellowship with God, they also had to be present and engaged.

 

It is often said in life that "what we put into a task or relationship is what we will likely get out of it". This is certainly also true in our spiritual life and discipline.

 

Daniel 6:

10 Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open towards Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously. 

 

The idea we get for regular, daily prayer comes first from the Old Testament and the worship of the Old Covenant People of God. There were different times for prayer during different periods in the life of the people of Israel. Daniel had made it his practice to pray at morning, mid-day, and evening. He is positioned as someone who sought God, had spiritual power, and remained faithful to the Lord in the midst of hostile circumstances.

 

What time do we make for prayer and meditation (which, in our time in history, means that we can meditate on a complete copy of Holy Scripture)?

 

I submit to you that the Holy Scriptures and the Christian Tradition encourage us that to be "strong in the Lord" this kind of regular spiritual discipline is vital to our faithfulness and joy.

The Feast of Bishop William White

 

William White was born in Philadelphia, March 24, 1747, and was educated at the college of that city, graduating in 1765. In 1770 he went to England, was ordained deacon on December 23, and priest on April 25, 1772. On his return home, he became assistant minister of Christ and St. Peter’s, 1772–1779, and rector from that year until his death, July 17, 1836. He also served as chaplain of the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1789, and then of the United States Senate until 1800. Chosen unanimously as first Bishop of Pennsylvania, September 14, 1786, he went to England again, with Samuel Provoost, Bishop-elect of New York; and the two men were consecrated in Lambeth Chapel on Septuagesima Sunday, February 4, 1787, by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishops of Bath and Wells and of Peterborough.

Bishop White was the chief architect of the Constitution of the American Episcopal Church and the wise overseer of its life during the first generation of its history. He was the Presiding Bishop at its organizing General Convention in 1789 and again from 1795 until his death. He was a theologian of no mean ability, and among his proteges, in whose formation he had a large hand, were such leaders of a new generation as John Henry Hobart, Jackson Kemper, and William Augustus Muhlenberg. White’s gifts of statesmanship and reconciling moderation steered the American Church through the first decades of its independent life. His influence in his native city made him its “first citizen.” To few men has the epithet “venerable” been more aptly applied.

O Lord, in a time of turmoil and confusion you raised up your servant William White, and endowed him with wisdom, patience, and a reconciling temper, that he might lead your Church into ways of stability and peace: Hear our prayer, and give us wise and faithful leaders, that through their ministry your people may be blessed and your will be done; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 92

Lessons:

Jeremiah 1:4–10

John 21:15–17

Lesser Feasts and Fasts, pgs. 306-307

Appetites (Discipleship Article #2)

 

The summer before my junior year in high school, I took a bicycle trip with some family friends. The goal was to bike all the way around Lake Michigan, starting in Illinois and finishing in Wisconsin. We didn't make it the entire way around the lake, but we got very close. All in all, it was over two weeks of continuous bicycling - no matter the precipitation or the heat of the day.

While on this trip, I discovered something new. If I got thirsty enough, even warm water tasted good. Granted, I had to be very thirsty, but this often happened because we rarely stopped unless it was absolutely necessary So, when I did get thirsty, I gladly drank the water that I had, even though it had been affected by the sun. In normal circumstances, I would have dumped this water into the grass. I have rarely known that kind of thirst in my life, nor have I easily forgotten it.

This thirst is reminiscent of the Psalmist's proclamation in Chapter 42:

1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,

so my soul longs for you, O God.

 

2 My soul thirsts for God,

for the living God.

When shall I come and behold

the face of God?

 

When was the last time you were this thirsty or hungry?

 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

(Matthew 5:6).

 

What are the appetites that we feed in our lives? Do we hunger after the Lord, His direction, His life. If our occasional hunger for God is placated, but treated as optional, what other appetites are taking over? The reality is that “hungering after God” is a gift that only he can give, but one we have to truly want. This kind of hunger is developed by planning, commitment, and time. It must be developed and prioritized.

 

It is only through hungering after our God and seeking him that gives us true and lasting fulfillment. He wants to fill us up, but if our “baskets” are already full of other things, His life-giving gifts will go elsewhere.

 

Ps. 81:

10 I am the Lord your God,

   who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

   Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

 

11 ‘But my people did not listen to my voice;

   Israel would not submit to me.

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,

   to follow their own counsels.

 

13 O that my people would listen to me,

   that Israel would walk in my ways!

 

16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,

   and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.’

 

The appetites we develop, feed, and prioritize will end up defining us and our values. There is no lasting discipleship to the Lord Jesus Christ without developing and feeding the right kind of hunger. Our commitment as disciples of Christ to the weekly worship of Word and Sacrament is paramount. However, if we are going to develop our spiritual strength and stamina, we must pursue Christ and His community in deeper and more intimate ways. Discipleship groups with qualified and trained teachers, personal prayer and meditation, and constant immersion in Holy Scripture help give us the nutrition and training to stay fit and prepared in our journey with Christ and His people.

Let us seek, hunger, and thirst after our God.

 

The God Who Pursues

 

Jesus pursues us but never forces himself on anyone

The Feast of St. Irenaeus

 

If theology is “thinking about faith” and arranging those thoughts in some systematic order, then Irenaeus has been rightly recognized by Catholics and Protestants alike as the first great systematic theologian.

There is considerable doubt about the year of Irenaeus’ birth; estimates vary from 97 to 160. It is certain that he learned the Christian faith in Ephesus at the feet of the venerable Polycarp, who in turn had known John the Evangelist. Some years before 177, probably while Irenaeus was still in his teens, he carried the tradition of Christianity to Lyons in southern France.

His name means “the peaceable one”—and suitably so. The year 177 brought hardship to the mission in Gaul. Persecution broke out, and a mounting tide of heresy threatened to engulf the Church. Irenaeus, by now a presbyter, was sent to Rome to mediate the dispute regarding Montanism, which the Bishop of Rome, Eleutherus, seemed to embrace. While Irenaeus was on this mission, the aged Bishop of Lyons, Pothinus, died in prison during a local persecution. When Irenaeus returned to Lyons, he was elected bishop to succeed Pothinus.

Irenaeus’ enduring fame rests mainly on a large treatise, entitled The Refutation and Overthrow of Gnosis, Falsely So-Called, usually shortened to Against Heresies. In it, lrenaeus describes the major Gnostic systems, thoroughly, clearly, and often with biting humor. It is one of our chief sources of knowledge about Gnosticism. He also makes a case for Christianity which has become a classic, resting heavily on Scripture, and on the continuity between the teaching of the Apostles and the teaching of bishops, generation after generation, especially in the great see cities. Against the Gnostics, who despised the flesh and exalted the spirit, he stressed two doctrines: that of the creation as good, and that of the resurrection of the body.

A late and uncertain tradition claims that he suffered martyrdom, about 202.

pg. 298, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006

Lessons:

Psalms 85:8–13 

2 Timothy 2:22b–26

Luke 11:33–36

Say "NO" to Easy (Discipleship Article #1)

Mark 4:

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

The reality is that Jesus never made following him easy.

To be a disciple in first-century Judaism meant finding a Rabbi and sitting at his feet to learn and be shaped by him. The Rabbi was a teacher and expert who would help people understand the truth that would lead them to Covenantal faithfulness as a Jewish person. In the past, the Jewish people had rejected the teaching of the Lord and found hope and life in other things. Largely, the Jewish people had rebelled against their Covenant God and followed false idols that promised quicker results and the promise of easier access to power and protection.

Thus, the Jewish rabbis in the day of Jesus decided that the best way to avoid the judgment of God was to create an oppressive works-based religious system that would ensure the obedience of the Jewish people that would protect the nation of Israel from ever having to go into captivity again. However, the system was a fabrication of men that bypassed their need to know and follow their God even when it made no earthly and human sense. The system created by man was easily abused and manipulated by lawyers and powerbrokers. When Jesus came, he was a threat to their system and their childishness.

So, Jesus spoke in parables. But the parables were confusing. They were interesting, but in the end, it is hard to understand why Jesus would make his truth so veiled and indirect. The Answer? He challenged the large and impressive crowd that came for MANY different reasons, to seek him for the right reasons. In time, most of the crowd melted away. The disciples of Christ stayed, embraced him, asked questions, and continued to seek him, although in rough and sometimes silly ways.

However, it is those silly, childish, and needy disciples who found answers, truth, and life by seeking Jesus after the dust of his teaching had settled. Worship in Word and Sacrament together is important, but it doesn't show us HOW to live out the truth in everyday life. For that, there must be searching, asking, reading, staying, showing up, and learning. In short, to grow strong in the faith, there must be discipleship.

Are you engaging in Discipleship? What does that look like?

More to come.

The Feast of St. Basil the Great

 

Basil was born about 329, in Caesarea of Cappadocia, into a Christian family of wealth and distinction. Educated in classical Hellenism, Basil might have continued in academic life, had it not been for the death of a beloved younger brother and the faith of his sister, Macrina. He was baptized at the age of twenty-eight, and ordained a deacon soon after.

Macrina had founded the first monastic order for women at Annesi. Fired by her example, Basil made a journey to study the life of anchorites in Egypt and elsewhere. In 358 he returned to Cappadocia and founded the first monastery for men at Ibora. Assisted by Gregory Nazianzus, he compiled The Longer and Shorter Rules, which transformed the solitary anchorites into a disciplined community of prayer and work. The Rules became the foundation for all Eastern monastic discipline. The monasteries also provided schools to train leaders for Church and State.

Basil was ordained presbyter in 364. In the conflict between the Arians (supported by an Arian Emperor) and orthodox Christians, Basil became convinced that he should be made Bishop of Caesarea. By a narrow margin, he was elected Bishop of Caesarea, Metropolitan of Cappadocia, and Exarch of Pontus. He was relentless in his efforts to restore the faith and discipline of the clergy, and in defense of the Nicene faith. When the Emperor Valens sought to undercut Basil’s power by dividing the See of Cappadocia, Basil forced his brother Gregory to become Bishop of Nyssa.

In his treatise, On the Holy Spirit, Basil maintained that both the language of Scripture and the faith of the Church require that the same honor, glory, and worship is to be paid to the Spirit as to the Father and the Son. It was entirely proper, he asserted, to adore God in liturgical prayer, not only with the traditional words, “Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit;” but also with the formula, “Glory to the Father with the Son together with the Holy Spirit.”

Basil was also concerned about the poor, and when he died, he willed to Caesarea a complete new town, built on his estate, with housing, a hospital and staff, a church for the poor, and a hospice for travelers.

He died at the age of fifty, in 379, just two years before the Second Ecumenical Council, which affirmed the Nicene faith.

(pg. 286, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006)

Psalm: 139:1–9 or 34:1–8

Lessons:

1 Corinthians 2:6–13

 Luke 10:21–24

Feast of St. Barnabas

Joseph, a Levite born in Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), sold a field he owned, brought the money, and turned it over to the apostles” (Acts 4:36–37). This first reference in the New Testament to Barnabas introduces one whose missionary efforts would cause him to be called, like the Twelve, an apostle. As a Jew of the Dispersion, he had much in common with Paul. When Paul came to Jerusalem after his conversion, the disciples were afraid to receive him. It was Barnabas who brought Paul to the apostles, and declared to them how, on the road to Damascus, Paul had seen the Lord, and had preached boldly in the name of Jesus (Acts 9:27). Later, Barnabas, having settled in Antioch, sent for Paul to join him in leading the Christian Church in that city.

Barnabas and Paul were sent by the disciples in Antioch to carry famine relief to the Church in Jerusalem. Upon their return, the Church in Antioch sent them on their first missionary journey beginning at Cyprus. At Lystra in Asia Minor, the superstitious people took them to be gods, supposing the eloquent Paul to be Mercury, the messenger of the gods, and Barnabas to be Jupiter, the chief of the gods, a testimony to the commanding presence of Barnabas. The association of Barnabas and Paul was broken, after their journey, by a disagreement about Mark, who had left the mission to return to Jerusalem. After attending the Council of Jerusalem with Barnabas, Paul made a return visit to the Churches he and Barnabas had founded in Asia Minor. Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus, where Barnabas is traditionally honored as the founder of the Church.

It seems that Barnabas continued his journeys for the Gospel, because Paul mentions him several times in his letters to the Galatians, the Corinthians, and the Colossians. Tradition has it that he was martyred at Salamis in Cyprus.


(from Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006, pg. 282)

Grant, O God, that we may follow the example of your faithful servant Barnabas, who, seeking not his own renown but the well-being of your Church, gave generously of his life and substance for the relief of the poor and the spread of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 112

Lessons:

Isaiah 42:5–12
Acts 11:19–30;13:1–3
Matthew 10:7–16

Divine Authorship

 The Divine Authorship of Scripture

The End of Devotion

"The end of devotion is not, to become extraordinarily devout. It is possible to fill one's life with practices of piety and yet not to get more Christ-like. It is possible to spend much time in devotion, and yet to be hard and critical and to lack a-missionary and loving spirit. It is a terrible, as well as a salutary, thing to remember that it was devout people at a time of special devotion who killed our Lord."

"God Himself must be the sole end of our devotion. There is no great danger of our worshipping graven images, but there is a very great danger of our worshipping mental images of our own imagining. God has been revealed to us in the dear figure of Christ, and the supreme revelation of God is a naked man dying on the gallows in the dark. We have to be dispossessed of our mental images of a sentimental Christ by this stark reality of the perfect sacrifice of the Cross. He is our model. ' He never thought of Himself or His own interests. He never did one single action because He was bribed in any way to do it. He never abstained from any for fear of what might happen to him. In all things He sought only and always his Father's will."

"The end of devotion is attained when the complete taking of all things meets with the complete giving of all things. Death, the great taker, is defeated when he meets Christ, the great giver. The supreme devotion of our Lord's life was consummated as He laid down His life for His sheep and yielded His spirit in perfect faith to His Father. The true end of devotion is the gift of ourselves and all we have to God."


Fr. Andrew, Meditations, pg. 166

"An Earthy Redemption" - Luke 24:36-48

 

The created order is restored through the resurrection of Jesus:

Devotion to God

 "But our devotion to Almighty God depends upon its being unlimited and unconditioned. Devotion to a creature that has no limit or condition is what we call inordinate affection, but devotion to God which is limited and conditioned is robbed of its meaning. There is no rivalry between the love of God and the love of one's neighbor, because one's love of one's neighbor will only be a true love if it is conditioned by the love of God. The glory of God and the good of one's neighbor will be the two motives that, ever in union, control a devout life. Out of our love of God will come true social service and true love of mankind."

Father Andrew, Meditations, pg. 165

Catholic but NOT Roman Catholic: Big "C" and Little "c"

Our ecumenical baptismal creed, the Apostles Creed, states “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church. . . .” The most widely used ecumenical creed, the Nicene Creed states “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” So what does it mean to be catholic?

For the most part, when we hear someone declare “I am a catholic” or if someone uses the word catholic, our thoughts turn first to the Roman Catholic Church. However, while the Roman Catholic church is catholic, they are not the only catholics. The very term Protestant derives its meaning from that time period in the 16th century when many historic, catholic Christians were protesting some of the doctrine and a lot of the practices of the Roman Catholic church. It is important to realize that all Protestants derive their starting place from the medieval Catholic church. Men like Martin Luther and John Calvin were Roman Catholics that were forced to leave the church, and were used over time to help the Roman Church see its need of change in multiple ways. However, John Calvin and Martin Luther always subscribed to the catholicity of the creeds and the importance of those Christians and church fathers that went before them.

Unfortunately, many groups have decided in their own thinking, and in their brief history, that THEY now are the true church (as if they were starting the church from scratch). The implication is that the church before them has been getting things wrong, that they are above the corruption or blind-spots that others have had, and that they are in little need of the help offered by those Christians who have lived before them. Not only is this historically dishonest, it is thoroughly unscriptural. The reality is that the Feast of Pentecost in the first century was the beginning of the church (as recorded in Acts). The Reformation, Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock, Great Awakenings, Azusa Street Revival, etc., were NOT the beginning of the church. In addition, of all the informing events that may be meaningful for us, we should be open to discernment and an honest evaluation of these same events through the lenses of scripture and those who have gone before us. History teaches us (if we will listen) that hindsight is 20/20. Why do we always believe that our generation is somehow removed from this reality; that we will avoid the blind-spots that no generation has ever eluded?

All churches that name Christ as Lord today owe a great debt to the church councils and leaders that helped settle the debates and truth regarding the Trinity, the incarnation of Christ, and many more basic core doctrines that we take for granted today. In other words, our debt to those who have gone before us is pronounced whether we want to admit it or not.

So what does it mean when we declare every Sunday that we are catholic?

First of all, it means that we have an ancient faith. We, by very definition, are a people dependent on those who have come before us. We are dependent on God's work now among us, but God's work among us does not negate or lay aside the work that he has always been doing among his covenant people. From the creation of humanity to today, we owe a debt of gratitude to those who have faithfully served the Lord and handed down a living faith to our generation. If we desire the scriptural and historic honesty that the Lord requires of us, we will embrace that we build on the shoulders of those who have come before us. There is a core teaching and interpretation of Scripture that has been and is being passed down from generation to generation. It is appropriate to question what belongs in this “core” and we are still in the process as the “church universal” of taking the good and leaving the bad. However, there is that which we believe will not change from the past regarding the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, and the character of our God. This is our catholic faith, and the creeds are our starting place in any discussion of our central beliefs.

Secondly, it means that we have an apostolic faith. As Christians we read the Old Testament through apostolic “lenses;” and we are guided by the apostolic perspective, especially as recorded in the Holy Scriptures. The catholic perspective is that any authority we have as a church is derived from Jesus Christ who is the head of the church. However, we also believe that we learn of this Jesus through the perspective of the apostles who lived, listened, and walked with Him. Their teaching and their writings in the Holy Scriptures now guide and shape our thinking, being, and living. In Acts 2 we are told that the church gathered together in part to hear “the apostles’ teaching”. We believe that the truth and authority that we have today as God's faithful people is derived and handed down to us from the apostles. Outside of their Holy Spirit-led perspective, Christian truth does not exist.

Thirdly, we are a global church. Our catholicity, while derived from the Jewish people and based on the salvific work of a Palestinian Jew who was also God, has always been intended for ALL the peoples of the world. WE ARE AN INCLUSIVE FAITH. Every nation and tribe is offered the good news regarding the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Abrahamic Covenant makes it clear that the Lord was going to bless all nations through Abraham's family. This has come to pass with the coming of Jesus Christ in obedience to His Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now the church is spread across the globe. There is a strength and unity that Christians gain from these global relationships, challenges, and differing perspectives. Christ's desire is that we all be one, so that the nations of the world may see our love and unity and “believe that you (the Father) have sent me (Jesus)” (John 17). Salvation is offered for every person who repents of their sin, accepts their need, and puts their hope and faith in Jesus - no matter their ethnicity, gender, or socio-economic status. With Jesus, redemption is never "bought" or manipulated by the power structures of this world.

So are we Anglicans also catholic? YES! We are local bodies of believers with our own distinct location, culture, strengths and weaknesses, and, yet, connected to the church that has "always been" through Apostolic Succession, The Holy Scriptures, The Historic Liturgy, and the Historic Creeds. We are an ancient, apostolic, and global people interconnected and dependent on those faithful believers throughout space and time. Thanks be to God!