The Third Sunday of Easter

Let Us Pray For…

Anglican Communion Network (ACN)

The Rt. Rev. Robert Wm. Duncan (Moderator)

From the Scriptures
For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer* of your souls.

I Peter 2:19-25 (ESV)

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*The Greek word translated as “Overseer” here is episcopos—which eventually became, in English, “Bishop.”


The Collect
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“The Second Sunday after Easter,” The Book of Common Prayer (USA, 1928)

A Heritage Reflection
“The apostolic Church exists by mission as fire exists by burning.”

“The Dublin Agreed Statement 1984”

Anglican-Orthodox Diologue

The Second Sunday of Easter

Let Us Pray For…

Anglican Coalition in Canada (ACiC)
The Rt. Rev. Alexander Green (Bishop)
The Rev. Barclay Mayo (Network Leader)


From the Scriptures
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is he who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

I John 5:4-12 (ESV)

The Collect
ALMIGHTY Father, who hast given thine only Son to die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification; Grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve thee in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“The First Sunday after Easter,” The Book of Common Prayer (USA, 1928)

A Heritage Reflection
Lift up, lift up your voices now!
The whole wide world rejoices now;
The Lord has triumphed gloriously,
The Lord shall reign victoriously.

In vain with stone the cave they barred;
In vain the watch kept ward and guard;
Majestic from the spoilèd tomb,
In pomp of triumph Christ is come.

He binds in chains the ancient foe;
A countless host He frees from woe,
And heaven’s high portal open flies,
For Christ has risen, and man shall rise

And all He did, and all He bare,
He gives us as our own to share;
And hope, and joy and peace begin,
For Christ has won, and man shall win.

O Victor, aid us in the fight,
And lead through death to realms of light;
We safely pass where Thou hast trod;
In Thee we die to rise to God.

Thy flock, from sin and death set free,
Glad alleluias raise to Thee;
And ever with the heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Rev. John Mason Neale (1818-1866)

Easter Sunday

Let Us Pray For…

American Anglican Council (AAC)
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson (President and CEO)


From the Scriptures
Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I Corinthians 6:5b-8 (ESV)

The Collect
ALMIGHTY God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee that, as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

“Easter Day,” The Book of Common Prayer (USA, 1928)

A Heritage Reflection
“Happy then this day to us; happy we that this day came, which opens to us a door of hope—have reason, therefore, to remember it, and with joy to keep it, as the first dawning of a better hope, the day-spring of all our happiness. This day our head is risen, and with him our hope has enlarged its borders, and made a prospect into the other world, sees some comfort there for our sorrows here. This day's bright -shining beams have lightened our eyes, that now we shall not sleep in death; a Sunday indeed, the first true Sunday that ever shone, wherein the Sun of righteousness arose out of the chambers of the grave, to guide our feet out of misty darkness into marvellous light--out of the paths of the dead into the land of the living--out of this miserable into a blessed life by Christ's resurrection.”

Rev. Mark Frank (1613-1664)
Sermons (Vol. II)

SPECIAL PRAYER REQUEST: PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA (JUNE 22-25, 2009)

TO ALL COMMON CAUSE PARTNERS:
Beloved in the Lord,
The purpose of this letter is to give formal notice of the Provincial Assembly to be gathered from noon, Monday, June 22nd, to noon, Thursday, June 25th, 2009. This meeting is being convened under the Provisional Constitution of the Anglican Church in North America. The place of gathering is St. Vincent’s Cathedral, Bedford, Texas.

The agenda of the Provincial Assembly will include:
1) Worship;
2) Presentations in support of the mission of the Province;
3) Scripture teaching;
4) Addresses by international leaders;
5) Consideration for ratification of the (Provisional) Constitution;
6) Consideration for ratification of a Code of Canons;
7) Reports from committees and task forces.

(more from here)

From the Scriptures
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

John 12:20-32 (ESV)

From the Lectionary of The Book of Common Prayer (1928), under “At Services in the Interest of Church Missions”

A Meditation
Lord, remind us that there are still those who “wish to see Jesus.”

Remind us that before there can be resurrection, there must first be death.

Remind us that to love our life is to lose it, and to serve you requires following you.

And finally, Lord, by your grace, may we distinguish your voice from so much thunder.



Collect
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who by thy Holy Spirit didst preside in the Council of the blessed Apostles, and hast promised, through thy Son Jesus Christ, to be with thy Church to the end of the world; We beseech thee to be with the Council of thy Church here assembled in thy Name and Presence. Save us from all error, ignorance, pride, and prejudice; and of thy great mercy vouchsafe, we beseech thee, so to direct, sanctify, and govern us in our work, by the mighty power of the Holy Ghost, that the comfortable Gospel of Christ may be truly preached, truly received, and truly followed, in all places, to the breaking down the kingdom of sin, Satan, and death; till at length the whole of thy dispersed sheep, being gathered into one fold, shall become partakers of everlasting life; through the merits and death of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

“A Prayer to be used at the Meetings of Convention”

The Book of Common Prayer (1928, USA)

A Heritage Reflection
“And if we should consider things but prudently, it is a great argument that the sons of our Church are very conscientious and just in their persuasions, when it is evident that we have no temporal end to serve, nothing but the great end of our souls, all our hopes of preferment are gone, all secular regards, only we still have truth on our sides, and we are not willing with the loss of truth to change from a persecuted to a prosperous Church, from a Reformed to a Church that will not be reformed; lest we give scandal to good people that suffer for a holy conscience, and weaken the hands of the afflicted; of which if you had been more careful, you would have remained much more innocent….

“We have the Word of God, the Faith of the Apostles, the Creeds of the Primitive Church, the Articles of the four first general Councils, a holy Liturgy, excellent Prayers, perfect Sacraments, Faith and Repentance, the Ten Commandments, and the Sermons of Christ, and all the precepts and counsels of the Gospel; We teach the necessity of good works, and require and strictly exact the severity of a holy life; We live in obedience to God, and are ready to die for him, and do so when he requires us so to do; We speak honourably of his most holy Name, we worship him at the mention of his Name, we confess his Attributes, we love his Servants, we pray for all Men, we love all Christians, even our most erring Brethren, we confess our sins to God and to our Brethren whom we have offended, and to God's Ministers in cases of Scandal, or of a troubled Conscience.”

Bishop Jeremy Taylor

(1613-1667)

What CCP members came out to do

Let us consider Our Lord's word in today's Gospel:

"Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." Mark 1:38

A CCP Member's Reflection on recent events

Now is the time for faithful Anglicans in North America, both within TEC and within ACNA, to follow the encouragement from Hebrews 12:“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2-3 NIV)

We are all sinners, and we are all in need of a season of repentance, humility, and restoration. May we all fix our eyes on Jesus, and follow him on the course he has marked out before us, renewing our commitment to evangelism, discipleship and mission—and building a united, Biblical missionary Anglicanism in North America and world-wide that will give glory to God by reaching multitudes who do not yet know Jesus Christ.

The Rev. Phil Ashey, Chief Operating Officer of the American Anglican Council

Cornelius the Centurion

Please pray for...

Missionary responsiveness to the Holy Spirit

Reflection
Peter responds to a vision that fulfills the ancient prophecies. Through Peter's response, Christ is received as the "light to the nations" foretold by Isaiah. May CCP clergy and congregations respond to the Spirit's guidance and reach lost people with "the repentance that leads to life." TLF+

Scripture
Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?" Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, `Get up, Peter; kill and eat.' But I replied, `By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' But a second time the voice answered from heaven, `What God has made clean, you must not call profane.' This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, `Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.' And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, `John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?" When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."
Acts 11:1-18

Collect
O God, by your Spirit you called Cornelius the Centurion to be the first Christian among the Gentiles; Grant to your Church such a ready will to go where you send and to do what you command, that under your guidance it may welcome all who turn to you in love and faith, and proclaim the Gospel to all nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

IV Epiphany

Let Us Pray For…

Common Cause Observers
Anglican Province of America (APA)
Anglican Essentials Canada (AEC)


Prayer Petitions
May we never forget that the very word ‘Anglican’ testifies to our Gentile heritage, that we were once “separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” May God look graciously upon the Anglican Church in North America, and to reconcile us with those in the ‘Anglican Diaspora’ for a united mission in the world.

WHS

From the Scriptures
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:11-22 (ESV)
from Morning Prayer for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (Book of Common Prayer, USA, 1928)

A Guiding Prayer
O GOD, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright; Grant to us such strength and protection, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany,” The Book of Common Prayer (USA, 1928)

A Heritage Reflection
“For the whole Scriptures, saith St. Paul (2 Tim. 3:16), and shall we Christian men think to learn the knowledge of God and of ourselves in any earthly man’s work or writing sooner or better than in the holy Scriptures written by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost? (2 Pet.1:21) were given by the inspiration of God:The Scriptures were not brought unto us by the will of man; but holy men of God, as witnesseth St. Peter, spake as they were moved by the holy Spirit of God. The Holy Ghost is the Schoolmaster of truth, which leadeth his scholars, as our Saviour Christ saith of him (John 16:13), into all truth. And whoso is not led and taught by this Schoolmaster cannot but fall into deep error, how goodly soever his pretence is, what knowledge and learning soever he hath of all other works and writings, or how fair soever a shew or face of truth he hath in the estimation and judgment of the world.”

“An Information for Them which Take Offence at Certain Places of the Holy Scriptures”

The Book of Homilies (1571)