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Sunday Service- 10AM

Early Fall at St. Alban's

This month's blog looks at the upcoming Rector's Bible Study on Tuesdays at 10 am in the Church Office.  Reminder: Beginning August 12 our Wednesday Noon Day Prayer will be in the Church at 12 noon for thirty minutes of quiet and contemplation,  and the Wednesday evening "Imagine Heaven" book study adult education class begins at 6pm with a pot luck and then the 6:30-7:30 class time.

The Rector's Bible Study...

  Our study begins Tuesday August 11 at 10 am in Conference Room. Together we will look at the present benefits available to believers as a result of the " finished work of the Cross'. Often we think of the death and resurrection of Jesus in a vague way, that somehow His death and then resurrection paid the price for our sins so that we could be forgiven. True...but the question is Why and How? Why couldn't God the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit simply declare " I forgive you"? Why, apparently is that not enough or inadequate? After all, we often say to each other " I forgive you" and that statement or gift of forgiveness didn't depend on us dying first?

The scriptures open our eyes to the Cross as the primary vehicle or means by which all of His blessings are secured for us and also delivered to us!  Psalm 103:2-3. " Bless the Lord, o my soul and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases".  In fact, the entire expression of the Kingdom of Heaven with all of it's benefits, and realities of grace, beauty and powers are delivered to us by the Cross or by the death and resurrection of Jesus.  So our bible study will connect you with the promises and power of Jesus today...the benefits that He has promised our available by grace and faith...today for you and your life!

Please purchase your study book " God Wants You Well" by Andrew Wommack in preparation for our class.

 

Jesus... and the Fourth of july

 As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of Signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 we can step back for a moment to consider this great American Experiment that begins with the Declaration of Independence brilliant opening: " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...' words penned by Thomas Jefferson. The idea here is that of "the people" being both the source of consent for a legitimate governance by their elected representatives,  and that the same people are granted liberties by their Creator rather than by any government is the basic understanding of our "political freedom". This "political freedom" is declared as the colonies new basis of elected governance since they had been governed up until this time, by the unelected Crown and a British parliament without their elected representation. So we owe our "political freedom" of self-governance to this declaration and we also have our "civil freedom" secured to pursue Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" ...that is to pursue work, business creation, family, land ownership, and the Pursuit of Happiness which at the time meant the pursuit of creating and building  businesses of farming, labor, trades, investment, the arts, schools, universities  and churches, hospitals, business and labor associations, etc....all these Rights being granted foremost by the Creator and therefore cannot be diminished or denied by any local, state or national government. This is a remarkable statement by our new American republican or representative form of government to act in support of and in accordance with, the Rights and Liberties granted by God!

  The Founding Fathers recognized that faith in God, and the churches that cultivated that faith in God, also developed a Responsible and Reasonable people...a people who lived with a godly fear or sense of obligation to God and HIs Kingdom...to be accountable to the divine laws of His Nature.They believed that faith fosters good character, and that without Virtue and Self-Restraint, the republic would descend into moral and civic chaos of an extreme individualism that rejects as they put it " the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God". They believed that men and women can live in liberty only if they are governed from within. As John Adam said " Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." The framers understood that without a Virtuous people....a Responsible and Reasonable electorate ...that freedom could not be sustained. George Washington said clearly in his Farewell Address that " Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are the indispensable supports." So while the Founders wanted to prevent choosing one Christian denomination over another and requiring submission to it as a national church like in England with the Anglican Church, or in Germany with the Lutheran Church, they clearly saw the need to allow and cultivate religious morals and values in order to create a Virtuous people who had the capability to self- govern with a sense of moral accountability to God as their primary source of both freedom and virtues.

  So we need to repent. We need to return to a personal and self-transforming faith in the One Who both grants our rights and liberty...and Who also instills REAL FREEDOM in the souls and characters of his human creation.That Freedom from sin, from the smallness of soul that uses people for our ends, the smallness of soul that rejects being responsible for our decisions, the smallness of soul that rejects obligations to the Greater Good...the good, wise and healthy "building up" of our communities ...communities of family, churches, neighborhoods, towns, states, nations and the international community. It always begins with one....and together we will be a part of the answer to the prayer "..thy will be done on earth as it is Heaven."



Pentecost and YOu....

" When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were gathered together in one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house...and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..." and " you will receive  power when the Holy Spirit  comes upon you to be My witnesses..." ( Acts 2:1-4 & Acts 1:8)

 The promised gift of the Spirit was poured out on the followers of Jesus on a Jewish feast day that celebrated the harvest of a great crop that had been earlier planted...an acknowledgement that the time of the full fruit had appeared in the world. In the activity of Heaven coming to earth, Jesus is also saying that the long awaited Divine Fruit of the Spirit in human beings hearts and lives had now happened! Now the God-kind of Eternal Life could be placed within people, within our hearts to transform flow our personalities and characters. People would no longer be just "mere humans"....we would carriers of the Life of Jesus by His indwelling Spirit. Heaven would be planted into human heart!  So now, we have a choice...to choose with faith and expectation that His world of salvation and Heaven will grow in our hearts and lives..or revert to a normal human experience as if God were " far, far away".


Living the Life...REsurrected Life!

Easter, and the Resurrection of Jesus, introduces us to an amazing Gift...the Gift of living in the Resurrection of Jesus. You heard me right...not only has Jesus Risen and is Himself living a RESURRECTED Life....He has INCLUDED YOU TOO! Now that doesn't mean that we have all physically died with Him and physically risen with him...BUT it does mean that a new and decisive reality of "co-resurrection" has included you...us. 

    Galatians 2:20. " I have been crucified with Christ and I ( my separate, sinful & independent self) no longer exist, but now Christ lives inwardly connected to me."

Something that St. Paul calls the "old man or old self" has been put to "Spiritual Death" though not "physical death". That was you that was a branch in the cursed Tree of Sin and Death. Now the spiritual reality of Sin and Death has been brought to an end because Jesus INCLUDED you in the death to Sin. But Death is not enough...there is not Life in that spiritual Death. So that is where RESURRECTION factors in to bring us  "out of death and into Life" 1 John 3:14. Into Christ now sharing Himself and His same divine Life!!!

 This is a sacred Mystery of God...this death and resurrection. Ephesians 2:1-6 tells us that we have to think differently and learn to believe " And you He has made Alive ( a new Spirit Reality) who were dead in sin...made you Alive Together with Christ and raised (spiritually resurrected) and raised us up TOGETHER in Christ".

Easter introduces us to these mind-boggling new realities and begins to unpack HOW these WORK in healing our hearts and personalities of stress, traumatic experiences, self attitudes. The HEAVENLY MEDICINE when daily applied is the only Cure....not only does it bring forgiveness but this Heavenly Medicine heals hidden hurts, darkness and TRANFORMS our personality With Christ and into Christ-likeness!



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Holy Week is the Door to Being "in Christ"

The Gospel that Jesus shared is that His Kingdom is invading the Darkness of Sin and Death in all of it's ravages upon people and their lives.It is a Savior who is bring Healing to broken hearts, broken minds and broken lives.Guess what... we are all broken in various places and different ways. Our hearts are made to be alive and secure in Love...in a awareness of beiing Loved  by a Heavenly Father, the Son who shares His very own Life with us, and the Spirit that shares Heaven to our needy souls.

So really, deeply, our Holy Week of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Resurrection Sunday is introducing us in the Divine Family and us as "a new creation in Christ" sons and daughters! That new Identity and Creation exists already in you...and is  waiting for you to discover and believe. Our identity is Relational ...it is already Connected to our Heavenly Father, our Savior and our Holy Spirit...all are leading us into deeper communion and awareness of their Love for us and our Destiny to grow into their Likeness and Being.

  So the Cross is Jesus dying for you....but also dying in your place. He brought the End of Adam by being the Last Adam. So Jesus associated Himself with you as an Adam or Eve and brought your particular Adam-Identity to an end! The Resurrection of Jesus includes you and me! His Resurrection from the dominion of Sin and Death is also shared with us as our own resurrection as well! Our faith and devotion is now our way of receiving and entering into all that Jesus is For us and also In us.

Being New not just Forgiven

The Gospel is His Rescue and Redevelopment Mission for turning you ( your relationships, the people of St. Alban's) from  just mere sinful humans into saints! It includes  forgiveness for every sin and the certain hope of Heaven as your eternal home. But really, deeply, it is about being "a new creation in Christ"...and that new     Identity and Creation exists already in you...and is waiting for you to discover and believe. It is this reconciliation and union with Christ on the inside of your soul that makes you more than just a mere human with perhaps a short fuse, an anxiety problem, or bent towards being self-centered and demanding that people do what you want.

So the Cross is not just Jesus dying alone for our sins .The Cross is also Jesus taking your sinful self with Him...to die. To die so that He would rise from Sin and rise with you too...the new you. The fantastic cosmic supernatural great news is that " you have died with Christ and you have risen with Christ". Since that is a Fact greater than gravity, greater than the speed of light, and greater than all of the laws of nature...it is a Fact that is also greater than your sins! Now when embrace and believed it, the Spirit and Power of the Gospel works for you! There is such a release of grace along with multiple flows of graces like internal rivers that now empower a new nature. This Presence of Life and Grace actually flow from within  you as a being who is " a new creation in Christ Jesus". Now that is a holy and happy Lent.

 

EPIPHANY EXPERIENCES TODAY

The Season of Epiphany ( God's Rescue Mission & Manifestation) opens our gaze from the birth of Jesus to now the baptism and adult life and mission of Jesus! This liturgical emphasis focuses our hearts and minds on experiencing Jesus the Son of God in the stories or accounts of the Gospel. But be careful! These so-called "stories" are more than religious stories about a Jesus of the past. The stories in the scriptures are " Living, Alive and Powerful" ( Hebrews 4:12) sacramental doorways into His Presence and Person! The Gospel is  actually and simply, Jesus Himself... and his healing actions and teachings on how to live in alignment with His Kingdom.

Epiphany Experiences are waiting for you today! He is here to "manifest..." for you to have an "Epiphany" yourself! Waiting for you to come to Him in His " Word Form" of dynamic Life-giving scriptural stories. HIs very Voice is speaking to you, to perceive and        receive directly by His Spirit. Jesus's Sacramental Presence in the Word of God is really and actually Him alive and speaking! The Gospel Story is truly alive with Him,  and He is Alive for you, with you, and within you! So Happy Journey! 

 


 

A HOLY & HAPPY ADVENT

Advent has been an ancient liturgical and prayerful season of the Church going back nearly 2,000 years. It is a time set apart to     reflect in our readings and hymns on the first "advent" or appearance of Christ when born in a manger in Bethlehem...and then we also    reflect upon his second advent or " the second Coming of Christ Jesus" at the end of the age when he returns to fulfill what he began in His death and resurrection. Each week the themes of Hope in this world and in the end of the age, Peace as a real ministry of the Spirit now, and also Joy in the current healing work of the     Beloved Son's Healing Kingdom and in the Complete and Full Revelation of that Beautiful   Kingdom in a " New Heavens and a New Earth". 

  Since the King and His Kingdom have arrived in the Resurrection of Christ and breaking the authority and bonds of sin and satan...we now feast our souls on the many benefits of His Kingdom for us today as well as learn to see our current challenges, needs and all injustices in the light of both the ongoing leavening work of believers and the ultimate revelation of " righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" that we confidently hope for in His Second    Advent.

  For the "spiritual community of followers of Jesus", known as St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Auburndale, Florida that means we are learning  how to " see the Kingdom" with the eyes of faith in His divine Promises...promises of health, daily guidance, financial breakthroughs, following the Spirit by personally applying the spiritual gifts of helping others, encouraging those who are struggling and hurting, sharing words of wisdom and knowledge that the Spirit imparts to minister to others, singing and  making melody in our hearts unto the Lord,   organizing and being a graceful team leader/member of a ministry, praying for increases of HIs Presence in our fellowship, and sharing the inward Christ who is IN YOU with everyone you meet and love! Now all of that makes for "a  holy and happy "heavenly atmosphere for each of us who journey together as friends and followers of Jesus the King!