MAC KIRK

Christmas "The judge knew that Sgt. Joseph Serna had been through a lot. The former Special Forces soldier did four combat tours in Afghanistan over a nearly two-decades-long career with the U.S. Army. Through those years, the Fayetteville Observer reported, Serna was almost killed three times: once, by a roadside bomb, then again by a suicide bomber. During a tour in 2008, Serna and three other soldiers were driving down a narrow dirt road in Kandahar when their armored truck toppled into a canal, the Associated Press reported. As water filled the vehicle, Serna struggled to escape. It was his fellow soldier, Sgt. James Treber, who saved him. “I felt a hand come down and unfasten my seat belt and release my body armor,” Serna recalled to the AP. “Sgt. Treber picked me up and moved me to a small pocket of air. He knew there was not enough room for both of us to breathe so he went under water to find another pocket of air.” Treber died from the accident, but Serna survived....

Sunday before Christmas Day, 4th S in Advent Have you ever been frazzled? Is that a word? It certainly is a feeling of overwhelming angst and the opposite of quiet , peaceful serenity. I came across a book called, Overcoming Anxiety for Dummies and there are a lot of good ideas in there to try and settle one's emotions and thoughts down. Some people avoid anxiety for example and doing that may increase it. For example if you do not like parties, just don't go, but as the book illustrates after a while you become isolated, and being around people for any reason creates more anxiety. There are exercises which offer momentary relief such as "controlled breathing" or the " progressive muscle technique". While many of these exercises are very helpful for a short time and give us relief , I wonder if they really get to the long term solution. I liked the book but the fixes were not permanent at least for me. God offers us as His people and follow...

2nd S in Advent----the most famous Collect/Prayer in the PB " The Word of God is a two-edged sword; as for the weapons of natural reason, they are the armour of Saul, rather cumbersome about the Soldier of Christ than needful. They are not of force to do that which the Apostles of Christ did by the power of the Holy Ghost: ' My preaching', therefore saith Paul, 'hath not been has not been in the enticing speech of man's wisdom , but in plain evidence of the Spirit and of power, that your faith may not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.' ...if I believe the Gospel there needeth no reasoning about it to persuade me, if I do not believe, it must be the Spirit of God, and not the reason of man that shall convert my heart unto him." Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity , Richard Hooker, 1554-1600, Anglican theologian. The question today is about the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures , 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. The prayer for to...

Advent Insight ! Romans 13 Let me open this new Church Year with a story. I was out walking the dogs the day after Thanksgiving am Friday, and this account popped into my mind regarding the Romans text we heard read . In the early 60's when my Dad was stationed in Viet Nam, my mother, sister and I lived with my grandfather in Philadelphia for a year. It was an old interesting triple decker house in the suburbs of Philly. I had the roam of it, and it was exciting. One day though I got myself into trouble.....I was almost 8 and broke a window in the third floor bathroom trying to open it. I thought my grandfather would be very mad, but he wasn't. He said, " That is an old window anyway and it needed replacing." I felt very guilty about breaking it , and thought I deserved a good punishment. Instead he was kind, loving and grandfatherly in the best sense. This widened my thinking at that very young age! Imagine someone treating you nicely even when you did no...

Moving into Advent Next Week -Psalm 39/ John 6 Someone dialled a wrong number and got the following recording: "I am not available right now, but I thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes." - from: http://www.hotsermons.com/sermon-illustrations/sermon-illustrations- Today's Collect is about stirring up our wills so that we can change for the better in our actions and thoughts" STIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. " BCP 1928 Often our lives seem unmanageable and we desire change but can't seem to get out of the rut we are in. Didn't Jesus do that with His disciples in today's Gospel? " WHEN Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company c...

Advent is Near , the Coming of our LORD I John 3; Matthew 24 The Lesson today from ST John begins with something we would not think of for Advent--- the 2nd Coming of Christ and looking back to His birth in the stable in Bethlehem. It begins with these words, " Behold what manner of love hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God...." I Jn 3:1 This love of God is His grace toward sinners when we were not His people--- He called in love to draw us to Christ and eternal life. John Donne said it this way about God's eternal love, " I cannot name a time, when God's love began; it is eternal: I cannot imagine a time, when His mercy will end; it is perpetual." Or as someone else has said so deeply and we sometimes forget this, " There's nothing you can do to earn God's love or undo God's love for you." This love has been bestowed upon us. It is not just out there floating.... It is effectual to those who ...

All Saints Day Sunday As we observe the octave of All Saints from the 1st of November, the Epistle and the Gospel reading for this day from Rev 7 and Matthew 5 first of all remind us of the character of true Christians. The Beatitudes from the Gospel are all too familiar to us, but all Christians are to be of this character. No these qualities are not just for a select few---every Christian is to be meek, a peacemaker, pure in heart, and poor in spirit. Character is all important, is it not? Out of our character and ethical foundation flows our actions. We may call it "moral courage." " Courage is ' that quality of mind which enable one to encounter danger and tribulation with firmness ..without fear." as in Moral Courage by Kidder. John Wayne said " courage is being scared to death---and saddling up anyway." The word blessed in the beatitudes means " happy". We will find that in this life we have plenty of opportunity ...

God's Ways are Remarkable and We Should trust Him! Jeremiah 29 We look at events , situations, and people and our views are just that--- our views. God looks at the same situations, events and people, and says, " I am going to do this; just trust me." That does not always ring our bells does it? We are for the most part not open to it, that is God's ways are not our ways, and that is very difficult. But that is the point, for we do not see Him to face yet in this life. We see through the glass darkly. It helps to set the scene. In Jeremiah 29, our First Reading ( from Morning Prayer) we see this kind of situation. The nation of Israel was going to go into exile into the land of Babylon and prophets as Hananiah said this was not true. Jeremiah stood up and said Hananiah was a false prophet. The LORD told Jeremiah to say in front of all that Hananiah would die within the year and the people to leave the land of Judah, and go to Babylon. Imagine tha...

The Wedding Feast Matthew 22 "Life is a Banquet, and the Cake is for you!" That is what I got in the mail from Farmer's Insurance to remind me I was having a birthday on Saturday. But this could be also applied to how God is preparing and has prepared for us a beautiful end to our journey of life at His feast. We celebrate that in Holy Communion every week but one day we shall be with Him forever. The King had prepared for those who were invited a beautiful banquet . We note that his servants had invited people to the wedding. Vs 5 says they made light of it, but the idea of the greek there is that they just simply ignored it, took no notice. It is not the idea of spurning it ( or making jest at it as the Kjv sounds). How much this sounds like so many people today! The invitation to Christ and His kingdom has been sent out but people just pass it by. "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is on...

Proverbs 2:1-8 " Discernment" Have we ever wondered what is the right course of action in our lives? Certainly this week in the news we have been faced with the news of police officers who have to make immediate decisions and one is now charged with manslaughter because of what the video is showing. None of us want to be faced with that kind of life and death decision, but every day we make decisions, and exercise our understanding of situations that ask us to have discernment. The Benefits of Wisdom-Proverbs 2 1My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, 2Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; 3For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding;… NASB What does the word discernment mean? It means understanding. "True discernment means not only distinguishing the right from the wrong; it means distinguishing the primary from the secondary, the essential from the indifferent, an...

Trying to live the Christian life? Ephesians 4:1-.... Today's reading from Ephesians opens up with a challenge " As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,…" Are you struggling with living the Christian life? Of course we all are. An illustration I came across shows us where our strength is. " The famous Welsh preacher D. Martyn Lloyd Jones illustrated this struggle well. ( the temptation to obey sin and not Christ) In 1865 the work of Abraham Lincoln and others to abolish slavery in the United States finally came to fruition. All slaves were declared free. Lloyd-Jones says to imagine you had grown up a slave in Alabama. One minute you're a slave. The next, you are free---legally, officially and forever free. While you may now have your freedom, your internal grasp of that freedom may take some time to cat...

Strengthened in the inner Soul / within us-Ephesians 3:14 We often think that our lives are more about material and outward things but here in this vs the Apostle reminds the Christians at Ephesus and us as well that our strength is in the soul, or the inner person/man. He prays that they would have the Spirit that they would be strengthened . The word means ability or capacity ( Erdman , p. 68, Ephesians). We have been talking about this as we chatted last week about anxiety,that we should not be anxious, and then we asked how that could happen in a practical way in our Christian lives. We want to know these things not only that we may have knowledge but that our Christian lives should be formed by God and His Spirit and the love of Christ: " ...to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." 3:19 Last week we asked ourselves some of these questions as we heard that well-known Gospel from Matthew 6 w...

How to avoid anxiety Matthew 6 Usually I detest how to talks. Today I am doing that because if we have severe or periodic troubling anxiety in our lives we will live less years and have less influence on those around us for good. Anxiety is much of the subject of the latter part of Matthew 6. In vs.25 we read, " Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink..." Bible hub below word usage of the word anxiety or as translated above is take no thought: merimnáō (from /mérimna, "a part, as opposed to the whole") – properly, drawn in opposite directions; "divided into parts" (A. T. Robertson); (figuratively) "to go to pieces" because pulled apart (in different directions), like the force exerted by sinful anxiety (worry). Positively (merimnáō) is used of effectively distributing concern, in proper relation to the whole picture (cf. 1 Cor 12:25; Phil 2:20). (merimnaō ) is "an old verb for worry and anxiety –...

14 th S after Trinity. Prayer, Thanksgiving and Contemplation Luke 17 The moments in our lives pass by and we often pass by without noting the spiritual and beautiful moments that we have. This was the story last week when the religious leaders passed by the man who had been robbed and left "half dead." 10:30 It may be we are caught up in this as well with more worry about what hymn we are singing, what words we are saying instead of the kernal of the truth of God. Prayer ? Pausing? Living a contemplative ( the action of looking thoughtfully for some time, thoughtful observation) life? Bishop JC Ryle of the Church of England of the 1800's wakes us up with this :" To be prayerless is to be without God, without Christ, without grace, without hope, and without heaven." Yet this is so true of the practice of many Christians ( professing Christians) who do not have a habit of meditation, prayer and contemplation. Why? Perhaps we feel this way too. ...

Good Samaritan Luke 10 , a look again at what we need to know and do in our Christian lives "Contemplation is nothing else than a secret, peaceful, and loving infusion of God, which if admitted, will set the soul on fire with the Spirit of love." - St. John of the Cross "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? ..." 1. The Samaritan " came where he was as he journeyed , and when he saw him...." How do we know those to whom we are called? Go to where they ar...

The Collect- Today's Collect for the 12 S. after T. "ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve; Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen. " Today's Collect for the 12 S. after T. talks about something that we should all know ; the Epistle Lesson from 2 Corinthians 3 as well affirms this truth. In the LORD, there is liberty. In the LORD there is mercy and our consciences may recollect things we wish to forget . However in the Lord there is forgiveness and goodness and He gives " more than either we desire or deserve." "Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." Mark Twain in brainyquote.com or "Conscien...

11th S after Trinity A True Dose of Humility which produces? " In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident. It wasn't a technology problem like radar malfunction--or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship's presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late. " Closer Walk, December, 1991. Jesus says that humility is a part of being knowing Him. Luke 18 he tells the story of 2 men. "For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. " The word humbles himself means " l...

I Corinthians 12:7 Epistle = TEAM . Together Everyone Accomplishes More This was a saying that one of my Chaplain friends used that was an outstanding preacher, mentor and unifier. He and I worked together in the Protestant Service in the main chapel at the 2nd Division Headquarters in South Korea about 25 miles north of Seoul. He had a lot of those sayings but this one stuck with me. So is this a Biblical idea? How can we be TEAM? Berean Study Bible "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." Sunphero is the Greek word, meaning to bring together or be profitable . The Spirit gives as He wills individual gifts to all for the building up of the body of Christ. Much like sports, Christianity is a together team effort , not an individual shining above the others. The only individual that should shine is Christ. But the question remains, how can we be team and not just little lights that flicker or don't light much at all....?...

http://www.pauline.org/Resources/Forgiveness-A-Catholic-Approach/Start-Forgiving-The-Process#40112-step-two-dont-get-stuck

Visiting an Old Story and Seeing a Simple Message Luke 15:11 The simple things in life are the best, good friends, good conversation, perhaps a good glass of wine....We all seek to have simple and not complicated lives. The simplest truths of the Scriptures are the most comforting and at the same time most challenging. In this reading there is grace, love and forgiveness from the Father to the wayward son , and the journey of that son to the home he should have never left by coming to himself. There is also a dark picture of the elder son who did not think the younger son deserved to be forgiven. Today I want to focus on one thing in this story---the picture and lessons of forgiveness and grace shown by the Father to the repentant younger son. What does forgiveness look like ? Why should we forgive? Are we to forgive, or be like the elder son who "was angry , and would not go in" ( 15:28) Why should we forgive others? Why should we show compassion? We s...