Dear all.
Gospel Reading
- Yesterday’s conflated gospel reading (Matthew 10:32 – 33; 37 – 38; 19: 27 – 30) has been given to us by our mother church as a reminder that , after celebrating Pentecost and the Holy Spirit, we as Christians are now obliged to live the life of Christ. If we expect God in all His fullness to rest amongst his people, then his people need to honour Him not only with worship and praise but with action. Through the father Christ came into the world. Through Christ we receive the word. Through the Holy Spirit the word was embedded in our heart. Now, we have to live the word.
- Let us get this clear: there is no such thing as a crypto Christian. There is no such thing as a Christian fence sitter. Either you are for Christ or against him. There is no middle ground. Christ himself says who does not gather, scatters. The antithesis of gathering is, according to Christ, scattering. Simply put, you are either ” in ” or “out “.
- We if we are ” in ” then we are obliged to walk in the way of the Lord. This is no easy path – do not fool yourself. There is no such thing as cheap salvation. You have to work and work hard every day – whether you like it or not or whether you feel like it or not – you are committed to Christ and are a soldier permanently in service. So any relationship that we may have in this world must be secondary to our relationship with Christ. My youngest grandchildren say that they love me to the stars, the moon and back. Well, they can love me that much but they must love Christ even more. Nothing, or no one, can get between us and the love of Christ.
- So, we are called to declare the son in the presence of all the world. Now, to love the son means that we deliberately declare ourselves to be the least worthy of his soldiers. This must be so because Christ emptied himself and took on the form of a servant for us. Likewise we now need to empty ourselves of all hatred, anger, agitation, self-aggrandizement, arrogance, impatience, bitterness and disobedience. Then take on the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In this way our training, as soldiers for Christ, prepares us for the coming battle ahead.
- Then after having done all this we must do it with the thought that we are the least worthy creatures amongst our fellow man. It is in that way that we place ourselves, in all humility, into the hand of the Lord and patiently await his abundant mercy.
Around our church
Please put your name down for our flower roster and morning tea roster. Remember, social distancing is a requirement at our church and hand sanitiser is available in church. It is there to be used.
The next service will be on Saturday, 20 July at 9 AM to 10:15 AM in English.
On Thursday, commencing 7 PM ( *note the new time* ) we will be continue our zoom meeting and all are invited. We will be continuing to look at the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.
Tonight at 6:30 PM I will be continuing catechism classes for those who wish to know more about their faith and for those who are being prepared for baptism.
On Tuesday on six EBA FM from 5 to 6 PM I present “the Hour of Orthodoxy “. The focus will be on the coming Sunday’s epistle and gospel. On Thursday from 1:30 PM to 3 PM the divine liturgy recorded on Saturday (English) will be replayed and for 4:30 PM to 6 PM the divine liturgy recorded on Sunday (Greek) will be replayed.
Thank you for your ongoing support and in sharing our vision for St Nektarios. If you wish to assist financially (and all contributions are gratefully welcome) then payment can be made to the general account of the church ( BSB 082057 account 608494969). If you wish to assist with our food bank, payment can be made into the following account: : BSB 082057 account 616004624.
Thought of the week
The great Paul tells us to “share in suffering as a good soldier for Jesus Christ” (2 Tim 2:3). Now you may ask, as a soldier what weapons do we need to engage the enemy? Again Paul comes to the rescue. He tells us that we need the whole armour of God to withstand that evil day. So, we need to gird our loins with truth and put on a breastplate of righteousness. On our feet we need to wear the gospel of peace. On our head, the helmet of salvation and in one hand we carry a shield of faith and in the other the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. Our earthly mission is to pray, keeping alert with perseverance, supplicate the saints and a to boldly preach the mystery of the gospel. Then we are indeed good Christian soldiers.
Till next time.
In Christ.
Father John Athanasiou 0411 061 554
