St. John the Divine Anglican Church

Matthew 16:13-20 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.  This verse describes two things. One is the giving of the nickname of Peter to Simon, and the description of the foundation of the Church. Now, you can call me biased if you like, because I’m an Anglican Catholic Priest, but this

“May God be merciful to us and bless us,” from Psalm 67 A common thread of the readings today is the mercy of God. The reading from the prophet Isaiah does not mention the word itself, but the message is that the LORD will be merciful to all who will join him and hold fast his covenant. All who keep sabbath (Saturday), and do not profane it, and hold fast

Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Have you ever taken a boat ride? I bet you have. I never have been a big fan of boats, but I know some people are. Some people like to ride in small boats, and some in boats the size of a small city. I have been aboard a few sail boats, and I suppose

My time at Camp Crucis recently reminded me of my days as a Boy Scout. My old friend, Fr. Moseley, or Father Salt as I like to call him, was a fellow Scout, and we went on many camp-outs together. We learned many things about camping. We learned to prepare our gear, shop for food, prepare meals, and best of all we learned how to put up tents and set

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26 ff Last week we began a discussion about life in the Spirit,

Romans 8 and the Holy Spirit For the last seven weeks we have heard snippets from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. This letter is the longest of all of the epistles of the Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul did not have much success in preaching to the Jews, his own people, and the leaders even plotted to have him killed. It was his declaration of his Roman citizenship that

The last verse of what we heard last week from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans was this: …to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6) You know that sometimes our lectionary leaves out verses for whatever reason. This time, it’s Romans 8:7 and 8. So let me read it all together for you. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to

Matthew 11:25-30 At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;” “To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:6 Several years ago, when we lived in Grapevine, as I was getting ready for work one morning, I had the television on tuned

Notes on the sacrament of Baptism Greek: Baptizo, to wash or to immerse. In Judaism, to wash ones hands in ritual for purity. Matthew 15:2 (Pharisees said.) “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not Baptizo their hands when they eat.” There is one baptism Ephesians 4: There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you

Jesus said, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name.” Occasionally I see a TV commercial for the First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls. When describing their service, there is mention of great praise music and an uplifting message from the pastor. When I