Introducing the Anglican Church: 2. Getting God's Approval 8June14
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Introducing the Anglican Church: 2. Getting God's Approval
We are looking at some of the key teachings of the Anglican Church as found in the 39 Articles, one of the foundation documents of the Anglican Church of Australia. Last week we looked at the place of Holy Scripture.Today we look at another in a simple modern English version (the original 16th and 17th century version is in the Prayer Book).
11. About the justification of Humans
We are accounted righteous before God, only because of the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not because of our own works or because of what we deserve. So the doctrine, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and full of comfort, as is expressed more fully in the Homily of Justification.
The biblical doctrine of justification describes the grounds on which God justifies sinners: that is declares them to be righteous.
Read more: Introducing the Anglican Church: 2. Getting God's Approval 8June14
3. Finding a Blessing Ruth 4.1-22
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3. Finding a Blessing Ruth 4.1-22
Sermon preached at Christ the King Willetton on 1 June 2014
Whose story is this? The lovingkindness of Boaz, or Ruth, or that shown to Naomi, or the kindness of the Lord? And how this small story is like the big story of God's kindness to his race.
Introducing the Anglican Church: 1. Holy Scripture 1 June14
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Introducing the Anglican Church: 1. Holy Scripture
How do we know what the Anglican Church officially teaches? The place to start is with the 39 Articles. These can be found in the back of any Prayer Book. They were developed at the time of the Reformation to clarify the beliefs of the Church of England as distinct from the church of Rome, the Lutherans, the Anabaptists and other groups. They remain as one of the foundation documents of the Anglican Church of Australia. We will look at some of them in a simple modern English version (the original 16th and 17th century version is in the Prayer Book).
Article 6. About the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for salvation
Holy Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation. No one should be required to believe as an article of the Faith, or to think necessary for salvation, anything that is not read in, or may be proved by, the Holy Scripture. The Holy Scripture are those Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament whose authority was never doubted in the Church. And the other Books (as Jerome said) the Church reads for example of life and instruction in behaviour; but it does not use them to establish any doctrine. All the Books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we receive and regard them as Canonical.
The Anglican Church bases its doctrine and practice on the scriptures.
Read more: Introducing the Anglican Church: 1. Holy Scripture 1 June14
2. Finding a Rescuer Ruth 2-3
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2. Finding a Rescuer Ruth 2-3
Sermon preached at Christ the King Willetton on 25 May 2014
Kindness and the Lord's Hidden Story. The Lord who shelters under his wing.
Praying what? 25 May 14
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Praying what?
The Anglican church in Perth has slowly begun to realise that it is in decline. There are many indicators. The increasing average age of the people who belong. The decline in attendance. The decline in giving overall. The increasing number of parishes that no longer give enough to pay a full-time rector.
There are, as you might expect, different responses to this realisation. Some probably don't see the problem as very urgent. Those in well-off parishes or ones where there is still a residual of strength from former days may be less concerned.
Some have tried to pitch their parish as a niche product, appealing to those who are prepared to travel to something they like. Others have tried to adapt what they do and say to a particular group or ideology in the community. Some have tried to use methods that they see have worked somewhere else. Others just keep going with what they have been doing for a long time, perhaps not knowing what else to do – or being unwilling to try.
1. Naomi Alone? Ruth 1.1-22
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1. Naomi Alone? Ruth 1.1-22
Sermon preached at Christ the King Willetton on 18 May 2014. The first in a series on the book of Ruth.
Who is the story about? Does Ruth return? Is Naomi right to be bitter? Is there any hope?
He has left behind a blessing 18 May 14
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He has left behind a blessing
Compressed into a few sentences is a heart-breaking tragedy that opens the book of Ruth. It is easy to think of this story as a beautiful romance. But it begins with drought, destitution, and a flight to a land with better opportunity for survival. Here are “economic” refugees. But not the greedy, or the opportunistic, but the needy. Elimelech migrates with his family to survive.
And then in the foreign land Elimelech dies. Naomi is a widow with two sons who marry local girls. It seems the migration process has reached the next stage. But then the sons die. Naomi's only family are the extended families of her daughters in law. All local Moabites. She is a foreigner, resident in Moab only ten years.
It is no wonder she wants people to call her by a new name. No longer Naomi (pleasant) but Mara (bitter). Tragedy upon tragedy. Grief upon grief. Sensibly she decides to return home. But she returns bitter and empty.
But with one of her daughters in law.
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