Vicaring - A sermon resource for all those involved in Christian ministry

First Preached         22 July, 2001   Trinity 6

Colossians 1.15-28

Hands up all the Gemini’s  …..

The point is that we all know about these things. (I hope you understand that they are total rubbish) Nonetheless, they are part of our popular culture.

In the same way I was siting in a Tea Shop in Colchester and I saw this notice ’Working with your Guardian Angel.  Angels are having a boom time and in most cases this is not at all a Christian thing.

It might seem a long way from Colchester to the riots in Genoa, [At the time of this sermon the Meeting of the G8 leaders  at Genoa had seen particularly violent demonstrations] but there is a similar belief at work there. That the World is in the grip of unseen forces. In this case a demon by the name of ‘Globalisation’ who has possessed the leaders of the World and who must be cast out.

On one level Paul would not have quarrelled to much with that attitude. He believed in the reality of Spiritual forces. What would cause him to get upset was if these forces began to loom so large in peoples minds that they began to obscure God.

This was what was happening at Colossae. As far as one can judge those causing the trouble are proponents of what scholars now term Gnosticism. It is a vague term. Something like ‘New Age’ in our day – More a tendency than a unified movement but with certain defining characteristics.

The chief of these tendencies was to detach God from the World. Not simply in the Christian way, of making him glorious, transcendent and majestic, but by putting between him and the world a whole order of beings. God cannot touch the World, because the world and all matter is intrinsically evil. It exists not as God’s good creation, but as a misbegotten blob the property of malign Spirits.

What you have to do then to be saved is to know your way past these beastly beings. This is the knowledge (Gnosis) which Christ came to bring and to which they of course have access, while the rest of you poor plebes do not, so Yah boo sucks.

This teaching Paul refutes, not simply by saying, “What a load of old cobblers”  but by firmly re-establishing certain basic Christian beliefs. Re-establishing them but making them more clear cut and brilliant.

He says of  Christ in effect what John says at the start of his Gospel
² He was with God in the beginning.³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made John 1.2f

What Paul actually says is.
“¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  ¹⁶ For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.  ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Far from being detached from the world Christ came and dwelt in it. Not only dwelt here but died here, to save us not simply from a lack of esoteric knowledge but from the much more serious defect -Sin!

¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

And again:

²² But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

Far from it taking a special knowledge to beat the system it requires only one simple trick. The humility to let yourself be forgiven.

Far from being distant absent and detached, the Christian God loves this world. Loved it into being as creator. Died to save it as redeemer.

So let me give you your Christian Horoscope. Virgo, Gemini, Leo and all other signs. The Earth is going round the Sun so the indications are that this week you will sin: Probably on Monday Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday, Friday Saturday and on Sunday driving to Church. However the Son has moved into the house of his Father so for everyone breathing this week there will be grace mercy and free forgiveness; just remember to confess your sins with humility and faith.

You are not a victim of blind fate you are a beloved child of your heavenly Father. Just remember the stars are a long way away, but Jesus Christ is closer to you than breathing

• Proper 11 C

First Preached         22^nd  July 2007        Trinity  7  (Proper 11 C )

Gen 18.1-10                :        Colossians 1.15-28   :        Luke 10.38-end

[Apologies these notes are unusually cryptic. I hope however that some of the allusions may be thought provoking. ]

Not do but be.

Be: Caught up in Christ. – in you the hope of glory. In Him Spotless.

And realise how magnificent a thing this is.

The attempts to diminish Jesus. We do have a very diminished comprehension.

A figure in history.

But for Paul [ Also particularly for John & Hebrews] history is in this figure. He is the centre, but also the beginning and the end of History.

So it is a farce to set him among other figures. At Colossae there were those who wanted to place him among angels. Today people would group him among other inspired leaders.

It is to miss the point. He is king of angels. More they owe their being to him.

There is no power that is not subject to his authority, and under his judgment.

The Barman Declaration: “We reject the false doctrine, as though there were areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ, but to other lords–areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through him.”[i]

Conforming to the way of the world leads to a false view of Christ. But trying to escape from it can have its own dangers. The religious mind loves subtlety for its own sake. The esoteric as intimacy with God.

For Jesus intimacy with God comes through loving your neigbour. And loving God. But not  from loving something in between.

That is the point. Jesus is the Way to the Father. He opens God up.

You are made in the Image of God. What you would you be like if you were God? -Like Jesus.

Jesus reveals the open heart of God,  the revelation of the Father.

He comes to bridge that gap. (Between what we were made to be and what we are)  To reconcile. No system does that. Not even the C of E! You really have to trust in Jesus to save you from the vicar.

All that is needed, is to acknowledge the need;  the alienation from God.

Our problem is our refusal to face up to sin. Our problem is the denial of the problem.

It should not be too hard to twig. The signs are all around us in our culture: The death of creative ideas. The efflorescing complexity; it reminds me of late Medieval Theology. The anxiety of our society.  The death of hope.

Christ in you the hope of Glory. The potential waiting to be realised. The new perspective on the world and its obsessions.

Above all the new perspective on yourself. Christ is in you and, “Neither height nor depth nor anything else  in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom. 8.39 

• Proper 11 C

First Preached     15^th  July 2007   Trinity  6  (Proper 10 C )

Deut 30.9-14        :        Colossians 1.1-14 :        Luke 10.25-37

I want to tell you that you are wonderful people, that God loves you dearly and that you are an example to all other churches everywhere.

It pays to get your audience on your side. So that is how Paul starts out his letter to these folks in Colossae.

It was true of course, and it is true of you. When I pray for this church I have to give thanks for the many good things and good people that there are here.

Things are not that different. The church then was not made up of supermen and wonder-women. It was ordinary people like you and me, coping with the ordinary problems of life, home and work, marriage and children and the problem of being a Christian in a largely indifferent or hostile culture.

Let’s not think of them as supercharged Christians or else we shall think that the things Paul says to them do not apply to us. They do, they are true just the same now as then.  And the truth is they (we) were doing all right – but could do better. There was reason for hope – but a few worries.

The worries will become apparent further into the letter. They are as usual, caused by a loss of focus on Jesus. So this introduction drips with the name of Jesus, and references to God as his Father and ours. Where there is that loss of focus, there follows as night follows day a loss of confidence. So this introduction is full of  hope and encouragement.

So, Reasons to be cheerful. The Colossians are full of hope and love. They have grasped the gospel

What they need to be reminded of is that the gospel is triumphing. We need to get that fact into our heads. In the last century the faith of Jesus Christ has burst out from being the polite pious gloss on Western culture to a dynamic force that is active in every continent – In Africa, In South America. In parts of Asia and stunningly in China, the Church is growing hugely. Not only numerically, but also look at the contribution Christians are making to the fight against poverty; the lifting up of the poor, the education and empowering of the downtrodden.

Where is the church weak – only in Europe? And European culture is past its peak. It is literally dyeing out. . We see the fruits of its apostasy in what is now being called the broken society.

In all the world the Gospel is bearing fruit. It is bearing fruits of love, not terrorism.

They and we need encouragement. We also need to renew our faith. Paul prays that “God will fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”

We need to cultivate a reliance on God not on ourselves. If we are wonderful it is because of God’s love for us, not our own charm and brilliance.

We need that reliance for the challenge of living up to our calling. Paul does not pray this in order that they will feel good, but in order that they will ‘Live a life worthy of the Lord’

And he wants them to have power. Not for kicks or easy answers, but in order to have endurance and patience (another fruit of the Spirit)

But now comes something we might like to learn. In the endurance they are to give thanks joyfully.

We tend to contrast endurance and Joy.                                           
You endure with grim determination. It is no laughing matter. What’s to be joyful about.                                                               

Well, do you ever give thanks when things ar tough that you still have your faith? It may have been a near thing at times, but rejoice, you came through. You are here when others have dropped away. You have overcome, rejoice. You are still on the road to heaven – Rejoice.

You see God has qualified us for heaven. He not us!

The heresy that Paul will have to argue with in the next chapters cast doubt on that. By losing the focus on Jesus it cast doubt on the certainty of God’s saving love. It always does.

Because it is in Jesus that we have the redemption. He has gained it for us by the cross

It is Jesus we need to know. Jesus we need to follow. Jesus will see us through. Because he has already gained for us a crown if life – Rejoice,

• Proper 10 C

First Preached               Trinity 5              11^th July 2004

Colossians 1.1-14          :        Luke 10.25-37         Proper 10C

Colossae. Where is it? Up the Meander River and turn right up the Lycus Valley. This part of what we now call Turkey; it was very much the cradle of early Christianity.

To this Church Paul writes, because they need encouragement and some degree of correction. (He had never been there, merely sent one of his henchmen, Epaphras, but as Apostle he is the one with the authority to correct and to lay down doctrine.)

What they really need is a full confidence in Christ and Paul will have much to say about what Jesus has achieved for us.

However Paul starts off by telling them what they are doing right. There is much to be thankful for. They are full of faith and love, (v4) and they are full of hope. (v5)

Moreover it seems that their Church was growing (v6)

So what does Paul wish for them? Basically more of the same, more of the knowledge of God, which their faith implies, more good works and fruitfulness.

But one of his wishes couples things that we normally separate: Endurance and patience and joy. If someone needs patient endurance it usually indicates that there is not much going on to make them happy. Yet the New Testament (Not only Paul) makes frequent references to Joy in the face of suffering. (Acts 13.52, 2Cor 7.4, 8.2,  Heb 10.34 12.2 James 1.2 1Pet 1.6-8)

Joy was a mark of the early church. (Love also of course -Agape a little used word in the ancient world which Christians made their hallmark).

Joy – it was not a joyful age. Even their statues look gloomy. It looked back to a golden age rather than forward to the future. The quote “Count no man happy till he is dead. Until then he is merely fortunate.” will do to sum up the attitude and send everyone over the edge into depression. (In strict honesty it dates well before the N.T. Period. It  has various attributions eg Solon c. 638 BC–558 BC & Aeschylus 525 BC – 456 BC. However the multiplicity of sources and its frequent repetition indicate that it was a widespread attitude.)

Christians had joy because they had their eyes lifted up. They had the promise, the inheritance with the Saints in light. So even death was not a source of gloom, but a gateway to glory.

What a pity that joy is not a word people associate with Church.

I have never seen a General synod report advocating more Joy, nor is there a Diocesan advisor on Joy. . As a mater of fact, surveys for what they are worth show that religion does promote a sense of well-being. (The Wikipedia article on happiness has a section on religion, with a selection of references to original sources)

Of course it cannot be planned. Joy/ happiness can only happen on by accident. Even so positive document as the U.S. constitution only gives a right to “The pursuit of happiness”, with no guarantee you will catch up with it But if Joy is a consequence of something else. What is that something? It is the sense of being firmly held. Secure in the love of Christ

He has made us rich -the inheritance (v12)

He has rescued us from darkness (v13)

He has redeemed us from our sins. (v13)

That should be enough to be going on with.

• Proper 10 C

First Preached                   Trinity 4           4^th July 2004

2Kng 5.1-14       :        Galatians 6.7-16                 :                  Luke 10.1-11  & 16 -20

Paul is drawing to a close. But he does so as a summary of all that the has been saying.

And this is it: ^“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” 6.14

And what flows from this: “What counts is a new creation.” 6.15

If I have read Paul aright, then speaking clearly about the cross, bringing its meaning home to people is a life transforming experience for them and for the preacher. It mediates the grace of God in the most tangible form possible; in a way that transcends logic, and surpasses any philosophical sophistication. The mental somersault which it creates puts the believer in touch with the nature and the power of the divine. By that same grace, this message and this transformation can be effective through weak humans, who are themselves in need of grace and transformation.

Those who were opposing Paul were fixated as so often the religious mind is on the forms and ceremonies. But for Paul what matters is not the externals in that sense, but the internal transformation.

There are to be sure externals which are signs and tests of this inner work of the Spirit. Paul summarised them in Galatians 5.22f But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23 gentleness and self-control.

In this chapter he gives some concrete and practical instructions (some of which we skipped by omitting vv1-6.)

But he puts the challenge of the Christian life very well in this one sentence. “Let us not become weary in doing good,” 6.9

• Proper 9 C
• Uncategorized

First preached                                      July 19, 1998                       Galatians 6

1. The conclusion to Galatians

Paul has shown how the Law, human religious pretensions, human moral rectitude cannot achieve our salvation. Indeed they hinder it for they stand in the way of our grasping the salvation which has been achieved for us in Jesus Christ.

By faith in Him we may stand, with confidence. More than that we may call  God “Abba Father.” Indeed our salvation consists just in this, that we know that intimate bond. We are His children. We are the heirs of eternal life.

All this we have, not just individually but corporately. We are created a part of a new nation. Neither Jew nor Gentile, but pan-human. These (which in our passage Paul calls the Israel of God) are the Spiritual descendants of Abraham, the fulfilment of the promise made to the patriarch that in him all the Nations of the world should be blessed.

And we have received that blessing, which is the gift of  the Holy Spirit, so that all these things of which I have spoken are not to be abstract facts written on a page but living realities engraved in our being by the Holy Spirit. Indeed this Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus lives in us, becomes our spirit, the animating principle of our lives. For our old drives, our self centred existence has been destroyed, crucified with Christ.

Therefore, to live as a Christian is to live by this Spirit. According to its nature in love and joy and peace. 5.22

2. But before He signs off Paul has some unfinished business:

What prevents this spiritual freedom  lapsing into subjectivism. anarchy and lawlessness?

The answer is fellowship. For we are not called to solitary salvation. We are called into a people. So there is to be:

            Mutual criticism in meekness.     6.1

                                    (Was the original basis of the Methodist class system and the Catholic Confessional?)        

            Mutual support which legitimates it       6.2

            Self criticism            6.3&4

            Self help. For you have a task which is special to you. 6.5

Sow to the nature of the Spirit. This is not an undefined term any longer. It is the law of Christ. (Love one another). But we can give it a prompt.        6.7-9

The end is that we show acts of goodness and kindness. Who can doubt it. Discipleship which does not end in Charity is religiosity  of the worst kind. 6.10

Inside the church and without. (Inside stressed because there was the danger here of dissension)

3.  Paul signing off          -The Cross of Christ            6.11-15

The Cross works this wonderful transformation. The new creation.

For this reason this is not just a letter to the Galatians. It is a letter to This Church, a letter to me.

It is the challenge to live this new life. It is also the most striking offer of that life.

Christ died for you – aren’t you  dying to live for him.

• Proper 9 C

First Preached         1^st  July 2007            Trinity  4 (Proper 8 C )

2Kings 2.1-14      :        Galatians 5.1 &13-25         :        Luke 9.51-end

The one thing you cannot accuse Tony Blair of is abusing the benefit system. He loses his Job as PM one day and he is strait in as special envoy to the Middle East. Though why he wants the job I cannot imagine. It is likely to be thankless, dangerous, frustrating and ultimately unsuccessful.

However I do have a suggestion that would help him in his difficulties. It is my master plan for world peace, and Israel/Palestine would be a good place to try it out. What he has to do is call all the Palestinians and Israelis together in one place. Mount Sinai would be a good one. Then – this is the masterstroke, – he has to tell them to be nice to one another.

Why can’t people be nice to each other?

The problem with human behaviour Paul says is ‘The Flesh’. Now he knows what he means by that, but most people do not. If you say sins of the flesh people immediately think of sex or gluttony –depending on their age. But that is nor where it is at, it is not so much the type of activity that is in view, as the manner and intention of the activity. That is the point; is the activity performed in openness to God, or in a self centered, self indulgent way. It is a distinction which sometimes seems a bit subtle and tripped up the Catholic Archbishop Basil Hume. He wrote, quite rightly, in one of his books. “It is right to thank God, for a fine wine, a pretty girl, or the gift of music.” In the papers it appeared as “Archbishop says yes to wine women and song”

To quote the old song, it’s not what you do it’s the way that you do it” Even more for the New Testament it is really a matter of the sort of person you are. What animates you? If it is the flesh then whatever you do it is perverted and sinful. You can even have sinful religion. In fact we have it. Islamic Extremism is perverted Religion. But it does not have to be that extreme.  Some traditional western patriotic religion can err in similar ways.

Most of the proceedings of General Synod take place ‘In the flesh’.  They work on party lines, pressure groups, and vested interests, careful calculation and worldly wisdom. I have been to prayer meetings that were exercises in theological point scoring. And of course the Galatian Church that Paul wrote to was in a fine old mess (Lets not even think about the Corinthians.)

In contrast to ‘The flesh stands ‘The Spirit’. And not surprisingly it depends on the Spirit in which it is done. If it takes place in an attitude of humility; is focused on God not on self; if it takes place in openness not the measured calculated goodness of law.

To sum it up as Paul so beautifully does, it takes place in a Spirit of, ’Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.’ v23  Then it is in the Spirit  The Holy Spirit.

Please note how many of those have a double reference. They are not only about how you feel inside, they are about how you relate to others. Love, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, and gentleness all fall into that category.

Paul does not think we will all immediately behave perfectly like that at all times. But he does urge that as Christians we make the effort to do so; that we let the Holy Spirit not the flesh direct our dealings.

We may not always succeed, but it is making the effort that counts. Let us keep in step with the Spirit.

• Proper 8 C

First preached              Trinity 3     27th June 2004

Gal 5.1 & 13 -25           :        Luke 9.51-62

Reading the last bit of this passage – v24 you might think that Paul believed that Christians had all achieved some sot  of miraculous  state of sinless perfection.

Far from it! He was writing this letter because people were acting stupidly, perversely and aggressively. Paul is very much aware of the weakness of human nature, but the question is how do you deal with it.

Paul’s opponents would have given a very clear answer. The way to behave is written in God’s Law the Torah (Gen – Deut). ‘Do that and you shall live.’ In fact they may well have implied that by leaving out this tradition Paul was inviting moral anarchy among his converts and bringing about their ruin. At the least they would say he was failing in his duty to provide moral guidance, making his people Christians without spelling out what that meant.

But to Paul their argument is all part of the denial of the sufficiency of Christ. As he is sufficient to save, without the Jewish ceremonies, so he is sufficient to direct, by his Spirit poured into our hearts

That of course is the problem. We do not let it. We turn back to the flesh. On the one hand we are still prone to its urges and desires which lead us into sin. On the other hand, when it comes to running our life we rely on a package of rules and regulations and what we are inclined to call ‘Good old common sense.’ This is all pretty wishy-washy, a lot less rigorous than the 630 regulations which the Rabbi’s identified in the Torah. We do not strive for anything higher.

But Paul says opting for Christ is opting for a higher way. ( Remember Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Mat 5.20) You do not after all become a Christian, because you think that your life is all right, but you need to get out more and the Church seems a better club than the stamp collecting society. You become a Christian, because you want life the Jesus way. Because at root you know that the way it is going at present is going nowhere.

With that decision for Jesus, that response to his love for you, comes the gift and a portion of Christ’s Spirit whereby we call God ‘Abba, Father’.. Paul beautifully describes the Christ-like character in just nine words: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control.

The point is that they are not laws and do’s and don’ts they are characteristics and pointers. They point us out beyond ourselves, to what is constructive, what builds relationships and affirms people.

There seems to be an idea that these things are natural. I heard the Bishop of Oxford this week saying Christianity is just a way of being human. Well it is, but so is being an Al Quaeda operative, a drug  pusher, or a football hooligan. They are all there as options. Christianity is about being Christ like. It is humanity with the sinful bits left out and the Holy Spirit grafted in.

To aspire to something higher is not natural, it is super-natural.

What Paul says is we have that super-natural force, within us because we have called on Christ to give us that aid. Let us call upon it. Let us not disappoint our Heavenly Father. Above all let us not despise this precious gift of the Holy Spirit. Rather  let us explore what he can really do for us if we but give him the chance.

• Proper 8 C

First Preached         17^th June 2007                   Trinity  2 (Proper 7 C )

1Kings 19.1-15     :        Galatians 3.23-29    :        Luke 8.26-39

One of the Old Testament writers coined the phrase, ‘here is nothing new under the Sun’. (Ecclesiastics 1.9). It was something of an exaggeration even in the comparatively slow moving world of antiquity. Today, with   new gadgets being flung at us faster than we can cope we are inclined to take the opposite view, ‘If it was revolutionary last week it is already out of date’

However, while our world abounds in innovation and creativity, even the greatest of leaps forward is a leap from somewhere; and it leaves the question what happens to what went before. What are we going to do with all those analogue TV’s or Radios when everything is digital?

Christianity was a great leap forward, and it continues to have within it the power to renew itself. But it was a leap out from Judaism into the big wide world; and the question remains, ‘What are we to do with that Jewish inheritance.’ There were those (against whom Paul is arguing in this letter) who said, ‘Keep as much as possible.’ There would be those who said, ‘Scrap the lot.’ In the end the church adopted what was Paul’s position, to keep the old, but subject it to the New. So we do have the Old Testament bound with the New Testament in our Bibles. The Old is important, says Paul, because what is written in the O.T. was the lead up to Christ. Without that we would not know enough to understand Jesus properly; who he was, where he came from, and why he did what he did. It is the necessary precursor to faith in Him.

So the history and the moral teaching of the Old Testament retain their place. And they have three uses.

The first use is to bringing into grace. Law, moral standards and God’s condemnation of immorality are there to work repentance. (Both when we first come to Christ. But also daily as we seek to walk ever closer with him.)

The second is restraint. There have to be standards in society. It is a message that we have forgotten. It creates a problem which we try in vain to control with ASBO’s.

It is there for guidance under grace. To show you what you should do better than.

Finally it is there because it testifies to God’s patience and the long path along which he has worked.

It puts the world into perspective. We think we are the tops. So did the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians and the Romans. God has seen them all come and go and he continues to work his purpose out. In that sense there is nothing new under the Sun

• Proper 7 C

First Preached     17^th June 2007             Trinity  2 (Proper 6 C )

1Kings 21.1-21    :        Galatians 2.15-end       :        Luke 7.36- 8.3

A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Those are I think the most significant words ever written. They are profoundly true. Their historical implication has been immense. If time allowed I could spell out why because of them HAMAS is today in charge of Gaza.

It was of course rooted in the situation of the early church and it’s expansion from Jerusalem into the wider world and we could spend a lot of time on that too.

Instead of history or politics let me tell you why the words are so significant spiritually. They go to the nub of what it is to be religious; and they stand our normal understanding of religion on its head. They are simultaneously the most liberating and the most challenging words ever written.

They mean that the way to God is not through being good. It is not through discipline, fasting, meditation, or any other effort you may think to make. The way is not in anything you may do, it is simply in admitting that all you have done is a failure.

That is obvious good news if your life is in a mess; if you have a whole package of regrets, mistakes or, lets not put too fine a point on it, of sins. Look at how Jesus treated the woman in our Gospel story. The attitude of the Pharisees was not that unusual. If you want to approach God and mix with Godly people, get yourself sorted out and then come along. For Jesus though the order is reversed, the forgiveness is there up front, with the desire to be accepted. Forgiveness precedes goodness.

That is good news, because to be honest it is not only those who are spectacularly sinful who have a problem. Most of us are not all that we are cracked up to be. Our public facade is like the crust you get on some sorts of bog. It looks lush green and strong. But if you put any sort of load on it and it cracks and the foul rotten stuff that bubbles up from beneath looks and smells unspeakable.

We really can still come to Jesus. He forgives all manner of sins, and hypocrisy and pretentiousness are not excluded from the list.

That is a challenge. You have to admit your shortcomings. You have to stop pretending. That is hard for us self sufficient humans to do.

Yet it is the most liberating thing, because it is not a one-off . Every day we start off afresh. Yesterday is history!

Enough of challenges; the Gospel is good news; the good news contained in these few verse written by Paul to the  Galtians. They are no invention of Paul’s. They are the essence of the message of Jesus. As He  said, ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Mat 11.28

• Proper 6 C