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Fr. Blauvelt's Blurb

July 13th 2009





Thank you to the three people who viewed my blurb on MySpace this past week, you support is appreciated. I was talking to my brother yesterday and he told me he was in a YouTube video. I said I've been in hundreds, but not many people watch them. He said I need to get an audience by writing a blog. I said I write a blurb, but only a few people read it. He said I need to market it better.



This reminds me of Church as well. Why are there so few people at Church, do they not know about Church today? We have three services to pick from, and they are all good. How will they know if they are not told, and why will they come if they are not invited? Please let people know about this blurb by sending them a link, and let them know about the sermon by sending this link: http://connect.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=fff41e52a6206e470777



Also, if you do not have a church home, please find one.





Sermon Blurb





Here are the two questions to go along with the sermon:



What is a plumb line?



What are the three ways that Amos is attacked that we need to remember as we fight the good fight of faith?



Now, the question I was asked after the sermon this Sunday was:



Where does Jesus speak against homosexuality?



Now of course, this was asked in the reception line at Church, and so my answer had to be quick. I said that Paul says so in Romans one. She reiterated, but where does Jesus speak against homosexuality. I said, there are alot of things that Jesus does not speak about. She told me, good sermon, but I disagree with homosexuality being a sin.



The core issue here is: If Jesus doesn't expressly say it, then it doesn't matter. This means that the only scriptures that matter are the gospels, and nothing else. Now you know that I disagree with this because I often preach from the Old Testament and from Paul. We have to take a view of Scripture that includes all of it, not just our favorite parts. It is interesting to get a question like this following a sermon like the one I gave. We cannot pick and choose the parts that we like form Scripture. Jesus says first in Matthew five that :



17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.



We cannot ignore the Old Testament, it was given by God. Even if you only care about what Jesus teaches, it means that you have to care about what all of Scripture has to say. And very blatantly Leviticus speaks against homosexuality, along with a myriad of other things in Leviticus 18. To paraphrase, do not do these things just because the culture says it is ok, be set apart.



As a further note, as you speak to people who disagree with you, pray for them, that they may repent, and remember as Paul said to Timothy in I Timothy chapter six:



11But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15which God will bring about in his own time-God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.





General Convention Blurb



I am not authority when it comes to General Convention, there are much better places to get news about General Convention than me. There is a crisis in the Episcopal Church, many of my friends have left to go to other parishes, that is fine. Some people have left though, and not found a new church home. That is bad. If you are receiving teaching, if you have fellowship, and if you are able to serve, you do not have to go to my church, but please go to church.



I said in my sermon that nothing had happened yet at General convention in regard to major resolutions. That has changed. There was a resolution by the House of Deputies (priests, deacons, and laypeople send by dioceses) that gave a state of the Episocpal Church statement, saying there is disagreement about the issue of homosexuality (see above) but that those who agree with it feel the need to move forward with ordinations and consecrations of those who are homosexual, within the rules of canon law.



This essentially means that the House of Deputies wants to keep doing as they see fit as dioceses. It still has to be voted on by the bishops in order to pass this resolution. The problem with how this, and other resolutions have gone through is that it affirms the things that weren't supposed to be permitted to happen were happening, and since they were happening, we might as well let other people do it. So the logic goes, Sally was taking money from the vacation fund to pay for lunch everyday, so instead of paying it back, we affirm that is what she has done, and will continue to do, and Billy should be encouraged to do it too.



Like I said in my sermon, this is not new. This does not represent Trinity Church. As I have always said, do not pick a church just because of its denominational Affiliation, go there because it teaches the Bible, and you can worship, fellowship, and serve.





Schedule



Tuesday 6:30 AM-Leave for the Camping Trip

Sunday-Return



See you next week!