Good Morning,
Morning Devotion led by Archdeacon Mark Fox, special project coordinator in the Office of the Anglican Diocese. If you are able, please share with your family and friends 🙏
Anglican Diocese of The Bahamas & The Turks & Caicos
Morning Devotion led by Archdeacon Mark Fox
♪ Lord, as things shall be us, open ♪ ♪ Sayon City of our God ♪ ♪ He whose words cannot be spoken ♪ ♪ But He far is well-known ♪ ♪ One can run for ages come back ♪ ♪ One can change the surely post ♪ ♪ Where salvation falls around it ♪ ♪ A place for battle and most ♪ - Good morning and welcome to Morning Devotions brought to you by the Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas and the Turks and Cakers Islands. I'm Archdeacon Mark Lindsey Fox, special project officer in the office of the bishop, presently serving as priest in charge of St. Margaret's Parish, North Andres Bahamas. Today, when it's day August 28th, 2024, we commemorate St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, theologian and teacher. Let us pray. Oh God, by your Holy Spirit, you gave to some the word of wisdom, to others the word of knowledge, and to others the word of faith. We praise your name for the gifts of grace manifested in your servant Augustine. And we pray that your church may never be destitute of such gifts. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God forever and ever. Amen. The reading from the epistle reading for today, Hebrews chapter 12, verses 22 through 29. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festival gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking, for if they did not escape when they refused the one who won them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven? At that time his voice should be earth, but now he has promised, yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. This phrase, yet once more, indicates the removal of what is shaken, that is created things, so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe. For indeed, our God is a consuming fire. Sinagustin of the Hippo is considered to be the greatest theologian in the history of Western Christianity. He was born in three, if before, at Augusta in North Africa. In his restless quest for truth, he was attracted to manicurism, a former major world religion that taught an elaborate dualistic cosmology. He was also attracted to neo-platonism, a philosophical and religious system developed by the followers of Platonius. Both of these were founded in the third century. In his early life, Augusta live what we may call a carnal or worldly life, but was constantly engaged in an inner struggle with his personal morals. Finally, through the prayers and influence of his Christian mother, Monica, he surrendered to the Christian faith in the late summer of 386. He was baptized by Ambrose Bishop of Milan on Easter Eve in 387. After returning to North Africa in 391, Augusta found himself unexpectedly chosen by the people of Hippo to be a presperter, and four years later, he was chosen as Bishop of that city. Augusta possess the brilliant intellect, yet maintain a simple life, much like a monk. He encouraged monasteries and hermits within his bishopric in Africa, and always welcomed visitors who engaged in learned conversation. He functioned more as a parish priest than aloof Bishop, but throughout his life, he was always writing. Augusta's two best known works are Confessions, his spiritual autobiography, written as an extended prayer and the city of God. In Confessions, a spiritual classic, he tells the story of his sexual immorality and his mother's unrelenting concern for his soul. He sums of his love for Christ saying, so I may cease to be wretched in myself, and may find happiness in you. In City of God, this was written near the end of Augusta's life, and it's partly a defense of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Sinecustans was one of the great minds of the early church, a theologian whose ideas and writings on theological, moral, and other church issues forever influenced both Roman Catholics and Protestants. He died on August 28th, 430, as the Vandals, a Germanic group, were beseeching the city of Hippo. In today's passage from the Book of Hebrew, the writer presents a contrast between the old and the new. It is a contrast between giving of the law in Mount Sinai, given in verses 18 through 21, which was not read, and the new covenant of which Jesus is the mediator, verses 22 through 29 read today. In the giving of the law in Mount Sinai, three things are stressed, the majesty of God, emphasizing the share power of God with no love at all, the absolute unapproachability of God in which anyone who tries to approach Him means death, and thirdly, the share terror of God, an awe-stricken fear in which one is afraid to look and even listen to God. This first section deals with what can be expected under the old covenant, a God of lonely majesty, complete separation from humanity, an overwhelming fear. Then comes the difference, because through Christ has come to Christians, a new covenant and a new relationship with God. Echoing words from Psalm 87, glorious things are spoken of you, O city of our God, the writer to the Hebrews list, the new glories that awaits us Christians, the new Jerusalem await Christians. This world with all its fears, its difficulties and its separation goes, and the life for us is made new. The angels await us in joyful assembly, the writer uses the Greek word indicative of a joyful national assembly in honor of the gods, and so doing, he indicates that for Christians, the joy of heaven is such that it makes even the angels break into rejoicing. God's elected people awaits us in heaven. He says, "They are those whose names are written on the register. In ancient times, kings cap a register of the faithful citizens. So those who await us in heaven are all those whom God has honored, and all whom God has reckoned among his faithful citizens." God the judge awaits us. As Christians, we're never to forget that at the end, we must stand the scrutiny of God. The glory is there, but the awe and fear of God still remains. The New Testament is never in the slightest danger of sentimentalizing the idea of God, as some others do. God is love, but he also is the just judge, a consuming fire. The unsaying cloud of witnesses awaits us in heaven. When we go to join them, we become part of that company. We go to join those whose names are on God's honor rule. Finally, the writer to the Hebrews informs us that Jesus is the one who initiated this new covenant and made our new relationship with God possible. It is Christ the perfect priest and the perfect sacrifice who made the unapproachable approachable, and he did it with the cost of his blood. His blood opened up the way for reconciliation. His sacrifice made it possible for us to be friends with God. No more separation, no more condemnation. Understanding this and the many blessings that belong to us as a result, there remains for us a great obligation to worship God with reverence and servant in awe with love. We should ensure that nothing be allowed to disturb this beautiful and wonderful relationship we have with Christ, which is our salvation now and when the world passes away. We gain everything once we remain loyal to God. I therefore encourage you to live fearlessly for God, trusting him and enduring whatever may come against you because of your faith and loyalty. Get on God's honor rule and remain there. Let us pray. Gradle merciful God, that your church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all people to the glory of your name through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you under Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen. Thank you for joining us in these devotions. We pray and hope that you find them to be a source of inspiration and encouragement as you seek to draw a narrow to Christ and make him known to others. We invite you to please share them with other members of your family, relatives and friends. Remember that God is good all the time and all the time, God is good. God bless. ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ ♪ Sing your hear God's high heart ♪ You (gentle music)