Listen to Readings and Sermon 17Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the [Creator] of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18In fulfillment of [the divine] purpose [God] gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become [...]
Listen to Readings and Sermon
17Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the [Creator] of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18In fulfillment of [the divine] purpose [God] gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of [creation].
19You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 21Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. 22But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers…
Audio readings and sermon (http://sunshinecathedral.org/sermons/audio/20090830_6.mp3)
Listen to Readings and Sermon View Readings and Sermon The Good News Written The Light of Dr. Frederick Bailes “If we belittle ourselves, Power flowing through that thought about ourselves will manifest it in our experience. “If we build an awareness of our own true worth, Power flowing through that thought about ourselves will manifest [...]
Listen to Readings and Sermon
View Readings and Sermon
The Good News Written
The Light of Dr. Frederick Bailes
“If we belittle ourselves, Power flowing through that thought about ourselves will manifest it in our experience.
“If we build an awareness of our own true worth, Power flowing through that thought about ourselves will manifest it in our experience.
“If we keep our past failures at the center of our attention, Power flowing through that thought will keep failure in our life.
“If we turn to past successes no matter how small, Power flowing through that thought will bring more success into our life. If we let hostility — with its grudges, resentments, and criticism — take the focus of our attention, we are thrown out of tune with the Creative Flow.
“If we cultivate a sincere well-wishing for the good of others, we bring ourselves in tune with the Creative Flow.
“Power flows to the Focus of Attention.”
Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (NRSV)
1Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around [Jesus], 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3(For the Pharisees… do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) 5So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’
8“You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
14Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
The Good News Proclaimed
Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, August 30, 2009.
OK. Today’s reading demonstrates why Mark’s gospel is so captivating for me. Mark is no slave to tradition. Mark will not bow to any idol, not even those that are presented as fundamentals of the faith. Mark trusts his intellect and his intuition and his experience. He doesn’t need outward trappings, rituals, and symbols to validate his spirituality. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for ritual and symbol, but that place, at least for Mark, is way below his own thinking and his own personal journey.
Continue reading »
