eChurch Blog

First Reading Isaiah 45:6-8, 18, 21-25

Apart from me, all is nothing.
I am the Lord, unrivalled,
I form the light and create the dark.
I make good fortune and create calamity,
it is I, the Lord, who do all this.
Send victory like a dew, you heavens,
and let the clouds rain it down.
Let the earth open
for salvation to spring up.
Let deliverance, too, bud forth
which I, the Lord, shall create.
Yes, thus says the Lord,
creator of the heavens,
who is God,
who formed the earth and made it,
who set it firm,
created it no chaos,
but a place to be lived in:
‘I am the Lord, unrivalled:
there is no other god besides me.
A God of integrity and a saviour:
there is none apart from me.
Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth,
for I am God unrivalled.
‘By my own self I swear it;
what comes from my mouth is truth,
a word irrevocable:
before me every knee shall bend,
by me every tongue shall swear,
saying, “From the Lord alone
come victory and strength.”
To him shall come, ashamed,
all who raged against him.
Victorious and glorious through the Lord shall be
all the descendants of Israel.’

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!
Shout with a loud voice, joyful messenger to Jerusalem.
Here is the Lord God coming with power.
Alleluia!

The Gospel Luke 7:19-23

John, summoning two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or must we wait for someone else?’ When the men reached Jesus they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you, to ask, “Are you the one who is to come or have we to wait for someone else?”’ It was just then that he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and of evil spirits, and gave the gift of sight to many who were blind. Then he gave the messengers their answer, ‘Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.’

ChurchAds have revealed their new Christmas 2011 poster:

ChurchAds had this to say about their new campaign:

We are asking individual Christians and church fellowships to donate towards a National Christmas Advertising Fund. Every penny of this will be spent on advertising in national newspapers, on posters in major shopping centres and on radio.

Research has revealed that 85 per cent of people agree with the statement that “Christmas should be called Christmas because we are still a Christian country”. But it also shows that only 12 per cent of adults know the facts of the Christmas story in any detail.

So if we Christians really want to keep Christmas focused on Christ, we must constantly re-tell the story of his birth in ways which engage positively with the public’s interest.

Our “Christmas Starts with Christ” campaign re-tells the Christmas story in modern, secular contexts to capture the general public’s attention and interest. Poster ads in previous years have set the nativity in a bus shelter and featured a dramatic “Jesus babyscan”. Radio ads have placed the story in a football match, horse race and pop chart countdown.

Research shows 61% of people surveyed like the message “Christmas Starts with Christ”, with 41% saying it makes them think more about the true meaning of Christmas.

This year we have a very simple but dramatic idea. To re-set the nativity in modern professions and high street fashions. Shepherds become cycle couriers and plasterers. Wise men are successful entrepreneurs and their gifts are iconic “treasures” of modern culture: a Swarovski crystal perfume bottle, a Faberge egg and a replica Damian Hirst skull. All are sharply dressed. But the traditional nativity arrangement is unchanged, with Jesus as its clear focus. And the message is compelling: “However you dress it up… Christmas Starts with Christ”.

It’s the meeting of Christianity and high street consumerism, with Christ in the middle.

In the final few days before Christmas, millions of people will be heading for shopping centres. Could there be a better time to expose them to this Christian message?

Church leaders across the denominations have welcomed the campaign and are urging Christians and churches all over the country to get involved.

Love it. And we should support this.

Enter stage: The Rev Dr Peter Mullen (Ebenezer Scrooge) – Boo…Boo…Hiss..Hiss

No doubt all this clodhopping heavy glitziness will be described as “ironic” and “prophetic”.

Well, I suppose we should all just enjoy a good giggle at the churches’ latest expedition into the land of idiocy. Except for one thing which troubles me deeply. The replacement Wise Men are cast as three successful entrepreneurs. And I worry as to how the church hierarchy will answer for this sign of conspicuous consumption and the virtues of capitalism when they next go to talk adolescent politics with their mates in the Occupy camp outside St Paul’s.

You should read the whole miserable piece in the Telegraph to see what a negative, miserly, moany, cheap, piece this really is.

And what a breathtaking example of utterly missing the point.

The whole premise of the poster is that it doesn’t matter a hoot about your bling, it doesn’t matter about your wealth, it doesn’t matter about your gifts; it’s ALL about Jesus.

That’s the point Mullen.

So to conclude. Good for ChurchAds for another fantastic poster campaign and congratulations to Rev Dr Peter Mullen for winning my coveted “Scrooge of the year” award. Boo….Boo…Hiss….Hiss…He’s behind you….

First Reading Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13

Trouble is coming to the rebellious, the defiled,
the tyrannical city!
She would never listen to the call,
would never learn the lesson;
she has never trusted in the Lord,
never drawn near to her God.
Yes, I will then give the peoples lips that are clean,
so that all may invoke the name of the Lord
and serve him under the same yoke.
From beyond the banks of the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants
will bring me offerings.
When that day comes
you need feel no shame for all the misdeeds
you have committed against me,
for I will remove your proud boasters
from your midst;
and you will cease to strut
on my holy mountain.
In your midst I will leave
a humble and lowly people,
and those who are left in Israel will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.
They will do no wrong,
will tell no lies;
and the perjured tongue will no longer
be found in their mouths.
But they will be able to graze and rest
with no one to disturb them.

The Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!
Come, Lord! Do not delay.
Forgive the sins of your people.
Alleluia!

The Gospel  Matthew 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people, ‘What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?’ ‘The first’ they said. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.’

The truth is, and this is where I agree with Scot McKnight on the deeper truth of the matter: the slippery slope falls away on both sides of faithfulness. On the Left side, we fall toward conformity and licentiousness and abandonment of the faith.  On the Right side, we fall toward paranoia, legalism, and a cold and fossilized faith that is really no faith at all.  We cannot trust in the systems of the Right or the Left.  We cannot trust in systems at all.  We have to trust in a Person, not in a Predilection or a Philosophy.  That Person will lead us forward, along the ridge-top above the slippery slopes.

SOURCE

A few links I found interesting for one reason or another:

Tim Challies – Soft, Effeminate Christianity

Protect the Pope – UK Equalities Commission condemns National Secular Society’s ‘thoroughly bonkers’ misuse of Human Rights Act

A Reluctant Sinner – Joseph of Nazareth on Twitter – He only started tweeting ten days ago but already has nearly 10,000 followers!

Get Religion – The Economist on birth control for nuns

Mashable – What the World’s Biggest Websites Looked Like at Launch

iBenedictines – The Right Thing To Do

The Weekly Standard – The End of Canterbury

Spiked – The European Union has cracked. Good.

First Reading Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17

Raising his eyes Balaam saw Israel, encamped by tribes; the spirit of God came on him and he declaimed his poem. He said:
‘The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man with far-seeing eyes,
the oracle of one who hears the word of God.
He sees what Shaddai makes him see,
receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened.
How fair are your tents, O Jacob!
How fair your dwellings, Israel!
Like valleys that stretch afar,
like gardens by the banks of a river,
like aloes planted by the Lord,
like cedars beside the waters!
A hero arises from their stock,
he reigns over countless peoples.
His king is greater than Agag,
his majesty is exalted.’
Then Balaam declaimed his poem again. He said:
‘The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man with far-seeing eyes,
the oracle of one who hears the word of God,
of one who knows the knowledge of the Most High.
He sees what Shaddai makes him see,
receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened.
I see him – but not in the present,
I behold him – but not close at hand:
a star from Jacob takes the leadership,
a sceptre arises from Israel.
It crushes the brows of Moab,
the skulls of all the sons of Sheth.’

 
Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord will come, go out to meet him.
Great is his beginning and his reign will have no end.
Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 21:23-27

Jesus had gone into the Temple and was teaching, when the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him and said, ‘What authority have you for acting like this? And who gave you this authority?’ ‘And I’ replied Jesus ‘will ask you a question, only one; if you tell me the answer to it, I will then tell you my authority for acting like this. John’s baptism: where did it come from: heaven or man?’ And they argued it out this way among themselves, ‘If we say from heaven, he will retort, “Then why did you refuse to believe him?”; but if we say from man, we have the people to fear, for they all hold that John was a prophet.’ So their reply to Jesus was, ‘We do not know.’ And he retorted, ‘Nor will I tell you my authority for acting like this.’

Tom Rees over at Epiphenom highlights a piece of research that seems to suggest that the well-being of religious adherents is linked with the intensity of their religious belief.

The ‘hardcore’ religious score highly in well-being and happiness, with the moderately religious scoring poorly. In fact, it would appear that the moderately religious score worse than atheists and agnostics.

It would seem that the moderately religious need to ramp up their faith somewhat.

Gosh this looks like it was close call:

In an exclusive splashed across the front page of the daily Taraf newspaper, contents of an official indictment against 11 alleged Al Qaeda militants arrested in July revealed the homegrown terrorist cell’s alleged plans to attack Ankara’s churches as well as their Christian clergy.

[.....]

Among the CDs, detailed maps, sketches and building diagrams, police also discovered lists of the names and home addresses of Christian clergy and other church workers residing in Ankara.

The news took Christian leaders in Ankara by total surprise, according to one Turkish Christian leader in Ankara.

“No one has had any news about this until now,” he said.

In addition to chapels on Ankara’s British, French, Vatican, Italian and Greek embassy grounds, the capital city has several international churches as well as a handful of Turkish Protestant congregations.

[.....]

Police seized 700 kilos (1,500 pounds) of explosives, along with assault rifles, ammunition, bomb-making instructions and detailed maps of Ankara.

….read all

Thank God they were rumbled.

Gaudete Gaudete! Christus est natus. Ex Maria Virgine, Gaudete!

Grant, almighty God,
that looking forward in faith to the feast of our Lord’s birth,
we may feel all the happiness our Saviour brings
and celebrate his coming with unfailing joy.
[We make our prayer] through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
First Reading Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,
for the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring good news to the poor,
to bind up hearts that are broken;
to proclaim liberty to captives,
freedom to those in prison;
to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord.
‘I exult for joy in the Lord,
my soul rejoices in my God,
for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation,
he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity,
like a bridegroom wearing his wreath,
like a bride adorned in her jewels.
‘For as the earth makes fresh things grow,
as a garden makes seeds spring up,
so will the Lord make both integrity and praise
spring up in the sight of the nations.’

Second Reading 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Be happy at all times; pray constantly; and for all things give thanks to God, because this is what God expects you to do in Christ Jesus.
Never try to suppress the Spirit or treat the gift of prophecy with contempt; think before you do anything – hold on to what is good and avoid every form of evil.
May the God of peace make you perfect and holy; and may you all be kept safe and blameless, spirit, soul and body, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has called you and he will not fail you.

Gospel Acclamation Isaiah 61:1 (LK 4:18)

Alleluia, alleluia!
The spirit of the Lord has been given to me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor.
Alleluia!

Gospel John 1:6-8,19-28

A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness,
as a witness to speak for the light,
so that everyone might believe through him.
He was not the light,
only a witness to speak for the light.
This is how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ.’ ‘Well then,’ they asked ‘are you Elijah?’ ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’ So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied:
a voice that cries in the wilderness:
Make a straight way for the Lord.’
Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees, and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’ John replied, ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you – the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap.’ This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.

Readings for 3rd Week of Advent

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday 

Friday 

Saturday

This is the random music video I warned you of earlier: