I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not sure.
‹anonymous›
Atlantis: the domain of the Stingray
19Oct
2014
Sun
20:12
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity

Matthew 18:21-35

Trinity XXII 2014 Wordle
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Peter asks a valid question. That is to say, at face value, it is a valid question. “How often shall I forgive my brother?” But, as Old Adam always does to things like this, the question has to be made personal. “How often shall my brother sin against me?”

Now, we can imagine what Peter was really asking. “Is there a point when I can stop forgiving my brother? I mean, he just keeps on sinning against me! Sometimes, I’ve forgiven him for a sin against me, and he turns right around and does it again! How many times do I need to forgive my brother?”

Jesus’ answer should be obvious. “Often and every time.” Your brother will sin against you often, and you should forgive him for it every time.

18Oct
2014
Sat
18:33
author: Stingray
category: My Ramblings
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What I Did This Week (and Last), nos. 41 and 42

when the time slips away

Okay, so last week got away from me a little bit. So did this week, to an extent. So, I’ll be doing a double week post again. There’s a lot of material to cover, at least for some days, so let’s see how long of a post this will be. Here goes...

5Oct
2014
Sun
17:24
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Twentieth Sunday after Trinity

Matthew 21:33-44

Trinity XX 2014 Wordle
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Those hired vinedressers are foolish and blind. Anyone reading or hearing the parable could tell that. Even the chief priests and elders of the people knew it.

In this parable, a landowner plants a vineyard, digs a winepress in it, and builds a tower. He leased it to the vinedressers then went off into the far country. The lease isn’t too difficult to understand—the rules are easy to figure out here. It’s the owner’s vineyard, winepress, and tower. The workers are hired. They are to tend to the property, care for the vineyard, harvest the grapes, and give the owner what is his. In return, they get to live on the land and keep some of the harvest.

4Oct
2014
Sat
19:20
author: Stingray
category: My Ramblings
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What I Did This Week, no. 40

let's get to this quickly, shall we?

Hey, look—it’s 40! Let’s do this quickly, shall we?

First, Sunday...Genevieve stayed home with Tirzah under the suspicion that she has the chicken pox. The other three kids went to church with me, and were well behaved for their surrogate grandmother (thanks, Nana!). Monday, we tried to enjoy my day off, but the focus was on caring for little miss chicken pox and trying to get the others to catch it. Tuesday, I was back in the office, doing my normal office-y things, the same which goes for Wednesday. Wednesday night we continued through the Catalog of Testimonies; we should be able to finish it next week. Thursday morning, I was the teacher for the Breakfast Bible Study; we finished 2 Thessalonians and introduced 1 Timothy—it should be interesting going through that as Paul’s statements about the roles of men and women are probably the strongest in this letter than any other. Friday came, and it was time to put words to screen in writing the sermon and prepare for Bible Study that night; we spent a lot of time investigating the emergence of birds from the waters beneath according to Genesis 1:20 (most English translations don’t word it that way, and the Hebrew doesn’t seem explicit one way or the other, but the Latin Vulgate does put it that way, and it makes sense given that fish and bird were created on the Fifth Day, and the way the rest of creation goes). Saturday was a day of preparation for Sunday, with the usual procedures; we’ll probably keep Tirzah home again, though at this point, the other three seem good to go.