[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Lent 4 Epistle

[Joseph Parrish]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Fr HC Smith" <howard.smith at anglican.org.au>
> Date: March 31, 2011 6:03:05 AM EDT
> To: "Propertalk" <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
> Subject: [propertalk.topic] Lent 4 Epistle
> Reply-To: propertalk.topic at ecunet.org
> 

> Friends,
> 
> Here are a few thoughts towards a sermon on the Epistle for Lent 4.
> 
> Howard
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> * Today we are up to the 4th Sun in Lent and our reading from Ephesians talks about living as "people of the
> light".
> - and when the Scripture talks about that, it is suggesting to
> us that we have choices; you can choose to live in the dark
> or you can choose to live in the light.
> + For people who belong to the Lord Jesus, the natural way of life
> is to choose the light.
> - We are told that living in the light means being honest and
> truthful, and it means trying to please the Lord;
> - but living in the dark means doing worthless things.
> + As we live our lives, almost moment by moment we are faced
> with choices: we can choose to do this, or we can choose to do that;
> - we can choose to get angry, or we can choose to be polite;
> - we can choose to be helpful, or we can choose to be selfish;
> - we can choose to give up, or we can choose to keep on going; etc
> + Our Bible reading today tells us that no matter how strong the
> pressures on us may be, no matter how nasty they may be, we
> still have to make a choice whether to give in or to resist.
> + And the good news is that when we choose to do good things,
> when we choose to be honest and truthful i.e. when we choose
> to live like people of the light, we are in fact setting an
> example for other people to follow.
> + The more often people see others doing good things, the more
> they are inspired to do good things too;
> - and the opposite is true as well: when we see people doing
> worthless things - when they live in the dark - then other
> people will be inspired to follow their example.
> + So if we want to do something about making the world a better
> place to live in, if we want to do something about overcoming
> all the violence and nastiness there is about the place, we can
> really do something by choosing to live in the light.
> + The opposite is true too: If we choose to live in the dark, then
> other people will follow our example too.
> + But we have chosen to live in the light by trying to please the Lord.
> 
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> The Rev'd Dr H.C. Smith
> Retired Anglican Priest
> Orange NSW
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> 
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