BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//LaughingBird - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:LaughingBird X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://laughingbird.net X-WR-CALDESC:Events for LaughingBird REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Australia/Melbourne BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20280401T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20280930T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20290331T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20291006T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20300406T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20301005T160000 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20290211T000000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20290211T235959 DTSTAMP:20260406T023834 CREATED:20230306T014139Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260315T041747Z UID:10002008-1865462400-1865548799@laughingbird.net SUMMARY:6th Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year A DESCRIPTION:This occasion only occurs in 2029 for churches that do not observe the last Sunday before Lent as Transfiguration Sunday. \n\n\n\nBelow you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them\, plus prayers and sermons based on them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003\, Room 381\, Nashville\, TN 37203-0003\, USA. Used with Permission. \n\n\n \n\n \n \n Deuteronomy 30: 15-20 \n \n\n \n \n \n “Take note that today I\, the LORD your God\, have laid out the choices clearly before you. You can choose life and good times or death and hard times. If you live by the rules that I have given you today — if you love me\, do things my way\, and follow my rules\, guidance and instructions — then you will live and flourish. I\, the LORD your God\, will look after you and make you strong and prosperous in the land I am about to give you. \nOn the other hand\, if you reject me and refuse to listen to me\, it will be a very different story. I am warning you in no uncertain terms that if you pursue other objects of devotion and serve them instead of me\, your lives will be ruined. You will not last long in the land I am about to give you on the other side of the Jordan River. \nHere and now I call on the earth and sky to witness that I have laid out the choices clearly before you; choices between life and death\, between being blessed and being cursed. Choose life! Choose life so that you and your children and grandchildren can flourish. Commit yourself to me\, the LORD your God\, in love and loyalty. Obey what I say and stick with me\, because that is the sure-fire recipe for a long and satisfying life in the land that I promised to your ancestors\, Abraham\, Isaac and Jacob.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n OR Sirach 15: 15-20 \n \n\n \n \n \n You can do what God tells you if you want to.\nSticking to the right track is a simple matter of choice. \nGod has laid out the options in front of you.\nStick your hand in the fire or in the water. You choose! \nEvery person is offered the same alternatives – life or death –\nand whichever you choose\, that’s what you get. \nThe wisdom of the Lord is incredible.\nThe power of the Lord is enormous.\nThey eyes of the Lord don’t miss a thing. \nThe Lord keeps a close watch on all who respect him.\nWhatever people are up to\, the Lord knows about it. \nNo one is under God’s orders to do the wrong thing by others.\nThe Lord has not given the nod to corruption of any kind. \n©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Psalm 119: 1-8 \n \n\n \n \n \n LORD\, how good it will be for those who no one can point a finger at\,\nwho play by your rules and stick to the straight and narrow. \nHow good it will be for those who do what you say\,\nand put their whole heart into knowing you better;\nwho never do the wrong thing by any one\,\nbut stick to your tracks all the way. \nYou have laid down the law for us\nand told us to follow it to the letter. \nThere is nothing I want more than to be rock solid\,\nfollowing your script in everything I do. \nIf I keep my eyes fixed on your instructions\,\nI will never have to hang my head. \nThe more I discover the justice and integrity of your teaching\,\nthe more I sing your praises with my heart beating proud. \nI intend to do everything you say;\nplease don’t ever give up on me. \n©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n 1 Corinthians 3: 1-9 \n \n\n \n \n \n Sisters and brothers\, I wish I could treat you as grown-ups when we are speaking of spiritual things but\, unfortunately\, I can’t. You are such babies in the Messiah’s family that I can’t treat you much better than those who live like animals. I’m still having to spoon feed you with baby food\, because you are clearly not ready for the solid meat-and-potatoes stuff. You weren’t ready when I was with you\, and you are still not\, because you still behaving like animals. Look at all the bitchiness and back-biting that goes on among you. Can’t you see what it says about you; that you not tuned in to the Spirit at all\, but are constantly at the beck and call of your own selfish desires? \nYou keep splitting up into rival factions. One group says\, “We’re on Paul’s side\,” and another says\, “We’re for Apollos.” You’re like toddlers spitting the dummy! \nWhat’s so important about Apollos or me anyway? We are just simple workers who introduced you to the Lord while doing the jobs that he gave us. We were working together like a team of gardeners. I planted the seeds\, Apollos came along and watered them\, but it was God who made things grow. The ones who plant and water are nothing. They can’t make anything grow. Only God can do that. Apollos and I are on the same team. My planting and his watering were both for the same purpose\, and we’ll both be paid our due wages from the one payroll. You see\, we are simply two labourers\, working shoulder to shoulder\, tending God’s garden\, which is you lot\, or constructing God’s building\, which is also you lot. \n©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Matthew 5: 21-37 \n \n\n \n \n \n After telling his followers that their integrity needed to go way beyond that of the Pharisees and the religious experts\, Jesus went on to give some examples. He said\, “You know that the law given to our ancestors in the olden days said ‘Do not kill anyone’\, and ‘whoever kills someone will be brought to justice.’ Well\, I am telling you to set your sights way higher than that. Imagine one of those sliding scales the legal eagles love to dream up\, and try this for size. If you lose your temper with someone\, you will be brought to justice. And if you spit insults at someone\, you’ll be dragged before the High Court. And if you call someone a brainless moron\, you will probably burn in hell! Now there’s a standard to aim at! \n“So what does this look like in practice? Well\, if you are on your way to offer your worship to God and you remember that you have offended a sister or brother and you haven’t sorted it out with them yet\, then put everything on hold\, and go and make peace straight away. Get your relationship back on good terms first\, and then you are free to come and worship God. \n“Or\, if someone is accusing you of something and threatening to take you to court\, do everything you can to find some way of settling it and getting back on good terms before it ever gets that far. If you dig your heels in and try to fight it through the courts\, you’ll be paying off lawyers for the rest of your life\, and you might lose anyway. \n“You know that the law said ‘Do not have sex with anyone who is married to someone else’. Well\, I am telling you expect a bit more of yourselves than just that. If you start undressing someone with your eyes and wishing you could get your hands on them\, then there is already a sexual predator on the prowl in your heart. Stomp on it before it gets loose! If you can’t control your wandering eye\, you might as well gouge it out and get rid of it. You’d be better off without it than letting it lead you onto the slippery slope of depravity that ends in hell. And if you can’t keep your hands to yourself\, you’d be better off getting them amputated. It is no use keeping them if they are out of control and turning you into a predator fit for hell. \n“The law also said that if you decide to quit on your marriage\, you should end it completely with a proper legal divorce. Well\, I am telling you to lift your standards. Unless the person you married is already dragging your vows through the mud\, divorcing them is a failure to follow through on your promises and is no better than adultery. And if you marry someone who walked out on their marriage to be with you\, that’s just adultery too. The legal niceties don’t make it right. \n“And another thing: you know that the law given to our ancestors in the olden days said\, ‘You must not tell lies under oath\, and if you make a promise in God’s name\, then you must follow through on it.’ Well\, I am telling you to set your sights way higher than that. Think of yourselves as being under oath all the time\, and don’t go trying to add extra weight to what you say by calling God as your witness\, or swearing on a stack of Bibles\, or on your mother’s grave\, or any such thing. None of this cross-your-heart-and-hope-to-die rubbish\, as if it made any difference. Just speak the truth all the time. Say what you mean\, and mean what you say. Any attempt to muddy the waters beyond that is a scheme of the devil.” \n©2011 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n \n\n \n \n Eucharistic Preface \n \n\n \n \n \n Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor we have learned of your justice\,\nand you have never left us without witnesses to your Word. \nIn ancient days before you gave your people the land\,\nyou set before us a covenant\,\nwith heaven and earth as your witnesses\,\ncalling us to embrace your ways\nand choose life over evil. \nWhen we turned away from you\, life began to perish\,\nbut you sent your child\, Jesus Christ\,\n— your word become flesh —\nto reconcile us to one another and to you\,\nso that the righteousness of your law might be fulfilled in us.\nThough he was killed\, you raised him to life\,\nand now\, in each generation\nyour servants work together\nto plant and water the seed of your Word\nwhich you cause to grow in us\,\nso that\, following your ways\, life can be blessed. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces) \n \n\n \n \n \n We thank you for sending your child\, Jesus Christ\,\nto reconcile us to one another and to you\,\nso that the righteousness of your law\nmight be planted and grown in us\,\nand following your ways\, life can be blessed. \n©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n General Prayer of Thanksgiving \n \n\n \n \n \n (Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor we have learned of your justice\,\nand you have never left us without witnesses to your Word. \nIn ancient days before you gave your people the land\,\nyou set before us a covenant\,\nwith heaven and earth as your witnesses\,\ncalling us to embrace your ways\nand choose life over evil. \nWhen we turned away from you\, life began to perish\,\nbut you sent your child\, Jesus Christ\,\n— your word become flesh —\nto reconcile us to one another and to you\,\nso that the righteousness of your law might be fulfilled in us.\nThough he was killed\, you raised him to life\,\nand now\, in each generation\nyour servants work together\nto plant and water the seed of your Word\nwhich you cause to grow in us\,\nso that\, following your ways\, life can be blessed. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Declaration of Grace / Absolution \n \n\n \n \n \n To all you who seek God with all your heart\ncomes God’s promise to steady you and hold you close\,\nGod’s mercy is for you\,\nthat you may\, without shame\,\nwalk in the ways of God’s life. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Commission & Benediction \n \n\n \n \n \n God has placed before you life & death\, blessings & curses.\nTherefore choose life\, follow God’s way.\nGo now\, and be a people of reconciliation and integrity.\nLet your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” “no”. \nAnd in all the paths you walk\nmay God hold you steady and close.\nMay Christ Jesus bless you and every place you enter.\nAnd may the Spirit give you length of days and fullness of life. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nFighting RightA sermon on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 & Matthew 5:21-37 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nLifting our StandardsA sermon on Matthew 5:21-37 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nTaking Our Humanity to a New LevelA sermon on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 & Matthew 5:21-37 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nWho Lit the Fires of Hell?A sermon on Matthew 5:21-37 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nJesus Confronts My Angry TiradeA sermon on Matthew 5:21-37 by Nathan Nettleton URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/ap01/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/P01.png END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR