St Philip and Confirmation

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Rt Revd Allan Ewing
4 May 2008, St Philip and St James

Isaiah 30:18-21; Psalm 19:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; John 14:6-14

These are notes taken by the deacon during the sermon. They are neither a complete nor necessarily correct transcription of the sermon! My apologies to the bishop if there are errors! LA

There are many themes woven into today's celebration…

First an apology to James! (St James gets left behind by Philip)

At the heart is community.

Philip understands by seeing

Philip says:

in John 1:46 "Come and See"

now in John 14:8 "Show us the Father

We are now at a special time between Ascension and that time when everything is RED!

John's Gospel doesn't have any messing around waiting for the Holy Spirit.
The disciples have had hard days…

In the chapters of John 13—17 Jesus has been teaching how to live in this new place;

…OUT in the World…

GO OUT to proclaim the good news.

Here is an extraordinary understanding of relationship:

I am in the Father and the Father is in me

an invitation to an intimate relationship…

This is how you live:

You must live as if I am in you and you are in me

I want you to LIVE the Good News (that I want you to proclaim)

Ascension… moves us from being totally self absorbed

to living in community with… the whole of creation

This time between Ascension and Pentecost is a time to recognise the task;

We are not strong enough to do it on our own;

we need the help of the Holy Spirit.

Confirmation is a time to stand up and say
I BELIEVE

in front of friends and family.

What we used to do was to have a test&helip; to recite what you had learned.

SO, when you had passed, you didn't have to come back!

Free at last! Free at last!

But no! This is about Relationship.

Confirmation is about saying YES to God.

Reception [into the Anglican Communion] is about saying that

In this place I have found my home; a community that makes sense.

Some things you can't do by reading a book.

because this is not an exam, you've got to come back next week, and then the next week and then the next week… in the warmest sense it is a life sentence!

Philip was looking outward.
In the church we are very good at looking inward.
[the mark is] "could do better"

Thank God we have found a community that makes sense of the gospel.

Follow Phillip:

LIVE the Good News

LIVE the Gospel

Pray for those being confirmed for insight into what God wants them to do in their lives;

Pray for those being received into this church;

and for all of us:

Look OUT and LIVE.

[And in the notices, Bishop Allan had some serious notices (52nd wedding anniversary congratulations especially), and another that must be passed on for Star Wars fans especially:
"May the 4th be with you!"]

St Philip's Anglican Church,
cnr Moorhouse and Macpherson Streets, O'Connor, ACT 2602.