Today's Verse: Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

But nseek first othe kingdom of God and his righteousness, pand all these things will be added to you.

n [ch. 5:6, 20]
o ver. 10
p [1 Kgs. 3:11–14; Mark 10:29, 30; 1 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 3:9]

The scene, of course, is the Sermon on the Mount. And Jesus is telling the crowd that they should not be anxious about their life. If we seek God first, then everything else will fall into place. The Teacher's Commentary, in discussing the overview of Chapter 5 through 7 of Matthew's Gospel, suggests that one who intends to live in Christ's Kingdom should

• seek to please God, not to please man.
• trust God completely to provide for our needs
• express that trust in prayer
• not only hear, but act on the words of Jesus

Today's Comments: Instead of seeking righteousness in God, we too often seek approval of man, instead. Conformity and peer approval become more important than righteousness. Congeniality and collegiality become more important than truth. I think that is what happened at the LA Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal Church. Consensus became the primary objective, while the content of God's word was ignored. The result is that we will be consecrating two female bishops, one of who is a lesbian, to be assistant leaders of the diocese.

My parish, Blessed Sacrament, seems to be gradually withdrawing from the Episcopal Church. The coexistence of the parallel Anglican Congregation of the Resurrection and the intended withdrawal of two of our assistant priests from the Episcopal Church to serve that congregation suggests that it may be a matter of time until many others in the congregation follow. Already, approximately forty members of our parish will be taking their names off the Episcopal Church roles and will become members of the Anglican Church Diocese of San Joaquin. Though we will still be worshiping together in one fellowship and internally we will see little change, our outward change will be no doubt noticed by the Episcopal Church hierarchy, just because of our reported numbers. And, even though I will still remain Episcopalian, I plan to serve this group as if I was a member. And so, as we try to seek God first, I hope that there will be plenty of you out there who may be reading this blog that will pray for us.

Hymn of the Day:

SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

by Karen Lafferty

Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And His righteousness
And all these things shall be added unto you
Allelu, alleluia

Man does not live by bread alone
But by every word
That proceeds from the mouth of God
Allelu, alleluia

Ask and it shall be given unto you
Seek and ye shall find
Knock and the door shall be opened unto you
Allelu, alleluia

Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And His righteousness
And all these things shall be added unto you
Allelu, alleluia

Man does not live by bread alone
But by every word
That proceeds from the mouth of God
Allelu, alleluia