Psalm 23 and The Good Shepherd Anglican Church

Greetings in the name of The Good Shepherd, Jesus. Alleluia, Alleluia thanks be to God for our worship gathering at Church of the Springs last Sunday. Good Shepherd Anglican church moved to a new location for worship and it was amazing. As a new Anglican church, having a place to gather weekly is a wonderful blessing. The scriptures (Psalm 23 and others) were preached and Holy Communion administered. We had a great time of worship and fellowship, too. Please continue to pray for the Good Shepherd Anglican Church folks as we avail ourselves to the Lord and the Holy Spirit. We desire to be a grace-filled community overflowing with generosity toward others. We have much to learn as a church community, but God is with us. If you believe God is leading you our way or you want to check us out, come visit us at 5:00pm on Sundays.

Blessings,

Fr. Perry

Good Shepherd begins meeting weekly at Church of the Springs

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus, The Good Shepherd.  Starting on Sunday, September 9 at 5pm, Good Shepherd will be meeting weekly at Church of the Springs in Dripping Springs.  Pastor Brent and the leaders at Church of the Spring are so gracious to allow Good Shepherd to use their space for the next phase of planting Good Shepherd Anglican Church, Dripping Springs.  Please invite your family, friends and neighbors to join us at Church of the Springs.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact Fr. Perry at perry@goodshepherdds.com.

Blessings,

Fr. Perry

Good Shepherd Anglican Morning Confession

Let us humbly confess our sins to Almighty God.

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and apart from your grace, there is no health in us.  O Lord, have mercy upon us.  Spare all those who confess their faults.  Restore all those who are penitent, according to your promises declared to all people in Christ Jesus our Lord; And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may now live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of your holy Name. Amen.

Grant your faithful people, merciful Lord, pardon and peace; that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and serve you with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thanks be to God,

Fr. Perry

Good Shepherd Anglican Church, Dripping Springs PRAYERS

Let us pray to the Lord.

Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in anything it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Savior. Amen. 

O God, by your grace you have called us in The Dioceses of the Western Gulf Coast to be a goodly and godly fellowship of faith. Bless our Bishop Clark Lowenfield and Fr. Perry, and all our people. Grant that your Word may be truly preached and truly heard, your Sacraments faithfully administered and faithfully received. By your Spirit, fashion our lives according to the example of your Son, and grant that we may show the power of your love to all among whom we live; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things in heaven and earth: Mercifully hear our prayers, and grant that at Good Shepherd Anglican Church, Dripping Springs the pure Word of God will be preached and the sacraments duly administered. Strengthen and confirm the faithful; protect and guide the children; visit and relieve the sick; turn and soften the wicked; arouse the careless; recover the fallen; restore the penitent; remove all hindrances to the advancement of your truth; and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church, to the honor and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is error, truth; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may seek not so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Fr. Perry

Pray for Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Dripping Springs, TX

Greetings from Dripping Springs, Texas.

How do you engage in prayer?  What role does prayer play in your life?  How often do you pray?  Why do you pray?  Prayer is work in the Kingdom, God's economy.  Prayer is work in the spiritual realm where battles take place for souls.  Prayer is eternal work that's dependent on a close relationship with God and the power of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts and minds.  Work that originates deep from within our hearts for God's Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.  Work that longs for God's grace and mercy to soften the hearts of people so they turn to Jesus, The Good Shepherd, through repentance and faith.  Prayer is work - hard work.

The hard work of prayer is intentional.  Jesus was asked by his disciples to teach them how to pray because they understood the importance of prayer.  Praying is deeply connected to our relationship with God and with our spiritual growth trajectory, growing spiritually as a follower of Jesus is a must, not an option.  We are called to be disciples, not fans.  In other words, an ongoing, life-long journey to be transformed into the image of Christ.  Prayer is hard work and vital to our spiritual health.  Come Holy Spirit and help us.

The invitation is to pray for Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Dripping Springs, to be intentional as an intercessor, standing in the gap between earth and heaven on behalf of God's mission and for the people in Dripping Springs area.  Will you accept the invitation?

Praying,

Fr. Perry+

Prayers:

Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in anything it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things in heaven and earth: Mercifully hear our prayers, and grant that at Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Dripping Springs the pure Word of God will be preached and the sacraments duly administered. Strengthen and confirm the faithful; protect and guide the children; visit and relieve the sick; turn and soften the wicked; arouse the careless; recover the fallen; restore the penitent; remove all hindrances to the advancement of your truth; and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church, to the honor and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, our heavenly Father, you manifested your love by sending your only-begotten Son into the world, that all might live through him: Pour out your Spirit on Good Shepherd Anglican Church, that we may fulfill his command to preach the Gospel to all people. Send forth laborers into your harvest; defend them in all dangers and temptations; and hasten the time when the fullness of the Gentiles shall be gathered in, and faithful Israel shall be saved; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

GAFCON, ACNA's Provincial Council and Worship

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus.

I just returned from attending the GAFCON conference and the Anglican Church in North America’s (ACNA) provincial council in Jerusalem, Israel.  It’s so encouraging to be with other Anglicans who are faithful to the call to go to the ends of the earth to share the Gospel.  Gathering with 2000 Christians from all over the world to worship, pray and fellowship was amazing.  To make the experience more inspiring, the gathering took place in the Holy Land where my Lord Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised to later ascend to heaven to be seated at God’s right hand, ALLELUIA!  It was an unbelievable, life-changing experience for me and others.  At the end of the GAFCON conference a statement was released which sums of the focus and purpose of GAFCON.  The statement can be found here.

While attending the Provincial council, it became very clear to me that ACNA continues to grow and mature as a new province in the Anglican Communion.  The Province is focused on empowering laity and clergy to be on mission - taking the transforming love of Jesus to all of North American.    Additionally, ACNA is an orthodox, Gospel-centered province call to be in the world not of the world.  Over 35 churches were planted last year and the province includes over 1,040 churches.  Amazing growth in less than 10 years as a province.  To God be the glory forever and ever, Amen.

This Sunday, July 1, is our next gathering at Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Dripping Springs.  We will spend time together praying, participating in Holy Communion and enjoying each other’s company as we move closer to our weekly gatherings at Church of the Springs on Sunday evenings starting in September.  The gathering will begin at 5:00 pm at the McNabb’s house.  I invite you to join us and bring a friend.

Blessings,

Perry+

Vicar, Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Dripping Springs

Good Shepherd Anglican Church's next gathering

Greeting in the name of the Good Shepherd, Jesus.

Our next gathering in Dripping Springs is Sunday, June 17th at the McNabb’s house starting at 5:00 pm.  It will be a potluck, too!  Please, make plans to come and get to know some great folks God is using to plant a new Anglican church in Dripping Springs.  We will pray, embrace God in Holy Eucharist, and fellowship.

Blessings,

Fr. Perry

 

A Prayer to the Good Shepherd, by St. Gregory of Nyssa

Where are you pasturing your flock, O good Shepherd, who carry the whole flock on your shoulders? (For the whole of human nature is one sheep and you have lifted it onto your shoulders). Show me the place of peace, lead me to the good grass that will nourish me, call me by name so that I, your sheep, hear your voice, and by your speech give me eternal life. Answer me, you whom my soul loves.

I give you the name ‘you whom my soul loves’ because your name is above every name and above all understanding and there is no rational nature that can utter it or comprehend it. Therefore your name, by which your goodness is known, is simply the love my soul has for you. How could I not love you, when you loved me so much, even though I was black, that you laid down your life for the sheep of your flock? A greater love cannot be imagined, than exchanging your life for my salvation.

Show me then (my soul says) where you pasture your flock, so that I can find that saving pasture too, and fill myself with the food of heaven without which no-one can come to eternal life, and run to the spring and fill myself with the drink of God. You give it, as from a spring, to those who thirst – water pouring from your side cut open by the lance, water that, to whoever drinks it, is a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

If you lead me to pasture here, you will make me lie down at noon, sleeping at peace and taking my rest in light unstained by any shade. For the noon has no shade and the sun stands far above the mountain peaks. You bring your flock to lie in this light when you bring your children to rest with you in your bed. But no-one can be judged worthy of this noonday rest who is not a child of light and a child of the day. Whoever has separated himself equally from the shadows of evening and morning, from where evil begins and evil ends, at noon he will lie down and the sun of righteousness will shine on him.

Show me, then (my soul says), how I should sleep and how I should graze, and where the path is to my noonday rest. Do not let me fall away from your flock because of ignorance, and find myself one of a flock of sheep that are not yours.

Thus my soul spoke, when she was anxious about the beauty that God’s care had given her and wanted to know how she could keep this good fortune forever.