The Cayman Islands are within the ancient
Episcopal Jurisdiction
of
The Bishop of London granted him by the Crown in 1634
St Alban’s (Grand Cayman) & St
Mary’s (Cayman Brac)
Church & Office - 461 Shedden Road
P O Box 719, Grand Cayman KY1-1103, CAYMAN ISLANDS
Tel (345) 949 2757 : Fax (345)
949 0619
www.churchofenglandcayman.com
rector@churchofenglandcayman.com
28 August 2011
Welcome
to St Alban’s Anglican Church
Today's
Scripture: Jeremiah 15: 15-21 Romans
12: 9-end S. Matthew 16: 21-end
Today: 9.00
a.m. Matins; 9.30 a.m. Holy Eucharist; 6.00 p.m. EP;
7.30 p.m. S. Mary’s CB – Holy Eucharist.
This
Week: Tues–Fri 12.30 p.m. Midday Prayers.
Next Sunday: 9.00
a.m. Matins; 9.30 a.m. Holy Eucharist and Holy Baptism; 6p.m. EP.
10th
Sunday after Trinity
Let thy
merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and that
they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please
thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
FAITH
IN FOCUS: HEAVEN PRESERVE 
Does
your faith cause you any inconvenience? I’m not talking about having to walk to
church in the rain, or the fact that the Summer Fair clashes with your golf
club’s annual outing. But do you actually suffer for your faith?
In
some countries people are passed over for promotion at work if it is known that
they believe in Christ. In other places they are watched closely by the local
authorities, and sometimes if they get a bit vociferous about their religious
beliefs then they are even killed. That’s because authority is only prepared to
be challenged up to a point by characters like Jeremiah and Jesus.
Jesus
knew that he was going to suffer and probably die for teaching what the Father
had told him to say. “Heaven preserve you...this mustn’t happen to you,” said
Peter. It shows how little he had taken in what Jesus was saying. For Jesus
said that anyone who follows him must take up their cross daily.
We
can turn this “take up your cross” business into a nice cosy idea. We can
reduce it to being nice to nasty people, helping old ladies across the road and
keeping quiet when everyone disagrees with our choice of hymns for the
Remembrance Day service. What a cross to bear!
But
the fact is that if we keep quiet about our faith, if we consider it a private
matter, a choice we have made that is no one else’s business, something we
don’t bring up with the neighbours because we don’t want to embarrass them,
then we probably won’t be troubled with much of a cross.
However,
if we believe passionately that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the only person
who can save the world, and if that belief shines from all our actions and our
words, then we’re probably heading for a bumpy ride in a society where it is
fashionable to pooh-pooh religious belief in favour of an enlightened humanism.
So the degree to which we take a knock for our faith is probably the degree to
which we are seen to be proclaiming it.
Heaven preserve us from
making a fuss.