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The Service For The 15th Sabbath In Ordinary Time
July 14, 2001
[The "+" indicates that the moderator and the congregation are to cross themselves, if they should so choose.]
[The men, upon entering, must remove all their clothes and when they have found a proper place to sit, out of respect for the sanctuary of our Lord, must kneel before entering the pew. It is expected that they will furnish and use their own serviettes.]
[The Choir is to sing the antiphon. If there is no Choir the congregation is to recite it.]
Choir (or Congregation): "In my justice I will see Your face, O Lord; when Your glory appears, my joy will be full."
[The Altar man, holding the censer, and the Moderator, in that order, line up for the procession. The rest of the congregation lines up behind them row by row and proceeds to walk around the church in the procession.]
Choir (or Congregation): "In my justice I will see Your face, O Lord; when Your glory appears, my joy will be full."
[After the procession is over, the congregation takes their seats and the regular service begins.]
Moderator: + “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Most Holy and Eternal Trinity.”
Moderator: "Let us all join in a statement of our faith:"
Congregation and Moderator: "We believe that God, through His Holy Word, has made it more than evident as to how He wishes to be worshipped. God created man, as represented by Adam, in His image. This creation was meant to be in harmony with Nature and the Natural Laws. To this end men were created to be naked and to worship God in that, their natural state. It is only by the shame of having sinned that Adam felt that he had to hide himself behind clothes. We believe that by encasing ourselves in clothes that we are only mimicking Adam in his sin and rebellion against the First Cause. God, in His Holy Wisdom, had given Adam the option of eternal life in his nakedness. But he, in his ignorance, cast away the blessing of nudity that God so fervently wanted him to have. We believe that we of the Apertarian Church must return to the First Cause in the way He has called us to worship Him. We offer an open door to any Gay male that would worship with us in the joys and blessings of his God-given nudity. For those who wish not to join us we offer prayers that God will also bless them. When His time is right He will open their eyes that they might see what has been so abundantly revealed to us."
Moderator: "Amen."
OLD TESTAMENT LESSON
Moderator: "The Old Testament lesson for the 14th Sabbath in Ordinary Time is found in:
Isaiah 55: 10 - 11:
10. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.
Moderator: “This is the word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God.”
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Response: "The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest."
Moderator: You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have You enriched it. God's courses are filled: You have prepared the grain."
Congregation: "The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest."
Moderator: Thus have You prepared the land: drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods, softening it with showers, blessing its yield."
Congregation: "The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest."
Moderator: You have crowned the year with Your bounty, and Your paths overflow with a rich harvest; the untilled meadows overflow with it and rejoicing clothes the hills."
Congregation: "The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest."
Moderator: "The fields are garmented with flocks and the valleys blanketed with grain. They shout and sing for joy."
Congregation: "The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest."
THE NEW TESTAMENT LESSON
Moderator: “The New Testament lesson for the 14th Sabbath in Ordinary Time is found in:
Romans 8: 18-23:
18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected [the same] in hope,
21. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23. And not only [they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [to wit], the redemption of our body.
Thus endeth the New Testament lesson for today."
[The Moderator then raises the Bible.]
Moderator: “This is the word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God.”
THE GOSPEL LESSON
Moderator: “The Gospel lesson for the 15th Sabbath in Ordinary Time is found in:
Matthew 13: 1-9:
1. The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
2. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4. And when he sowed, some [seeds] fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
[The congregation rises as the altar man rings the bells.]
Congregation: + “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Most Holy and Eternal Trinity."
Moderator: Thus endeth the Gospel for today."
[The Moderator holds up the Bible]
Moderator: "This is the Word of the Lord."
Congregation: "Thanks be to God!"
A hymn is sung at this point.
[The congregation then sits down as the altar man rings the bells.]
THE HOMILY:
"Which Seed Are You?”
Moderator: "Our Gospel lesson for today begins with very inspirational words. It says: Jesus went out of the house and sat by the seashore. In other words He wasn't going to sit in the house and wait for the world to come and see Him. Even He, the Son of God, had to get up and go out side. He knew that the world would not come to Him, He had to go to it. And so He went and sat by the sea side. And the people flocked to hear Him.
They had to hear His message. And so they gathered around Him. So much so that He had to get in a boat and preached to them from there, while they stood on the shore listening.
But He could not talk to them in His own language. He had to talk to them in theirs. Simple Language. Parables, simple enough for those county folks to understand. And one of the most famous is the parable of the seeds.
In the old days a farmer would, when he wanted to plant, take a handful of seed and cast it about him. And so he would do this slowly moving over the length and breath of his field. And as Jesus pointed out some seed fell on hard, dry land. And so they just lay there, open, bare, exposed, not being able to put down roots. So inevitably the birds would come and eat the seeds, because the food was right there waiting for them. The seeds couldn't grow because the ground was too hard and unaccepting.
Is your soul like that seed, trying desperately to put down roots in a hardened, parched ground? If so, ask God to soften the circumstances so that you too might grow. Otherwise, the birds of doubt and depression will devour your faith.
The second kind of seed our Savior talks about are the seeds that fall on rocky soil. This is the kind of soil that has more stones than soil, so the dirt is shallow and not worth very much as farmland. It's located in little patches here and there amongst the stones, which makes any kind of harvesting very difficult. The seeds that fall on this kind of soil spring up quickly almost like weeds. They don't have much soil so instead of developing a good root system they put all their energy into growth. But when the sun comes up, hot and dry, the plant has no root system to help it get water from the soil. Hence it quickly withers and dies.
Are you like these seeds? Your faith springs up quickly but has few roots to anchor and water itself. It will be regrettable because, when the harsh sun of criticism and discrimination comes up, how quickly you will wither and die. There will be no strong stem to hold your faith up with and no roots to water it. And so your faith will shrivel up and die.
Perhaps you are the seed that falls amongst thorns. These seeds produce healthy plants all right. But, unfortunately, the thorns and brambles grow up quicker than they do and choke them off, grabbing the sunshine, sucking up the water, leaving the seeds nothing as nourishment. And so the plant dies, no good to anyone. The thorns and brambles are too thick for anyone to even think about harvesting anything.
Do you, as a Gay nudist, have thorns and brambles in your life, choking your faith and trying to destroy your spirituality? Do you go places that you know are wrong for you to go to? Do you hang around with people who you know are damaging to your soul? Are you doing things that you know Gay Christians Nudists are not supposed to be doing?
If you do or are, then you are playing Russian roulette with your soul. And the house always has the odds stacked in its favor. You must stop doing those things or going those places, or hanging around with those people who could damage your spirituality.
Then there are the seeds that fall on fertile ground. These are the seeds that take firm root; that put up good, healthy stalks; that produce good leaves and fruits. It is these plants that the farmer desires. It is these plants that will make up His rich harvest. Some of these seeds will produce 100 times over, some 60 times over and some only 30 times over.
Are you like these seeds? Do you study God's word on a regular basis? Do you go to church regularly? Do you pray every day and keep in close communion with Him? Do you seek to do good to your neighbor? Is your life a good example of your Apertarian faith?
This is what God loves.
But if you don't do those things, then you must begin to. If you are doing the things that a Gay Christian Nudist shouldn't do, then you must stop. You know what these things are. You don't heed to be told that they're wrong.
Unbridled gambling... Unfaithful sex... Drinking too much... Any kind of drugging ... Over spending... Eating too much... These are all things that Apertarians don't do. Why? Because doing them doesn't help build a good faith, or set a good example.
You are an Apertarian. And as a Gay Christian Nudist you must set a good example by the way you live. The people around you will be watching. All that some of them will every know about Gayness or Nudism is what they learn from you. You have the power to influence them for good... or for bad.
God wants you to live a life dedicated to Him. And, through your example, to bring others to Him. There will be many who don't understand you. There will be many who scoff. But as St. Paul said in Romans 8: 28: "And we know that all things work to together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
And we KNOW we Apertarians are the called of God.
Thus endeth the homily for today."
Moderator: + "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Most Holy and Eternal Trinity."
THE OFFERINGS
Moderator: "Jesus has said that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. We pray that you will open up your heart and give so that we may continue to carry God's message of nakedness, healing and salvation to all those Gay male Nudists who still are suffering needless pain and rejection."
[The collection plate is then passed around while a hymn is sung. When the collection is completed the collection plate(s) are brought forward and laid on the altar. The moderator then prays over the gifts.]
Moderator: "Dear heavenly Father, we know we can do nothing to merit Your eternal love. Yet You did love us before the foundation of the world. Accept our humble gifts for your service and bless the givers also. We pray in Your Son's name and for Your eternal glory. Amen."
[The moderator moves back to the pulpit.]
THE COMMUNAL PRAYER
Moderator:
"The Lord be with you."
Congregation: "And also with
you."
Moderator: + "Let us pray... Oh Lord, we bring before You all of the problems of the day (here list petitions for local problems). Help us to put in proper perspective the trials that You send our way. We ask that You will look down on our efforts and help us to help the Gay male Nudist who still suffers. We ask Your help in particular for N_____ and N_____. We also pray for our leaders who You have put into power. Give them the wisdom to make decisions that reflect Your will. But we always and ever give You thanks and pray that You will work Your will so that one day all men may walk free in their nakedness the way You have created us to be. Let Your Holy Spirit guide us as we pray the way Your Son taught us saying..."
Congregation and Moderator: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thou art the Kingdom and the Glory for ever and ever. Amen."
Moderator: "Amen."
THE COMMUNION SERVICE
[The moderator moves behind the altar and faces the people.]
Moderator: "Brothers, we are gathered here today to commemorate the sacrifice of our most Holy Lord Jesus Christ who by His willful offering of His perfect self upon the cross secured for us the promise of heaven in the next life and the blessings of nakedness in this life. Let us each examine our consciences and prepare ourselves for the communion service."
[Here is observed a moment of silence while the men examine their consciences and silently ask for forgiveness.]
Moderator: "The Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread..."
[At this point the moderator elevates the bread and displays it to all sides of the congregation while the bells are rung. The priest then genuflects.]
Moderator: "And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me."
[The Moderator then breaks the wafer into three pieces and places it in the chalice of grape juice.]
Congregation: "This, Lord, we will remember, to keep it holy."
Moderator. "After the same manner also He took the cup, and when He had supped said, "This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."
[The Moderator then elevates the chalice filled with grape juice and displays it to all sides of the congregation while the altar man rings the bells. The priest genuflects.]
Congregation: "This, Lord, we will remember, to keep it holy."
Moderator: "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till He come."
[The congregation then lines up to receive communion. The Moderator dips a wafer in the grape juice and offers it to each communicant. Each may take communion the way he feels is right, i.e., standing or kneeling, in his hand or in his mouth, etc. When all have received communion the Moderator then offers communion to the altar man, if there is one. He then takes communion himself, and drinks ALL OF THE GRAPE JUICE IN THE CHALICE. He carefully washes the chalice and covers it with an altar cloth. He then returns to the pulpit.]
[A hymn is sung.]
Moderator: "Please stand for the final benediction.'
[The congregation stands.]
Moderator: + "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Go thy way and be at peace in thy nakedness. The service is ended. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, most Holy and Eternal Trinity."
[At this point a closing hymn may be sung.]
[The congregation then observes a moment of silence while the Moderator goes to the front door to welcome the men as they exit. When the altar man rings the bells the men are then free to dress and leave the service.]