How does the Church exercise its authority to judge?

A Daily Podcast brought to you by Anglican Futures designed to help you pray. Just confession, catechism, creed and collects. Short and simple. Today we reflect on the idea that the purpose of church discipline is to bring repentance and restoration. If you want to discover what else Anglican Futures offers – blogs, events and practical support - please visit our website www.anglicanfutures.org TRANSCRIPT Hello and welcome to “In All Our Doings” – brought to you daily by Anglican Futures For those who are unfamiliar with our podcast, it is simply confession, catechism, creed and collects, and we pray you will be encouraged by all you hear. We begin with Confession Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. Hear the Word of God to all who truly turn to him. If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Today’s question from the Anglican Catechism, To Be a Christian is How does the Church exercise its authority to judge? To which the answer is given The authority Christ gave to his Church to judge is most often exercised by declaring God’s forgiveness in absolution. However, a priest, acting under the authority of the bishop, may suspend a person from receiving Communion because of scandalous and unrepented sin, in order to draw them to repentance and restoration. (Psalm 32; Matthew 16:19; 18:15–17; John 20:21–23; 1 Corinthians 5:1–13) So our bible reading is from 1 Corinthians chapter 5 beginning at verse 5 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church[b] whom you are to judge? 13 God judges[c] those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” This is the word of the Lord The Apostles Creed I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen Let us pray Our Father in Heaven Hallowed be your name Your kingdom come Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven Give us today our daily bread And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from the evil one For the kingdom the power and the glory are yours now and forever Amen Today’s Collects Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen Go before us, O Lord, in all our doings with your most gracious favour, and further us with your continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your holy Name, and finally, through your mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Final Words Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen If you have found this episode of “In All Our Doings helpful – why not like it, share it with friends and family or subscribe to the podcast? If you have any thoughts or questions about today’s episode, please leave a comment or contact us through our website www.anglicanfutures.org . Bible readings are taken from the English Standard Version with permission from Crossway. The liturgy comes from the ACNA Book of Common Prayer 2019. Scripture quotations ...