Cuting the Ties We have the Church,They have the buildings
Autor: Miguel Uchôa | Publicado: 2015-12-02T16:27:00-03:00








History and the sovereign
will of God have determined that I held in my hands an order I was to sign
requiring us to return some of our church buildings to the Episcopal Church.&nbsp;These
buildings, without exception, were built with the resources and great effort of
faithful parishioners who have been a part of these same communities for
decades.





I’ve just signed this
order, fulfilling what the law required.&nbsp; I accepted God’s call on my life
with careful consideration, but never did I imagine I would be involved in this
kind of situation. 



As I was reflecting today on
the Word of God I saw that the ties that bound us to this institution do not
bind us anymore.&nbsp;We are completely free now, without any connection any
more to the Episcopal Church.&nbsp;Today, after a well-educated attorney left my
office, I read the following verse:



“Cutting the anchors, they left them in the sea, at
the same time untying the ropes that held the rudders.&nbsp;Then, raising the
sail head to wind, they made ​​for the beach.” Acts
27:40



You can read the text again
and see that when this anchor was cut, this connected was loosed and they were
free to get to the beach. They then came to Malta, established a church there
and went on to Rome. This all occurred after these bonds of apparent security were
released. Growth and release of the Word of God followed.&nbsp;God defeated
that storm and the gospel continued advancing unhindered.



I do not consider any of this easy. I witnessed our
cathedral being built brick by brick. I was there at the groundbreaking. There I
also lived through battles and blessings beyond measure. I was baptized at the
age of 23 when I met Christ and was born again. &nbsp;Despite all this I do believe the testimony from
the Word and from history: "The glory of this new Temple will be greater than the former"&nbsp;(Haggai 2: 9). It is in our
hands to work hard for all of this to become a reality. God is with us and so
the Church will continue. As our Bishop Robinson loved to sing: "it is
holy work, nobody can stop it.”



I call each of you to
continue firm and to make this Church and diocese something no one has yet seen
in this country since the arrival of theological liberalism that consumed and
is destroying historic Brazilian Anglicanism. We are the faithful remnant, the faithful
Church, the growing Church.&nbsp;We are the face of a renewed Brazilian
Anglicanism and have the support of more than 2/3 of the global Anglican
Communion.&nbsp;Our diocese now has 45 congregations and among them, the
largest Anglican congregation in all of Latin America. This is who we are. Our
work is extremely important. 



Empty buildings cannot
serve the worship of the living God. While we have the Church, they have buildings.
From God's perspective, which is better?



The Anglican world is
watching. Let us be united in heart, putting aside differences and shine our
light for the world to see.&nbsp;Let us be open to the Holy Spirit that he may do
a revival among us. May many from around the world arrive at our airport eager
to see what God is doing in this land through this part of His Church.&nbsp;Let
us move out of any comfort zones, and receive the word of Paul to Timothy when
he says: 



"Awaken
the gift that is in you because God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but
of love, power and self-control" 2 Tim 1



I Love God and I have given my life for His service.
I understand that my task is to fight the good fight for this Church. Here I stand.
Let us stand together! 



+Miguel