St. Aidan's Anglican Church, Kansas City - Weekly Talks

It remains the Truth: His Kingdom, His politics are not from this world, but they're for this world. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and everything else will fall into order. To be in the world and "of it" is the disorder we're accustomed to. His Kingdom comes through those who are in the world and not "of it". Thy Kingdom Come, one earth as it is in heaven. This begins in the incarnation and the baptism of Jesus and culminates in his ascension and final return. Come, Lord Jesus. Ivanka Demchuk icon

The Feast of the Epiphany declares that the Gospel encompasses the whole world. Outsiders seek him to worship him while insiders seek him to kill him. With the coming of Jesus into the world, the world is turned upside down. Thy Kingdom Come.

First Sunday after Christmas Day Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. John 1:1-18 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; y

Truth Has Arisen from the Earth and Justice has Looked Down from Heaven St. Augustine (read on Christmas Eve, 2020) Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man. Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you. I tell you again: for your sake, God became a human being. You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come. Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which he who is the great and eternal day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our own short day of time. He has become our justice, our sanctification, our red

Icon by Ivanka Demcheck - The Annunciation Apologies for the sound quality. The recorder wasn't properly plugged in from the board to the recorder. Let's call it, human error. Fourth Sunday of Advent Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen 2Samuel 7:4,8-16 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and ev

Third Sunday of Advent Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen The Old Testament Isaiah 65:17-25 For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall

The Collect of the Day Second Sunday of Advent Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen The Old Testament Isaiah 40:1-11 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." A voice says, "Cry ou

1st Sunday of Advent: The Collect of the Day First Sunday of Advent Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Feast of Christ the King, the end of the liturgical year, brings us to the end of the age. We reflect on Matthew 25:31-46.

Revelation 7:1-17 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: (12,000 from the tribe of Reuben… Dan omitted) 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to theLamb!” 11 And all

Earthly Christian Marriage Signifies the Mystery of Christ and his Church. 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave

At the heart of Christian marriage is Christ, a Christocentric merger of two becoming one flesh. God himself joins man and woman together as a unity in diversity. The whole plan of salvation is signified in the consummation of man and woman in holy matrimony. Our bodies preach the gospel, the union of Christ and his Church. Man and woman mutually submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. At the heart of Christian marriage is mutual reverence for Christ.

Dillion Wadsack speaks to St. Aidan's under the big sky on how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:11-20 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:1-10 1Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

Liz Flowers speaks about anger and the human condition in transformation in Christ. Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Due to an audio failture, Eric re-recorded this excellent message. As Paul begins the exhortational section of his letter to the Ephesians, he wants them to remember their baptism and the new life they received therein. The language of put off and put on refer to this exchanged life, from death to life. The Christian lives her life from a new source, the presence of Christ dwelling in the heart through faith. A Christ follower becomes more and more like their Master.

9. Unity and Diversity in the Church: Ephesians 4:1-16 September 13, 2020 Good morning let’s turn in our bibles to Ephesians 4. Chapter four launches out of the second prayer of the letter. What we’re about to consider, Paul’s vision of the Church, requires a serious contemplation and practice of last week’s prayer. The prayer of 3:14 f., sums up the mission of Christ and his Church, whereby through prayer we receive and participate in the glorious grace of God as total gift. Since the Church is a collective Temple of the Spirit, the last request of the prayer is to be filled with all the fulness of God. Personally, I don’t believe God’s intended outcome is fully received without prayer. Salvation is restored communion with God, therefore, prayer is entering restored communion. This is why chapter four begins with another “therefore”. Paul is saying, because you have come to know Christ’s objective work of bringing salvation, restored communion, relationship between God and humanity and person to per

Today we come to the close of chapter 3 of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Paul leads us into a most holy place, giving us the words of his prayer for the Church. This glimpse of Paul’s prayer for the Church, is to be a guide for us, as we enter His gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. I want to make a few observations of this prayer and then we’ll spend some time praying it. It is my hope if you’re not accustomed to praying the Scriptures, that you might use the bible as your chief means of prayer. For all New Testament worship is grounded in the life of the Holy Trinity. Thus prayer becomes a participation in this life, a communion of love. Let’s begin with verse 14: For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, For this reason… Spanning three chapters, Paul is recalling his comprehensive, cosmic vision of salvation in Christ. I bow my knees before the FATHER (the Spirit, v. 16 & Christ, v.17 – we share in the life,

In an outdoor service, Liz Flowers shares the story of St. Aidan and how our community became affiliated with his life.

Ephesians 3:1-13 - Let us display the many-colored wisdom of God to the principalities and powers in the heavenly place - One New Humanity in Christ.