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

This morning we are exploring Ephesians 2:19-22. Paul is describing the implications of the Gospel of Christ, the intended outcomes of the mission of God in Christ. The unintended outcomes of the Gospel have been reduced to mere personal salvation, whereby I am autonomous and independent from a wider earthly and cosmic communion. Jesus spoke of the Gospel as the Gospel of the Kingdom: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

On August 9th, 2020, we baptized Jude De Stigter, just after his father, Chris, shared the sermon on water baptism. Chris presents the sacrament of water baptism as the most apocalyptic of sacraments, a radical shift from death to life by participating in the death and resurrection of Christ. Thus, water baptism is a decisive break from old creation into new creation, into Christ himself! If anyone is in Christ, new creation, the old is gone, all things become new. Icon by Ivanka Demchuk Romans 6:1-14 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with hi

Ephesians 2:11-18 - Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

In Ephesians 2, Paul gives us a picture of before Christ and after Christ, that is, prior to hearing the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, and believed in him (1:13). Paul wants us to see not only the condition of humanity apart from Christ but the forces behind that condition. He plumbs the depths of humanity's disordered nature and then rises to the heights of praise and glory about God.

We are working our way through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, observing how he interweaves his experiential theological vision with prayer. Through a unique, revelatory encounter with the risen Lord, Paul’s understanding of the New Covenant, prophesied throughout the Prophetic writings, was radically transformed. Paul’s inexhaustible theological vision, provoked by an encounter with the risen Lord, has become doxology, an overflowing river of prayer. It is in this light, he exhorts us to pray. This first chapter of Ephesians is multi-dimensional and gives us the foundation of Apostolic Prayer. What do I mean? Paul was not unconcerned about praying for the personal needs of others. That being said, every personal petition is rooted in his experiential understanding of the mission of Christ, the Father sending the Son to displace the reign of sin and death, along with spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Adam’s sin unleashed the disease of mortality into the cosmos. Christ, the second Adam, th

In summary, Christ's Kingdom (politics) is not of/from this world but is for this world. Thy Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. We see the historic divisions in the Church and in the world. This longing for wholeness, unity, integrity is found in the person of Christ, the fully integrated human being. Paul, under house arrest is enthralled with the grandeur of God. He, thus, illustrates how to transcend one's circumstances in the practices of prayer and contemplation. His theology has become doxology.

Ephesians has a lot to say about the current racial concerns we face. Amid the many critical race theories, the apostolic Gospel sets forth the reality of a new creation in Jesus Christ. In the risen Lord Jesus, all things have become new. Out of one human race, the nations are to show forth the beauty of holiness, under one Sovereign, the Lord Jesus Christ. Humanity has been chosen and restored in Christ to become God's new people, the Church, the body of Christ. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation. In our brokenness, we have too often witnessed and ministered a so-called gospel that does not transform, reconcile, and heal. The book of Ephesians brings us back to the deep implications of Christ and the world. Christ as the new humanity, in the fullness of time, bring all things, things in heaven and on earth, into full alignment to the Father's plan and purpose. Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:10f., that through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers

The Cruciform & Eucharistic Shape Of Love - Deacon Aaron Williams 06.29.20 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

One Human Race of Reconciled Nations - Eph. 2.11f Fr. Michael Flowers 06.21.20 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

Psalm 11 In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain, 2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; 3 if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” 4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. 5 The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. 6 Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. 7 For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. __________________________________ 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in y

Trinity Sunday - Deacon Aaron Williams by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

Deacon Aaron sums up the whole of St. Aidan's Catechism.

God's Integrated Cosmos - The Feast of Pentecost - Fr. Michael Flowers 5-31-20 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

26. Life In Christ - Love Your Neighbor - St. Aidan's Catechism - Deacon Aaron Williams by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

God Has Gone Up with a Shout - Psalm 47 - Fr. Michael Flowers by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

25. The Great Commandment and the First Table of the Law - St. Aidan's Catechism - Bill Baldwin by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

Rogation Sunday - Pruning in a time of Plague - Deacon Aaron Williams_bip by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

During the massive shift of life during a global pandemic, the Church is the light of the world, a royal priesthood, interceding on behalf of the whole world. Because Jesus Christ has died, risen and ascended as Lord of all creation, seen and unseen, his body is the hands, the feet in which he moves. The cry of the Church to the world is come and see what God has done in Jesus Christ. We bear the Gospel of Christ, the hope of the world unto salvation. The Gospel is a reality check or it's not the Gospel. Christ holds all things together by the Word of His Power. This is our God!

24. Introduction To Life In Christ - St. Aidan's Catechism - Deacon Aaron Williams by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

23. Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading) - St. Aidan's Catechism - Deacon Aaron Williams by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC