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

Today is the first Sunday of Lent, an annual contemplation of Christ, the Word, in the Wilderness. Jesus illustrates for us the way of humble submission as he's challenged by Satan to go the way of worldly glory. Jesus stays on mission and demonstrates what kind of Messiah he would be. On his way to the Cross and resurrection, for us and for our salvation, Christ bound Satan in the wilderness, thus showing us how to overcome, in communion with him. [Ivanka Demchuk, Iconographer, Lviv, Ukraine] Title of series borrowed from the Lenten book of poetry by Malcolm Guite. See Malcolm's blog of poetry: https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/blog/

Love your enemies ... Luke 6:27-38 The liturgical cycle, this seventh Sunday after the Epiphany is taking us somewhere. We’re moving closer and closer to Holy Week, culminating in the most outrageous act of God ever displayed, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. In this event, the resurrection of Christ, all things are becoming new, restored to the purity of their origins, conformed to the image of the crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Since last week, the Gospel readings feature perhaps the heart of Jesus’ teaching. It’s famously called, in Luke’s version, the sermon on the plain, Luke’s account of Matthew’s version, the Sermon on the Mount. Today’s passage begins with a deeply challenging and perhaps, even disturbing command to love one’s enemies, 6:27 & 35. Challenging and perhaps disturbing because it identifies our human frailty. Let’s just say, it’s hard. It’s hard because of our need to daily take up our cross, discerning where my will and God’s will cross. This entire Gospel s

This homily considers our vision and mission - to help each other become fully alive in Jesus Christ. Luke 6:12f.

Our Guest Speaker, William Coker, is a Nazarene Pastor. He is a member of the Order of Mission, an Anglican Order, focused on spiritual formation. Bill is a doctoral student at Nazarene Theological Seminary in the Spiritual Formation and Discipleship Program.

The Scriptures for this message are Jeremiah 1; Psalm 71; Luke 4, Ephesians 1. We look into the eternal realm where we were known, called and consecrated before birth. We consider the ministry of Jeremiah who was called in his youth. May we foster homes of divine attachment, bringing our children along into God's Kingdom purposes for their lives.

Luke 4:14-21 describes the initial days of Jesus' ministry, straight out of forty days of overcoming Satan in the wilderness. His first recorded sermon in Nazareth is prophetic such that the crowd attempted to kill him. He's confronting his own people's exclusivity expressed in nationalism. He points to both Elijah and Elisha and their ministry to Gentiles. He's expanding the Kingdom of God to the whole world. His take on the "acceptable year of the Lord," wasn't acceptable to them. Ponder this message and mission of Jesus. He's quoting and personalizing Isaiah 61 and he fulfills it through his Church.

Today, we come to the beginning of Christ’s ministry, shortly after his water baptism, wherein he performs his first sign. John’s Gospel never mentions the word ‘miracle’ for the supernatural acts. He, rather, calls them signs, acts which point to something beyond themselves. It appears that John intends to underscore the symbolic nature of this first sign. He’s stressing that the first sign of Jesus is intentional and wraps up the whole intention of his mission. God intends to marry us. Our end is a divine union between Christ and His Church. In this first sign of Jesus, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is in view.

Luke 3:21f. When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you, I am well pleased.” New Creation Ministry Begins!

Dr. Bernard Franklin, Vice President of Student Affairs at Mount St. Mary's University, Emmitsburg, Maryland, weaves his personal story of healing in the practice of silence within the story of the Magi.

Christ became like us, one of us, a human being, so that we could become like Him, fully human, fully alive. The Word became flesh so that He could become flesh in us ... Christ in you, the hope of Glory (Col. 1:27). Because we are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father (Gal. 4:6). God is at work in you both the will and to do according to his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). The Grace of God has appeared in person! Titus 2:11-14 says, "11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." Grace begets holiness, freedom from controlling habits, and intimacy with

Luke 1:39-55, Advent 4, Year C: Homily Today is the beginning of our salvation; today the mystery hidden from all eternity is revealed. This happens when Gabriel proclaims the Good News to Mary, and when she, in turn, says, “Let it be!” When this happens, the eternal Son of God, the Word, becomes the Son of Man, the Word made flesh. The Prologue of John’s Gospel makes plain what Gabriel is doing in Luke. John takes us back to the first creation and tells us that the Son, the second person of the Trinity, the divine Word, is the agent of creation. Through him, all things were made. This is the One coming into the world. This is the One spoke the world into existence; and now, Gabriel is carrying out the same means. Gabriel speaks a divine Word and Mary responds with the same phrase, “Let it be, … according to your word.” Who is this woman? In this divine moment, Mary becomes the spouse of the Holy Spirit by her open posture, using the same words in the creation account in Genesis, let it be. As God the W

The Collect of the Day Third Sunday of Advent Collect: 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 Word of the Lord came to John, a voice crying in the wilderness. John is the voice and Jesus is the Word. The whole theme of the second Sunday of Advent is Repentance and Transformation, a call to make straight paths for the Lord. In listening prayer, we learn to discern and level the mountains of pride and build up the lowly places, the valleys of despair and discouragement. We're getting ready for all flesh to see the salvation of God. People get ready, Jesus is coming.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to be vigilant. It sets the tone for today, the first Sunday of Advent, the great liturgical season of vigilance, of waiting and watching in Word and Prayer. Vigilance describes the action or state of keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties. It comes from the word vigil, a period of keeping awake during the time usually spent asleep, especially to keep watch or pray, such as the Great Vigil of Easter. The eve, the evening before a feast day, is called a vigil, such as Christmas Eve. The secular calendar considers Christmas Eve as merely the day before Christmas whereas the liturgical calendar considers it a vigil, a call to keep awake throughout the night, in worship and prayer. To be vigilant is a posture of alertness, to be awake when others may, culturally or spiritually speaking, are asleep (let the hearer understand). The season of Advent calls us to wake up from any area of our lives given over to deadening practices and attitudes, as to

Sermon Notes: Daniel 12; Hebrews 10; Mark 13:11f. Today we enter back into the lectionary readings in preparation for Advent, a four-week journey of retracing our steps with the people of God across time and space. In this season, we celebrate the breaking down of the walls of division between Jew and Gentile and affirm that we as gentiles have been graciously and wondrously GRAFTED into the vine, brought out of Egypt, to fill the land (Ps 80:8), the whole earth, with the transforming presence of the Kingdom of God, on earth as it is in heaven. The tone is apocalyptic, the same tone we hear in the first Sunday of Advent as we contemplate the end of the world as we know it. The term 'apocalyptic is taken from the Greek word, found in Revelation 1:1, that means a 'revelation, an 'unveiling or 'uncovering. It is currently used to classify a group of writings prominent in the biblical world between 200 b.c. and 100 a.d. 'a genre of literature illustrated in our Old Testament reading, the book of Daniel and

In 325 AD, bishops, priests and deacons came from east and west to form the first of seven ecumenical councils, the Council of Nicaea, to meet around the specific need to discipline the false teaching of Arius, an extremely popular Priest, who insisted that Christ was a created being, not homousious – of the same eternal being with the Father (homoiousious - of a similar being). Though a presbyter, his influence was akin to a modern day “super-apostle”, for a majority network of churches gathered around his teaching. And he was extremely charismatic … incorporating this new revelation about Jesus and the Church; he also was a composer, creating loads of new worship material … applying much of his thinking into song with lyrics such as there was a time when he was not. For Arius, the pre-incarnate LOGOS was semidivine, created not eternally begotten, of one being with the Father. Let's go with John 1 and put Arius to rest: In the beginning was the Word (Logos) and the Word was with God and the Word WAS GOD

The word catholic was first used by St. Ignatius of Antioch in the 2nd C. as an adjective to describe the multiple Christian congregations, all professing and practicing the same faith as handed down from the Apostles, recognizable from city to city, province to province and continent to continent. Each congregation had the same hierarchical structure (bishop, presbyter, deacon) and practiced the same sacraments and believed the same essential doctrines – one body and one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. He calls this phenomenon the catholic Church. You can read his letters, written around 107, in the collection called the Apostolic Fathers. Ignatius [fire bearer] was the 3rd Bishop of Antioch in the Roman province of Syria, a successor of Peter. As Anglicans, our understanding of the word catholic reaches back to St. Ignatius. Western Christians were not called Roman Catholics the first 1000 years. This is why we say we are catholic but not Roman. So, what d

The Collect of the Day: Proper 25 Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen Isaiah 59:(1-4)9-19 ( See, the LORD's hand is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. Rather, your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness. No one brings suit justly, no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, conceiving mischief and begetting iniquity. ) Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us; we wait for light, and lo! there is darkness; and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope like the blind along a wall, gropin

Part 2 of the Four Marks of the Church in the Nicene Creed discusses how the Church is holy. The key passages used are I Peter 1:13-2:10 sounding a call to holiness out of our powerful baptismal identity as a kingdom of priests. The Church is holy because God is holy and the Holy One indwells his people. Out of this gift of God's holy presence, we are called to conduct our lives in holiness ... to reflect God's Holy Kingdom. The Church not only is called to pursue holiness, but to be a sanctifying agent in the world, in worship and witness. Icon by Ivanka Demchuk, Ukrainian Iconographer and modern artist.

Bishop Stewart Ruch oversees the Anglican Diocese of the Upper Midwest. St. Aidan's KC is a founding member of the diocese. Bishop Stewart shares from Romans 8:1-13 on living in the power of the Holy Spirit as a means of crucifying the life of the flesh in Adam. In Christ, all things have become new. The Sacrament of Confirmation follows.