Trinity Sunday, May 27th, 2018

Trinity Sunday, May 27th, 2018

The Third Chapter of St. John's Gospel begins with Our Lord discussing faith with Nicodemus.  As we read through this discussion presented by St. John, we soon discover that Our Lord is having a difficult time making Nicodemus understand the concept behind being "born again."  As you know Our Lord says exactly what He means.  He doesn't beat around the bush.  Now I want to point out that this is true not only with His words but also by His actions.  So Our Lord tells Nicodemus that a man must be born again in order to see Heaven.  To this, Nicodemus replies:  "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?"  (v. 9)  At this question Our Lord gives a sharp reply to Nicodemus.  He says:  "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?"  (v. 10)  Now Our Lord really gets to the point of the matter when He gives the next example to Nicodemus.  "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."  Here, Our Lord speaks about the example of the "serpent in the wilderness" found in the Old Testament book of Numbers, Chapter 2.  If you read through that section, you will find that Moses was leading the people through the wilderness.  But as they were going along they started complaining and moaning about their troubles.  (I can't imagine people actually complaining and moaning about their troubles, can you?)   In fact, the people began to even question why they ever left Egypt in the first place.  It says that a plague of deadly, fiery serpents was sent as a punishment for the people complaining.  And as the people cried for mercy, God instructed Moses to fashion a bronze serpent which He told Moses to hold up before the people.  And as the people looked at the bronze serpent, they were healed.  Our Lord is describing Himself when He brings up this example.  In other words, He is instructing us to look up to Him for our healing.  He wants us to look up to Him to see the example of perfect love.  This is the image of Our Blessed Saviour hanging of the Cross for no other reason than to save us from our sins.  We should all think of Our Lord hanging on the Cross because it illustrates how much He loved you and how much He loved me.  He loved us so much that He was willing to die for us up on that Cross.  And all who look to Jesus will never be disappointed.  All who look to Him will never be turned away.  Our Lord also ascended to Heaven with the hopes that we will join Him in Heaven.  Through the Cross, He did away with our sins.  And through His Ascension, He went to prepare a place for us.   Always look to Jesus and gaze upon Him.  He is the only true satisfaction in this life.  So often we look to other things to satisfy us . .  . to save us . . . . whether they be drink or drugs, . . . . money or riches,  . .. . titles or position, . . .  Everything in life ultimately fades away except the love of God.  With God all things are possible.   We just have to look up to Our Blessed Saviour.

St. Margaret of Scotland  Church worships every Sunday morning at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located on the Northwest side of Indianapolis at 8140 N. Township line Road.  Mass begins at 9:30 AM.  Come join us for traditional worship.  We use the King James Bible along with the Anglican Missal and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  We gather together to join as God's family to listen to His Word and worship Him and receive Him in His Precious Body and Blood.  Please join us for Mass and then stay with us afterward for our delicious Coffee Hour.

Whitsunday (Pentecost), May 20th, 2018

Whitsunday (Pentecost), May 20th, 2018

In the world in which we live . . .  if you want my opinion . . .  it's understandable if a person is scared.   I mean just look at all the things to be scared of.   All you have to do is turn on the nightly news and see a whole host of things that will terrify you:  school massacres . . . . drive-by shootings . . . . wars and threats of wars  . . . .  erupting volcanoes . . . . . These are just things which I saw featured on the news this week.  The news itself does a good job of scaring us, though, I have to admit.  The media focuses on negative things to begin with.  They report on murders, car wrecks, robberies, factories closing down, etc.  But then when you factor in the news being on for hours and hours during the day, the result is that you keep seeing the same scary news over and over and over and over  again . . .  . It's almost as if the "fear" is pounded into your head over and over again by the news media.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I am not saying that there are not things to be scared of or concerned about.  Oh, by all means, yes there are.  What I am pointing out is that by courtesy of the Internet, by courtesy of the news media, we are allowed to dwell on our fears twenty-four hours a day.  In my opinion, you can't watch the news without getting at least a little depressed.  

Perhaps this is the precise reason Our Blessed Lord said what He said.  If we look at the Fourteenth Chapter of the Gospel of St. John, we hear Our Lord say:  "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  In fact, let's look at the whole verse:  "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  (St. John 14:27)   In this verse Our Blessed Saviour makes a point to specify that it is "His peace" that He is giving us.  He is differentiating between His peace that He is giving and the the peace that the world gives.  The peace that the world "gives" is anything but peaceful.  The world gives us doubt.  The world gives us fear.  The world imparts jealousy and hatred.  We always have worries at the back of our mind about a whole host of things.  We are scared . . . .  sometimes rightly scared and sometimes not . . .  but still scared, nonetheless.  

But throughout all of these anxieties and fears and worries and concerns, the Lord is the cure to our concerns.  He is the sure foundation that we need in our life.  He is the One  . . . . the only One  . . . . Who can offer true peace and security of mind.  "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  God will always be with us, no matter what.  God will always be there for us, in good times and bad.  God will never forsake us.  God will never leave us.  God is ever faithful to His promise even when we are not.  Our Blessed Lord promised that when He left this world, He would send us the Holy Ghost to comfort us, to strengthen us, to fortify us.   "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."  (St. John 14:26)  We have to keep in mind as well that the Holy Ghost is known as the "Comforter" but that name is misleading in our modern day English language because it almost describes something very "comfortable" such as a nice comfy pillow, for example.  Actually, the translation would be more accurate as "Strengthen" or "Strength."  Our Lord is sending us the Holy Ghost to strengthen us.  Either way, let us be assured of one thing:  God is always there for us and we should not be afraid of anything this old world can throw at us.  

St. Margaret Church meets each and every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM.  We worship at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  We use the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Come join us as we listen to God speak to us through His Word.  At Communion time, we receive the Precious Body and Blood of Christ to nourish us and give us strength for our journey called life. 

Sunday after Ascension / Mothers Day, May 13, 2018

Sunday after Ascension, May 13th, 2018

(Mothers Day)

I've been seeing a lot of video's online lately in regards to animal mothers protecting their babies.   Whether it be cats, dogs, bears, birds, etc.  It is always fascinating to see what a mom will do to protect and support her children.  As the secular "Mother's Day" is set to celebrated tomorrow, I can not help to think of my own mother who did so much to support me, protect me and give me life.  When you think about it in those terms, I have often thought that mothers probably most closely resemble God, more than anything here on earth.  "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another,"  (I St. Peter 4:10)   

First and foremost, our mother gives us life.  Without them, we would not be here.  If it were not for my mother, I would not be here right now writing this short essay.  If it were not for your mother, you would not be sitting there reading this short essay.  It is the mothers of this world that bring the next generation into the world.  And it has been like that since the time of Adam and Eve.  "God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, . . . " (Genesis 1:27-28)  So in this light, mothers are helping, whether they know it or not, to carry on the commandment God gave originally to Adam and Eve and all the subsequent generations since then.  The bottom line is without our mother, we would not have life.  So, too, with God.  Without Him we would not have life.   

My own mother, God rest her.  As I was growing up I remember seeing her make sacrifices for me so that I could have things.  In other words, very often I would see my mother do without, so that I could have things that I needed.  She sacrificed and did without so that she would make sure that I didn't have to go without.  The question is why would mothers do this?  Why would a mother gladly go without so that her child could have something?  The obvious answer is love.  Mothers make sacrifices, small and large, our of love for their children.  So, too, did Our Blessed Saviour make sacrifice for us.  First, we could say that He made the sacrifice of leaving His throne in Heaven in order to become a human being like us.  "But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross." (Philippians 2:7-8)  Our Blessed Lord sacrificed His life for our benefit.  Our mothers endure what they do for us out of love.  Our Blessed Lord endured what He did on our behalf out of love.  

While my mother was still alive, I would see her.  I would spend time with her.  I would do things for her.  But could I have done more for her than I did?  Absolutely.  But unfortunately "life" got in the way.  In other words, my own career kept me busy.  Maintaining my own house and family took up time.  Shopping and running errands took up time.  And before you know it, time gets away from you and you wonder where it went to.  "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." (Exodus 20:12)  We honour our parents by doing things for them, yes, but we also honour them with our time.  In other words, spend time with your parents.  But we are also called to honour God as well, aren't we?  And similar to what I described above, very often we do not find the time to honour God as we should because "life" gets in the way:  going to work; running errands; focusing on doing what WE want to do.  Typically we usually go to God in emergency situations . . .  when we NEED Him.  Honour God by spending time with Him in prayer . . . . in reading of Scripture . . . . by going to church . . .  by helping others.  

The bottom line is that mothers are amazing creatures.  Whether the mother is a cat or a dog or a bear or a bird or a  human being, mothers give life to their children; they nurture their children; they sacrifice for their children.  In this way, mothers emulate God and what He does for us:  He gives us life; He nurtures us; He sacrificed His own Son for us.  And just as we are called honour our mothers, we are also called to honour God and to bless God and to thank God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us.  If your mother is still with you, make a point to thank her and let her know how grateful you are for everything she has done for you.  And if your mother is not around, thank God for your mother.  And while you are at it, thank the Good Lord above for all the blessings He has bestowed upon you.  Thank Him for the life He has given you and thank Him for the blessings He has given you throughout your lifetime.  

Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as we join together as God's family and worship Our Heavenly Father.  Join us as we come to the altar to be fed the Precious Body and Blood at Communion time.  And, finally, please stay after Mass for some fellowship at our coffee hour.  St. Margaret Anglican Church worships at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Mass begins at 9:30 AM.

Fifth Sunday after Easter, May 6th, 2018

Fifth Sunday after Easter, Sunday, May 6th, 2018

St. James tells us:  ".BE ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." (St. James 1:22)   For a Christian, this sounds like pretty good advice:  " . . . . be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only . . . ."  But this Epistle of St. James has caused some controversy over the years for some Christian thinkers such as Martin Luther, for example, because they contended that St. James was proposing that we can earn our way into Heaven by what we do.   Now, without a doubt, there have been various individuals over the centuries who have tried to "buy their way" into Heaven.   But I contend what we hear from this verse ".  . . . be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only . .  ."  is just good old  fashioned common sense, if you ask me.  I say this because, sadly, each one of us can think of a person who is "nothing but mouth."  In other words, we probably each know someone who talks about being a Christian but they  do not particularly live as a Christian.  There are a lot of people who could explain the Christian faith and they could go on and on and on about it, but the really important question is:  Can they live the Christian faith and not just talk about it?  "Be ye doers of the word . . . ."  I think his is probably one of the biggest reasons why Our Blessed Lord came to earth as a human being, so that we could see Him in action.  Sure, God could have just simply spoken to us about being a Christian and left it at that.  But Our Lord chose to become a human being so that He could show us how it is to actually live as a Christian.  While Our Lord was with us He worked; He ate;  He traveled; He conversed and spoke and preached;  . . .  etc.  Our Blessed Saviour not only taught about God by His words but He lived His life for His Heavenly Father.  Our Lord was a wonderful teacher and taught the faith wonderfully . . . . but He backed up His teaching by the way in which He lived His life.  This is what we are called to do:  Live our life for God.  Do what God wants us to do.   None of us are perfect and we will make mistakes.  God already realizes this.  This is why He sent His Son into the world.  We are called to live our life for God and the evidence is shown in the way in which we life our life; in the ways in which we treat others;  in what we do for one another:    " . . . .  be ye doers of the word  . . . . ."

Join us for Mass on Sunday, May 6th, 2018 as we gather together as God's family to hear the Word of God and to worship Our Blessed Lord.  St.Margaret of Scotland Church worships each Sunday morning at 9:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.