First Sunday in Advent, November 28th, 2021

 First Sunday in Advent, November 28th, 2021

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Reading these words might seem a little confusing to many folks.  I mean we just got done celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas is not even here yet.  And here you are talking about the "New Year"?    Huh?  Well, liturgically speaking it is a brand-new year when we celebrate the First Sunday in Advent.  So with that being said, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Advent is the period of time leading up to Christmas.  It truly provides us with a wonderful opportunity to not only look forward to the coming of the Christ Child on Christmas but also allows us to contemplate Our Blessed Lord's Second Coming when He will come once again as the glorious Messiah!  Unfortunately, most of the world chooses to get caught up in the celebration of Christmas before Christmas even arrives.  We spend our time decorating our homes and our yards.  We go shopping so that we can buy the latest, greatest gifts available.  We get ready for our Christmas parties.  We put on the Chirstmas music.  And all of these things are wonderful and we all love them but we have to remember the real reason for the season.  We have to remember theat God gave to the world the greatest gift we could ever hope to receive.  God gave us the gift of His Son on that wonderful first Christmas morn.  And Advent is the time for us to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Messiah born so long ago in Bethlehem and Who will come once again to reclain what belongs to Him.  So during this Advent season which leads up to Christmas, make a point to take time out of your busy schedules to prepare your hearts.  Take time during this holiday season to prepare your heart for the coming of the Messiah.  Time some time during these coming weeks to prepare a wonderful gift for God.  Give Him the gift of yourself.  Give Him your heart.   

St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life.

Sunday Next before Advent, November 21st, 2021

 Sunday Next before Advent, November 21st, 2021

In the Twenty-Third Chapter of the Old Testament Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, we hear the following:  "BEHOLD, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth"  (Jeremiah 23:5)  We should take comfort in these words because we are assured that God will take care of His people.  We are told that God will send forth a King Who shall establish "justice in the earth."  We already know who this King is, dear friends, it is Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  It is He Who will save His people.  He has saved His children from the ravages of sin through His Atonement on the Cross.  He defeated death through dying on that same Cross and being laid in the tomb and then rising to new life on that first, glorious Easter morn!  We should keep in mind these facts.  So often do we dwell on the problems which life seems to throw at us.  So often do we only concentrate on the negative things we see around us.  It is understandable, humanly speaking, to be concerned with these things but we always have to remind ourselves that Our Glorious King has defeated death itself and promises us eternal life.  But first we must trust Him.  We must make Him our top priority.  We must make Him the King of our Hearts.  Thanksgiving will soon be here, dear friends.  Let us be thankful for all of our blessings which God provides to each and everyone of us.  But let us also thank God for the blessing of Salvation which He freely offers to each and everyone of us.  And let us take this opportunity to pledge our lives to God and make Him the true Ruler of our heart.  

St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life.

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, November 14th, 2021

 Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, November 14th, 2021

When you go shopping are there certain brand-names that you trust?  When you see a certain company's name on a product, does it automatically register "quality" in your mind?  Or on the other hand, when you see a certain product name, do you avoid it at all costs?  Very often this trust . . .  or dis-trust, for that matter .. .  comes from experience, doesn't it?  In other words, if we get whatever brand of laundry detergent and we use it a few times and our clothes look bright and appear brand new after a wash.  Or they smell fresh like spring.  Well, if this experience continues to be the case for us each time we buy that product, for us that brand is a "winner."  On the other hand, if we buy  a product at the store and it turns out to be lousy or does not meet our expectations, our faith in that product will be lacking and we likely won't buy that brand any time soon.  Again, in either case, whether we like a product or whether we do not like a product, more than likely both are based on our experience of that product.  The same can be true of going to a restaurant.  If we had a good experience  . . . . the food was good . . . the service was excellent . .  . the price was not over-whelming . . .  then, by all means, our opinion of that establishment will be high.  Conversely, our  opinion of that same establishment will be lacking if the food was lousy or the service was poor, for example.  So, very often our faith in a product, or lack of faith in a product, is based on experience.   Or it could be based on the experience of others, quite frankly.  If one of our friends or coworkers tells us that a certain restaurant was horrible, we probably will be hesitant to go there any time soon.  But if that same person that you trust tells you that a restaurant is simply wonderful, you will probably make a point to eat there yourself.

St. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Colossians:  ". . . . since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus " (Colossians 1:3 ff)   Very often we learn about God from other people: our parents; our grandparents; etc.  As children, our parents perhaps take us to church or we go to Sunday School or we might go to Vacation Bible School in the summer months.  As we grow, we still are influenced by what we hear and see about God coming from others around us, but as we grow spiritually, we need to experience our own "faith" in God.  You see, our faith life is very much like a journey that we travel on.  Sometimes the road is very easy.  Other times it might be rough or rocky.  Sometimes there are a twists and turns that we were not expecting.  Often, our journey does not match up with our expectations or what we were planning on.  Faith, though, in God is something completely different.  We know that we can depend on God.  We know that He will never leave us.   But again faith comes mainly from experience but first we have to "experience" God ourselves.  So many people give up on God because their experience of Him is lacking.  They have no faith because they have not seen Him.  But it could be that they have not seen Him because they were not really looking to begin with.   Let us tell people about God by the way in which we live our life.  Let us tell people about God by the way in which we treat others around us with love and compassion.  Let people see the "faith" in us by always staying constant, by always being sure no matter what befalls us.  Let people know about your faith in God by letting them see the life you lead and the attitude you have.

St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life.

Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity, November 7th, 2021

 Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity, November 7th 2021

In the Third Chapter of his Epistle to the Philippians, St. Paul reminds us that our true citizenship is not here on earth.  St Paul writes important words for each one of us to ponder:  "For our citizenship is in heaven" (3:17 ff)  For the Christian, this is always important for us to make note of.  It is easy enough for us to forget sometimes, if you ask me.  Why do I say that?  We have a tendency as human beings to focus on the "here and now."  In other words, we focus on what is affecting us right here and right now.  If a bill is due right away, we focus on that specific bill and leave the others for later.  If we have a particular report due tomorrow at our job, we take care of that report now and leave the report that is due next week for   later.  We may need to paint the bathroom but first we need to take care of the broken faucet in the kitchen,  etc.  In a general sense, we human beings  focus on the things of the world:  satisfying our desires; paying the bills; putting a roof over our head; etc.  And all of these things are perfectly understandable but St. Paul is giving us a good reminder that while, yes, we are human beings and we have to focus on the "here and now" of this life, we also have to take care of our other citizenship as Christians.  As mentioned above, so often we go from project to project just trying to take care of what needs to be taken care of immediately or what needs to be done now.   When it comes to being a Christian, though, this can not wait.  Being a Christian takes effort.  Being a Christian takes patience.  Being a Christian takes practice.  " . . .  our citizenship is in Heaven," St. Paul reminds us.  And, as such, we need to see the world and approach the world through the eyes of Christ.  This is difficult at times because the human side of us wants to only focus on "us:"  my needs . . .  my desires . . . . my wants . . . .  Even in dealing with others, we want things our way.  And yet if we are to be true, committed, devout, practicing Christians, it is not our will that needs to be done, it is the will of Our Heavenly Father that must take priority:  "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."   We must always remember that we are dual citizens . . .   of earth and of Heaven . . . . but our first allegiance is to God as Christians.  This is easy for us to remember when we are in church on Sundays but it is sometimes easy to forget when we are out in the "world," at our jobs, at the store, stuck in traffic, etc.   Thus, we need to remember the words of St. Paul:  "For our citizenship is in heaven . .  ."  We need to remember those words when we get stressed about the faucet breaking the kitchen.  We need to remember those words when our boss tells us at the last minute a report was due . . .  five minutes ago!   We need to remember those words when the whole world seems to be crashing down around us and everyone is getting on our nerves.  "For our citizenship is in heaven . . .. "

Make a point to join us on Sunday morning.  If you are local, make a point to come worship with us in-person.  If it is too far to joint us, make a point to watch Fr. Todd's sermon which is posted online each and every Sunday.  Make a point to dedicate your day to God.  Every single one of us is busy and we lead busy lives, but make a point to include God in your daily schedule.  Please do not let the "busy-ness" of this life divert you from God.

St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life.