Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr, December 26th, 2021

 Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr, December 26th, 2021

"STEPHEN, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, . . . . . ." (Acts 7:55)

In the Seventh Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, we hear the telling of when St. Stephen was martyred for the faith.  Prior to his martyrdom we read what St. Stephen saw.  He saw "the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God" (v.55)  What a wonderful image to behold.  I would dare say that we could each have this image if we simply put the effort into looking.  Our problem is that we do not take the time to look . . .  we do not take the time to see . . . . This is because we keep ourselves busy looking for everything else that we want . . . that we need . . .  that we desire . . .  We spend our time looking for things of the world, for worldly possessions, instead of fixing our eyes upon heavenly things.  Have you ever had the experience of looking for something and could not find it?  And you looked and looked and looked for the object.  And then suddenly you see it and the object you were looking for was right there all along, right where you were looking but you didn't see it.  God is all around us but we simply have to look for Him.  We have to make a point of looking for Him.  During this Christmas season, let us be like St. Stephen and look stedfastly into heaven so that we will see Heavenly things instead of constantly looking towards the world and only seeing worldy things!

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.

Fourth Sunday in Advent, December 19th, 2021

 Fourth Sunday in Advent, December 19th, 2021

"REJOICE in the Lord always . . . " (Philippians 4:4)

Have you ever tried to do something "non-stop"?  In other words, you kept doing the same thing over and over and over.  It's gets tiring after a while, doesn't it?  And when we keep doing the same task over and over again, we get worn out from doing whatever we are doing.  Whether it's always working on the same report over and over again or always working without any days off.  Whether it's always fixing the same thing over and over and over again.  And yet St. Paul is telling the Philippians to "Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS!"  As human beings, we rejoice when we are happy.  When our favorite sports team scores late in a game and wins, we rejoice.  When we are with good friends that we haven't seen for a while, we rejoice.  We rejoice when we get a raise at work.  We rejoice when a project gets completed.  We rejoice at many times over many things, don't we?  And yet most people don't constantly rejoice, do they?   Sometimes our favorite sports team doesn't win the game or the season, for that matter.  I know . . . I'm a Cubs fan . . . . Sometimes we get overwhelmed at work.  Sometimes we get bad news.  Sometimes we get angry.  Do we rejoice in these situations?  No.  And yet St. Paul reminds the Philippians  . . .  and reminds us as well . . . . to "Rejoice in the Lord always!"  The key is to set our mind to rejoicing no matter what.  The key is to remind ourselves that life is sometimes good . . . . sometimes it's bad.  Sometimes we are healthy, other times we get sick.   Sometimes we get a raise at work.  But some times we get laid off from a job.  Again, life is not one constant, straight path where nothing ever changes and always stays the same.  If it was that way, it seems to me that it would be somewhat boring.  Sometimes things get difficult in life.  But if we remind ourselves that God is always with us, even in the bad times, then we can rejoice.   Even in the times that things seem the darkest, as long as we keep our minds focused on God, we know that we will get through whatever faces us.  God loves us more than we will ever know.   How do I know this, you ask?  I know it because He sent His only begotten Son into the world to save us from our sins.  He sent His Son into the world to walk among us, to be with us, to eat with us, to talk with us, to witness our good times and our bad times.  God knows that life is not always easy for us.  And yet Our Blessed Lord is always with us . . .  in the good times and the bad.  And we are called to always rejoice in that fact.  As we are on the doorstep of Christmas on this Fourth Sunday of Advent, let us not get overwhelmed by life, but rather let us rejoice that God sent His Son into the world to be with us always.  Let us remember that God is with us when we are on the mountain top but He is also with us when we are far down in the valley.  Let us rejoice that God is always with us.

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.

Mass will also be celebrated Christmas Day, December 25th, at 10:30 AM in the Chapel.

Third Sunday in Advent, December 12th, 2021

 Third Sunday in Advent, December 12th, 2021

For the Third Sunday of Advent, we hear Our Blessed Saviour speaking the praises of His cousin St. John the Baptist:  "What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, `See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' " (St. Matthew 11:2 ff)  In this passage, Our Blessed Saviour is quoting Scripture from the Book of Malachi:  "Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: And the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple." (Malachi 3:1)   Two things for us to ponder in regards to these Scripture verses:  Number one, in God, we have such a loving Father that He was not just content to create us and then leave us alone.  No, He loved His creation so much that He not only created us, but He became one of us.  He became a Human Being.  " . .  . and the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple . . ."  The Lord did come to His temple . . . . He came to the world as a little innocent child, Who was the Saviour of the world.  Elsewhere, we read:  "And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people"  (Leviticus 26:12)  Our Blessed Saviour has indeed walked among us . . . He is Our God and we are His people.

The second thing for us to always consider is that Our Blessed Saviour desires our assistance.  Let me emphasize, He does not require our assistance, rather, He welcomes our assistance.  He created the universe and He created each one of us.  Anyone that powerful does not need my help and, yet, He desires my help.  `See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'  Like St. John the Baptist . . . like St. Mary . . . like St. Joseph . . .  each one of us are called to prepare the way of the Lord.  We prepare the way of the Lord for others to find God, but we also prepare the way of the Lord to our own hearts.  This is what the holy season of Advent is all about:  to prepare a place for the Christ Child in our hearts.

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.

Second Sunday in Advent, December 5th, 2021

 Second Sunday in Advent, December 5th, 2021

It is always amazing to me how things can go in and out of style.  This is certainly true in the world of fashion but this could also apply to fads and gimmicks . .. popular gifts at Christmas time . . . . popular restaurants . . .  products at your local market.  The list could go on and on and every single one of us could name some item, for example, which was extremely popular way back when but is not really popular now or has disappeared completely, for that matter.  This is because the world is fickle.  We human beings are fickle.  We never seem to be satisfied in one way or another.  We get tired of this particular tiem and we decide to replace it with another item.  Something becomes old-fashioned or out-of-date and so we replace it with something newer or something up-to-date.  Again, it could be popular fashion trends,  . . . . popular stores or restaurants,  . . . . trendy fads or gimmicks, . . .  everything we can think of will eventually go out of style or usefulness, it seems.  

Nothing in this world of ours is lasting.  It either wears out or goes out of fashion.  It either breaks down or becomes obsolete.  Nothing in this world lasts forever.  This is why we need to look beyond this ol' world of ours if we want something that will last forever . . .  for an eternity.  We need to look upward with our gaze fixed on Heaven if we want something ever-lasting.  In the Twenty-First Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we hear Our Blessed Lord state:  " . . . . Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away"  Our Lord's love will never pass awy.  Our Lord's words will never pass away.  Our Lord's faitfulness and committment to us will never pass away.  Even though we are not always faithul to God, He is always faithful to us.  His love is stedfast.  This Advent season keep your eyes fixed upward.  Keep focusing on Jesus.  He will never leave us.  His words will never pass away.  He will always stay faithful to us.

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.