Third Sunday after Trinity, June 25th, 2023

 Third Sunday after Trinity, June 25th, 2023

I am sure that you have lost something at some point . . . or misplaced something . . . that you were looking for and you can not find it.  Or you organize things or do a good cleaning and afterwards you suddenly do not know where something is that you need.  If this happens, what do you do?  Of course, you search high and low until you find what you are looking for.  I can only speak for myself but not being able to find something that you are looking for is one of the most frustrating things in life.  We search for things that we need.  We search for things that are important to us.  We search for things that we need to find.  We place time and effort into searching for something that we either need or is important to us.    In the Fifteenth Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we hear Our Lord speaking to the publicans and sinners.   But as He is speaking, St. Luke lets us know that the Pharisees and scribes started talking among themselves that Our Lord "receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." (St. Luke 15:2)  Our Lord noticed the objection that they were making and responded by telling a parable.  In the parable, He spoke about the example of the man who searched for the lost sheep and the woman who lost the one piece of silver.  In the case of the man with the lost sheep, Our Lord pointed out that the man still had the Ninety-Nine sheep but he was worried about the one lost sheep; and the woman still had Nine pieces of silver, but she was concerned about the one missing piece that she could not account for.  After much searching for  the lost piece of silver, Our Lord stated the woman's words: "Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost." (St. Luke 15:9)  God sent His only Son into the world because we were lost.  We are lost without God.  God searches for us, hoping that we will return to Him.  If we were not important to Him, He would not have sent His Son into the world to redeem us with His Precious Blood.   Keep in mind we only search for things that are valuable to us; important to us.  We have value to God and this is why He goes to great lengths to find us.  Conversely, the reason why so many people throughout the world do not search for God is because other things (money; power; possessions; booze; drugs; etc.) are what is important to those people.  We only search for things that we need or are dear to us.  Make a point to search for God.  Make a point to remind yourself that God is the most important person in your life.  Make a point to find Him.  There is nothing more important than God in our life.

St. Margaret 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 after Trinity, June 18th, 2023

 Second Sunday after Trinity, June 18th, 2023

In his First Epistle, St. John writes:  "MARVEL not, my brethren, if the world hate you"  (I St. John 3:13)    If you ever need proof that there is hatred in the world, just take a look at the comments section on any news story located anywhere on the internet.   And God forbid that you have a different opinion than anyone else  . . . on anything!  You will be condemned . . . ridiculed . . . threatened, cursed and sworn at . . . you name it, it will all be done to you simply because you have a differing point of view.  Yes, there is much hatred in the world.  But God sent His only Son into the world to show the love of God.   God sent His only Son into the world to give us an example to follow.  God sent His only Son into the world to save us from our sins.  He did this because He loved us that much.  He is our loving Father.  And He shared His love with us in the form of His Son.   As Christians we are called to share the love that we receive from Our Heavenly Father with those around us.  This is not always easy, is it?  It is difficult to show love to someone who shows us hatred.  It is difficult to show love to someone who has done us wrong.  It is difficult to show love to someone who does not care about us.  And yet we know this is exactly what Our Blessed Saviour did from the Cross when He said "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."  Yes, the world will hate you but it also hated Our Blessed Saviour.  Focus on the love of God in your life.  And do your best to share this love with the world.

St. Margaret 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.

Saint Barnabas the Apostle, June 11th, 2023

Saint Barnabas the Apostle, Sunday, June 11th, 2023

In the Fifteenth Chapter of the Gospel of St. John, we listen to Our Blessed Saviour speak to the disciples.  And one of the many important things which He tells them is:  "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (St. John 15:16)  God has certainly chosen each one of us.  He has chosen you just as He has chosen me.  The question is have we chosen God?  Do we choose God in our daily lives?  Do we make God our choice each and every day?  Or do we choose the world?  Do we choose what the world has to offer?  Part of the problem today is that unfortunately people choose the world over God and may not even realize it.  We keep so busy in our modern society with work and careers, family life, taking care of our homes, watching television and movies, looking at social media and the internet, etc, etc. etc.  The list goes on and on and before you know it God is completely out of the picture.  The world keeps folks so busy that they soon don't have time for God.  We need to make time for God and not just on Sundays either.  We need to make time for God seven days out of the week and three-hundred and sixty-five days a year.  We need to make a point to "choose" God by choosing to spend time with Him in prayer.  We need to make a point to "choose" God by spending time reading the Bible.  We need to make a point to "choose" God by purposely choosing to do as He would.  We need to make a point to "choose" God by choosing to love those we come in contact with on a daily basis.  "Choose" to be the face of God in this weary world.  "Choose" to be God's instrument when His work needs to be done.  God has indeed chosen us but have we chosen Him?

St. Margaret 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. 

Trinity Sunday, June 4th, 2023

 Trinity Sunday, June 4th, 2023

 In the Third Chapter of the Gospel of St. John we find ourselves witness to a discussion between Nicodemus and Our Blessed Saviour.  In this conversation, Our Lord is telling Nicodemus that he must be born again.  Nicodemus is confused by this expression and asks how can someone be born again.  Our Lord explains:  "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."   (St. John 3:6)  Of course, Our Lord was differentiating between physical birth and spiritual birth.  One can not be physically born a second time.  It only happens the one time and cannot be repeated.  But in a spiritual sense, yes, we can be born again when we give our lives over to God and dedicate our lives to Him.

Of course, when Our Lord stated that "flesh is flesh" and "Spirit is spirit," He was referring to the example of being born again.  But this does point out something very important for us Christians to consider.  Very often in our lives, we can differentiate between the various sections of our lives.  For example,  we differentiate between the time spent where we work and the time spent at home.  When I am at work, I focus on my job responsibilities but when I am at home I focus on things I do there, such as chores or projects or even relaxation.  We dedicate certain portions of our time to volunteer activities, home activities, family activities, church activities,  etc.  We can divide our time and we can wear "different hats" to signify who we are at the time:  worker; home owner; parent; child; spouse; neighbor; volunteer; etc.  The list goes on and on.  As we live life on a daily basis we play different "roles" based on what we are doing at that particular moment.

But when it comes to being a Christian, our life can not be "chopped up into sections," so to speak.  In other words, we can not say that we are a Christian when we go to church but not a Christian when we are at home.  It doesn't work that way.  A true, committed Christian needs to be just that . . .   a true, committed Christian 24 hours a day, whether he/she is at church . . . or at home . . .  or at work . . . or at the grocery . . . or even driving in traffic.  You see, there are so many people who actually do act one way while in church and another way when they leave church.  They act very Christian when they go to church.  They dress up.  And they sing loudly when the hymns are sung.  And they say "Amen" even louder when the preacher gives his sermon.  But then as soon as church is over, they take off their "Christian hat" and put it away until next Sunday and they live completely different lives.  Being a Christian means being a Christian 24 hours a day . . . 7 days a week ..  ..  365 days a year.  This proves to be very difficult sometimes.  But when we come to the realization that God walks with us 24 hours a day . . .  7 days a week . . .  365 days a year . . .  when we realize that, it should make it easier for us to join Him in that walk.  

St. Margaret 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.

Pentecost, commonly called Whitsunday, May 28th, 2023

 Pentecost, commonly called Whitsunday,

May 28th, 2023

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 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 after Ascension Day, May 21st, 2023

 Sunday after Ascension Day, May 21st, 2023

In the Twenty-fourth Chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, we hear the telling of when Our Blessed Lord ascended into Heaven in the sight of the disciples"  " . . . . he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven ."  (v.51)  To say the least, this moment must have caused a wide range of emotions for the disciples:  joy, awe, confusion, majesty, excitement, inspiration, etc.  At any rate, in the following verse St. Luke tells us that they "returned to Jerusalem with great joy."  When we are in the presence of great people, we are inspired to greatness.  When we see truly inspiring acts of bravery or courage, we are inspired to greatness as well.  When we find ourselves in the presence of someone so filled with the spirit of God, we are inspired to want that same spirit.  The disciples and the apostles experienced all of this in the presence of Our Blessed Lord.  They saw His example on a daily basis:  they heard Him teach and preach; they saw Him cure the sick; they saw Him perform acts of love and compassion on those in need of God's love and forgiveness;  the disciples saw Him show love to those around Him.  And as a result of being in His presence day in and day out, they were affected as well by His life and the things that they saw and heard.  They were inspired to greatness just being in His company.

All of us, I am quite sure, can come up with an example of a time where we were inspired to greatness by what we saw or witnessed.   Whether it be the example of witnessing an inspiring performance by a great singer or a talented dancer.  Or it could be the witness of heroic bravery or courage exhibited by someone in the face of great danger who went forward anyway.  Or, finally, it could be the quiet example of someone who has such a close relationship with God that we can sense God's presence in that person.  Our Blessed Lord inspired the disciples to greatness.  He changed their "ordinary" lives into "extraordinary" lives.  This is how it should be with God.  So many people in the world are affected by the world, drawn to the world, brought down to the world's standards . . . .  We, for our part, should be inspired by Our Blessed Saviour's example to become something "extraordinary."  The disciples allowed their lives to be affected in such a way that the love of God showed forth in their lives.  So, too, we need to allow God to touch our lives in such a way that we show forth His love to the world around us.  Our Blessed Saviour inspired the disciples to greatness.  We should be inspired to that same greatness and show forth the glories of God to the world and to be a reminder of God's love to the world around us.

St. Margaret 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.

Fifth Sunday after Easter, May 14th, 2023

 Fifth Sunday after Easter, commonly called

Rogation Sunday, May 14th, 2023

If we think back on our life, every single person reading this will be able to remember a time or two where they got themselves into a real jam and needed some assistance or a helping hand.  On the other hand, every single person reading this will remember a time or two when YOU were that person lending a helping hand to a person in need.  I've been the person that needed help; I've been the person that did the helping.  So I have been on both ends of the stick, so to speak.  But the bottom line is this, we have all known people that talked a good game but when it came down to it, their words did not quite equal their actions.  I am sure that all of us can think of a good example of one or two people who talked a lot but when you needed that person, they were nowhere to be found.  Like the old saying goes:  "Actions speak louder than words."   I point all this out to show that it just makes sense to expect people to back up their words with actions.  Even St. James knew this and this is why he wrote in the first chapter of his epistle:  "BE ye doers of the word, and not hearers only . . . ." (St. James 1:22)  In the everyday world, if we went to work and had a coworker who bragged and boasted of everything he or she was capable of doing but that person did not actually do anything when it came down to it, what would we think of that coworker?  What if you had a friend that you would see every now and then and each time you saw that friend, the friend said "Oh, I got you a nice jacket but I don't have it with me but I'll give it to you the next time I see you." But, as you can guess, the next time you see the friend:  no jacket.  But then the same friend says, "Oh, I got you a really nice book but I don't have it with me . . .  I will give it to you next time I see you."  Again, you guessed it, no book to be found the next time you met this friend of yours.  After a while, if this pattern continues, what will the word of this friend mean?  Nothing.   As human beings, we expect people to live up to their word.  If they do not, their word means nothing.  St. James points out that we put our Christianity into practice by what we do for others, especially the less fortunate.  We don't earn our way into Heaven by what we do.  But on the other hand, the more we do for others . . .  in the Name of Christ . . . .  we show what our Christianity means to us.  And it also shows how much we have learned from the teachings of Our Blessed Saviour.

St. Margaret 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.