Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, September 26th, 2021

 Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, September 26th, 2021

When I was young, on the one hand it seemed that most people made a point to go to church on a weekly basis.  But at the same time it was assumed that it was the job of the priest or minister to do the work of the church.  In other words, while most people made a point to go to church . . . . which is a good things, yes! . . .   the people that went to church limited their participation in "church" to simply sit in the pew, listen to the sermon, and put a dollar in the collection plate.  But that was pretty much it.  These same people sat back and expected the work of evangelization to be done by priests, ministers, clergy, etc. In other words, they expected the "work of the Lord" to be done by someone who wore a "clerical collar."   And yet we read in St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians:  "I THEREFORE, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called . . . ." (Ephesians 4:1)   St. Paul reminds us that we are each called to a vocation as followers of Christ.  St. Paul reminds us that we are called to walk worthily of the vocation that God has put before us.  Therefore, it is the job of all Christians to do the work of the Church . . . not just priests, .   .. . not simply the bishops,  . . . .  not simply the clergy . . .  . or the ministers, . . . .  No, we are all called to do the work of Our Lord and Saviour.  God Himself is calling us.  He's calling you.  He's calling me.  He's calling all of us to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called."  We should remind ourselves of this fact each and every day.  As I like to say, it is so easy to get all caught up in the "busy-ness" of daily living that we forget who we are.  We forget who we are called to be.  We forget Who called us.  We forget our vocation as sons and daughters of the Most High!   Let us never forget who we are and never let us forget Who has called 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.   

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 19th, 2021

 Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 19th, 2021

In the Seventh Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we are told that Our Blessed Lord is traveling with His disciples through the city of Nain.  And as He entered the city St. Luke tells us that Our Lord encountered a funeral procession.  And St. Luke tells us that the man who died was the only son of a woman who also happened to be a widow.  And this woman was weeping.  She was crying for her only son who had just died.  You know, a mother's love is a wonderful love.  A mother's love knows no limits.  I would dare say the only love greater than that of a mother would be the love which God has for us.  And this is most certainly why Our Blessed Lord took notice of this sad event occurring before His eyes.  As St. Luke tells us in the Thirteenth verse of this chapter:  "And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not"   In fact, Our Lord had so much compassion on the mother that He raised her son back to life on that very spot.   The fact that Our Blessed Lord performed such a wonderful miracle for the grieving mother is wonderful indeed.  And yet the aspect that is really even more amazing is that the Lord had compassion on her.  The Lord had compassion.  He was compassionate when He saw the mother crying.  This is something to take note of because it means that Our God is a wonderful God.  Our God takes notice of our needs.  In other words, He takes the time to notice when we are sad . . .  when we are grieving . . .  when we are in pain . . . .  Our God knows when our heart is broken.  Our God loves us so much that He takes the time to notice these things.  In this story, Our Lord did not simply pass by.  Our Lord did not fail to act.  He took notice and had compassion on the grieving mother.  Each one of us should make note of this fact.  Our God is not some distant far-off, uncaring God Who could care less about how we feel . . .  what we are going through . . . what we are enduring.   No, Our God loves us so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son into the world to save us from our sins.  Our Lord had compassion!  And we should have compassion as well.  This would teaches us to be uncaring.  This world teaches us to be apathetic.  This world teaches us to only care about ourselves.  We should be more Christ-like by taking the time to notice others around us and showing concern and compassion when need be.  

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. 

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 12th, 2021

 Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 12th, 2021

In the Sixth Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, we hear Our Lord giving very profound, extremely useful advice:  "Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on" (St. Matthew 6:25)  I think it is true of human beings in general but it is especially true of the time in which we live that human beings worry about things.  We are indeed anxious for many things:  we are anxious for material possessions, we are anxious to obtain the latest "doo-dads," whether those be the latest, greatest phone or the latest fashion trend or whatever the world tells us that we just have to have at this exact moment.  We are anxious to get everything done that we want to accomplish:  whether at home or at work or at church or where we volunteer.  We want to do this and we need to do that and before we do that we need to stop over there so that we can get this started  . . . . etc., etc., etc.    So often in life we get ourselves so wound up over all the things we need to do and need to accomplish.  As Our Lord said, we get anxious and our head gets filled up with all the things we need to do,  the things that we want to do . . . . As human beings we get anxious for what other people think or how other people will react or how other people will treat us.  We worry about if we will fit in or if we will be accepted or if we will be considered "cool."  This is certainly true among human beings when they are young.  The bottom line is that we get anxious about work, we get anxious about home, we get anxious if people will accept us, we get anxious about the things we need to do, we get anxious about the things we already did, we get anxious about what we are going to eat, we get anxious about when we will eat . . .  .  We get anxious.  Period.

But what can we do about this?  Well, as is usually the case, Our Blessed Lord gives us that answer as well.    Our Lord says:  " But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you"  (St. Matthew 6:33)  In other words, we need to put God first in our life.  We need to get in the habit of making God our number one priority.  It seems that everything we get anxious for becomes our number one priority:  what we are going to eat . . . what we are going to wear . . . what we are going to buy . . .  what we need to do . . . what we need to accomplish . . . what people think of us . . . .  But we need to focus on God first.  We need to place Him first before all else.  And the more we focus on Our Heavenly Father the less time we will have for focusing on things which do not ultimately matter.  Our Lord says that we should "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness" (v.33)  As human beings we tend to seek first the "world and its' worldliness."  We want what we want when we want it, in other words.  This has been a human tendency since Adam and Eve.  Let us follow Our Lord's advice and seek first the Kingdom of God before we seek out the things of the world.  Make God our top priority and worry more about making God happy instead of only worrying about what makes us happy!  

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.   

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 5th, 2021

 Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 5th, 2021

In the Seventeenth Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, St. Luke describes an event which occurred when Our Blessed Lord was traveling to Jerusalem and passed through "the midst of Samaria and Galilee." (St. Luke 17: 11)  And when Our Blessed Lord passed through a certain village, St. Luke tells us that there were ten lepers who "lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." (St. Luke 17:13)   In other words, they were yelling and screaming to get Our Lord's attention.  Our Lord did notice them.  And He told them to show themselves unto the priest.  And as they went their way they were cured of the leprosy.  But only one out of the ten came back to properly thank Our Blessed Lord.  "And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks"  (St. Luke 17:16)  Our Lord was both impressed with the one turning back to give thanks and questioned where were the other nine that got cured.  

My parents taught me how to say "please" and "thank you" when I was growing up.  And they would always make a point to remind me to say these things.  And I am very grateful for that.  I learned a long time ago that it does not cost anything to be courteous to others.  Saying "Thank you" . . . .  Saying "Please" . . .  Saying "Excuse me" when you bump into someone . . .  These are all examples of common courtesy.  And in some ways, unfortunately, this is becoming a lost art.  And this is a shame.  But how about in the spiritual life?  Do we ever fail to thank God for all His blessings which He provides us?  Do we only go to God when we need something but forget about Him when we get what we want?  Isn't this what the nine lepers did?  They were insistent that Our Blessed Lord would listen to their request and heal them but then they all went their way.  But one leper returned.  One came back to give thanks to Our Blessed Saviour.    God is always good to us.  God blesses us with many blessings throughout all our lives.  We should never fail to thank God.  We should always be grateful to Him for everything He provides to us.   Don't only go to God when you need something and then forget about Him.  Focus on your blessings and be grateful to God for everything He does for you.

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.   

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, August 29th, 2021

 Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, August 29th, 2021

Have you ever had the experience to look for something and you look and look and look and you can not find the object anywhere?  And then you go and look some more and you still can not find it.  And then at some point you find the item and it was exactly where you were looking the whole time.  You looked right at it but did not see it.  I am sure that each of us have had that experience at one point or another.  In the Tenth Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we hear Our Blessed Saviour giving instructions to the disciples:  " BLESSED are the eyes which see the things that ye see. . . ."  (St. Luke 10:23).  Our Lord is reminding the disciples that they are indeed blessed to see the things that they are seeing.   In other words, Our Lord was making the point further on that  " . . .  many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not see them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them." (St. Luke 10:24).  While this is certainly the truth . . . . i.e., that the disciples and the Apostles had the distinct honour of being in the presence of the Messiah  . . . . the point remains the same that the disciples still had to make the effort to look for and make the point to see the Messiah.  In other words, they could have moved on with their lives and never even made the point to notice the miracles that Our Lord performed . . . or they could have certainly not have cared enough to stop and to listen to the words that Our Lord was speaking.  The point that I am making is that while they were certainly blessed to see what they saw and hear what they heard, they still had to make the effort to stop long enough to see with their own eyes and to hear what was being said to them by the Messiah.

How many times has the Lord made the point to show Himself to us but, unfortunately, we were too busy to notice?  How many times throughout our life did God try to speak to us and we never heard what He had to say because we were too busy listening to everybody and everything else?  Sometimes the miracles are right in front of our eyes but we never take notice because we are too busy to look.  Sometimes the answer is being given to us but we never hear it because we are focused on other things.  Just like Our Lord showed Himself to the disciples and the Apostles, He also shows Himself to us.  Now, it may be true that we may have to pay closer attention and alter our way of looking for Him, make no doubt about it:  God is still making a point to show Himself to us . .  . He is still making a point to speak to us.  We just need to pay attention and know where to look.  " . . .  Blessed are the eyes that see the things that YOU see . . . .."

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.

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, August 22nd, 2021

 Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, August 22nd, 2021

Humility is a very good thing.  I have learned that lesson (and re-learned it!) the hard way.  Very often it seems that when my head gets too big  . .  .  and I get full of myself . . .  . without fail, it seems at that point that I do something stupid and I get knocked back down to earth.  Perhaps that has happened to you a time or two.  And at that point, we just stand there and shake our head and say to ourselves:  "why in the world did I do that?"  There is nothing wrong with being confidant in ourselves or in our ability.  There is nothing wrong with even being proud of what we have done or what we have accomplished in life.  But as with everything, even this must be done with moderation, number one, and for the Christian, an understanding where our strength comes from.  St. Paul wrote in the Second Letter to the Corinthians:  "not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves"  And then he goes on to emphasize the point:  " . .. . but our sufficiency is of God. . . ." (II Corinthians 3:4)   St. Paul wanted to remind the Church at Corinth that if we have riches, it is because God provided those riches;  if we have abilities or strengths or skills, it is only because God has provided each one of us with what we are good at; if we have a roof over our head and food on our table every day, it is because God provides.  Our Heavenly Father provides for all of His children.  Those who are practicing, committed Christians acknowledge this fact.  But, quite frankly,  sometimes we forget or over look that fact.  You see, it's difficult sometimes for us to always acknowledge God as we should because, quite frankly, we get all caught up in our busy schedules, our busy life styles.  This is why I always emphasize that relationships take effort.  You have to work at a relationship.  In a relationship, we have to make time for our loved ones.  In a relationship, we have to make time for those we love.  We have to make a point to show love to those whom we love.  This is true of our relationship with God as well.  We have to make a point to acknowledge the gifts that God have bestowed upon us; we have to show God and tell God how much we love Him; and, finally, we have to spend time with God every day.  Many of us have the tendency to only go to God when we need help with something.  Make a point to go to God every day.  Speak to God every day.  Tell God how much you love Him every day.  And, finally, take a lesson from St. Paul and never forget that our sufficiency is of God.  Acknowledge the fact that everything we have:  our life; our knowledge; our strengths; our health; our possessions . . . .  everything we have is made possible by our Heavenly Father.  Give Him thanks and show Him love on a daily basis.

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.

Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, August 15th, 2021

 Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, August 15th, 2021

I recently read a post on social media about a wonderful restaurant that I remember growing up.  And hearing about this restaurant from long ago brought back so many wonderful memories.  And the person wrote that after the original owner died, the restaurant was left to the children and they, in essence, did not want to do anything with the restaurant so they closed it.   Hearing that it was closed down  that way because the kids did not want to deal with the restaurant got me kind of depressed.  But it happens sometimes, doesn't it?  And it's not just restaurants.  Have you ever been given something that you never put to use?  Perhaps you received something as a gift and never made use of it and the item goes to waste sitting up on a shelf gathering dust.  Sometimes we make good use of something that is given to us and sometimes it goes to waste and we don't make use of the item.  In his first epistle which he wrote to the Corinthians, St Paul writes:  "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received" (I Corinthians 15:3)    St. Paul certainly made good use of what he received.  He is telling the church at Corinth that which he received  " .. . . Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures " (vv 3-4)  As Christians, we need to pass along that which was given to us.  We need to pass along the Good News.  We need to tell people about God.  We need to share with folks what Our Blessed Saviour has done for us.  We need to pass along the blessings which we have received and bless others around us.  We need to share our testimony not only through the words which we speak but also through the way in which we live our lives.  So many blessings are bestowed upon us by Our Heavenly Father throughout our lifetime.  First and foremost, the wonderful gift of Salvation, freely bestowed, is offered to each and everyone of us.  And sadly so many people ignore this free gift and do not make use of it.  Don't ignore God's blessings.  Please do not miss out on receiving God's grace because you are too busy chasing after earthly riches and treasures.  The Salvation which God offers is the most wonderful gift we will ever receive.  Make use of it.  Don't let it go to waste.

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.