Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, August 27th, 2023

 Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, August 27th, 2023

In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, we hear:  ". . . . not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;" (II Corinthians 3:5)  God is the one who makes all things possible.  God is the one who gives us the tools we need to create, develop and produce the amazing things we enjoy in life.  He provides man with the talent and the ability to create amazing things.  We do our part by using the skills and talents we have been blessed with but God makes all things possible.  St. Paul recognized this fact.  "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain . . . " (I Corinthians 15:10)   As faithful, devout Christians we are called to use the skills and talents each one of us possess.  For some, they are good with their hands.  These people can fix things and build things.  While someone else may have the gift of teaching and making things understandable.  Others are gifted with the talent to make beautiful works of art enjoyed by others.  All of us have gifts and talents that only we possess.  We are all called to use the talents that the Good Lord has bestowed upon each one of us.  But first, we need to acknowledge the gift that God has given to us in these varied gifts and talents.  Like St. Paul, we should always remember that our talent, our skill, our ability .. . .  none of these would exist without God.  We depend totally upon God for the blessings we enjoy. 

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.  

 Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, August 20th, 2023

St. Paul begins the Fifteenth Chapter of his First Epistle to the Corinthians as follows:  "I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand" (I Corinthians 15:1)  Where do we stand?  Do we always stand for God?  Sometimes?  Rarely?   I hear a lot of folks these days speaking about standing up for this belief or standing up for that belief.  I hear a whole lot of folks speaking about standing up for rights.  I hear a whole lot of folks talking about standing up against hatred and taking a stand for freedom.  We hear about a whole bunch of folks these days standing up and taking stands but how often do you hear people saying that they're standing up for God?  That they're standing up for the Gospel?  Each one of us is called as Christians to do what God has called us to do.  He is our Rock and our Foundation upon which we stand firm.  So many people nowadays seem to stand up for whatever the passing fad happens to be.  But we Christians are called to stand firm in our faith.  And in order to do this it takes a long time.  In fact it takes a lifetime of practice.  We people of faith need to stand firm in our beliefs and stand firm in God. 

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.   

Tenth Sunday after Trinity, August 13th, 2023

 Tenth Sunday after Trinity, August 13th, 2023

St. Luke tells us of Our Lord's triumphal entry to Jerusalem in the Nineteenth chapter of his gospel.  Now, keep in mind that all four of the evangelists tell about this event in their respective gospels but in St. Luke's Gospel, we hear something that is not found in the other three.  ". . . he beheld the city, and wept over it " (St. Luke 19:41)  In other words, St. Luke is describing the fact that as Our Lord beheld the great city of Jerusalem, as He saw it, He began to weep, . . .  . He began to cry.  Now we cry for a multitude of reasons, don't we?  We can cry out of sadness.  We can cry out of frustration.  We can cry even when we are happy . . .  they are called "tears of joy."  Our Lord was crying for all of the above reasons, it seems to me.  He was crying because He was sad.  Sad at the fact that the people wasted so much time and energy on useless pursuits instead of pursuing a relationship with God.  He cried too out of frustration because He knew that despite all of the best efforts of the prophets, despite the efforts of St. John the Baptist and all the holy men and women of God, and, now, despite the best efforts of the Son of God Himself, despite all these efforts and energies, people still turned their back on God!  And, finally, Our Lord was crying with some joy in His heart because He knew that there is hope for all those that He saw.  Our Lord is the hope of the world!  Our Blessed Saviour is the remedy for all the illnesses of the world.  He is the Way, the Truth and the Life!  

As parents, we want the absolute best for our children.  In particular, we want them to have the best "future" that they possibly can with the best job, with the best home, with the best spouse, etc.  We want them to be happy but we don't want them to settle for the "second best."  But, as parents, we still need to let our children live their own life when they grow up.  As babies, as children, we have to make decisions on their behalf but when they grow up, they have to live their own life.  And, sometimes, as parents, we are disappointed in the choices that our children make.  It grieves us and frustrates us as parents because we don't want our children to settle for "second best."  This is why Our Lord was crying for the children of Jerusalem because He knew that they could have so much more by following God but instead they settled for "second best."  And Our Lord certainly knew that despite the fact that He died on the Cross many souls would still choose to turn their back on God.  Let us never turn our back on God.  Let us never settle for "second best."  Let us always choose the "best" way of life . .  . and that is a personal relationship with Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

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.

Transfiguration of Our Lord, August 6th, 2023

 Transfiguration of Our Lord, August 6th, 2023

We read in the Ninth Chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke the story of the Transfiguration of Our Blessed Saviour.  In this Ninth Chapter, we hear that St Peter; St John; and St James accompanied Our Lord to pray.  Now, bear in mind as we read of this account that a marvelous event is about to unfold:  Our Lord will not only be transfigured as "His countenance was altered," (v. 29) but also that Moses and Elias will appear alongside Our Lord.   Now, imagine if you will, all of this happening in front of YOUR eyes.  How would you react?  What would you do?  What would be your reaction to all of this have been?  Well, in Verse 32, we hear what happened to St Peter, St James and St John:  "But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with Him." (St. Luke 9:32)  " .  . .  THEY WERE HEAVY WITH SLEEP  . . . ."  Really?  Heavy with sleep?  Seriously?  I mean, come on, how can this be?  Here you are, you find yourself with the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.  You are in His Presence where not only He is transfigured:  His "countenance was altered" and "His raiment was white and glistening."  If this wasn't enough, Moses and Elias appear alongside of Him.  And St Peter and the boys fall asleep?  Seriously?!?!?!   It wasn't until they awoke from their sleep that, as St. Luke tells us:  " . . . . and when they were awake, they saw his glory .  . . . ."   You know, it is so easy to be a "back-seat driver," isn't it?  It is really easy to make "commentary" about others when it is not us walking in their shoes.  As St. Luke tells us it was not UNTIL they awoke that they were able to see the glory of the Lord.  That's really how it is with us as well, quite frankly.  Have you ever told someone or has anyone ever told you in the course of a conversation:  "Wake up!"  "Why don't you wake up?!?"  "Wake up and smell the coffee!"  When someone says something along these lines, what they're really saying is "Wake up to reality."  "Come back to reality."  Well, for Peter, James and John, it wasn't until they woke up that they were able to truly see the glory of the Lord.  We, too, like them need to "wake up" out of our sleep in order to see the glory of the Lord.  So many of us are lost in a deep sleep as well.  We are sleeping and dreaming about the things of the world:  money, and nice clothes, and food, and drink, and power, and possessions.   We day-dream about these things and more and focus our lives around them.  But until we wake up from our sleep . .. . Until we wake up from our dreams of worldly things we lust after . . . . until we awaken, it will be then that we will be able to fully appreciate the majesty of Our Blessed Saviour and see Him in His full glory.  We can not see His Glory because we are so busy looking at the things of the world.  Have you ever seen something in the corner of your eye but you didn't see it fully because you really looking at something else?   Quite frankly, that is how it is for us when it comes to things of God.  We have good intentions.  We want to be good.  We want to listen to God.  We want to do what God would have us do.  But we get sidetracked.  Our attention gets diverted.  We end up focusing on something else.  Let us be like St Peter and St James and St John.  Let us wake out of our sleep so that we can see the glory of the Lord.  Let us always focus on Our Blessed Saviour so that we can appreciate His glory and His majesty.

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.

Eighth Sunday after Trinity, July 30th, 2023

 Eighth Sunday after Trinity, July 30th, 2023

I am sure that you have heard the expression that someone is "bigger than life."  Someone who is "bigger than life" is a person that is known for doing things in a wild way or who is known for doing something dangerous or exciting.  Like, for example, a race car driver or a movie star.  We meet a person with a "big personality" and we say he/she is "bigger than life."  You could say that a person "bigger than life" is someone who points to something beyond his or her self:  they do a dangerous job . . . they have a unique hobby . . . . they take care of dangerous animals, for example.  In a strange sort of a way, all of us point to something beyond us.    Each one of us represent something to someone else.    Well, for example, to a store owner, you are not just a person, you are a customer or a potential customer.  If you have a spouse, you are a husband or wife.  If you have children, you are a parent.  If you like a particular sports team, you are a fan.  The list goes on and on.  To your boss, you are an employee.  It is rare that we are just merely our self, in other words.  Typically, we represent something beyond our self.  In other words, we fill roles that point beyond our self.  People don't look at us and just see . . . . Jack  . . . . or Mary . . .  or Gladys . . . . etc.  When people look at us they see rather . .   . a scout leader . . .  a customer . . . . a potential customer . . .  a parent . .  a neighbor, etc.

As Christians, we are also called not to point to our self but rather we are called to point to something greater than our self.  We are called to point to something beyond our self:  God.  In a certain sense, this is why Our Lord gave a warning about false shepherds who were only looking out for themselves.  "BEWARE of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits." (St. Matthew 7:15 ff)  A true man or woman of God points beyond themselves.  They point to someone greater than they are.  A false prophet will only worry about fulfilling their own needs and not the needs of others.  A false prophet will spend their time feeding their own desires and making sure their own needs are met.  A false prophet will want all of the attention focused solely on them . . . they want the spotlight focused on them alone.  But we as true,  committed Christians are called to focus the light on God.  We are called to point towards God and not to ourselves.  We should learn to imitate St. John the Baptist when he said:  "He must increase, I must decrease." (St. John 3:30)

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.

Seventh Sunday after Trinity, July 23rd, 2023

 Seventh Sunday after Trinity, July 23rd, 2023

We have all heard about the famous "feeding of the multitude" or the "multiplication of the loaves and fishes."  In the beginning of the Eighth Chapter of St. Mark's Gospel, we hear of the feeding of the four thousand.   We all know what happened in regards to what Our Lord did and what He did to perform this miracle:  He multiplied the few loaves and fishes they had in order to feed the thousands gathered to hear Our Lord.  But I don't want to focus on the miracle right now.  I would prefer to focus on why Our Lord performed the miracle.  I want to focus on the reason He chose to do what He did.  In the second verse of this chapter, we hear the following:  "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat:" (St. Mark 8:2)  Our Lord took notice of the crowd.  He saw their faces.  He took notice that they had been with Him for three days.  And because of all these things and more, He had compassion on them.  In speaking to the multitude, He looked after their spiritual needs but in feeding them the loaves and fishes He looked after their physical needs.  Our Lord cares about His children.  Our Lord has compassion on His children because He loves us.  He shows His care on a daily basis.  How often do we show our care for Our Heavenly Father?  How often do we, as His children, return the love shown to us by Our Father?  Do we take time to spend time with God and if we do, how often?  On a daily basis?  Once a week?  Once a year?  Or perhaps we only go to God when we need something.  Maybe we only go to God it seems that we are out of all our other options.  We show care and concern for the things we care for.  If we spent a lot of money on a car we work to keep it looking nice.  If we have a collection of things, we take care of it, don't we?  We care for and look after the things we love.  So the question remains:  what do we do in regard to our relationship with God?  Do we spend time with Him or do we ignore Him?  Do we listen to Him or are we too busy listening to the world?  God  cares for us.  He loves us.  He wants the best for us.  The question is do we care for God?  If you do, how do you show that love?  Only you can answer that question.

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.

Sixth Sunday after Trinity, July 16th, 2023

 Sixth Sunday after Trinity, July 16th, 2023

In the Sixth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, we hear the following:  " . . .  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him   . . . " (Romans 6:3 ff)  I would imagine that just about all of us have been in the position at one point  or another in our life where we had the feeling that we had hit "rock bottom."  Perhaps it came when we had lost a job unexpectedly.  Maybe it came about when we struggled with a difficult project that fell apart and had to start all over again.  Maybe it had involved health issues or the death of a family member or a close friend.  Nonetheless, whatever circumstances we can think of, I am sure that most of us have had the feeling at one point or another that our world came crashing in on us.  I know I have felt that way a time or two in my life.  I have found myself struggling with some issue and everything seems to go wrong all at once and I feel like the whole world is crashing in on top of my head.  But then afterwards I moved forward and the world brightened.  In other words, I had to go through the darkest hours in order to finally see the light of dawn ahead of me.   And then everything seemed to improve and things got better and better and better . . .  . . Sometimes, as I say, we have to hit rock bottom in order to move forward.  Sometimes by struggling and going through the darkness, we are able to get stronger and learn from our difficulties.  We become strong through our struggles, it would seem.  We learn from our mistakes . . . . or at least we should learn from our mistakes.  When I look back on my life, I realize now that it was the struggles that made me a stronger human being.  It was the times when things seemed the worse, that I was able to move forward and grow stronger.   Although we may not want to admit it, it seems like the best "teacher" is to learn from our mistakes.

This is what we are also hearing from today's passage from the Epistle to the Romans, that through death to sin we are able to live again with Christ.  It is through dying to self that we can live with Christ.  It is through dying that we can live.  We must never forget that Christ did not experience Easter Morning without first carrying His Cross to the hill at Calvary.  The same is true for us.  We can not truly live in Christ until we have died to our sinful ways.  And for most us, this is painful whether we want to admit it or not.  As human beings, we want things our way.  We want people to do things the way we want them to be done.  We want to be comfortable.  We desire our wants and we want them right now.  We focus on our own needs and desires and forget about what God wants for us.  Most of us, quite frankly, only go running to God when we need Him for something.  Other than that, we go our own way in life.  But sin is a barrier that keeps us away from God.  Sin is like a brick wall that we keep running into time and time and time again.  We have to remove the brick wall of sin in order not to run into it again.  And once we do this.  Once we die to our sinful selves.  Once we do all we can to get rid of the sinful desires in our life, it allows us to focus more and more on God and less and less on ourselves.

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.