St. Aidan's Anglican Church, Kansas City - Weekly Talks

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany: Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Third Sunday after the Epiphany Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today Christ descends into the waters of the Jordan, a body of water symbolizing the great divide between the wilderness of this present evil age and the age to come, the Kingdom of God. __________ "The one who was born of an unwedded virgin is revealed to be the Son of God, with the Spirit of God resting upon him and the Father himself proclaiming his sonship to all. The one who was concealed in the depth of the earth in a cave begins his public ministry, openly proclaiming the gospel to all. And the one who appeared as a weak infant is revealed to be the Lord of creation. By descending into the Jordan, Christ has made known the true knowledge of God as Father, revealed by his Son an known in the Spirit, the Trinity whom we worship. By descending into the Jordan, Christ brought illumination to the world, so that we may all live in the light of the gospel. By descending into the Jordan, Christ has transfigured the waters and all creation, so that we also may be transformed, reborn in the same wat

The Collect of the Day: The Holy Name Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. Scripture: Luke 2:15-21; Philippians 2:9-13 The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is a time to contemplate the revelation of Jesus' name given to Joseph in a dream by an angel, and likewise the revelation of the same to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation. The angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “you shall give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Jesus is a transliteration of the Hebrew name, Yeshua which is the English name, Joshua. The Hebrew meaning of Yeshua is "YAHWEH is salvation". Jesus is the new Joshua, the final Joshua, who leads his people into the promised land, the final wedding feast of God and his

Today's Gospel is from Matthew, chapter one. Fr. Michael shares about the common struggles of trust facing Joseph. Sunday's Collect: Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

On the 3rd Sunday of Advent, Rod McNeall, a member of St. Aidan's and an ordained Methodist Minister, shares the Father's heart for his people. The Collect of the Day: Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Liz Flowers shares about the generous life of St. Nicholas. Nate Allen concludes with an original song, the Beauty. The song can be purchased at https://goodsaintnathanael.bandcamp.com

First Sunday of Advent 2016 Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalm 122 Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 24:37-44 Icon: The second coming of Jesus Christ with His Holy Angels - Modern Coptic icon, painted by the nuns of Saint Demiana Monastery, Egypt

Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalm 46:1-11; Colossians 1:9-20; Luke 23:35-43.

Christ, the second Adam, came to restore all that was lost in the first Adam's disobedience. Often, the Gospel is limited to saving souls. Christ came to redeem the whole created order. The disobedience of the first Adam introduced the curse of death throughout God's good creation. Since through Christ, all things were made, in Christ all things shall be restored (healed). Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit and power and “went about doing good, and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him” (Acts 10:38). He announced his ministry as the coming of God's Kingdom. "But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Matthew 12:28). The Kingdom of God on earth is currently considered "already – not-yet" until the final coming of Christ (I Corinthians 15:27). The Kingdom of God, says Jesus, suffers violence and forceful ones lay hold of it (Matthew 11:12). We do this by living in Christ, through prayer, fasting and advancing

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Ps 119:105 2 Tim 2:15 Psalm 3:3-6 Isaiah 42:6-13 Beginning to Prophesy The path of prophecy moves from God speaking TO you to God speaking THROUGH you. We begin and continue to nurture our life in Christ, drawing near to God and God drawing near to us … in personal prayer. One must learn to hear the voice of Scripture … the living Word who inspired the written word. There must be a relationship (communion) developed between reading and listening to God’s Word / Voice. Boundaries of NT Prophecy Scripture is the Standard – revelation of Scripture is higher … Personal revelation “knowing” & Prophecy are “in part” “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part” I Cor. 13:9 Three parts of the prophetic: 1. Revelation 2. Interpretation 3. Application Stirring up the gifts I Tim 1:18 “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance witht the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight the

We hear from three members of St. Aidan's - Fr. Les and Bon Barker and Patrick Curtin. They share their experiences of exercising the gift of prophecy, discerning of spirits and healing in their ministries. It is our hope that you find some practical elements in their sharing. We pray that you eagerly desire spiritual gifts and especially that you may prophesy (I Corinthians 14). The image is the icon of St. John the Theologian hearing the voice of God. We believe that St. John was also a Prophet.

This talk explores Paul's discussion differentiating the public gift of tongues and the private gift of praying in the Spirit. Paul's exhortation to desire the greater gifts should not infer levels of superiority of inherent value; for all gifts of the Spirit are of not inherently measurable as such. The greater gifts are referring to the context of public worship involving intelligibility. Intelligible gifts are greater for the purpose of the gathered community. This in no way depreciates the private gift of tongues in one's private devotional life. Prophecy speaks to the Body while tongues speaks to God. Paul's desire is that everyone should speak in tongues ... pray in the Spirit in their private devotions ... for he speaks in tongues more than the Corinthians! But in public worship , intelligible gifts, such as prophecy, best serve the building up of the gathered body. The aim of the talk is to encourage all to eager desire ... God, Grace, Gifts, Building up the Church ... for the common good and to

This talk considers what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit: I Cor. 12:12-13; Ephesians 5:18 We believe in one baptism with many fillings ... continuous encounters of receiving grace-filled empowerment from the Holy Spirit.

Today we want to consider how the gifts of grace in Rom 12 are complementary. God’s people and their ministries are interdependent, providing contrast, variety, effect, balance, tension and so forth. The church is to be a symphony of gifts harmonizing together in the unity of the Spirit, a unity of great complementary diversity. Last week we considered I Peter 4:10: “As each one has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” In our community, nobody should be unemployed! “Having gifts (charismata) that differ according to the grace (charis) given to us, let us use them” Ro 12:6. Every Christian is grace gifted, i.e., every Christian is a charismatic! Prophets - Guide Exhorters - Goad Teachers – Ground All these gifts traveled together in Paul’s apostolic teams – Paul, an Apostle (and teacher) traveled with Barnabas – son of encouragement, a prophet. Apostles and prophets complement … All 3 ministries “Comfort the afflicted and afflict the co

Based upon the New Testament, every Christian has a gift of grace to share for the common good. So often, we've not had a context to explore and discover the gift. Every Christian, thus, is charismatic. Paul assumes this. We explore some of the roadblocks to discovering our gifts and, more specifically, the difference between the general call for every Christian to serve and the special gift of serving. Both are vital in every community. We begin with a parable using indefinite pronouns, such as everybody, somebody, nobody, & anybody. Paul is calling for specificity in the members of Christ's body. We are called to employ our gifts for the common good. This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. "There was an important task to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wo

This Podcast contains a homily and a baptismal service at St. Aidan's Anglican Church. The Promise given to Abraham with the accompanying sign of circumcision is fulfilled in receiving the fullness of the promise through water baptism. We explore Acts and sections of Paul's interpretation of the Promise as the coming of the Holy Spirit. Peter proclaims that "the promise is for you and your children and all who are afar off (whomever the Lord calls). Thus, we embrace the New Covenant and the ancient church practice of household baptism. So why baptize the children of believers? The biblical logic, from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant in his blood, is set in the following sentence: “In the OT, God made promises to believers and their children and gave a sign of those promises that was to be given to believers and their children; in the NT, he reiterated those same promises to believers and their children; therefore, the sign of those promises should be given to believers and their children.” Dr. Ligon Du

This is the first in a series of talks on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit. The first three talks will discuss the backstory of the Gospel's Renewal of all things and the seven gifts of Romans 12:1-8. The rest of the talks will cover Spiritual Gifts in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. For now, this talk touches on what it means to offer oneself as a living sacrifice within a local community, with a commitment to serve one another and call forth the, sometimes, hidden treasure (gifts, character, etc) in the other. This must be pursued with constancy and intentionality. The various leadership gifts in the Church (Ephesians 4:12) are charged with what's commonly translated as 'equipping' the saints for works of service, thus, varied and numerous ministry possibilities. Equip is not the most accurate idea of the Greek word: katartismós. The idea is not so much becoming a training operation, though training is compulsory. The idea here is better understood as leadership helping each person get properly

The Feast of St. Aidan (August 31) ... Liz Flowers shares Aidan's story, how we chose St. Aidan as our patron saint and prayers offered for the way ahead.

The love of Jesus brought healing to the oppressed. Fr. Les walks through various Gospel accounts of the healing love of Jesus.