This blog is written by Rev. Merv Lanctot, based on his sermon "Beacon of God's Grace - Unity in Grace", preached on Sunday, February 25th.
1) Do you see yourself as a Beacon of God’s Grace? 2) Do you see St. Aidan's as a Beacon of God’s Grace? 3) How do you see Grace as an element of Unity? 4) John Wesley said: It was free grace that ‘formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him a living soul, and stamped on that soul the image of God! Are there scripture verses that back that up? 5) Read Isaiah 58:6-9. As you meditate on these verses, is that how you see fasting? Note: The Sermon on the Mount is found in Matthew 5:1 to 7:29.
Read Matthew 5: 1-12:
Read Philippians 2: 1-12:
This blog is written by Rev. Merv Lanctot, based on his sermon on "Unity in Service", preached on Sunday, February 11th.
Scripture Readings: 1 Cor 12:27-31 Act 4:31-37 Matthew 20:20-28 1) How do you see the early church serving in one heart and mind? 2) How do you see us at St. Aidan's serving in one heart and mind? 3) I spoke of the effects leadership can have on making decisions beyond our control. How do those decisions affect our serving as a community? 4) Amos 3:3 says Do two walk together unless they have agreed? This speaks of unity being a decision we make. How do you feel about this? 5) I quoted A.W. Tozer concerning 100 worshippers being tuned to Jesus and not each other. How do we manage that? How do we encourage that? Is that even possible? This blog is written by Kim Salo, based on Dan Rutherford's sermon on "Unity in Joy and Suffering", preached on Sunday, February 4th at St. Aidan's Church.
Readings: Isaiah 7:10-19 Romans 8:28-39 John 14:12-20 1. READ Isaiah 7:10-19. Looking at what Isaiah said to King Ahaz, how is the birth of a child a sign from God to the king and his nation under threat from Egypt and Assyria? What is King Ahaz' attitude to God in this passage? Why is the name of the child so important? 2. READ Romans 8:28-39. As if we were in a court of law, a defense lawyer puts several questions (starting at 31b): "Who can be against us, who shall bring a charge, who is to condemn, who shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus? Can anything ever seperate us from the love of Christ?" What is the answer to the question "who"? Is it God, an accuser, our own conscience, sin, or some other? What is Paul's own answer to these questions in this passage? 3. Romans chapter 8 begins with no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and ends with no separation from Christ. Who most needs to hear that good news? When do you personally most need to hear that God is for you? "For those who are in Christ..." What does Paul mean by "in"? 4. In many religions, including today, worshippers go to a certain place, or to a temple to worship, possibly very far away. In I Cor 3:16, and I Cor.6:19, Paul says that "you" (both plural and singular) "are a temple of the Holy Spirit. How does this change the "where" of worship? Does this mean we can dispense with gathering for worship? How is your own body a temple for the Holy Spirit? 5. READ John 14:15-20. Jesus assures us in this passage that he is in us. How does this happen? This passage can be read as a series of promises by Jesus, most of which begin with "I will," or "You will." What are they? What are the signs this is happening? Note: I am writing this after Brian Creary's sermon on Jan. 28. -Rev. Kim Salo
Bible readings: Colossians 1:15-20 Hebrews 12:26-29 1. After saying in Col. 1:15 to 17 that the Son of God is the firstborn over all creation, and all that is seen or unseen was made in him, Colossians 1:18 says that Christ is the head of the body, the church. How does Christ function as the head of the church you belong to? Note how the verbs in this passage are present tense, not "was" or "will be." In other words, how does Christ's supremacy over his church become visible and real to us in the present time? 2. We often consider our personal relationship with Christ as having primary importance. Can a church or congregation have a corporate relationship with Christ? If so, does Christ judge a local church? Or only members of it? What about denominations? How does Christ relate to denominations? 3. The church is the bride of Christ. (See Rev. 19:7, 21:2, 21:9, 22:17) He will return for his bride. Brian Creary said, "Don't mess with his beautiful bride." What do you think that means for us? Among other things, Brian said that in the end Christ's church is going to be OK. What do you think of that statement? 4. Unity in Christ is a big subject. What do you believe constitutes true unity in his church? 5. Read Hebrews 12:25-29. We will receive an unshakeable kingdom. What things will remain after God shakes both heaven and earth (verses 28-28)? What will not outlast this final shaking? What will help us be ready for this time? Read John 17: 20-26
Reflection Questions:
This blog is based on Rev. Kim's sermon "Jesus Took My Place", preached on Sunday, January 7th, 2024:
Readings: Matthew 3:1-2, 11-17 Acts 19:1-7 1. Read Matthew 3:1-17. Why did Jesus tell John to baptize him, saying, “We must do this to fulfill all righteousness”? The sermon title is “Jesus took our place.” In what sense do you personally understand Jesus taking your place before God? 2. As John the Baptizer was baptizing Jesus, after he came up from the water the Holy Spirit came down on him, and the Father said from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, I am delighted in him.” Why, then, did Jesus go immediately into the desert to be tempted by Satan? Why did this have to happen right away? 3. What may happen to a church that mainly teaches repentance from sin, but doesn’t teach what comes after repentance? What steps come after repentance? 4. Read Acts 19:1-7. In this encounter, Paul meets disciples in Ephesus whose only baptism was a baptism of repentance from John. They haven’t even heard of the Holy Spirit. So, Paul baptizes them, and they are filled with the Spirit and manifest his gifts. If you met some Christians who had not heard of the Holy Spirit, what could you or your church do about it? What would you say? 5. Why do some people resist change with every fiber of their being? Do you ever see that tendency in yourself? When? 6. Can you name a specific and concrete move of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life that brough about concrete and specific change in their behavior? Definition of hope in a Bible dictionary:
Hope in the Bible is not just wishing it were so, but a favorable and constant expectation. 2 Peter 3.8-15 tells us to expect the return of the Lord to come like a thief. Unexpectedly. Keeping this in mind, it also asks us what kind of people ought we to be? We ought to live holy and godly lives as we look forward to this day and speed its coming. It will be a time of complete destruction, but also a day of fulfillment as we look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. Therefore, we are told, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. We await the Messiah, Jesus, as God's people have been doing for millennia. We read about his first coming in the gospels, his life, death and resurrection. In Acts we read about the sending of his Spirit into his disciples and the birth of the church, a new kind of Israel. The expectation of his return "in glory" is given. Now we wait. Questions: 1. Who prepared the way for the Lord in your life? 2. In what ways can we speed the Lord's return? 3. Have there been times in your life when you wished Jesus would come back "right now"? Why? 4. What do you think the Lord's return will be like? 5. Do you expect his return to be soon? Why? Or why not? “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 On Sunday we held our Cafe Church where we looked back at our learning during 2023 with the focus upon the Holy Trinity. We considered this as the 'Fullness of God' and discussed what that meant and what it meant for us as a Church and as individual children of God. The aim of this service is to put our learning into practice; actual actions for the Church. The below are some of the questions we considered. Please give them further thought and if you believe the Lord has identified something in your considerations for the Church, please let us know!
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore. Amen. Praise Come thou Fount of Every Blessing - Chris Tomlin This blog is based on Rev. Kim's sermon "The Trinity Today - Why It Matters", preached on Sunday, November 19th, 2023:
1. Were you ever taught that God is distant, impersonal, quick to judge and punish, or hard to please? If you were, what was that experience like for you? If that was your experience, did it change? How did it change? Different teaching? Different church? A move of the Holy Spirit in you? 2. If you met someone who believed that God is distant or impersonal or interested only in moral obedience, how might that person be helped to encounter or believe in the God who is personal, relational, forgiving, close, challenging and empowering? 3. Have you typically thought of worship as something we humans offer to God? Would it challenge your understanding of worship to know that any real worship we give God is an activity of the Holy Trinity in us, the Holy Spirit moving us to praise and offer our gifts, through the Son, to the Father? 4. When you pray on your own, how do you like to talk to God? How do you personally address God? Dear Jesus? Heavenly Father? Holy One? O, Lord? What is your “favorite”? What moves you privately to pray? 5. Think of what the Trinity does: creating, loving, sending, redeeming, sanctifying, gifting, all in dynamic moving relationships between Father, Son, and Spirit … Now, think of each of our church activities, such as pastoral care or visiting, fellowship and meals, music, preaching, holy communion, mission work, Sunday school, Bible studies, etc. How do any of these church activities reflect the relations and movements of the Father, Son, and Spirit? Hint: consider your answers to Question 3 on worship and Question 4 on prayer. 6. In his sermon on ‘The Trinity Today, Why it Matters,’ Kim said that last January he shared his hopes for St. Aidan’s for 2023 as we look at the Trinity. “My hope and my prayer is that before 2023 is over, we will all know God better, pray with more understanding and depth, and minister with more power and grace from the heart of God. We will worship the Lord, experiencing the communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We will better understand God’s mission for his church as a continuation of the Father sending his Son, then the Spirit, and then ourselves into the world.” Do you think any of this happened in us as a congregation 2023? How? |
Preachers BlogIn 2024, each week's blog is a follow-up reflection written by the preceding Sunday’s preacher to dig deeper into the sermon topic and explore engaging discussion questions. Archives
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