3. The Message of John the Baptist - Advent 3 - Fr. Derek Metcalf 12.15.24 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

Dr. Jeren Rowell is the President of the Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.

In his Confessions, Augustine dedicates the book's final section to reflecting on time. How do Christians live within time yet still live towards eternity, the telos of all time, the appointed time?

Many Christians live in the past, bound by their memories, regrets and accomplishments, while others live in a state of anticipation, living in the future.

But the past is past, never to return, and the future never exists in itself. We can get lost in the memory of—or anticipation of—non-existence. Rather than getting lost in time, Augustine explains how all time can be brought to immediate awareness in three different aspects.

He writes: “The present considering the past is the memory, the present considering the present is immediate awareness, the present considering the future is expectation.”

The only proper place for human attention is the present moment which ever presents itself. But this awareness must be “merged into” or brought before God Himself. The means that there is a need for humans to bring our existence in time to the eternal presence of God. We worship our way towards eternity.

Our lives aim not to amass a hoard of things but to encounter God through sacred moments. Therefore, how we face time matters immensely.

Christians sanctify or redeem time by bringing God’s eternal reality into their present moment. The Church trains her sons and daughters to do this through the Sacraments in which God’s own life is offered by grace. Through the sacraments the Church enters eternity, and most specially, the Holy Eucharist brings the faithful into the eternal moment of worship through the once for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Christians also encounter God through sacred moments as they follow the Church’s calendar by dedicating the seasons and weeks to the life of Christ and his saints.

Living according to the calendar of the Church helps Christians realize that eternity is not some future reality after death but the ever present and commanding reality in which time unfolds.

These events marked history as such to influence the naming of two epochs, B.C. and A.D. – Before Christ and In the year of our Lord.

How shall we engage with time?

Redeeming time (KJV): Ephesians 5:15-20

Sanctifying time: Genesis 2:1-3

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

OK, God didn’t rest because He was tired!

Shabat is mainly used as “to cease, to stop.” All done! Instead of God doing more, He ceased from doing. And that’s the idea of the 7th day … a pattern for us to cease from doing and “be” still (cease from striving) and know (wonder, contemplate, imagine, exalt) … that I am God.

So God sanctified time sort of like we sanctify food … we approach food sometimes like it’s something to be crammed and flushed out our bodies!

Sanctifying creation: I Timothy 4:4-5

4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

We make created things holy by the word of God and prayer. Holy time, Holy water, holy oil, holy communion, holy food, and so forth!

Holy? To set apart with thanksgiving to the one who created it and gifted it to us!

This is a call to live in a sacramental universe. To be a royal priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices until the Lord returns.

God's Reign & Realm, Church & Kingdom - the Feast of Christ the King - Fr. Michael Flowers 11.24.24 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

24. Healing and the Kingdom of God - Fr. Michael Flowers 11.17.24 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

THE RITES OF HEALING

Reconciliation of Penitents

Ministry to the Sick

Communion to the Sick

RECONCILIATION OF PENITENTS

The Penitent begins

Bless me, for I have sinned.

The Priest says

The Lord be in your heart and upon your lips that you may truly and humbly confess your sins: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Penitent

I confess to Almighty God, to his Church, and to you, that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed, in things done and left undone; especially __________. For these and all other sins that I cannot now remember, I am truly sorry. I pray God to have mercy on me. I firmly intend amendment of life, and I humbly beg forgiveness of God and his Church, and ask you for counsel, direction, and absolution.

Here the Priest may offer counsel, direction, and comfort.

The Priest then declares

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given power to his Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive you all your offenses; and by his authority committed to me, I absolve you from all your sins: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

or

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who in his great mercy has promised forgiveness of sins to all those who sincerely repent and with true faith turn to him, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord has put away all your sins.

Penitent Thanks be to God.

The following prayer may also be said

Let us pray.

O most loving Father, by your mercy you put away the sins of those who truly repent, and remember their sins no more. Restore and renew in your servant whatever has been corrupted by the fraud and malice of the devil, or by his own selfish will and weakness. Preserve and protect him within the fellowship of the Church; hear his prayers and relieve his pain; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Priest concludes

Go (or abide) in peace, and pray for me, a sinner.

Bishop Stewart Ruch visits the final catechism class to answer questions before the class receives the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Bishop Stewarts provides a wide application to the ministry gifts of Ephesians 4

7. The Ten Commandments - Part 2 - Adult Catechism 10.27.24 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

21. Jesus And Healing - Fr. Derek Metcalf 10.27.24 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC