St. Aidan's Anglican Church, Kansas City - weekly talks

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 the Gospel amid adversity. Jesus himself modeled this and told his disciples that some strongholds won’t move apart from prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:21).

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 good fight.”

I Tim 4:14

“Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed upon you through the prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.”

II Tim 1:6, 7

“And for this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and discipline.”

Ephesians 5:18-19

“… Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, sing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”

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 pursue the release of praying in the Spirit for private, intercession, warfare and praise to God. Here, the horizontal and vertical come into play and reciprocate.

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 comfortable.”

All 3 ministries serve to activate one’s vocation and ground in the faith.

“Do not neglect your gift which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.” I Tim 4:14

“Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline (sound mind).” II Tim 1:6,7

Teaching – not just a download of knowledge … to boost our IQ. Jesus says “learn from me for I am meek and humble (Mt. 11:29). Jesus taught the Scriptures (in the synagogue, etc.) and allowed his life to provoke deeper learning. He's saying learn from my life, not just my words ... I AM.

Communicating Gift and Character – charisma & character:

As persons in communication, we impart who we are as much as what we may know. A person can talk about peace and make people nervous. Jesus says that who I am and what I say agree.

We’ve heard it said well that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Jesus communicated this and continues to communicate this through us.

The Sacramental Experience of the Gifts:

Teaching, like prophecy and other gifts, is an encounter with Christ.

Ephesians 4:21 – Hearing Christ in His Ascension …

20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, NASV

The writer of Hebrews exhorts his readers

See to it that you do not refuse the voice that warns from heaven … 12:25

Jesus assures us: My sheep know my voice and will not follow the voice of a stranger. Knowing his voice must surely be active when listening to any teaching.

The gift of exhortation is multifaceted: translated exhort, encourage, comfort.

One must know when to exhort (a strong sense of urgency) or encourage (a strong call to courage, to move forward, to motivate with confidence) and to comfort (to console and apply healing balm).

Giving --- James Dunn (Romans Commentary) says is best understood as Sharing. Dunn says it is probably sharing of food, or wealth or possessions which is in view … the act of sharing IS the gift … not what is shared.

(Leadership) Caring, Advocacy, Dunn says is most likely meant here, commonly translated as Leadership … The word connotes PROTECTOR …

This denotes one who takes on a role of advocacy for the vulnerable.

Mercy – Showing Mercy:

Acts of mercy with cheerfulness

This is the only occasion in Paul’s letters where mercy is used of human rather than divine mercy.

The grace to overcome the reasons why a person is in need and to show love and care …

Our planting team had all these gifts complementing the other.

Those with the gift of Mercy, Prophecy and Exhortation need each other.

No one gift is complete in and of itself … we need them working together to have a well balanced body. This is the complementarity of grace.