Light of Christ Podcast is the official podcast of Light of Christ Anglican Church in Georgetown, TX.

Admin 11/25/19 Admin 11/25/19

Who is our King?

When Jesus is crushed, what is revealed about our King?

Welcome to the Light of Christ weekly podcast. Light of Christ Anglican Church is located in Georgetown, Texas at MLK and University Avenue. We are a modern expression of the ancient faith. You can learn more about us at lightofchristgeorgetown.org.

Our sermon soundbite today is based on Luke chapter 23, beginning of verse 35. Jesus here has been crucified and he's naked and he's in great pain. And the people stood by watching, but the rulers scoffed at him saying "He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one." The soldiers also mocked him coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself." There was also an inscription over him. "This is the King of the Jews." One of the criminals who were hanged, railed at him saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us." But the other rebuked him saying, "Do you not fear God? Since you are under the same sentence of condemnation. And we indeed justly for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong." And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise."

But what was the King about? He was about others. He was about his father's business because our God doesn't use his power in this way. He's not a selfish God. He's a self giving God. He is a God for the sake of others. And so Jesus says, "I do nothing except what I see my father doing. He is the King for the sake of others." Now, we talked about how you know someone when they're in power because they don't have the constraints that they had on them before, so they're able to just do what they feel like doing. There's also another time where we see the character of people. When we're in suffering, the character of people is revealed, and it's in the hard times.

Here we're seeing those two things happen simultaneously. We're seeing the King of the universe. And remember he says, "No one's going to take my life from me. I lay it down on my own accord." Christ as he's crucified on the cross is there because he wants be there. He still has all of the power. He still has the connection with God at one word from his mouth and armies of angels would come and save him. And he's in extreme pain and crucifixion is, it's torture. And so here in Christ we see both, not only someone who has absolute power, but someone who's in incredible pain and suffering.

I was with Mike the other day and we were going around my house. He's going to paint my house and we're walking around the house and so we're looking at different things that need to be painted. And suddenly I'm like, what is that smell? We're at the front of the house. And I couldn't figure it out for a while, but the smell kept following me. I was like, what is this? What is this? Well, I eventually I looked down and what was on my shoe. You know what was on my shoe, some dog poop, right? When you step on it, when it's crushed, you get its essence in your nose, don't you? Similarly, when a rose is crushed, you get its fragrance, don't you? That beautiful fragrance of a rose. When Jesus is crushed, what is revealed about our King? What does he think about? He thinks about others. When Christ is crushed, the fragrance of love pours forth. That's our King.

Notice as he's hanging on the cross, the King of the universe first thinks about who? Others, specifically here, who is he thinking about? He's thinking about the spiritual needs of the criminal that's crucified next to him. He's dying in pain and he's thinking about the needs, the spiritual needs of the criminal crucified next to him. And this criminal represents Christ's heart to all of us.

Thank you for listening to the Light of Christ weekly podcast. Let us end our time together with a prayer from the book of common prayer. You can find this prayer on page 623.

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Admin 11/18/19 Admin 11/18/19

The End Is Coming... Do Not Be Terrified

When Christ talks to his disciples about the end and the judgment what does he instruct them? “Do not be terrified.”

Our morning meditation today comes from Luke chapter 21 beginning at verse five. "And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, as for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. And they asked him, teacher, when will these things be and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place? And he said, see that you are not led astray for many will come in my name saying I am he and the time is at hand. Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and turmoils do not be terrified for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.

Then he said to them, nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and in various places, famine and pestilences. And there will be terrors in great signs from heaven. But before all this, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons and you will be brought before Kings and governors for my namesake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake, but not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives."

As Jesus talks about the end, what should be our mindset as his disciples?

When I think of the end times, or especially when I was younger, I remember still Y2K and all of the craziness that swept through certain sectors of the evangelical community at that time. But if I were to describe it, I would say it was fueled by fear. Yet when Christ talks about the end or judgment and he's talking to his disciples, his followers, what does he instruct them?

This. Is he telling them about the end time so that they can freak out? No. It seems funny just to even say that, but verse nine he says, "You will hear of wars and turmoils." And he says, "Do not be terrified." Do not be terrified. Even in all of this, God is still in control. Even as he says that his followers are going to be persecuted by their own families and jailed and possibly put to death. He says, "Look at this as an opportunity to bear witness to my name and in fact, I'm even through the Holy Spirit going to give you the words to say in those times."

And he gives us this amazing promise in verse 18, "But not a hair of your head will perish but by your endurance you will gain your lives." It reminds me of another saying of Christ. "What is it if you gain the whole world but lose your soul?" See, in the end we know God and for the one who knows God, the one who is eternal without beginning, without end, who was in his hand, who knows that when everyone hates you or if people forget you, we know one who loves us, who will never forget us. His power and love is stronger than even death itself. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ and that, that there is the foundation of the Christian life that is not terrified but has peace.

Thank you for listening to the Light of Christ weekly podcast. Let us end our time together with a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. You can find this prayer on page 622.

Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people, that bringing forth in abundance the fruit of good works, they may be abundantly rewarded when our Savior Jesus Christ comes to restore all things; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Admin 11/11/19 Admin 11/11/19

What's Hope?

What is Hope?

God’s answer to pain and suffering.

Transcript:

Hope is trusting in someone or something for your future.

Welcome to The Light of Christ Weekly Podcast. Light of Christ Anglican Church is located in Georgetown, Texas at MLK and University Avenue. We are a modern expression of the ancient faith. You can learn more about us at lightofchristgeorgetown.org

Our morning meditation today comes from Job chapter 19 verses 25 through 26. "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh, I shall see God." Hope is trusting in someone or something for your future. Many people trust things like money, retirement, the government, their family, romance, that they'll just find the right one for their future. But the Christian hope is to trust in God for your future. And Job is an incredible example of the hope of the people of God. Job followed God's principles.

God's principles as outlined in the book of Proverbs, lead to blessing in this life. Yet this is just a generally true statement. It's not always true that if you follow God's way that your life will be blessed outwardly. Sometimes bad things happen, horrible things happen. Things outside of our control. This is why the book of Proverbs isn't the only Wisdom Book in the Old Testament, but you also have the book of Ecclesiastes and Job. See Job, you could say, follows the Proverbs to a T, yet he suffers immeasurably. And he has everything but he loses it all in a day. He loses his business with his donkey, his oxen, his sheep are killed by lightning, Chaldeans steal his camels, a tornado takes down the housing that his children are in and kills them, and then his health is even taken away.

And as he's in this misery, his friends come. They live in a simple world, that if you follow God then things will just be good for you. And so they see Job and they see that he's suffering and therefore they say, "Well, he must have done something wrong," and Job knows that's not the case. He knows that he's trusted in God and he continues to do so. Yet what's happening to Job? God seems to be hiding His face from him. He's allowing Satan to bring ruin on him, and Job continues though, to worship God. But he also screams at God, "Why? Why? Why is this happening?" And God never gives Job the reason. He never gives him a why.

And in verse 26, Job fully expects to die. He says, "My skin is wasting away, yet in my flesh, I shall see God." Yet Job trusts in God to vindicate, justify, exonerate him. He knows that his God is more powerful, somehow, than even death. And though everything appears to be going wrong, Job will be vindicated for continuing to trust in God, even through the most incredible pain and suffering. That is Job's hope. Job is trusting in God for his future.

Job didn't have the advantage that we have, because we can look back to the greater and better Job; Jesus. An innocent and righteous man, the only truly innocent and righteous man who had everything taken from him. And as he was nailed to the cross with his skin wasting away from the lacerations received and all going dark through the pain and suffering, Jesus cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The key there is he says, "My God." Jesus fully trusts in God for his future, even when all looks lost. "Into your hands," he says, "I commit my spirit." And God does vindicate him. He raises him up three days later to show that He is trustworthy, that He will not leave us nor forsake us, and that despite whatever kind of pain or suffering that we're going through, when we place our trust in God, we're placing our trust on this sure foundation. When we trust in God for our future, we can know that like Christ, He will vindicate us. He will raise us up on the last day.

Thank you for listening to the Light of Christ Weekly Podcast. Let us end our time together with a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. You can find this prayer on page 622.

O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil, and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Admin 11/4/19 Admin 11/4/19

Phony Faith or Genuine Trust

Faith alone saves but never faith that is alone.

Our sermon soundbite today comes from Isaiah chapter one, verses 14 and 15. "Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood."

The prophet Isaiah speaks a hard word to the people of God warning them of phony faith. What does it mean to have genuine trust in God?

Phony faith or genuine trust? Phony faith or genuine trust? It seems that Jesus has been talking about faith a lot, doesn't it? Faith and trust in Greek are actually the same word. I like to use the word trust because I think it evokes a more accurate idea of what we're talking about here. So while faith and trust in God doesn't require a resume, it always does lead to a change in behavior. In other words, repentance.

Remember what repentance means? You're going one way, and you turn the other, right? It's a change of mind. It's a turning. It literally means turning or change of mind.

Think about it this way. I don't know if this is a true story or if it's fiction, but someone once told me that there was a man who could walk a tight rope over Niagara Falls with a wheelbarrow. He would go back and forth with this wheelbarrow, and you could see him do it. Now it's one thing to stand on one side of Niagara falls and say, "Oh yeah, I believe he can do it." But what if he comes to you with the wheel barrel and says, "Hey, hop in." Right? Then it's revealed is this a phony faith or is this a genuine trust because if you really trust that he can do it, then what will you do?

Jump in.

You will jump in, right? And so here in our Old Testament passage in Isaiah and in our New Testament passage, we see the dichotomy and the difference between phony faith and genuine trust in God. Genuine trust in God always changes behavior. It always changes behavior. The Reformers said it this way, "Faith alone saves, but never faith that is alone." In other words, God's not requiring us to bring works or a resume to God to have a relationship with him. Think about yourself, and the man who's inviting you into the wheelbarrow, does it matter what you've done in the past at that moment when he asked you to get in? No. What does matter is trust, but that trust inevitably leads to action. No resume is needed, yet trust in God always produces real change in our lives.

Thank you for listening to the Light of Christ weekly podcast. Let us end our time together with a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. This prayer for social justice can be found on page 659.

Almighty God, you created us in your own image: Grant us grace to contend fearlessly against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and help us to use our freedom rightly in the establishment of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Admin 10/30/19 Admin 10/30/19

Self Help or God's Loving Intervention?

Because it's not about self-help, it's about God's loving intervention.

What is Christianity really about anyway? Is it just another way to help ourselves, another self-help method? Are we just working on ourselves so that we can have a better resume before God? Or is it rather about God's loving intervention in our lives? Our sermon sound bite today comes from Jeremiah chapter 14, verses 20 through 21.

It's not self-help, but rather God's loving intervention. We do a curious thing as a community, something that you won't see at Rotary, something you certainly won't see in Washington DC at Congress, something you won't see in your chess club or any other community that's gathered together. You see something special here when we gather together, something really weird. And we're all going to be saying this thing together on our knees in a little bit. What do we do as a community that you don't see anywhere else? We confess how bad we are. Have you realized how weird that is? We all get together. We get on our knees and we confess how bad we are. It's far from self-help. In fact, we confess that we're so bad that we're beyond being able to help ourselves without what? God's divine loving intervention. God's loving intervention. If you engage the creed with your heart, I mean it's incredibly vulnerable. What are we saying? We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

Basically we're saying, "Jesus, remember those two simple rules you gave us for living? Well, we've completely failed to keep them." We haven't even come close. We don't only do things we shouldn't do, but we don't do the things we should be doing, which pretty much covers everything. We've totally blown it. We can't even come close. This is what the prophet Jeremiah prays as he comes to God authentically and genuinely. He says, "We acknowledge our wickedness, oh Lord, and the iniquity of our fathers. For we have sinned against you. Do not spurn us for your namesake. Do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember and do not break your covenant with us." This is old Testament language. He's saying, "Don't forget the promises that you've made. Don't forget that time that you intervened and into the life of Abraham lovingly and made promises about how you would continue to intervene with your love to see this through." Because it's not about self-help. It's about God's loving intervention.

Thank you for listening to the Light of Christ weekly podcast. Let us end our time together with a prayer from the book of common prayer. This prayer can be found on page 621.

Set us free, loving Father, from the bondage of our sins and in your goodness and mercy, give us the liberty of that abundant life that you have made known to us in our savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit. One God, now and forever. Amen.

Who is our King?

Who is our King?

The End Is Coming... Do Not Be Terrified

The End Is Coming… Do Not Be Terrified

What's Hope?

What is Hope?

Phony Faith or Genuine Trust

Phony Faith or Genuine Trust

Self Help or God's Loving Intervention?

Self Help or God’s Loving Intervention?