On September 25, we began a four-session Sunday School class on the identity and mission of Church of the Incarnation. We are addressing this topic because it felt like it was the right time (in our growth) for a clear and simple explanation of the church. My hope is that we would all walk away with a deeper understanding of who we are and what we are called to do, more excitement about those things, and a greater ability to share it with others. The whole conversation revolves around two words—Anglican and Incarnation.
If you missed the session on September 25, take 30 minutes to listen to it here. This explanation is important for all of us, so that we will be on the same page in our understanding of the church and have a deeper appreciation of who we are and what we are doing. We discussed both what it means that we are Anglican and why we are committed to this way of being Christian. My hope is that this recording will be helpful for you! Feel free to share it with others who might be interested in learning more about the church.
(The audio also includes the question-and-answer time, but the core presentation ends after about 30 minutes. The recording of the question-and-answer time is a bit hampered by the fact that I didn’t repeat the questions, and so you will have to guess at what people were asking based on my answers…)
Beginning this Sunday (Oct. 13), we will start talking about what it means that we are “Incarnation.” Over the next three sessions, we will be talking about Incarnation from three different angles. Don’t miss any of them, if you can help it! We will continue to distribute the audio, but the live session is better, because the question-and-answer time is a great moment to wrestle with the ideas presented, and it doesn’t always come out clearly in the audio.
Steven+
Scripture Memory
If you ever read the Church Fathers, one of the most impressive things you'll notice is their ability to recall scripture. Their minds were saturated with the words, stories, and images of the Bible. When they spoke, they spoke with words that were shaped by the Bible. When they read the Bible, they read it in light of all the other parts of the Bible that had taken residence in their hearts. This is even more impressive when you remember the context. They couldn't Google a question they couldn't answer. They couldn't look for a passage in an index. They didn't have chapter and verse markers. Instead, they had God's word planted in their hearts and minds.
In our context, memory matters less. I can look up anything I need, from a recipe to a verse reference. The ability to remember is just not as important.
The only problem is that's not true, at least not for scripture. God's words aren't just data that inform us. They're the seeds the Spirit plants to bear God's fruit in our lives. We need them because our hearts and minds need to be made new.
As we go through John in Bible study this year, I'm going to record memory verse songs and store them in a Google drive here. My hope is that these simple songs can open doors and windows in our hearts for His word.
Justin+
Scripture Relfections
Last month, Steven+ showed us from the story of the Israelites how God sometimes brings us through difficulties, and even lets us remain in need or with unmet desires, as a test. Will we cry out to him? I was convicted as the Lord showed me how often I spent my time complaining or worrying when I ought to be crying out to him. He’s not offended that I find parts of my current situation difficult and hard to bear, or that I wonder how long it will be before he provides for me; rather, he desires that I bring my difficulties and my questions to him. We see this clearly in the Psalms, in the words the Lord gave to the psalmists—and through them, to us—to pray, to use when we come to him. The beginning of Psalm 13, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” is one example, but searching for the phrase “How long, O Lord?” brought up a long list of similar cries throughout the Psalms, spoken by many of the prophets, and even echoed again in Revelation 6:9-10:
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
These redeemed souls are crying out to God for their as yet unmet need for justice! My unmet needs are rather little in comparison, but clearly there is no sin in bringing them (and my desire to see them met, my suffering in the continuing neediness) to my Father. No, the sin, as Steven+ showed us from the sins of Israel in the desert, is in not crying out, not turning to him as our Provider, our good Father. For in crying out to God, we are trusting him.
Jesus’ haunting words on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are words of incredible trust. Our Savior, the only One who has ever experienced the true, full silence of God, cried out to his Father when even breathing was torturous pain. What must it have cost him to cry out at that moment? To acknowledge before the watching crowds that his Father is not coming to save him from death? He cries out to the only One who saves, and as he dies he commits his Spirit to his Father’s hands, still trusting. And our Father, in raising his Son from the dead, has proven himself truly, fully trustworthy for all time!
We are beloved of our Father, and in the Risen, Beloved One we have life, and life abundantly. As we open our hearts to our Father, as we cry out to him for even what we are ashamed to need, ashamed to find difficult, may he give us his joy and peace in believing.
Hannah