May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts always be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen. As you might have noticed in the past week, summer has arrived. For most of us the summer season is a source of happiness and joy. A period of rest and an excellent opportunity to set apart more time to do what we really like. Summer is however…
Tonight we have reached the end of the Trinity Season – our readings have been leading us in a spiraling ascent into the heart of God. So it seems most appropriate tonight as we conclude the season and also the Christian year (one final week) that we think of the final hopes of a Christian. There are different ways of describing this promised end in God: salvation, entering the kingdom of heaven, eternal life, the…
At the Student Bible Study, the students have been looking at the Sacraments, and tonight we consider the gift of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Tonight we will consider the Old Testament pre-figurings of this Sacrament, and that will help us to see why Jesus has given us this Sacrament, and finally we’ll look briefly at the service and our preparation to receive. I Old Testament antecedents There are many pre-figurings of this Sacrament in…
[Click here to listen to a great sermon by Timothy Keller on this subject!] I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. [Matt 5:28] Lust, in its narrow definition as related to sexual desire, can get a lot of attention, in teaching about the moral life. Rightly, we’ve left it to the last in this series! When Dorothy Sayers decided to write on the…
Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened nor dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. We are continuing a thematic approach to these evenings, focusing on the virtues of the soul. Tonight we are considering “Courage” or “Fortitude”. I’ve been blessed again with the notes of the student Bible studies – this time Paula has recently led the student Bible study on Courage and prepared a wonderful summary…
Everyone who strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. We are continuing a thematic approach to these evenings, focusing on the virtues of the soul. Tonight we are considering “Temperance”, the cardinal virtue that has been associated with the appetitive aspect of the soul. A week ago Tuesday night, Simone led the Bible study on Temperance and prepared a wonderful summary and excellent questions for reflection, which has helped me prepare tonight. ———— A virtue…
The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, And the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. We are continuing a thematic approach to these evenings together. Each night we will consider one of the virtues of the soul – starting in the last three months with Love, Faith and Hope – gathered together by St Paul in different places in his writings – they are the foundation of the Christian life. Tonight…
As you all hopefully know, the theme of tonight is hope. This theme fits of course very well to these weeks before Christmas, as we both look forward and back: back to the fulfilment of many prophecies with the birth of Christ, and forward to the fulfilment of many prophecies with the coming of Christ in glory. But there is another reason why I’m talking about hope today. In October we started a Student Bible…
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. Over the next seven months we are planning a thematic approach to these evenings together. Each night we will consider one of the virtues of the soul – starting these last three months of this year with Love, Faith and Hope – gathered together by St Paul in different places in his writings – they are the…