MAC KIRK

2nd Sunday before Lent 2016 " Jesus clearly divides people into two categories: those who have been given by God knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom, and the rest who do not know the mysteries." Cyril of Alexandria I did not say the above, but am actually pleasantly surprised that the message has not really changed. It is the same. Cyril of Alexandia was in the early centuries of the Church ( 412 AD) We who are human manage by our foolishness to mess up the message. We put barriers in front of it. But God does not. He want all to come to the knowledge of the truth I Timothy 2:4 , and having received Christ as good ground bear much fruit in this world in which we now live. The soils represent our hearts and our thoughts about Christ. The key verse for me as I meditated on it this time is vs. 18, " Take heed therefore how you hear.." Here the question for each of us is ," Do we hold the Holy Scripture to be the final and ultimate authority...

YOU SAY GOD SAYS BIBLE VS It's impossible; All things are possible Luke 18:27 I'm too tired ; I will give you rest Matthew 11:28-30 Nobody really loves me ; I love you John 3:16,34 I can't go on ; My grace is sufficient II Cor 12:9; PS 91:15 I can't figure things out ; I will direct your steps Proverbs 3:5-6 I can't do it ; You can do all things Philippians 4:13 I'm not able ; ...

2 Sunday after Epiphany - Service but how? " There is a gospel according to you. A gospel is the good news of what God has done in and through Jesus Christ. What that means to us and how it is expressed through what we say and do is our gospel. It is being written in our attitudes, values, actions, and relationships. The people around us are reading our gospel every day." Life Without Limits-the Message of Mark's Gospel Lloyd J. Ogilvie Today's Epistle reading Romans 12 , second half, is talking about the fact that we have as Christians is gifts of the grace of God. Members of one body we are all gifted by the Spirit of God , and should use our gifts for the body , as we are individually members of one another. A gift is obviously something we have been given. He mentions several: "teaching, service, generosity, showing mercy.." How these are to be exercised in the church is what got my attention...... Leading for example should be in zea...

Epiphany Living Romans 12:1-5 In the church Epiphany used to be one of the major Christian festivals...now not so much. It is celebrated in honor of Christ's nativity (birth). The visit of the magi to the newborn Christ child is remembered, the baptism of Jesus is also part of the festival and the turning of water into wine in the first miracle Jesus did in Cana at the wedding. We read in John 2:11, " this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory, and His disciples believed on Him." How do we show forth His glory and reflect His presence as light in our lives, our church , our community and our nation? What does Epiphany living look like? Romans 12 says that because of " the compassions ( mercies) of God " we should present our bodies a living sacrifice holy well-pleasing to God which is your divinely reasonable service..." This compassion of God is to be seen in our mercy , love and compassion as wel...

Happy New Year Isaiah 61 How do we see ourselves having a happy new year? Is it possible? As we look forward to this year , it is true our hearts may be unhappy about how last year went, at least how we acted, spoke and reacted to events and occurences in our individual lives, our parish life and our lives in general in this world. We may now and then have a flash of " I wish I could have said that differently, or why do I get so mad about such things that are seem little but I feel pain about them, but are beyond my control anyway?" Or we may have had an epiphany ( coming Jan 6) and been like the tale of Christmas past, present and future that Dickens' character Scrooge had. That scared us and now we really want to change! For our lives here are really short if we were honest, and the little things do matter that we do for others and tell ourselves each day. For the little things do add up at some point and make bigger piles, do they not? Today's Ep...