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Gratitude as an Antidote to Anxiety- Matt 6

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  Joel 2: 21-27; Psalm 126; 1 Timothy 2: 1-7; Matthew 6:25-33 Anxiety has to do with the persistent underlying presence of fear or panic. It’s the presence of worry, unrest, or a sense of danger. Statistics Canada reported that  “the proportion of Canadians aged 15 years and older with a generalized anxiety disorder doubled from 2012 to 2022 … . The largest 10-year increases were seen among young people, particularly young women aged 15 to 24 years, for whom the prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder tripled. … [Regarding] social phobia … comparisons with 2002 suggest a fourfold increase in the prevalence of social phobia among young women. ” [1] Statistics Canada is talking about disorders, which generally means a kind of anxiety that significantly interferes with living your life. It is overwhelming and it is chronic. So, we can probably assume that the numbers of people dealing with anxiety without it getting to the point of being a disorder is probably quite a bit higher. The
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St. Michael and All Angels

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Genesis 28:10–17; Revelation 12:7–12; John 1:47–51 Today we celebrate the feast of St. Michael and All Angels. The topic of angels tends to divide people into extremes. On one end, some people tend to be obsessed with angels, so they read books about angels and try to communicate with them. If you walk through the New Age section in the bookstore you will find numerous books on angels and even tarot cards based on angels. … On the other extreme, some people place angels into the same category as unicorns, faeries, and leprechauns. To them the idea of angels being real is an offence to rationality and science. As we heard from our readings, angels are present throughout the Bible. They also appear in the experiences of the saints throughout history. If they are so present in the Bible and throughout the history of the church we should probably be cautious about denying their existence. But, we should also be cautious to not allow our imaginations to run wild.
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Why worship using a liturgy?

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  There are a number of modern Christians who don’t understand praying using a liturgy. In many Protestant circles there is a leaning towards spontaneity and individuality. So, saying communal prayers together, and prayers that were written by someone else from a different time and culture, can seem very strange.     First, what I would like to say to someone who feels that way is that we are surrounded by liturgy. Our lives are filled with ritual. Even for churches who consider themselves non-liturgical, they worship according to a pattern. For example, a pattern I often see when visiting churches is the following- the musicians play a number of songs, which is followed by a sermon, and then a prayer, and then an offering, and more songs. That is a kind of liturgy. The songs will include many that are familiar to those who are worshipping. The words are the same words, and the people often want their favourite songs. These songs are like a prayer written by someone else and sung (pr
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Godly Wisdom- James 3-4

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James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8; Mark 9:30-37 James’ letter has a lot of practical advice for how to live as Christians. We can sort of hold it alongside the Sermon on the Mount, which also shows us what it looks like to live in the Kingdom. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus deals with things like anger, lustful thoughts, marriage, making promises, revenge, loving enemies, giving to those in need, how to pray and fast, anxiety, judging others, and treating people the way you would like to be treated. These are all very common issues, and Jesus teaches us how to practically approach these things with a heavenly mindset. Likewise, James’ letter deals with issues like not showing favouritism to the wealthy, our faith having an effect on how we live, being mindful of the way we speak, and having patience in suffering. These are all pretty practical and everyday realities that we face. And James is giving practical advice about facing these realities with a heavenly mindset. In the portion of
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Knowing and using our Spiritual Gifts to live a life of purpose- Eph 4

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  Ephesians 4:1-16; Matthew 25:14-30 I recently watched an interesting series on Netflix called “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones”. The idea behind the show is that there are these communities around the world where there are many more people living to 100 (and older) than in other places. Often these 100-year-olds are still quite active and don’t seem to be dealing with as much dementia as might be expected. There are a lot of interesting lessons we can learn from these communities. Often these people have gardens and walk a fair amount. So, they have a fair amount of daily low-impact activity. They also tend to have strong communities and friendships. Something else they noticed was that they had was a sense of purpose. They have a sense of why they wake up in the morning. I don’t think it’s all that important to live to be 100. I think it’s more important to focus on living in the Kingdom of God. But, I think this does tell us something important about how God has made human
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Is this woman unclean? Mark 7

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Mark 7:24-37 In last week’s Gospel reading, Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees who were bothered by the disciples not ritually washing their hands before they ate, which was a tradition of the Pharisees. This isn’t a command in Scripture. It is an extension added to the law taught by certain Jewish elders. This led to a discussion about what makes a person clean or unclean. Jesus challenges the Pharisees’ position on purity, and then turns to teach his position to the crowd-  “there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile” (Mark 7:15). It isn’t that the practice of washing hands before they eat is bad, but Jesus emphasizes a deeper moral purity over ritual purity. This is an important teaching to keep in mind as we look at this week’s Gospel reading. These readings are connected. In this week’s reading, Jesus is in Gentile (non-Jewish) territory. He is confronted by a Syrophoenician woman, who has a small child with
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Clean hearts over clean hands- Mark 7

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Song of Solomon 2:8-13; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Once again, there are a couple of directions we could go with our readings this morning. The Song of Songs, which is also called the Song of Solomon, is a book that has often puzzled people. It seems to be a poem about the passionate love between two people. It doesn’t even really talk about God. So, it has been tricky to know how it should be interpreted. A second century Rabbi, Rabbi Akiva, was asked by his students if the book should be considered Scripture at all. He replied,  “Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that the Song of Songs [is holy], for the whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy, and the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies” (Mishnah Yadaim 3.5). [1] A traditional way to interpret the Song of Songs, which Rabbi Akiva seems to ascribe to, is to see it as a description of God’s desire for God’s people. The Bible often u
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