How Can I Believe? (Proper 29A)

How can I believe is the cry of our hearts as we seek the truth about God in a world full of chaos, evil and divided opinion. The short answer is YOU can’t on your own - but with God’s help you can. Like Moses and the Pharisees we need to experience Gods power and presence personally. Personal relationship and experience of the divine is the gift of faith. The readings help us understand:

·     What belongs to God?

·     How do we know we can trust God?

·     How do we get this gift of faith?

 

1. What belongs to God?

Right Relationships For Spiritual Life (Proper 13a)

(Available on John Gishler Youtube June 28)

 Today’s Readings challenge us to develop right relationships in this life as we prepare for our resurrection life in Jesus Christ. Last week we were challenged to love God more than family. This week we are challenged to die emotionally and spiritually to anything that competes with our love of God and to love our neighbour as ourselves. This involves painful challenges to the development and healing of our spiritual lives.

 

1. Right relationship with God

Going Spiritual Or Going Political? (Epiphany 6 Year C)

Our sixth Epiphany moment is discovering that Jesus was promising life after death to those who trust in him. This is a new idea - especially for Christians who think they can earn their way into heaven by good behaviour, going to the right church or knowing the right doctrine. Isaiah describes those who trust in man as “cursed” as opposed to those who trust in God as “Blessed” (17.7). The Luke reading is Jesus’ deeper teaching on how things are different in the spiritual Kingdom of God where the poor are blessed and the rich may be condemned and excluded. The question is the priorities of our heart or soul.

1.  Jeremiah says “the heart is deceitful above all things” (17.9). 

Many people deceive themselves into thinking that because they live a good life that is enough. 

I Believe In the Holy Spirit (Pentecost 2018)

Belief in the Holy Spirit is something we all affirm in our Baptism and every time we say the Apostles Creed. But what does this “belief in” mean? Do we (like Satan) believe in Jesus and the Holy Spirit in only acknowledging their existence? Do we know them personally and understand them? Do we really put our trust in them? For the rest of the church year the readings are supposed to help us get to know the Holy Spirit personally so we can really believe in the Holy Spirit.

1. Personal experience is essential to believing in the Holy Spirit

Prophecy Calls Us Into Right Relationship - Righteousness (Advent 3, Year B)

In the Gospel Reading (John 1.6-8, 19-28) we see a situation that is happening in our own lifetime. We have representatives of a corrupted religion investigating a genuine prophet. He tells them God is about to fulfill the Isaiah Prophecy. He tells them that the one “…you do not know.” (v. 26) is in their midst. This was a stinging rebuke to the religious leadership and a wake-up call to the Jews. It is also a wake-up call to us now. The question is what should we do to "make the way straight" or get into a right relationship with God  and "make righteousness and praise spring up" (v. 11) in our time?

1. The Baptist proclaimed the fulfillment of the Isaiah Prophecy

This was a prophecy that God would intervene in human affairs once again to "... make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations" (Isaiah 61.11). Water baptism is the first step in spiritual life.