Transforming Lives Together Podcast: Recent Episodes
St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church
The Transforming Lives Together Podcast is a ministry of St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church in Tonawanda, NY. St. Bartholomew’s is on mission to see lives powerfully transformed through a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. For more information on the church please visit our website at: www.stbartston.org
Life comes with many trials and difficulties, and you find that out the moment you take your first breath on this planet. Most times we may be able to lean on our friends and family to help us get by, but sometimes we’re on our own, or we feel that way. In the moment, we may decide to give up, thinking there’s no end in sight. We may even doubt our beliefs. So, what is the secret to persevering through hard times? The answer can be found in Psalm 11 verse 4, “The Lord is in His holy temple, The Lord’s throne is in heaven.” This is what John witnesses at the beginning of his vision. There John sees, in the words of Daniel, “one like the Son of Man” seated on a throne in the middle of the golden lampstands. This means the one who loves us and died for us has indeed overcome the world, and now reigns in heaven, assuring us of our own victory over this world no matter how difficult our life gets.
Today we remember priests and reformers of the church, John and Charles Wesley.
The short bio on John and Charles is taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading for today comes from Isaiah 49:5-6(NKJV).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
Today we remember Anglican priest and poet, George Herbert.
The short bio on George is taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading for today comes from 1 Peter 5:1-4(NKJV).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
One of the many things to consider when studying the book of Revelation is how Jesus and the Father are presented. John is giving us a glimpse into heaven, a peek behind the veil to encourage us and confirm what we believe regarding the nature of God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ. The churches John was writing to were dealing with various issues, and some were enduring persecution. His account of what he witnessed, the revealing of what is truly real, was a sober reminder and warning to those in folly, and a cup of cold water to those faithful souls, wearied and parched. Today, we should draw encouragement from John’s witness, that everything, the entire universe and all that it contains, is held together by Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega.
Today we celebrate Independence Day.
The short excerpt on the history of the liturgical celebration of Independence Day was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading for today comes from Hebrews 11:8-16(NASB).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
Today we remember St. Brigid of Kildare.
The short bio on Brigid's life and ministry was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading for today comes from 1 Corinthians 1:26-31(NASB).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
Painting: Alexandra Ogle-Ottinger, 2019
Today we remember the Conversion of St. Paul.
The short bio on Paul's conversion was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading for today comes from Matthew 10:16-22(ESV).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
Painting: The Conversion of Saint Paul (or Conversion of Saul), by the Italian painter Caravaggio
Many of us are privileged to own multiple copies of the Bible, especially through our favorite Bible app. The internet grants us access to a wide range of resources in online study guides, videos, and podcasts (like this one). With so many resources at our fingertips, we can fall into the trap of thinking that we can study and understand the Bible all on our own without the Church. If this were the case, then the apostles would’ve written a lot more letters to individual believers instead of churches, but they didn’t. Even the revelation God gave to John was meant for the seven churches, and, as Fr. Ward points out, were meant to be read out loud in those churches. So, while personal study is important, the Church provides us a buffer against heresy and a wealth of wisdom and insight into the scriptures.
The book of Revelation is the only book in the Bible that promises a blessing to those who read, hear, and, most importantly, heed what it says. This shows how important our Lord’s Revelation to John is, whether you’re a Christian in first century Smyrna or twenty-first century America. Now the type of importance the book has depends upon how we view it. Does it just have historical significance, or is there future significance as well? Is it allegory, or reality? As Fr. Ward breaks down for us, there are essentially four main views of Revelation held at different times by different factions in the Church, and while parts of Revelation could point to each of those views, no one view is able to completely interpret a book so profound.
Today we remember the Mother of our Lord, St. Mary the Virgin.
The short bio on Mary was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading for today comes from Isaiah 61:10-11(NASB).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
Today we remember Laurence, deacon, and martyr at Rome 258.
The short bio on Laurence was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture readings are 2 Corinthians 9:6-10 and John 12:24-26(NASB).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
One of the more controversial and talked about books in the Bible is Revelation. It’s a book that seems to have its foot in both past, present, and future, and gives us a vivid image of heavenly worship and the judgment of this world. The Apostle John is credited as being the author, though His role might be better understood as a recorder, writing down what he was seeing and hearing. This could offer an explanation as to why scholars find John’s Greek to be unrefined in comparison with his gospel. Trying to describe the supernatural events John was observing would be difficult to put in words, for words are inadequate to describe what our minds are inadequate to comprehend. Still, John was able to provide for us an awe-inspiring witness that is meant to encourage the church as the church endures persecution.
Today we remember Joseph of Arimathaea.
The short bio on Joseph was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading is Proverbs 4:10-18 (NASB).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
It can be difficult to continue moving forward when we are in the midst of trouble in this life. Yet, it is necessary for us to do so if we are to experience the Joy of the Lord in the midst of the trouble. As we will discover in our study for this week, there are practical exercises we can do to keep us from focusing on the trouble and allow us to continue to focus on the Joy of the Lord.
Today we remember Thomas the Apostle.
The short bio on Thomas was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading is John 20:24-29 (NASB).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
How should Christians view tragedy? What can we learn from films like A West Side Story? Fr. Bryan shares with us some thoughts on how we can engage tragic stories in a way that is healthy, and how the Gospel provides sweet succor for the tragedy in our lives.
Today we remember Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.
The short bio on Ambrose was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading is Luke 12:35-37, 42-44 (NASB).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
Today we remember Clement, Bishop of Rome.
The short bio on Clement was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading is Luke 6:35-47 (NASB).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
Today we remember Scotland's beloved saint, Margaret.
The short bio on Margaret was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading is Matthew 13:44-52 (NASB).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
Blessed All Souls Day!
Today we remember All the Faithful Departed, not just those known, but also those unknown who are members of this great living body that transcends time and space which we affectionately call the Church.
The short bio on the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading is John 5:24-27 (NASB).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
It is difficult to have joy in our relationships when we ourselves or the other person boast of our position and status. As we will discover in our study for this week, Paul admonished the Church not to boast in themselves, but to focus on knowing Christ Jesus the Lord.
We remember St. Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, who sought to repair the damage that the Viking invasions had inflicted on culture and learning, especially among the parish clergy.
The short bio on St. Alfred was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading is Luke 6:43-49 (NASB).
The Collect comes from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
In our first episode, we remember St. Luke the Evangelist whose researched accounts of Christ's life and the Acts of the Apostles have provided for the Church a faithful witness and have inspired many to put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The short bio on St. Luke was taken from the 2001 edition of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
The scripture reading is Luke 1:1-4 (NASB).
The Collect comes from the 2019 Book of Common Prayer.
We’d all like to bear fruit in our lives and live with joy. But doing so requires us to be in relationship with other people. As we will discover in our study for this week, Paul’s attitude toward the Philippians was such that he longed to be able to encourage them, and because of his encouragement to them, he would be encouraged as well and would experience an increase in joy.
We all want to be successful in life. As the saying goes, “People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.” As we will discover in our study for this week, ultimately, success does not mean a lack of failure, but rather a life full of determination and perseverance in Christ.
We are getting this out a little late, but it is still Easter! Hooray! We hope that this will draw you deeper into what’s going on in the readings and together draw from the Living Well all that we need to be more like our Blessed Lord each day.
The Gospel passages we will be focusing on for this episode are Mark 16:1-8, John 20:19-31.
Who we are around affects who we become as people. If we are around positivity, we are more likely to be positive people, and view things from the hopeful and joyful perspective. As we will discover in our study for this week we can misinterpret circumstances in our lives if we have had bad experiences in the past. And that can hinder our joy.
Oftentimes we feel that we have no control over where our life is headed, as though somehow we are like a train that can only move along a given track. However, the way we react to different circumstances has a profound impact on the trajectory of our life. As we will discover in our study for this week starting and living with good habits is important if we are to live with a can-do and joyous attitude.
Normally the “Conversations” wing of the podcast is dedicated to interviews with people ministering throughout the WNY area, and while we are looking forward to getting back to that, we also wanted to do something different. Every other week, Dn. Jacob and I will be reflecting on the Gospel passages for the previous two Sundays (this past Sunday and the Sunday before) and how it relates to the current Church season. Now for those of you listening who may not be familiar with liturgical traditions like Anglicanism, our readings for each service are assigned by what is called a “lectionary,” and the readings assigned correspond with the Church year as well as the season.
The Gospel passages we will be focusing on for this episode are Mark 11:1-11, John 12:20-33, and the Passion narrative found in Mark's Gospel starting with chapter 14 verse 32 and ending with chapter 15 verse 39.
So, how we will proceed is we will first read the passage (and for those wondering, we will be using the NIV translation), then we’ll discuss it. Simple enough. We hope that this will draw you deeper into what’s going on in the reading and together draw from the Living Well all that we need to be more like our Blessed Lord each day.
Normally the “Conversations” wing of the podcast is dedicated to interviews with people ministering throughout the WNY area, and while we are looking forward to getting back to that, we also wanted to do something different. Every other week, Dn. Jacob and I will be reflecting on the Gospel passages for the previous two Sundays (this past Sunday and the Sunday before) and how it relates to the current Church season. Now for those of you listening who may not be familiar with liturgical traditions like Anglicanism, our readings for each service are assigned by what is called a “lectionary,” and the readings assigned correspond with the Church year as well as the season.
The Gospel passages we will be focusing on for this episode both come from John’s Gospel. The first is Chapter 2 verses 13-22, and the second will be Chapter 6 verses 1-15.
So, how we will proceed is we will first read the passage (and for those wondering, we will be using the NIV translation), then we’ll discuss it. Simple enough. We hope that this will draw you deeper into what’s going on in the reading and together draw from the Living Well all that we need to be more like our Blessed Lord each day.
Discipline is not a pleasant word for most people. Oftentimes the word brings to mind instances of scolding or punishment. Yet when we are disciplined in our daily lives we discover the blessings that God wants us to have. As we will discover in our study for this week, discipline and discernment are essential if we are to grow into mature individuals who can endure hardship, remain relational, and in life’s difficult situations return to joy.
“If it feels good do it” might be a familiar saying to you. Maybe you’ve heard someone use it to justify a particular action or actions. This type of maxim may sound appealing, even wise because our senses do help us discern between what is pleasant and what is harmful. For example, sometimes we learn not to sit too close to the fire by feeling the intense heat, or we learn the milk has gone sour by the pungent aroma emanating from the carton. While God gave us our senses to help investigate and understand the world around us, we were never meant to solely rely on them, especially when it came to moral decisions. Being able to discern what’s right and having the discipline to pursue it, even when it’s uncomfortable, can help us maintain our joy and lead to greater joy in the end.
The way we see the world shapes the way we interact with it and with others. Having the wrong narrative will not only complicate our relationships, it will prevent us from experiencing true joy. If God created us to be in loving relationships, the greatest being our relationship with Him, and to experience joy through those relationships, then we need to adopt His narrative and see things, including ourselves, as they really are. This will not only enable us to experience His joy, but we will also experience His peace. And don’t we need some peace in these trying times.
As we look out at the Church across the world we can notice many differences like ethnicity, style of worship, denomination, and language. But despite our differences, the Bible teaches us that we are all One Body because we all belong to One Lord, Jesus Christ. While we may identify with other groups and the loving relationships we have in those groups may bring us some joy, it’s our identity in Christ that ultimately leads to experiencing the fullness of joy, especially during difficult situations and seasons.
How we respond in difficult situations can say a lot about who we are. Being cool under pressure is a trait that’s admired and with good reason for it’s impossible to diffuse a situation when you need to be diffused yourself. In the book of Proverbs we read, “Like a city that is broken into and without walls So is a person who has no self-control over his spirit” (Proverbs 25:28). To be self-controlled is the mark of a spiritually and emotionally mature person, but this doesn’t happen overnight. We need to be able to recognize when our “switch” in our assessment center turns “off” and take the steps necessary to turn it back “on” so that in difficult situations we can remain relational, act like ourselves, return to joy, and in doing so we will be able to endure hardship.
The goal of our faith is ultimately to be like Christ. The Early Church Fathers summed it up best when they said that the Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men might become sons of God. Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians that the goal of the ministerial offices is to equip and build up the church, “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). This knowledge isn’t simply head knowledge, though that plays a part in our ability to know things. Rather, the knowledge Paul is referring to is experiential knowledge: walking daily with the Lord, spending time with Him in prayer and in His Word, and being an active member of His Body, the Church. As the saying goes, “You are the company you keep,” the more time we’re with the Lord, the more His life is expressed through ours, and what a world it would be if this were true for all of us today!
We were created to be emotional beings, but sometimes our emotions can get the best of us. This happens in especially tense and difficult situations. How we respond in those moments can say a lot about us which is why the ability to “keep our peace” when the “heat is on” is an important watermark for the believer. Self-control is not something we can achieve on our own, rather it is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit as He works in and through us. As Fr. Ward points out in our lesson for this week, the degree to which we are walking in and with the Spirit will ultimately determine the degree to which we are able to exhibit those characteristics that define a person with RARE leadership. That RARE (R-A-R-E) is an acronym with the first “R” for “Remain Relational,” the “A” for “Act Like Yourself,” the second “R” for “Return To Joy,” and the “E” for “Endure Hardship.”
Stress and anxiety have become common terms in our word economy, so common, in fact, that it seems they’re all we hear about. There is plenty in our world to cause us stress and so much of our time can be consumed by it, even to the point where we become physically ill. If this was all we were made for then life would be one big sorrow filled with many burdens, but as we will learn from Fr. Ward, we were created for joy.
It’s good to be back with you for another episode, and we apologize for the mini sabbatical we took. With everything going on surrounding this global pandemic, we, unfortunately, weren’t able to keep up with our weekly schedule. Thank you to our listeners who have stuck with us through our absence and we hope you enjoy this new series we’re starting up titled “Finding the Joy of the Lord in a Stress-filled World.” In this series Fr. Ward will share how we can maximize our joy, looking at what the scriptures and brain science have to say about who we are and how we are wired.
This series was initially recorded for video so you may hear various sounds or references to images at certain points. You can watch the videos by going to St. Bartholomew’s website which is www.stbartston.org
In the first chapter of his book You Are What You Love James K. A. Smith writes,
“It is crucial for us to recognize that our ultimate loves, longings, desires, and cravings are learned. And because love is a habit, our hearts are calibrated through imitating exemplars and being immersed in practices that, over time, index our hearts to a certain end. We learn to love, then, not primarily by acquiring information about what we should love but rather through practices that form the habits of how we love.”(Smith, James K. A. You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power Of Habit. Grand Rapids. Brazos Press, 2016. Print.)
The Book of Common Prayer is a gift and an aid, giving us the habits and practices that help shape our loves. We have seen this throughout our series in the Sunday worship service, the Liturgical Calendar, and we will see it again in this episode as Fr. Thebeau guides us through the Psalter, Collects, and the Daily Office.
Whether we think about it or not, our lives are ordered around the days, weeks, and months that make up our calendar. It’s one of the ways in which we understand and interact with time. Unfortunately for many of us, worship of the Triune God is just one item among many that fill our calendars. This could be why Thomas Cramner saw the importance of developing a church calendar as part of the prayer book so that we would have a guide to help order our days around the life of Christ and therefore better inhabit the story of our faith. For these next two episodes it will help if you have a copy of the 2019 Book of Common Prayer as Fr. Thebeau will be pointing out quite a bit in the lectionary and calendar. If you do not have the prayer book, you can purchase a physical copy or download a digital copy from anglicanchurch.net.
In the preface to the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, Thomas Cranmer writes,
“...if a man would search out by the ancient fathers, he shall find, that the same was not ordained, but of a good purpose, and for a great advancement of godliness: For they so ordered the matter, that all the whole Bible (or the greatest part thereof) should be read over once in the year, intending thereby, that the Clergy, and especially such as were Ministers of the congregation, should (by often reading, and meditation of God’s word) be stirred up to godliness themselves, and be more able to exhort others by wholesome doctrine, and to confute them that were adversaries to the truth.” (2019 Book of Common Prayer pg. 794)As we go through our lesson for this week, Fr. Thebeau will highlight the ways in which Thomas Cranmer made scripture an essential part of our worship, and how the liturgical calendar helps form our lives around the life of Christ.
Before entering the promised land, Israel was not only reminded of the law, but they were also given a liturgy; a set of rituals and habits that they were to participate in daily so that their lives would be formed around God’s law and their identity as God’s people. As Fr. Thebeau points out in our lesson for this week, we worship what we love, but because of the Fall, our loves became disordered. Therefore, liturgy is the way in which we retrain our hearts to love who we were created to love: the Lord our God.
As we learned in our last episode that the structure and arrangement of churches served a particular purpose in forming our hearts and minds around the right worship of God, so too do the activities we participate in and the vestments worn during Sunday services. Because you’re only getting the audio of this lesson, we have included an image with some of the vestments and their names to help give you an idea of what they would look like.
In light of the current Coronavirus pandemic, I sat down with Fr. Bryan Wandel, Rector of Church of the Atonement, Dn. Matt Traylor, Curate of Church of the Atonement, and Fr. Andrew Thebeau, Curate of St. Bartholomew’s to have a round table discussion about our current state of affairs in the church, and how the church can stay connected and move forward in ministry while adhering to the restrictions, and social distancing practices necessary to help flatten the curve of this COVID19 outbreak.
Just a note before get going: This episode may sound a little different from previous episodes because, in an effort to practice what we preach, we recorded remotely in a space where we could honor the recommended 6ft of distance from one another.
Here is our conversation...
In the preface to the 2019 Book of Common Prayer we read that, “The Book of Common Prayer, from the first edition of 1549, became the hallmark of a Christian way of worship and believing that was both catholic and reformed, continuous yet always renewing. According to this pattern, communities of prayer—congregations and families rather than the monasteries of the earliest centuries—would be the centers of formation and of Christ-like service to the world.” Throughout this series Fr. Thebeau will guide us in understanding how Anglican worship and The Book of Common Prayer help to form our lives around the life of Christ.
Our guest for this episode is Erin Van Lente. Erin is the Youth Program Senior Case Manager at PATH Inc. which is a faith based not-for-profit organization with a mission to end human trafficking through education, prevention and restoration.
Together we talked about human trafficking, Erin’s work with PATH, and how PATH is tackling the trafficking industry in Western New York. Here is our conversation...
What we love ultimately defines who we are and shapes the course of our life. We were made to love God and to love our neighbor, but, because of the Fall, our hearts were bent inward to love of self. In this ruined condition we, on our own, are incapable of reordering our loves, so God takes the initiative through the person of Christ; which then enables us to respond in faith. We can see this in the exchange between our Lord and Peter in our lesson for this week. Christ asks the same question three times, not only to reverse Peter’s denial, but to reinstate him and prepare him for what’s ahead.
Eyewitness accounts are valuable when validating whether or not an event took place, though there can be a fair amount of scrutiny given to ancient accounts like the one in our Gospel lesson for this week. We may not have the benefit of time travel to satisfy the naysayers, but we do have the benefit of a historical record that shows a world being transformed by men and women who put their faith in the Risen Lord and, by the power of His Spirit, worked to bring about His Kingdom on earth. As Fr. Ward points out, seeing doesn’t always lead to believing, and the Scriptures are filled with accounts of people who saw clearly with their eyes, but still did not believe in their hearts.
As we read the Apostle John’s account of the resurrection, we see that even the presence of angels was not enough to comfort Mary Magdalene in her sorrow as she wept over the disappearance of Christ’s body. If it weren’t for the resurrection of our Lord, we too would weep as ones to be pitied most. If it weren’t for the resurrection, our hero’s journey would end like so many others’. But as we read, Mary was not left weeping at the tomb, and just as she was commanded by our Lord to share the good news with the disciples, so we are commanded to share the good news with the world, “Christ is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!”
Throughout the four Gospels we hear the phrase “it is written” quite a bit. This phrase is meant to direct our hearts back to the Old Testament: to see that what was written then was being fulfilled in Christ. God’s work of salvation that our Lord completed on the cross was not a happenstance, but an event that was orchestrated from the beginning. In our lesson for this week Fr. Ward shares a couple of the Old Testament passages that point to Christ’s death and helps us see Jesus as the promised Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
As meticulous as the Gospel Writers were in documenting the events leading to Christ’s death, their goal wasn’t merely to create a historical record. While knowing the people, places, and times that helped shape these events is important, we are called to go beyond them to find our place in the narrative. To see the human condition, our condition, exposed by the Light of the Bleeding Messiah as He stands at the center of our unrest and injustice; never raising His voice. This is where we find ourselves in our lesson for this week. Pilate believes Jesus to be innocent yet yields to the mob to save his own neck, and the mob, incited by the Jewish leadership, shows their true colors as they manipulate Pilate to get their way; sending Jesus to be crucified.
Whether we embrace it as relative, or as absolute, we are all, in some ways, engaged in the pursuit of truth. The question Pontius Pilate asks in our lesson for this week, “What is truth?”, is deeply philosophical and theological, and throughout history, has led to many unsatisfactory answers. As we work through John’s gospel, we find the beloved disciple is directing us to understand that it’s not “what”, but “who”, that truth is found not in an idea, or a system of living, or in an enlightened state of mind, but in the person of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God.
Throughout John’s Gospel we see the divinity of Jesus brought to light through miraculous signs and the seven “I Am” statements. Even John’s prologue in chapter one sets us up to see Jesus as the Word who was with God in the beginning, and who was God; the same Word who took on our flesh. The fact that those who sought to apprehend Jesus fell back when He identified Himself, demonstrates, as Fr. Ward points out, the power of His presence and that He was no ordinary man. The mob may have come out in force to arrest Jesus, but the only way they would be able to leave with Him was under His own power.
It’s no surprise, during this time of year, to find stores, homes, offices, streets, maybe even vehicles, decorated with tinsel, lights, and greenery. It seems as though beautiful things are everywhere you look; in the sights, sounds, and smells of the Christmas season, and it is hard not to feel a little more joyful, and a little more hopeful. At the heart of all of this beauty is longing, and as Fr. Thebeau explains in his sermon, this longing can only be satisfied in the Beautiful One, Jesus Christ. Christ’s advent not only revealed to us the source of true beauty, but by His incarnation, death, and resurrection, we have the promise of eternal life in the Beautiful World to come: paradise.
SET APART TO LIVE AS ONE
One of the wonderful things about the Body of Christ, the Church, is that, though we are made up of many members, we are all one in Christ through the Holy Spirit. This unity transcends race, region, culture, gender, age, and financial status. As we will see in our lesson for this week, Jesus prays that our union with one another and with God through Him would bear witness to the world of the reality of Christ and the love of the Father through Christ.
TO KNOW CHRIST IS TO HAVE LIFE
When it comes to advancement upon the career ladder, sometimes hard work and a solid education are not enough. As the saying goes, “it’s all about who you know.” Relationships are the foundation of human society, and as we will see in our lesson for this week, a relationship with God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation for eternal life. Just as a branch cannot live apart from the vine, so we cannot live apart from Christ.
WE SHALL OVERCOME
One of the most prolific gospel songs associated with social justice movements through the years has been “We Shall Overcome.” The words are quite simple, yet these simple words brought about unity and resolve in the face of injustice and oppression:
We shall overcome,
we shall overcome,
we shall overcome someday!
Oh, deep in my heart I do believe
we shall overcome someday!
As Christ explains in our lesson for this week, we will face a lot of trouble in this life, but that trouble will last for a moment and we will no longer need to fear sin, death and the devil because He has overcome them all and, in Him, we too shall overcome.
ANOTHER HELPER
It goes without saying that our world is full of trouble. For those of us who believe it can be even harder to bear because we see a world where many have rejected God, but we also have hope because Christ overcame the world and His life now lives in us through the Holy Spirit. Christ explains, in our lesson this week, that it was for our good that He departed this earth and went back to the Father so that His Spirit might be poured out on all who believe.
FRIENDS OF GOD
Israel was called to be a peculiar people, a nation set apart, different from the rest of the world. This position wasn’t for the purpose of simply being an exclusive group, but rather to be a light to the other nations, a living testament of the Triune God. Through Christ we have been brought into this special relationship where we, like Abraham and Moses, are considered friends of God, and like Israel, our position is to serve as a light to the world: a living testament of God in Christ. This, of course, will put us at odds with the darkness in the world, and will cause many of us to be persecuted for our faith.
LIFE IN THE VINE
Much of the Book of Ecclesiastes can sum up our postmodern culture today. Whether the pursuit is labor or pleasure, it is ultimately empty of meaning. To tie it to our lesson for this week, this is life outside or disconnected from the vine. Life that is really no life at all. Christ is the True Vine, and we, as the Apostle Paul puts it, have been grafted in by the grace of God. The call for us is to remain in this Vine, to be faithful to Him as He works in us to bring about the fruit that will last.
WHAT ARE THE FOUR MARKS OF A TRUE BELIEVER?
While the term “Christian” was initially used, possibly as an insult, by those outside the Church to describe those in the Church, it was embraced by the Church because the word meant “those belonging to Christ”. But what does it mean to belong to Christ? What does it look like? In Jesus’ final instruction to His disciples before His eventual arrest, He sets the vision for the Church, that our communion with Him and with one another should be marked by prayer, obedience, love, and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
A NEW COMMANDMENT
Much is made about love in our society. We see this appeal to love or find love through various spheres of influence, yet much of what we find outside of the church carries with it an emptiness rather than a fullness because it is love separated from the source. In our lesson for this week, we see that the commands to love God and love our neighbor find their fulfillment in Christ and are fleshed out through following His example.
THE SON OF PERDITION
Judas Iscariot was one of the more complicated figures among the twelve disciples. He was a member of the zealots, who desired to overthrow the Roman government, and he was a thief, known for pilfering the money purse he was responsible to oversee as treasurer. Still, Judas was chosen to be one of the twelve, and was dearly loved by Christ, which made the betrayal that much more painful. As we will hear in our lesson for this week, Judas had a choice, and he chose his own interests over the interests of his friends.
WHAT REALLY MAKES ONE GREAT?
In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul describes Jesus’ attitude during His earthly ministry as, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:6-7 NIV). These words echo throughout our lesson this week as Jesus demonstrates His love and humility by washing His disciples feet, showing that to be considered great in the Kingdom of God you must be a servant to all.
NO CROSS NO CROWN
With His gaze looking ahead to His inevitable death, Jesus knew what it would take to bring about the fruit of salvation. As the writer of the letter to the Hebrews wrote, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame...” Christ’s example of self-sacrifice and faithful devotion is not easy, in fact, it is impossible to follow without the Holy Spirit working in us, “to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose,” as Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians. Still He invites us to walk in the Light, and that walking means choosing to deny ourselves and carry our cross, much like Jesus did only a few days later.
Jesus’ call in chapter twelve is a challenge to all who would come after Him as we continue with “Life’s Meaning and Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.”
Our guest for this episode is Fr. Bryan Wandel. Fr. Bryan is the rector of Church of the Atonement, an Anglican church plant in the City of Buffalo, and host of The Nickel City Forum, which is a bi-monthly gathering to learn about and discuss big idea topics in theology, ethics, and culture.
Together we talked about the challenges of planting an Anglican church in the City of Buffalo, work-life balance, and what Church of the Atonement is doing to serve and build relationships within their community. Here is our conversation...
THE ROAD TO CALVARY IS PAVED WITH UNMET EXPECTATIONS
Our expectations can mislead us, especially when we expect God to work in a certain way. Judas’ expectations were challenged when Jesus defended Mary’s use of expensive perfume to anoint His feet. The crowd’s expectations of Jesus being the king who would raise up an army to overthrow the Romans were also challenged as He rode into Jerusalem not on a warhorse, but on a young donkey. Unmet expectations can lead us down the path of surrender, where we recognize that God’s ways are not our ways, and that His ways are better, or it can lead us down the path of rejection, where we shout, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” with the rest of the angry mob. As we near the final days of Jesus, we will see that many will choose the path of rejection which will ultimately lead to His death.
In what appears to be a high point during Jesus’ ministry we begin to see the seeds of rejection that will eventually lead to His arrest, trial, and execution as we continue with “Life’s Meaning and Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.”
LAZARUS COME FORTH!
In our Twenty-Fifth Episode Jesus demonstrates His power over life and death, raising Lazarus from the grave, as we continue with “Life’s Meaning and Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.”
With so much that can and does go wrong in our world, it can be hard to see the silver lining. Bad news seems to dominate the airwaves, and even in moments of peace it feels more like the calm before the storm. It’s in these times that we need to be reminded of Paul’s words in his letter to the Romans where he writes, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 NIV) No matter what we face in this life, God’s love is with us in Christ. This is the very same love, and the very same God who, in our lesson for this week, raises Lazarus from the dead. If we believe Jesus is who He says He is, even if there is nothing else to hope for in this world, we have hope in Christ, and He is all we really need.
LIAR, LUNATIC, or LORD?
C. S. Lewis posed this question in his book “Mere Christianity” and it fuels the debate we find in our Twenty-fourth Episode as we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.”
In part 2 of Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis’ writes, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.” We find this dilemma in our lesson for this week as the people and the religious leaders debate over who Jesus is; with some believing, some unsure of what to make of Him, and some rejecting Him to the point where they pick up stones to kill Him.
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
These words from Psalm 23 find their meaning in Jesus as we continue in our TWENTY-THIRD EPISODE with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.”
The purpose of anything that is considered counterfeit is to deceive us into thinking it is what it appears to be; the real thing. This is ultimately done to take advantage of us and to steal that which is valuable. While the saying “ignorance is bliss” may be popular, it is certainly not true, and many have lost much at the hands of these ‘false shepherds’. We must know the real thing in order to guard our hearts against the counterfeits of this world. In our lesson for this week, Jesus identifies the counterfeits as being those who climb over the wall or enter the sheep pen through any other way instead of through the gate. As our Lord puts it, the one who enters another way is “a thief and a robber.” The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. Jesus is our shepherd, the Good Shepherd who lays His life down for the sheep, and whose voice we must know in order to follow Him and avoid the traps of the Deceiver.
SEEING AND BELIEVING
In our TWENTY SECOND EPISODE Jesus heals a man born blind and confronts the spiritual blindness of the religious leaders as we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John."
During his early years, John Newton had a reputation for being a profane and debaucherous young man, who would spend much of his time working on merchant vessels and slave trading ships. But on one fateful voyage, while caught up in a terrible storm, the trajectory of his life would change as he put his faith in Christ. Now you may not be familiar with John Newton’s story, but you may be familiar with the words to his most famous hymn, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.” In these words, John Newton likens his conversion to that of a blind man receiving his sight, much like the blind man in our lesson this week whose eyes were opened not only physically to behold Jesus’ face, but also spiritually to behold Jesus as the Son of Man. Sadly, we also see the contrast between this man and the religious leaders who remain spiritually blind as they continue to reject Jesus.
THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE!
These are the words of Jesus in our TWENTY FIRST EPISODE as we finish up chapter EIGHT of John’s Gospel.
In our struggle with sin, denial can be a very dangerous position because it blinds us from seeing our bondage. As the Apostle John writes in his first Epistle, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”
(1 John 1:8 NIV). Jesus says in our lesson for this week that it is the Truth that sets us free. This Truth is not simply acknowledging our bondage to sin and our need for a Savior, but it is the Truth of who Jesus is, that He is the Son of God and He is the one who has come to set us free from the power of sin and death. In Christ we are no longer slaves, but, as the Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians, we are “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29 NIV).
ENTRAPPING LIGHT
In our TWENTIETH EPISODE the scribes and the Pharisees try to ensnare Jesus as we continue with “Life’s Meaning and Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.”
Hello and welcome to the Transforming Lives Together Podcast.
The Apostle John writes at the beginning of his Gospel that in Jesus “was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5 NIV) As Fr. Ward points out in our lesson this week, this truth found in chapter 1 of John’s Gospel is illustrated here in chapter 8. Jesus is the Light of the world, and though the darkness, which is represented in the thoughts and intentions of the Scribes and the Pharisees, tried to entrap and snuff out the Light, the darkness could not overcome it. Instead, the Light shines into the darkness and illuminates the contrasts between Jesus and the religious authorities.
IS JESUS THE MESSIAH?
In our NINETEENTH EPISODE tensions rise over this question as we continue with “Life’s Meaning and Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John”
Jesus says in Matthew’s Gospel that He did not come to bring peace but a sword (Matt. 10:34), and that this sword would spur conflict amongst individuals, even members of the same household. So the tension that fills chapter 7 of John’s Gospel should not surprise us, for at the center of this tension is the unavoidable Messiah question, “Who do we say Jesus is?” It’s a question that is unavoidable because Jesus is the one who confronts us with it. Once confronted, a decision then has to be made, there is no middle ground. Either Jesus is the Messiah, or He is not. This is the dilemma we find in our lesson this week as people wrestle with the Messiah question, inciting greater hostility from the religious leaders toward Jesus.
WHO IS THE GOOD SAMARITAN?
In our Eighteenth episode, we press pause on our study series to hear from Fr. Andrew Thebeau, Curate of St. Bartholomew’s, as he takes us deeper into one Jesus’ most well-known and beloved parables.
Throughout His ministry, Jesus liked to utilize parables as a means to teach people about the Kingdom of God and how we are to live for the Kingdom of God. These were stories that, though on the surface dealt with worldly situations, carried a deeper spiritual truth. If you’re familiar with the Gospels, then there might be a few parables you can remember off the top of your head, one of them, most likely, being the Good Samaritan. In our lesson this week, Fr. Thebeau endeavors to make this beloved parable, in his own words, “strange to us again,” as he borrows from the thoughts of the early Church Fathers to help us see this familiar story in a richer, more theological light.
MINISTRY UNDER FIRE!
Jesus faces religious opposition in our Seventeenth Episode as we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.”
Religious institutions can help provide structure and organization for faith communities. Religious leadership can act as a benevolent hand to help guide, encourage and provide accountability. When walking in obedience to the Word, in the power of the Spirit, with Christ as the Head; these institutions will thrive. When religion becomes a struggle for power, however, these institutions become a house divided, and as Jesus said “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. We see the beginning of this power struggle in chapter 7 of John’s Gospel as the religious leaders challenge Jesus’ authority and the authenticity of his ministry. Unfortunately, what they failed to see was that the man they opposed is the very God they claimed to follow.
Fr. Ward has served as Rector of St. Bartholomew’s for over twenty years, and throughout his ministry he has been an engaging and effective Bible teacher and communicator of the Gospel. You don’t need to look any further than the study we are currently running on the podcast to see this. For our episode this week, we decided to take a break from the study in favor of a Q & A session with Fr. Ward. Most of the questions are centered around John’s Gospel, but our ultimate goal is that you would hear the heart of a priest who loves God and loves the people of God.
We would like to thank Fr. Ward for his time, and we also would like to thank you for yours as you tune in each week. We pray you are blessed and encouraged by the content of this podcast. Please listen through to the end to learn how you can connect with this podcast and with all that is happening at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church.
IS THERE SOMETHING HOLDING YOU BACK FROM FOLLOWING JESUS?
The sixth chapter in John’s gospel contains one of the toughest teachings Jesus gave about Himself. It was so difficult that it caused many of His disciples to walk away. It’s easy for us to believe, to enjoy the high times of our spiritual walk when everything is going right. A deeper study of Christ’s ministry, however, reveals that the road to eternal life is paved with struggle, with sacrifice, and with death. Jesus calls us to follow, and that following means denying ourselves and taking up our cross, which is not a popular or attractive message today.
In our Fifteenth Episode, Fr. Ward underscores this struggle as we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John.”
WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION? WHY ARE YOU SEEKING JESUS?
While much has changed in our world from the time of Jesus up to now, the desires and motivations of our hearts have not, and that sometimes leads us to pursue that which will satisfy our physical and temporal needs rather than seek the one who can give us eternal and abundant life. We find this same dilemma in our lesson this week in chapter 6 of John’s Gospel as the people experience a profound miracle, but struggle to go beyond the physical and see Jesus as He truly is: God in human form.
This is EPISODE THIRTEEN of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward.
In this episode Fr. Ward finishes Chapter 5 and answers questions from those in attendance.
We would also like to mention that these studies are recorded live and will sometimes have coughs, the fan for the heating and air conditioning, and a little feedback. We do our best to clean up these sessions but we unfortunately can’t get everything. We hope you’ve been blessed by what you’re hearing from this podcast each week and we thank you for listening.
This is EPISODE TWELVE of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward.
In this episode Fr. Ward finishes Chapter 4 and begins to unpack Chapter 5 focusing on verses 1-23.
This is EPISODE ELEVEN of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward.
In this episode Fr. Ward unpacks Chapter 4, focusing on verses 1-42.
This is EPISODE TEN of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward.
In this episode Fr. Ward finishes up chapter 3, focusing on verses 22-36.
This is EPISODE NINE of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward.
In this episode Fr. Ward answers questions from those in attendance and unpacks verses 1-21 of Chapter 3.
This is EPISODE EIGHT of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward.
In this episode Fr. Ward finishes unpacking chapter 2, focusing on verses 13-25.
This is EPISODE SEVEN of the podcast and with Easter being this past Sunday we felt it appropriate to pause from our Bible study series and share with you the sermon Fr. Ward preached on the resurrection titled, “What If Christ Was Not Raised?”
In this episode, Fr. Ward begins to unpack Chapter TWO focusing on verses 1-12.
If you’re just starting to listen to this podcast, we invite you to check out previous episodes to get caught up to speed with this study.
This is EPISODE FIVE of the podcast and we will continue with “Life's Meaning & Purpose: An in depth study of the Gospel of John", taught by the Rector Of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward. In this episode, Fr. Ward will finish unpacking Chapter One, focusing on verses 35-51. If you’re just starting to listen to this podcast, we invite you to check out the first four episodes to get caught up to speed with this study.
In this episode, Fr. Ward answers some questions from those in attendance and unpacks verses 19-34 of Chapter One. If you’re just starting to listen to this podcast, we invite you to check out the first three episodes to get caught up to speed with this study.
This is EPISODE THREE of the podcast and we will continue with “Life's Meaning & Purpose: An in depth study of the Gospel of John", taught by the Rector Of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward. In this episode, Fr. Ward unpacks verses 6-18 of Chapter One. He will also recap verses 1-5, which he unpacked in more detail during episode two of this podcast. If you’re starting to listen to this podcast now, we invite you to check out the first two episodes to get caught up to speed with this study.
This is EPISODE TWO of the podcast and we will continue with “Life's Meaning & Purpose: An in depth study of the Gospel of John", taught by the Rector Of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward.
In this episode, Fr. Ward concludes his overview of John’s gospel, answers some questions asked by those in attendance, and unpacks the first five verses of chapter one.
In this episode we begin a study titled "Life's Meaning & Purpose: An in depth study of the Gospel of John" taught by the Rector of St. Bartholomew's Fr. Arthur Ward. Here Fr. Ward gives us an introduction to John's Gospel as well as some background on the writer and why this book is important for us today.