Welcome to AnchorCast, a weekly podcast of homilies and sermons from Christ our Anchor Anglican Mission in Nashville, Tennessee.

Let us pray.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.

Amen.

Saint John says that if we believe in the name of the Son of God, that is Jesus, that we have eternal life.

Jesus, in the Gospel reading, says that we are not of the world, even as He is not of the world.

Remember that in Christ, though we don’t always see it clearly right now, death has been defeated.

We are eternal beings, anointed in the water and blood of the sacraments, to live forever in Jesus’s kingdom.

We, with Jesus, are not of this fallen world of death, but are here as symbols and signs of the new world to come.

In our day-to-day trials and pain, we are invited to take on the sufferings of Jesus and to be strengthened and healed through them.

What the world intends to harm and hinder us, in Christ, can become instruments of God’s glory in the world.

Saint John also says that if we ask anything according to His will, He, Jesus, hears us.

Not only that, he says that because we know that Jesus hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of Him.

Our God listens to our prayers.

Nothing is too big or too small for Him.

But beyond just listening, our God answers prayers.

Now, He doesn’t always answer them in the way we’d like.

Sometimes it’s even hard to tell if anything is going on.

But know, God is always working for you.

He loves you so much, He is willing to suffer and die for you.

He suffers with you now in all your troubles.

In Isaiah, God says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Remember, friends, Jesus has defeated death.

We will live forever with Him in His kingdom.

We are not of this world, but of the world that is to come with His return.

Keep the faith.

Stay strong in the struggles.

Pray and know that He listens.

He who once ascended to the heavens will just as surely descend again at the end of time to make all things new.

Trust in Him.

Be washed in the water and the blood.

Allow His Spirit to sanctify you in the trials of this fallen world.

Go out into the world proclaiming His light and love in all that you do, especially when things are messy and hard.

In the name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Amen.

Follow us at ChristOurAnchor.org to learn more about the work God has called us to in East Nashville, and join us on Wednesday evenings at 530 as we live into what Jesus has called His church to be.

Everyone is welcome.