City Of Light Anglican Churchaurora, Illinois

"The call for Philip and the Ethiopian came for them while they were both in transit—the seemingly unimportant time in between destinations. How often do we get impatient with God, wishing he would just take us where we need to go, when in fact he's calling us to something that's right in front of us. God doesn't need you to arrive at some grand destination before he can begin working in you and through you." — Pastor Kevin Sheehan

"Surrender yourself afresh to Jesus who is among us as one who serves and who will stand to welcome you with open arms into that place he is preparing for you." — Deacon Val McIntyre

"A church that is radically oriented to Christ is a church radically oriented to one another. It's the resurrection that gives us hope that what is to come is far greater than anything we could experience on this earth. We have the freedom to give whatever we need to give, sacrifice whatever we need to sacrifice, endure whatever we need to endure, because we are awaiting the return of Jesus."— Father Brett Crull

"How often, when we pray, do we ask for safety or that circumstances would change? We can follow the example of this church in Acts and pray "Lord, see what is happening, give me courage." That he might stretch out his hand, heal, bless, forgive, and restore." — Deacon Margie Fawcett

"All healings on this earth are either partial, or temporary. But they are also a promise, a promise of a complete and permanent healing—called Resurrection." — Deacon Casey Solgos

"Understanding the Trinity is not just understanding what God looks like, understanding the Trinity means knowing what God is doing. God is on mission for the world." — Father Alex Wilgus

What does the coming of the Holy Spirit have to do with the love of God? "Jesus has already decided that he loves you. He went to the cross because he loves you. He ascended so that he could fill you with his love, so that your hearts could be overflowing with his presence. Receive the love of God. Receive the love of Jesus this Pentecost!" –Father Nate Beasley

Ever wonder what the Ascension is all about, and why we celebrate it? "The Ascension is good news, a promise of Jesus' power, a promise of his prayer, and of his presence." — Pastor Will Chester

"No matter how dark the darkness in our life we celebrate the reality that the light of Christ will always scatter the darkness." — Grace Kircher

"The resurrection of Jesus reconciles us to God and to one another. Through the resurrection, the dividing wall of hostility is brought down and we are freed to live into our identity as the household of God." —Father Jonathan Kindberg

This summer we will be reading and studying the book of Acts. Father Trevor and Pastor Bonnie talk about why they chose it, what the book of Acts is about, who wrote it and why, and give some further resources for studying it. They also share some of their favorite moments and memories from the book. Join us on Sundays at 10am this summer, June 2 - August 25, as we devote ourselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, the prayers, and the breaking of bread. http://cityoflightanglican.org/events/acts

Baptism is not magical, but it's not mundane. It's a miracle and a mystery where we are united with Jesus in his death and resurrection.

Because Jesus is alive, we see him on Sundays, in Scripture, and in his Supper. Sunday is not an ordinary day, the Bible is not an ordinary book, and communion is not an ordinary meal. Jesus' table is not magical, but it's also not mundane. A miracle happens—the Resurrected Jesus is with us! And a sacramental mystery happens—his spiritual life fills us through the physical bread and wine.

2 Timothy 1:3-12 Timothy has the faith legacy of his mother Eunace and grandmother Lois. We leave a Lois legacy when we serve sons and daughters and when we suffer for the gospel for the next generations.

1 Corinthians 15 If the resurrection is not real, then following after Jesus is wasting your life. If the resurrection is real, then following after anything else is wasting your life. And if you’re halfway following Jesus, and halfway not, you don’t win either way, you lose your life either way. But christ has indeed raised from the dead! He is risen and so shall we!

Jesus' endures his suffering so that you're never alone in your suffering, so that you can give your suffering to him, so that you can receive his restoration, so that your suffering has meaning. We share in his suffering and we share in his glory.

When our natural response is rejection, Jesus’ natural response is restoration—full and beautiful and glorious. God brings restoration by letting himself be rejected—by the crowds, by his followers, by you and by me. God experiences all of that rejection so that no matter how much rejection we experience in this world, we will never have to experience rejection from him. We may reject God. He will never reject us.

Philippians 3:4-11 We enter into the suffering but we don't simply enter into it, we pass through, because our real destination is resurrection, is easter, is life with Jesus!

"How does the father respond to the insult and rejection from his two lost sons? Is he furious? Does he punish them? Does he force them to obey? No. He loves his sons enough to allow himself to be rejected by them. He allows them to be lost. But he also loves them enough to keep looking, running, and searching after them until they allow themselves to be found again so he can rejoice."

Exodus 2:23 - 3:15 Have you ever felt forgotten by God? When the people of Israel cry out to God in their slavery and suffering, God hears them and comes to save them. And when we cry out to the Lord, he has already heard us and come in the person of Jesus to rescue us. Cry out to the Lord. He has not forgotten you in the wilderness. He is already working to bring about your rescue.