The season of Advent is here! Father Trevor and City of Light member Rachel Wassink talk about following the church calendar, the meaning of the season of Advent, and how to practice it in our households with family, roommates, or on our own. Find more Advent resources at http://www.cityoflightanglican.org/events/advent

Christ the King of Paradise - Father Trevor McMaken by

Amy's Story of Finding a New Day in Jesus by

Eleanor's Story of Finding a New Day in Jesus by

Embodied Rhythms of Healing - Father Trevor McMaken by

Find more resources in our Group Study Guide for the Healing Rhythms Series: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WA7wPIlNGYFjK9kFb87mGivwDWnJsBhvpCv0W77rT5E/edit?usp=sharing Apps https://prayasyougo.org/search?search=examen https://hallow.com/blog/how-to-pray-the-examen https://apps.apple.com/us/app/reimagining-the-examen/id1065042173 Written Examen https://dq5pwpg1q8ru0.cloudfront.net/2025/01/17/18/07/29/3c522e75-9344-4b38-b099-844574926f36/PrayerPractices.pdf Sabbath, Prayer, and other City of Light Resources https://www.cityoflightaurora.org/pages/resources Brick https://getbrick.app Message on Anxiety https://soundcloud.com/city-of-light-church/hope-for-the-anxious-father-trevor-mcmaken

In Rhythm with our Good Shepherd - Father Trevor McMaken by

Rhythms of Communion - Deacon Casey Solgos by

Brandon's Story of Finding a New Day in Jesus by

Rhythms of Sabbath - Father Trevor McMaken by

Give Courage — Father Trevor McMaken (10th Birthday) by

Rachel's Story of Finding a New Day in Jesus (10th Birthday) by

Ryan, Lydia, Maribeth, & Yomardy Tell Stories of Finding a New Day in Jesus (10th Birthday) by

Rhythms of Gratitude - Father Trevor McMaken by

Rhythms of Fasting - Father Trevor McMaken by

Tom & Marne's Story from Our Good Neighbor Team by

Notes: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/17lxs8rnh5574yu5ug55a/Daily-Office-Workshop.pdf?rlkey=o99yjbcnp7yidswx8iffx4fu8&dl=0 Simplified Daily Office Booklet: https://www.cityoflightaurora.org/pages/fall-sermon-series-2025

Healing Our Desires - Chris Easley by

9/28 Daily Rhythm of Prayer & Scripture SCRIPTURE: Philippians 4:4-9 “And the God of peace will be with you.” DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Have you thought that because you are a follower of Jesus, your life would be easier, more blessed, or have less suffering or worry? Where does that belief come from? How does Jesus address that in John 16:33? What anxieties did Paul face in his ministry? Read 2 Corinthians 11:23-30. What does Paul say is the pressure he feels above all? Paul says at the end of v. 5 that, “The Lord is near.” Do you think he is quoting Psalm 145.18? How does Paul’s reminder of the nearness of the Lord relate to his encouragement to rejoice and give thanks (v. 4) and to not be anxious (v. 6)? Think of the worries and concerns that you are facing. Which ones are of people you see in person in your life? Which ones come primarily through technology, screens, and social media? How does technology impact your anxiety levels? Think of a time you have experienced God’s peace with you. What did it feel like? Paul says it is peace that transcends understanding. In John 14:27 Jesus says his peace is not as the world gives. How have you experienced God’s peace in that way? What does Paul mean when he says that the peace of God will “guard your hearts and your minds”? We use that phrase from Scripture each week when the priest prays the blessing at the end of the service. How do you participate in that blessing? What does it mean to you? How might the rhythm of the Daily Office & Lectionary help you get out of anxious rhythms and into the rhythms of Jesus and his peace? Bible scholar Gordon Fee says, “Even though the experience of God’s peace happens first of all at the individual level…for Paul peace is primarily a community matter.” What would it look like to be a household or church full of peace in the midst of our anxious world? PRAYER PRACTICE: Pick a time this week to try the daily office and lectionary on your own or with a friend. Ask Jesus for his peace as you pray. Turn Philippians 4:4-6 into a prayer: Lord, I am anxious. Help me not be anxious about anything, but in this situation_________, help me pray and ask for what I need from you: here are my requests____________. God, thank you for these good things I can see in my life _________. Fill me with your peace, God, which transcends all my understanding, and guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.

9/21 In Rhythm with Jesus SCRIPTURE: Matthew 11:25-30 “Come unto me” DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:  1 Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum were villages close to Nazareth where Jesus grew up and the places where he performed the most miracles. What do you make of Jesus’ pronouncing a “woe” to them? Why would Jesus be that intense?    2 Jesus says that the Father has revealed “these things to infants” (see 1 Cor. 1:18 - 2:2 for a similar teaching from St. Paul). What is it that the religious leaders don’t get that little children do? In light of that context, how should we understand Jesus’ invitation to “come” to him?  3 A “yoke” is a wooden frame joining two animals, usually oxen, for pulling loads. How does Jesus describe his “yoke”? How can we come to Jesus and learn from him? (See 1 John 5:2-4 for another description of the yoke of Jesus.) 4 How does Jesus describe himself in this passage? How is that the same or different from common conceptions of who Jesus is? Does that differ from your instinctual or kneejerk response about who Jesus is? (See Philippians 2:6-8 for another description of Jesus’ character.) If someone who doesn’t know Jesus asked you about Jesus, how would you describe His gentle and lowly character? 5 What burdens are you carrying right now (or from the Sunday message, what destructive rhythms are you stuck in)? How is Jesus inviting you to find rest for your weariness?  6 Eugene Peterson describes the yoke of Jesus as the “unforced rhythms of grace”. What rhythms of grace is Jesus inviting you into this fall? How might you learn to experience his presence, peace, and healing in rhythm with him?    PRAYER PRACTICE:  1 Turn Matthew 11:28-30 into a prayer asking Jesus for his rest and healing.  Jesus, I want to come to you, I’m weary and burdened, please give me your rest. I want to take your yoke on me and I want to learn from you. I know and trust and have experienced that you are gentle and humble in heart: please help me find rest for my soul in you. Give me your easy yoke and light burden. Amen. COMMENTARY: “Jesus alarmed them when he used every possible means to reclaim them to repentance.” John Chrysostom, The Gospel of Matthew Homilies 37.4 “He doesn’t warn those who need conversion; he warns those who think they already have it. These people have Jesus’ presence and power right in front of them but it doesn’t change them. They don’t repent. They don’t obey him or even take him seriously.” — The Gospel of Matthew: God with Us by Matt Woodley, IVP, 2011; pg 130.  “Babes see because sacred truths are revealed to them, and not otherwise. They are weak and inexperienced. They are simple and unsophisticated. They can cling, and trust, and cry, and love; and to such the Lord opens up the treasures of wisdom. Lord, let me be one among them! The truths of the heavenly kingdom are hid, by a judicial act of God, from men who, in their own esteem, are “the wise and prudent.” They cannot see, because they trust their own dim light, and will not accept the light of God” — Spurgeon’s Popular Exposition of Matthew, Charles Spurgeon, 1983, pg. 82.    “The cumulative testimony of the four gospels is that when Jesus Christ sees the fallenness of the world all about him, his deepest impulse, his most natural instinct, is to move toward that sin and suffering, not away from it.” Gentle and Lowly, by Dane Ortlund, pg 30.