Means of Grace, Hope of Glory

Episode Notes Introducing Means of Grace, Hope of Glory: Conversations on the Catechism. My name is Chris Arnold, and this is a new podcast called Means of Grace, Hope of Glory. In this show I’ll be talking to leaders from around our church about Christian Faith and Practice; the things we believe, and the things we do. I’ll tell you more in a minute. Let’s hear some more music. Over the next couple of minutes, I’ll tell you a bit about how this podcast is going to work. I’ll talk a little about who I think you are, although I hope we get to know each other over the coming months. And then I’ll tell you all about where the name comes from. What’s the format of this podcast? What do Christians believe? How do we live out our beliefs? What do we believe and do in the Episcopal Church? Well, Episcopalians have something called the Book of Common Prayer, which is in a way the center of our identity as a church, it’s what makes us distinctive, it’s the brand of our way of Christian life, I suppose. If you attend an Episcopal Church, you have probably seen it and hopefully used it in worship. All of our commonly used liturgies, or worship services are found in it. But there’s also a section called the Catechism, which begins on page 845. It’s also called a Summary of the Faith. If you have a book of common prayer, you can open it now. I’ll also put a link in the show notes to an online copy of the catechism if that’s easier for you. The catechism is a short introduction to the Christian faith, and it’s written in a sort of question and answer format. It’s designed like a dialog, like a discussion between someone asking the questions and someone answering them. I thought that seemed like a pretty good format, a conversation. So much of the best theology is figured out in conversation, after all. So every episode of this show I’ll be inviting in a different guest to talk about some section of the catechism. If you look at the catechism in the prayer book you’ll see that it’s divided up into sections. Here they are: Human Nature, God the Father, The Old Covenant, The Ten Commandments, Sin and Redemption, God the Son, The New Covenant, The Creeds, The Holy Spirit, The Holy Scriptures, The Church, The Ministry, Prayer and Worship, The Sacraments, Holy Baptism, The Holy Eucharist, Other Sacramental Rites, The Christian Hope. And so that’s pretty much how the first 18 episodes will go, moving through those topics. Each guest will help us to dig a little deeper into each of these areas of the catechism, and I hope it will help your own faith and get you exploring these themes. So who are you? Of course, we’ve never met. It’s strange, I’m just recording this and posting it. I have no idea who you are, or how you found it, and what you’ll think. The advice that I got about putting a show together is to picture my audience, so here’s what I picture: You’re 28 years old, and living in some big but not enormous city somewhere in the country. You grew up in some sort of church but left it in your teens. Something has happened in your life and you recently started checking out churches. Something was pulling you back. You’ve been to the local Episcopal Church, and you discovered that you really liked the liturgy, the worship. You loved the ceremony, or the preaching, or the space, or the silence, or the fact that people have been friendly but not pushy. Whatever it is, something has clicked, and now you’re starting to think “huh, maybe I’m an Episcopalian now? I wonder what Episcopalians believe? I should probably explore that a bit more. I wonder if there are any podcasts that cover that sort of stuff.” Anyway, maybe that’s you, maybe it’s not. That’s just what I’ve held in my heart as I have developed this thing. But I hope all sorts of people find this interesting and helpful. Maybe you’re a life-long church-goer and you’re always looking for new approaches to your faith. Maybe you’re from some other church and you’re curious about Episcoaplians — although I have to say that our beliefs are pretty mainstream Christian. I think all sorts of Christians will find this fruitful. Maybe you’re not Christian at all, but there’s a bit of you that’s curious. I hope this begins to satisfy your curiosity a little bit. I hope a whole new landscape opens up before you and you meet Jesus through this little podcast. Where does the Title come from? Means of Grace, Hope of Glory. Someone pointed out that the acronym for this show is MOGHOG. Anyway, the phrase comes from an ancient and beautiful prayer in the prayer book tradition that goes back to the late 16th century. It’s called The General Thanksgiving, and you can find it in the Book of Common Prayer in the Daily Office, Morning and Evening Prayer. Here is goes. Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen. About the show Means of Grace, Hope of Glory is hosted by Chris Arnold, and is one of two podcasts launching this spring from Apple Tree Podcasts. Find Apple Tree on twitter or facebook. Find out more at https://moghog.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.