The NorthWord
NorthWord is a daily Christian podcast from St. John's Fort Smith in collaboration with the Anglican Family. Hosted by Father Aaron from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories.
Here's how it works: Every Sunday we release the full sermon preached that morning. Then Monday through Saturday, you get 3-5 minute daily reflections based on that sermon - one thought you can actually use each day. Every Wednesday we explore the rhythm of Jesus' life and how his followers have lived it out for 2,000 years.
Whether you're Pentecostal, Orthodox, Baptist, Catholic, or just curious about faith - this is for you. Ancient faith. Real life. No fluff.
The Word. The North. Your Week.
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The NorthWord
Just Staying | Black Saturday | "Anchored"
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Black Saturday is the day nothing happened — and that's exactly why it's so hard. Father Aaron sits in the silence between the cross and the empty tomb, and asks what devotion looks like when it's stripped of everything else. From St. John's Fort Smith.
Good morning, this is Northworth.
SPEAKER_00Today is the day nothing happens. And that's exactly why it's so hard. Good morning, this is Northword, the word the North Your Week, a daily podcast from St. John's Fort Smith in collaboration with the Anglican family. I'm your host, Father Aaron. Today is Black Saturday, Holy Saturday, the day between the cross and the empty tomb. And it is the strangest day in the Christian year because nothing happens. No service, no announcement, no resolution, just silence, a sealed stone. The disciples didn't know it was going to be okay. They had no idea what Sunday morning would bring. For them, Saturday was simply the day after the worst day of their lives. The one they had followed, the one they had built their lives around gone, and everything they had felt, everything they had hoped, everything they had staked on him, apparently it had been all wrong. Emotion had nowhere left to go on Saturday. There was nothing to feel except grief and confusion, and the slow, hollow realization that the picture of Jesus they had been carrying was over. I said on Sunday that those closest to Jesus, the ones who truly knew him, were the ones who stayed. And even then some faltered. Peter denied, Thomas doubted. And on Saturday they waited, not because they felt hopeful, not because the emotion was there, because they had nowhere else to go. And that is what devotion looks like when it is stripped of everything else. Not triumphant, not inspired, just staying. The crowd is driven by emotion, but the Christian is anchored by devotion. If today feels like a Saturday, if you're in a season of silence, of waiting, of grief, of a hope that hasn't resolved yet, you are in the most sacred place in the Christian story. The anchor holds even here, especially here. Tomorrow we find out why. Come to worship. Come as you are. This has been Northward the Word, the North, your week, a daily podcast from St. John's Fort Smith in collaboration with the Anglican family. Follow us, share this episode, and reach out through the Text Us link in the description below. Until tomorrow, God be with you.
SPEAKER_01Amen.