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
The Difference Between Effort and Grace
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Striving isn't earning. It's receiving and then responding to what you've been given.
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Good morning, this is North Rush.
SPEAKER_00Striving is not white knuckling your way to heaven. It is the serious commitment to follow someone you love. Good morning. This is Northword, the Word of 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's episode is brought to you by Petro Canada and Tim Hortons in Fort Smith, fueling your journey with gasoline and caffeine wherever it leads. There is a fear in many Christian hearts that striving might be the same as earning salvation. That if I'm working at the Christian life, I am suggesting that my effort can save me. And that is absolutely wrong. Salvation is a free gift. It is not earned by your striving, it is received through grace. But receiving a gift takes an act of the will as well. You have to reach out and take it. You have to choose it. And choosing the narrow door in a world full of wide, comfortable options requires the kind of intentional effort Jesus calls striving. Think of it this way: a parent offers a gift to a child. The parent does not earn the love. The love is already there, freely given. But the child still has to reach out and take the gift. And if the child just walks away and says, I believe my parents love me, but never takes the gift, is that relationship the same as the child who reaches out and receives the gift? No, it's not. The gift is real, the love is free, but the relationship requires the child's response. So striving is not earning salvation. Striving is the response to salvation. It is saying I have been given a gift, I recognize it, I receive it, and now I am going to order my whole life around it. That is striving. And it is not white-knuckled effort, it is love. It is love for the person of Jesus and the way he lived. When you love someone, you make changes for them. You adjust your schedule. You say no to other things. You move toward them. Not because you are earning their love, but because you have already been loved and now you are responding to it. That is striving that opens the narrow door. This has been Northward, the Word of the North, your week, a daily podcast from St. John's Fort Smith in collaboration with the Anglican family. Striving is not earning, it is receiving and responding. You have already been loved. The only question is what you will do about it. And one thing you can do if you're loving this podcast is you can strive to hit that review button so that we can reach more and more people with the word of God. And until tomorrow, may God be with you.