Worship. Serve. Grow.

Sermons (Page 67)

The Blind Man

John 9:1-23, 28-41
The video that went viral on YouTube this week was of a British woman, age 39, named JoAnn, who was hearing for the first time by the gift of implants. Her reaction is not at all subtle. There’s tears of amazement, there’s joy, there’s a nervous shaking of her hand as she hears sound for the first time…

The Woman at the Well

John 4:5-42
A reading from the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. I’d like to invite you to be seated – not because the Gospel’s long, but what I’d like to do is a little bit different than I usually do. I’d like to read the Gospel reading and as we’re reading it, I’d like to share some thoughts…

Children’s Cantata

The Junior and Epiphany Choirs presented a musical from the Book of Daniel, titled, “It’s Cool in the Furnace.” It tells the story of Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego during their captivity in Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar…

Humiliations of the False Self

Matthew 4:1-11
Some of you may know that I like golf. I’m thankful for the tickets to the US Open that the parish gave me for my fifteenth anniversary here at St. Paul’s and I look forward to that. Since I’ve been a little kid golf has always been something I’ve been interested in…

Ash Wednesday 2014

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
On the day of your Baptism, you were marked with oil on your forehead. On sharing this thought at the 5:15 service, which was for children, and realized that many of the children gathered there I actually baptized…

Down from the Mountain

2 Peter 1:16-21, Matthew 17:1-9
When I was preparing for this morning’s homily, it keeps on cropping into my mind that I should share something about the Transformers. I’m not truly a fan of the Transformers, however it says something about what we are about today…

The Holiness Code

Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18, Matthew 5:38-48
To be “holier than thou” is not used as a compliment very often. Usually we use the phrase with someone who has annoyed us by a kind of superior goodness, either real or totally put on. And yet scripture commands that in fact we are holy. We are set apart for God…

Go Deep, Go Speak, Go Do

Matthew 5:21-37
I’ve recently been watching the mini-series The Borgias. It was on Showtime a few seasons ago and now it’s available on Netflix. That’s where I’m watching it. The Borgias is about the time of history about 1492 to 1503 in Italy. It focuses on families at that time…

Salt and Light

1 Corinthians 2:1-16, Matthew 5:13-20
The readings of today are wonderful reminders for all of us. When I was preparing for this moment I kept on waking up early. My wife kept on asking me, “Why do you have to get up so early?” I needed the quiet of the morning because this is my first homily since almost fourteen years ago…

Presentation of Jesus

Luke 2:22-40, Malachi 3:1-4
I thought, earlier in the day, that on February second we mark a secular feast that’s called Groundhog Day, but I was informed that the real secular feast is the Super Bowl. But for those of us who are in liturgical time, it is the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ…