Sermon, 3rd Sunday in Lent, 2025
Jesus Christ does not allow us to remain non-committed. There is no satisfactory middle ground where individuals can indefinitely delay answering the call of the Messiah. Christ said, “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.” In other words, attempting to remain neutral toward Jesus, or delaying to actively obey Christ, is to oppose Him. Worse yet is to deny the miracles of life that we daily experience because of Christ, for in doing so, we end up more hardened against the grace of God that where we began. Wait no longer. Leave indecision behind. Answer the call now and join…
Sermon, 2nd Sunday in Lent, 2025
According to the Bible, are demons real? How do they attack us? How can we be defended against them, especially considering that the collect for today states, “we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves,”? Let us take some lessons from the Caananite woman in today’s gospel from St. Matthew 15, who fell on her knees and worshiped the Son of David. Let us too cry, “Lord, have mercy on me.” We are not outsiders. We are children of God. Therefore, let our lives be grounded in the family of God. Propers Manuscript Sermon Archive
Homily and Video, First Sunday in Lent, March 9, 2025
As Christ was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil, we too should anticipate temptation. As Christ endured the temptations which He faced, in His power, we too should triumph over our temptations. What are some practical steps to overcoming temptation? Recognize the spiritual battle and commit to fighting against our temptations so that we do not give in to sin Determine to know God through His Word and through worship. We must have a strong relationship with God. Learn to rely on the grace found in His Body – both the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, but also upon our fellow believers with…
Sermon, Septuagesima Sunday, 2025
On Septuagesima Sunday, we are called to awaken from our slumber. We are called to Awake, Awake to Love and Work. We are called to dedicated service our Our Lord Jesus Christ. For most of us, however, this cry passes by us without evoking any change in our attitudes or in our actions. Why is this? Perhaps it is because we don’t really long as deeply for our heavenly reward as we ought to. We consider the rewards of our efforts to be too far off, to be too intangible, to be too little to inspire us. We need to repent of holding cheaply the salvation won for us by…
Sermon, 3rd Sunday in Advent, 2024
The story of Israel, and of Christ as the True Israel, and of each of our lives as well, is marked by the pattern of exile and return. This is especially seen in Psalm 107. The ordained ministry is crucial to preparing the people for return back to the land of promise and blessing. They are the heralds calling to the people to repent and return to the Lord. They who minister to God’s people are not judged by the people or even by their own consciences. But as St. Paul says, “he that judgeth me is the Lord.” Ministers will be held accountable by God, and thus they must…
Sermon, 2nd Sunday in Advent, 2024
Once per year during Advent, we are called upon to consider the gift of the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God. God has graciously revealed Himself to us in the pages of the Bible. Thus, the reading of Holy Scripture is a sacrament for in them Christ gives Himself to us. They are not easy to understand, but we, like the patriarch Joseph, are called upon to wrestle with scripture, to conform our precepts to the precept that we find there, and to study them so that we may apprehend God more fully. In doing so in the company of our fellow believers in the Church throughout time, we find…
Sermon, 25th Sunday after Trinity, 2024
For the 25th Sunday after Epiphany, we almost always use the readings and collect from the 6th Sunday after Epiphany. The theme of the Epiphany season is Christ’s manifestation to the Gentiles, and these propers focus not only upon the fact of His manifestation, but also the reasons for His manifestation – “… that he might destroy the works of the devil, and make us the sons of God, and heirs of eternal life” (see 1 John 3). In our readings we are not only reminded of the things that Christ has done for us already, but also that His work in us of purifying and completing our salvation is…
Sermon, 23rd Sunday after Trinity, 2024
This Sunday, we wrapped up the Unification cycle of our Trinity series on the Seven Deadly Sins by revisiting one final time, the sin of covetousness. Covetousness desires what belongs to another person. Christ said to the Pharisees, render unto Cesar the things that are Cesar’s, and render unto God, the things that are God’s. As ancient coins bore the image of the sovereign that minted them, we bear the image of the sovereign that created us. We belong to God. Will we render ourselves unto Him? Or do we withhold ourselves from Him in our self-covetousness? This is the challenge for us today and every day. Propers Manuscript …
Sermon, 21st Sunday After Trinity, 2024
Do you believe in the gospel or do you BE-LIEVE in the Gospel? The difference between a superficial belief and a more deeply rooted faith is closely connected with how much effort we put into our spiritual life in Christ. Unfortunately, many professing believers are stifled in their Christian maturity because of spiritual sloth. We might show up to church on Sunday, but then we ignore Christ for the rest of the week. St. Paul reminds us this morning that we are in a spiritual battle, and if we do not actively prepare for the daily battle, then we risk, at the least, being ineffective for the Kingdom of God,…
Sermon, 15th Sunday after Trinity, 2024
Covetousness is, at its core, a distrust of God through an attempt to provide for ourselves. Yet we cannot make the sun rise or set, we cannot make it rain or shine, we cannot control the vast majority of what happens to us. So how exactly are we going to provide what we need for life? The virtue we need which opposes our greediness is justice – giving to all his due. The just person understands the relative value of things and does not clamor for that which cannot satisfy and which cannot save. God is our hope and strength, a very present help in trouble. God takes care of…