• Sermons,  Videos

    Holy Communion, First Sunday of Advent, Dec. 1, 2024

    What is Advent about?  There are two core themes that we find in the readings.  First is the sense of urgency.  Christ is coming, and therefore there is no time for procrastination!  Second is the theme of preparation.  Christ is coming so we must prepare to receive Him.  Let us therefore repent of our sins and embrace holiness.  “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” Here is the time code for the video below: 3:10 Litany 10:49 Processional Hymn 15:46 Morning Prayer 26:48 Ante-Communion 47:50 Homily 1:15:31 Comfortable Words/Sursum…

  • Sermons

    Sermon, Sunday Next Before Advent, 2024

    The Sunday Next Before Advent is coloquially called, “Stir Up Sunday,” from the first words of this day’s collect.  “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people.”  In reading the lessons, we note the theme of “in-gathering” for the Kingdom of God is a harvest of those who have previously been dispersed throughout the whole world.  Yet in the Kingdom, we are not only the object of the verb “to gather in”, but we are the subject as well.  We have been gathered in, and we are called to gather in others as well.  This, therefore, is the reason that we are to be stirred…

  • Sermons

    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…

  • Sermons

    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     …

  • Sermons

    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,…

  • Sermons

    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…

  • Sermons

    Sermon, 14th after Trinity, 2024

    Will we live in the flesh or in the Spirit?  This question is posed to us by St. Paul in the epistle lesson this morning.  The sins of the flesh may seem attractive to us, but then the gospel lesson illustrates for us that such a life is like having leprosy.  How then, are we to live in the Spirit?  The virtue we need is Temperance.  As followers of Jesus, this isn’t simply a strength of will to avoid sin, but it is a longing for something greater to be found in our relationship with Christ. Propers      Manuscript

  • Sermons

    Sermon, 13th after Trinity, 2024

    Too often, we use the Law, those biblical principles of what things are right and wrong, to attempt to justify ourselves.  Such is the case of the student of the Mosaic Law that we read about in Luke 10:23-37.  Then having incorrectly justified ourselves, we become angry with those who disagree with us or thwart our purposes.  Yet St. Paul makes the case in Galatians 3, that our relationship with God, established first in the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis, is entirely on the basis of God’s promise.  Our obedience is built upon God’s gift, not upon our keeping of the Law.  We do not justify ourselves.  God, in Christ Jesus,…

  • Sermons

    Sermon, 12th Sunday after Trinity, 2024

    Accidie or Dejection is the sin that steals our agency.  At some point, we look at the problems in the world and the problems in our own lives, and we give up.  We don’t think that anything we do can change the course that is set in motion.  The virtue that opposes our dejection is Hope for hope is a confidence that is based on the agency of God who makes us able ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  What we do, any act of service no matter how grand or how unseen, makes a difference.  This isn’t because we see the difference that our actions make.  We may…

  • Sermons

    Sermon, 8th Sunday after Trinity, 2024

    In what do we really put our trust?  In God?  Or in our own abilities to get what we desire?  We are tempted to neglect worship because we want to get ahead.  We are tempted to manipulate others to get them to behave as we desire them to.  It is hard to rest in God and to accept what He has for us, but that is exactly what we are called to do as followers of Jesus Christ. Propers      Manuscript

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