Sermons by Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall (Page 3)

Dishonest Sacrifice

I can’t get my ego totally out of the way. I want St Ben’s to be big and successful. But God’s way is different and God measures success in different ways. What is important is that we persevere and we discern what God is doing among us, and then get on board.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus. It’s easy to poke a finger at the rich guy and say he should have helped the poor man sleeping in front of his gates, but aren’t we a bit like him?

Dishonest Wealth

Amos 8:4-7Luke 16:1-13 How many of you found this morning’s gospel confusing? You’re in good company – so do most New Testament scholars. I was trying to tell Jill about it and my first attempt was something like, “There was a manager or steward who was embezzling and when his employer asked for an audit he embezzled some more and his employer congratulated him.” It makes little sense as part of Jesus’ teachings.  At the 8am service, Ed Valentine remarked…

Heartbreak

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Psalm 1 Isaac the Syrian Luke 14:25-33 Welcome to the first Sunday in the Season of Creation which we celebrate during September. This is a bitter-sweet time because we get to thank and praise God for the never-ending wonders of God’s creation at the same time that we grieve humanity’s failure to adequately care for it. It is the same drama of God’s faithfulness, our failure and the call to repentance and newness of life that we see…

Whose Sacrifice?

Hebrews talks about “our sacrifice of praise” – how do we understand sacrifice today? Since God is love, why does God require sacrifice, if they do?

Now Ignite Us With Your fire

It’s easy, living as we do in a beautiful and moderately prosperous place, to get lulled into an ‘easy peace’. Jesus challenges us, in the words of Bonhoeffer, to exchange ‘cheap grace’ for ‘costly grace’ – to understand the challenge of the peace of God.

Walking in Faith

Faith is a slippery concept – what does it actually mean to have faith? To believe several impossible things, to give intellectual assent to the existence of God, or something else entirely?

Diversity among Christians

Significant differences of opinion exist among Christians about a number of issues including the full inclusion of LGBTQ people. The differences among Anglicans also relate to colonization and the oppression of native peoples. Yet we are all one and the same in Christ.