Sermons on Faith (Page 11)
Being Christ
Photo by Annie Bolin @unsplash.com Hosea 11:1-11 Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21 When I first saw the headline this morning I thought they had revised the death count from the shooting in El Paso yesterday, then I realized. Another shooting, this time in Dayton, Ohio. Both hard on the heels of the tragedy in Gilroy last Sunday. There are no words for the pain and anguish the families of the victims are experiencing today. And the sadness of a culture where…
Ask and it shall be given…
Photo by Michael Heuss unsplash.com Hosea 1:2-10 Psalm 85 Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19) Luke 11:1-13 I imagine that quite a few of you had a hard time with that first reading from the prophet Hosea! Our First Testament readings during the season of Pentecost this year give us a quick tour of the prophets. We started in the 9th century Before the Common Era – that’s 2900 years ago – with stories of Elijah and Elisha. Now we’ve moved up a…
Who is my neighbor?
Photo by Eddie Perez Amos 7:7-17 Luke 10:25-37 Don’t you love this story of the Good Samaritan? It’s one of Jesus’ best, so easy to understand and to visualize. The man whose been mugged and the religious folk who don’t want to take the risk or the time to help him. Then the Samaritan, someone who Jews looked down on, is willing to do what it takes to help someone – even a Jew – in need. The Samaritans lived…
Peace be with you
Photo by Patrick Fore @unsplash.com Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 You have probably heard that St. Francis said, “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” This is very convenient for those of us who are shy or those of us who find it difficult to articulate our faith, or who don’t want to appear pushy. We want the way we live to be enough, so that we can get away without actually admitting that we are Christians, without…
What’s Stopping You?
Galatians 5:1,13-25 Luke 9:51-62 Last week we identified two important questions, “What is your name?” and “What are you doing here” Building on those two questions “What is your name?” and “What are you doing here?” I asked you what your special name from God might be. Maybe God calls you “Crazy Brave”, “One with the sunset, “She who cooks open hearts” or “Greatly Loved.” Today we have a new question to consider. What is stopping you? What is stopping…
God’s Name for You
God’s Name for You 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a Psalm 42 and 43 Galatians 3:23-29 Luke 8:26-39 Today’s gospel reading raises as many questions as it answers. Questions like what happened to all the pig corpses? What about the livelihood of the pig farmers? does God hate pigs? and the more complex – if the demons went into the pigs rather than the abyss and then the pigs committed suicide – what happened to the demons? do demons drown? I…
The Blessing of Christ
Acts 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:15-23 Luke 24:44-53
The Way of Love – Prayer
Acts 11:1-18 John 13:31-35 Millions of people were inspired by the sermon our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, preached at the royal wedding last year. So much so that this week he received an award for it. In his sermon, Bishop Curry quoted Martin Luther King jr who said, “We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world, for love is the only…
The Way of Love: Learn
Photo by Aaron Burden on unsplash.com John 10:22-30 I’d like you to take a moment to identify someone in the church that you don’t know very well. It may be that you know their name but not much else, or perhaps you don’t even know their name yet. And I’d like you to take just a moment to imagine a conversation with them. You would probably ask them a few questions about themselves – what might you ask? … so…