Sermons on Faith (Page 5)

Love Actually

John 15:9-17  Last night as I was thinking about this morning’s sermon I thought “I just seem to be preaching the same sermon over and over again.” And then I laughed because indeed this is the same sermon…  we heard in our gospel reading a continuation of Jesus’ last words to his disciples, which is often thought of as a sermon. So it’s not surprising that our reflection this week bears similarity to last week. Thursday of this week is…

Laying Down His Life

Acts 4:5-12 1 John 3:16-24 John 10:11-18 Psalm 23 Todays gospel is such a comforting passage about the Good Shepherd, and one we use for memorial services as we remind ourselves that God’s love never waivers even when we journey through the valley of death.   In the words of John’s gospel, Jesus tells us clearly that “I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of…

Walking In The Light

This morning’s readings are so full and rich that it’s difficult to know where to start. When that happens, I find it useful to look at the collect, the prayer for the day. “God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation, Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith.” That sums up the readings pretty well doesn’t it –…

Sacred Water

Genesis 9:8-17 1 Peter 3:18-22 Mark 1:9-15 I’m sure that you, like me, have been praying for the people of Texas this week and for the other southern states hit by freezing temperatures. It is appalling to imagine having no power for days in the middle of a powerful freeze, and then to lose water. Looking at the news this morning I see that over 14million people are still without safe water. The problem is not restricted to Texas – …

Transfiguration – 2/14/21

Two weeks ago, I talked about Dimension 5+ and how we can no more imagine what it is like to live outside of the space/time continuum than a fish can imagine living out of water. Both mean death, death to life as we, or the fish, know it. But we get glimpses. We get glimpses of a different reality – a reality we call heaven where the reign of God is 100% realized. Today’s gospel reading shows Jesus and the…

God Is Calling

1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20) John 1:43-51 When I was in my late teens and wondering what to do with my life I was told by lovely people that God’s will for me was clearly laid out in the Bible. I was frustrated by that because no matter which way I read the Bible it did not tell me the answer to my burning question: what was I to do with my life? We tend to think about Christian vocation as being…

Incarnation Now

This morning we gather to remember and celebrate the incarnation – the time when God became human. We remember the baby Jesus coming out of the womb, wet, bloody and probably yelling; and his young mother wrapping him tightly and placing him in the manger. Sometimes I realize that I’m thinking of Jesus the Christ as being a part of God that somehow got detached. Rather like when you take a snip of a geranium and plant it and it…

A Voice in the Wilderness

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:6-8,19-28 When asked who he is, John the Baptizer quotes from Isaiah, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ and these words have become so familiar to us that its easy to gloss right over them. But imagine that you live in a wilderness area – somewhere where its hard to live, you don’t see many people, but you just about get by. Perhaps you’re…

80lbs of silver

Matthew 25:14-30 As the church year comes to an end, our readings have taken a turn towards the end of time with warnings to be on our guard, to be ready, to be prepared. This morning’s parable is one of these stories, warning us of what will happen if we get it wrong. I expect that you have heard this story of the talents before – it’s a favorite of Sunday School teachers because it seems to have such a…