Archive for 'Sermons'

Then Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but ...

First Sunday in Lent                                                                                                                        February 26, 2012

Genesis 9: 8-17; Psalm 25: 1-9; 13: 18-22; Mark 1: 9-15

Last Sunday Bishop Waynick reminded us that the leitourgia of the Holy Trinity begins not with the resurrection but much, much earlier. The incarnation is a point at which the Holy Trinity divided itself with Jesus taking on human flesh to bring the good news to us in a form that we might better understand.

This week’s reading from Genesis reminds us that God has ...

Eucharist – from the Greek meaning “good gift.” Bishop Cate Waynick visited St. Andrew’s on February 12th sharing a message about the “good gift” we have been given through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. The gift begins with “leitourgia” – a public work at private cost. The gift begins with the incarnation – the Holy Trinity agreeing to send part of itself to be enfleshed and live among us. The gift continues – it is not ...

Sixth Sunday After Epiphany                                                                                                                                                         ...

Victor can’t see and he can’t walk. But he had a dream. To be an acolyte at his parish in the Diocese of Atlanta.[1]

“I’m so sorry, but you can’t see and you can’t walk, so you can’t be an acolyte.” A knee-jerk reaction that too often is “we can’t do that” or “we’ve never done it that way.” It’s comfortable to do things the way we have always done them. It’s safer to do things the way we ...

Kathleen Norris in her essay on preaching says that one of the best parts of what is often a difficult task is the opportunity to delve deeply into the text. Each time she reads and studies the text on which she is preaching, she learns more – she sinks deeper into the word of God. Sermon preparation can be wonderfully fascinating as individual words and the whole text are studied and questions arise. Each time we read or hear the ...

This is a day of great joy for St. Andrew’s. We welcome a new Senior Warden and we commission the Search Committee for the next Rector for this parish. New beginnings- filled with excitement and anticipation and perhaps a little bit of anxiety. We read earlier about the call of Samuel to move into the next phase of his ministry to the Lord. Up to this point, Samuel had been ministering under Eli. The voice of God had not been ...

Water. We need water – more than we need food- to live. Up to 60% of our bodies are water. Dehydration is one of the most difficult challenges we face- and one reason our doctors suggest we drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. We need water to flush our bodies of toxins. Without water, we literally wither – and ultimately die. Water makes the difference between life and death.

We have images of water and its importance as ...

The Lord bless you and keep you. God to Moses to Aaron to the people of Israel. A belief that to see God directly was to die- that knowing or seeing  God face-to-face was too overwhelming for mere humans. And so the intermediary structure is put in place. Moses is the one who has seen God and  lived- but not so for others. And when Moses had seen God, a veil was placed over his face so that the brilliance of ...

Golden-tongued. What a nickname!

John Chrysostom – one of the early church fathers- was called this because his preaching was so eloquent.

He loved language and literature.

Born about 350, he lived, as they say, in interesting times.

Christianity was the state religion by this time in parts of the world.

Christians who could read and write and speak well were rising to positions of power within the Roman Empire.

One of the reasons I find him interesting is that he spoke out against the abuse ...