Matthew 5:21-37 Something I noticed for the first time while preparing for last week’s Wednesday Bible Study and for this morning’s sermon has really impacted me and how I’ve been hearing Jesus this week. For several weeks now we’ve been hearing passages from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew’s Gospel. This is Jesus’s stumpContinue reading “Transforming Community”
Category Archives: epiphany
Themselves for the Sake of the Kingdom
Matthew 4:12-23 A dear friend pointed out to me this past week that Jesus begins his public ministry not just after his baptism, but also after John has been arrested. She said “Jesus began preaching the kingdom right after it had become unequivocally clear that preaching the kingdom gets people in trouble with those inContinue reading “Themselves for the Sake of the Kingdom”
No Greater Legacy
John 1:29-42 John the Baptizer is remembered in scripture for the way he dedicated his entire life to his one true purpose, pointing toward the Messiah. Even before his birth, John was already acting instinctively to fulfill this vocation, pointing his mother’s eyes toward Mary and the salvation promise she carried within her. As aContinue reading “No Greater Legacy”
In the Valley, Do Not Lose Heart.
Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a] This is a difficult time to write a sermon. The legal and social services systems are being weaponized against trans youth and their families. War and violence are very real and very present for the people of Ukraine and Russia, and the ways this conflict is being discussed in the media areContinue reading “In the Valley, Do Not Lose Heart.”
What Love lives like.
Luke 6:27-38 As some of you may know, there has been a recent addition to the campus of Grace Episcopal Church in Massies Mill. If you happen to be driving down Crabtree Falls Highway toward the mountains, you’ll be greeted by an installation made up of apple crates, a tractor wheel, a bent fender, andContinue reading “What Love lives like.”
Called to Sainthood
Luke 6:17-26 This sermon was written for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C, which in 2022 falls on the feast day of Absalom Jones, Priest. For the readings and collects assigned to Rev. Jones’ feast day, click here. The biographical information included here comes primarily from Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018 beginning on pageContinue reading “Called to Sainthood”
It’s Not About the Nets.
Luke 5:1-11 Last weekend I had the great privilege of celebrating the Eucharist for the Youth at Convention event, a gathering of over 50 youth in middle and high school that took place alongside our Diocesan Convention. I knew that there were going to be young people running around the Hotel Roanoke, and I knewContinue reading “It’s Not About the Nets.”
One Body, Many Gifts
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. The metaphor of Christ’s body made up of each and every one of us is one of Paul’s most loved images, and continues to speakContinue reading “One Body, Many Gifts”
Mary’s Second Yes
John 2:1-11 The wedding feast at Cana, the site of Jesus’s first miracle in the Gospel of John, is one of the most well-known stories in Scripture. Or at least, we think we know it. We know Jesus turned water into wine, and we’ve probably heard sermons about how wedding feasts in the ancient worldContinue reading “Mary’s Second Yes”
Lifted Up
Mark 1:29-39 Today we step right back into a very busy 24 hour period in the early ministry of Jesus. We pick up where we left off last Sunday, with Jesus leaving the synagogue after relieving a man of his demons and teaching those present in a remarkable way. The first disciples, Simon, Andrew, James,Continue reading “Lifted Up”
Mother A Writes 