discipleship
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a Homily for Lent 1A Text: Matthew 4:1-11 Getting our bearings The gospel we call Matthew has a birth story, a flight into Egypt and all that. Then John the Baptizer prepares the way for Jesus, who comes to him to be baptized, and then is immediately compelled by the Spirit to go out into…
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On Perfect Christians
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7 min read
a Sermon for Epiphany 7A Text: Matthew 5:38-48 Rebelling against Jesus You’ve probably seen this phrase on a book cover or on a church sign. It reads: “no perfect people allowed.” Kind of catchy, isn’t it? We don’t want perfect. We don’t really want to be perfect, do we? The phrase also has a sly…
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To Break Free From Ignorance and Pain
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7 min read
a Sermon for Epiphany 6A Text: Matthew 5:21-37 A most unreasonable request We’re following Jesus up the side of a mountain and we’re hearing His most famous sermon. A sermon that begins with blessings: (blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek…). A sermon that highlights all the wondrous things that GOD…
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On the Mountainside
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6 min read
a Sermon for Epiphany 5A Text: Matthew 5:13-20 Going up the mountain Jesus begins walking up a mountain. He invites His disciples to join Him. Finding Jesus up a mountain. We would be hard-pressed to avoid that image here of the holy man and a mountain-top experience. We’ve seen this in books and movies: people…
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For the last two and a half chapters in the gospel we call Luke, Jesus has been building up this teaching on faithfulness and action. It began with the crowd when he told them three parables about things that were lost and found. Each was lost, redeemed, and forgiven. Powerful stories that we often take…
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Under the Big Tent
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1 min read
[Photo/The Daily Progress/Andrew Shurtleff] The question for Anglicans should not be “How big is your tent?” It should be “How does the way we gather under it announce the Kingdom of God is at hand?” What is Anglicanism? | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.