God
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The Spirit is Here!
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6 min read
a Sermon for Pentecost C Text: Acts 2:1-21 Listen to it here! A Holy Spectacle In Pentecost, we have the dawning of a new era. Jesus has departed and the Advocate, the Holy Spirit has arrived. It is now the apostles’ turn to deal with the ministry for which Jesus was preparing them. I’m not…
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What is a Sacrament?
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3 min read
[This is the first of three posts about the sacraments. Check out the second and third.] What do we mean when we call something a Sacrament? According to the Book of Common Prayer (pp. 857-8): The sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by…
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Jesus’s Prayer for Unity
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4 min read
a Sermon for Easter 7C Text: John 17:20-26 Listen to the Audio here: Jesus’s Prayer for Unity A hopeless prayer If you are ever self-conscious about praying in public, don’t be. Just remember how the writers of the gospel we call John portray Jesus: The glory that you have given me I have given them,…
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A Parting Gift
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5 min read
a Sermon for Easter 6C Text: John 14:23-29 Jesus the Rambler In the gospel we call John, Jesus is a rambler. Again this week we are in the farewell discourse that runs through chapters 13-16. It is Thursday of Holy Week and Jesus is giving the final teachings. And He seems to have slipped into…
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You are not blessed with stress
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4 min read
Or why I might not remember your name Stress is not a blessing Something we’ve inherited from our Protestant ancestors is an anachronistic attachment to labor, stress, and a propensity to die early. Probably from a heart attack. Last I looked, there are only nine Beatitudes. I wouldn’t be surprised if some used book shoppe…
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republished from St. Paul’s website Last week was a tough week. It felt like tragedy was built upon tragedy. The week began with one of our most iconic images in the country, the Boston Marathon, which was rocked by two violent explosions. Then an entirely unrelated explosion at a fertilizer plant in West Texas. These…