Sermon: “A Welcoming Grace” Five words appear all across America. We print them on books, newsletters, church bulletins, and thousands of search signs. They are the de facto mission statement for an entire denomination. “The Episcopal Church welcomes you.” We insist that welcoming arms await all who walk through our red doors. Most of the time we do a good job living into our mission. But, it leaves me with a question: “What does it mean to be a welcoming faith community?” Hold that thought, and we’ll come back to it. Jesus…
God’s Not Finished With You Yet! I’m going off-script this morning. I usually preach from the Gospel lesson, but I feel like the Jeremiah reading is timley for us today. Sometimes we need spiritual encouragement. Jeremiah knew that, and he told the story of a potter’s wheel. I hope this sermon today can be inspiring for this congergation. Hear what the prophet said again: The word of the Lord said to Jeremiah, “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So…
Everyone’s Invited To The Wedding Reception If you’ve lived through a wedding you know are stressful. What few people realize is how stressful weddings are for the clergy. Although we will never say it with parishioners around, when clergy get together, we inevitably share horror stories and express disdain for weddings. I’ve experienced that firsthand when a wedding goes wrong. When I say wrong, I really it was a disaster before it began. The mother of the bride, bless her heart, deserved her own T.V. show on T.L.C. She was a Baptist…
Sermon: Compassion Changes Conditions Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost, posted by Rian Adams I cried when I read the hunchback of Notre Dame. Victor Hugo’s novel is a masterpiece that stays with you your whole life because we see pieces of each character in ourselves. In the beginning, we meet Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame. It is the Festival of Fools in Paris. The crowds elected him the “Pope of Fools” because he was the ugliest person in Paris. They heaved him on a throne and paraded him through the city streets as the crowds mocked him. Then…
The Blessing of Hardships. Sermon 10th Sunday After Pentecost Intro: Since this Gospel reading is intense, I thought I’d begin by admitting something kind of funny about it. When I read it this week, I pictured Jesus at a Charlie Daniels concert singing, “Fire on the mountain run boys run.” It also made me wonder, “… how am I supposed to preach this?” It speaks of fire consuming the earth, and about teenagers hating their parents. Well, maybe that one’s not a stretch. But I’d rather preach about the prince of peace than a man who…
Overcoming Fear: Sermon for The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost Overcoming Our Fears and Anxieties Back when Dolly Parton toured, she said that she slept with her makeup on. A reporter from the New York times asked her why, and she said, “You never know if you’re going to wreck the bus, you never know if you’re going to be somewhere in a hotel and there’s going to be a fire. So I leave my makeup on at night and clean my face in the morning to reapply.” It’s okay; you can go ahead and…