What Will You Do if You Win the Lottery? The Gospel lesson this morning is about greed, which is not the easiest subject to preach. Especially when we’re going to ask for your money when the offering plate comes around in a few mins. I noticed something about greed, it is almost like a fog. Fog is dangerous; it distorts vision and easily confuses us. I experienced the confusion of fog one morning in the Hollywood Hills… I couldn’t see where to go. It was so thick even the GPS was lost too. Every morning in…
Hearts Wide Open: Sermon for the Sixth Sunday After Pentecost. By The Rev. Rian Adams Intro: Australian author Nikki Rowe said, “The greatest asset you could own is an open heart.” Open hearts compel doctors to give free medical care in the inner city. Open hearts lead Christians to live out their baptismal vows and serve Christ in all people. Open hearts cause us to rise early to feed the hungry. Open hearts make the world a better place for the wounded, hurting, and outsiders. However, when people hurt us, it’s natural to shy away and guard…
The Law of Love: How Compassion Can Change Your Life. Sermon Fifth Sunday After Pentecost. Sermon for the Fifth Sunday After Pentecost. The Law of Love. By The Rev. Rian Adams – Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church Have you ever wondered how to spot a hypocrite? It’s possible to spot them in their natural habitat… hiding behind religious rules instead of living the law of love. That happened in today’s Gospel lesson. It mentions three religious leaders who all chose the rules over compassion. A lawyer, a Levite, and a priest. A Lawyer was a…
Sermon: Jump: Trusting God to Heal Our Pride Jump: Trusting God To Heal Our Pride In today’s Old Testament lesson we meet a dangerous man, a military general who led the army of Israel’s biggest enemy, Naaman. He didn’t share Israel’s beliefs, their theology, their God, their politics, or their ethics, yet God was at work in him. He was a stranger, an enemy; but Naaman, had a severe problem. He carried a death sentence in his body… in his skin. He was a leper. Keep in mind, he was…
Grumpy Jesus: Feelings and Focus Have you ever been grumpy? I don’t mean mere frustration; I mean, have you ever been in a place where no one could do anything right? Maybe you haven’t, but I bet you can notice it in other people. That sounds a lot like Jesus in Today’s Gospel reading. The writer paints a picture where Jesus woke up on the wrong side of the bed. That scares some people, but if he can be grumpy, I guess it gives the rest of us hope. However, it’s…
Pentecost Sunday: Unified Diversity. Pentecost Sunday is a strange day on the church calendar because we want to celebrate, but the Acts reading about speaking in tongues and erratic spiritual experiences is a little unsettling. I’ve learned that if we talk too often about spiritual experiences, some people want to assign “labels” to us. Last week someone blasted me on Facebook (it’s not the first time…) for a comment I made on one Bishop Curry’s preaching videos. He preached that we need to stop being ashamed to talk about Jesus, and we need to all become…