Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Yes, we just heard the Magnificat twice – reading it together as the Canticle and then hearing it as a part of the Gospel. This scripture, oddly enough, is the focus of an opinion piece in…
St. James' Episcopal Church – Mt. Airy, Maryland
Sermons on 2018
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Nothing says 9 days till Christmas quite like John the Baptist’s proclamation, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” and the dire warnings that follow. J I…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Read again with me the final sentence from today’s Gospel reading from Luke – Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every hill shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Everything has changed again – we’re now surrounded by blue! Happy New Year everyone, as we begin the season of Advent today. Every year as we enter Advent, I am struck by how counter-cultural a…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Every scripture reading today has depths to mine and relevance to our lives, but I’ve been excitedly waiting since August, when I sat down to make my seasonal sermon prep chart with notes for all…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Last week we had the first of three cycles in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus predicts his suffering and resurrection, the disciples misinterpret him, and then he offers a teaching on discipleship. Something to…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. This is the third of twelves weeks of walking chronologically through the Gospel of Mark in our lectionary cycle this fall. Today we hit the middle of Mark’s Gospel – a pivot point – where Jesus predicts…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. All week long the phrase “Be opened” from today’s Gospel has chased after me. It is ripe with meaning and possibility, censure and encouragement. And it is the culmination of the two healing stories found in…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Our Gospel today continues where we left off last week, but is a flashback to the story of Herod beheading John the Baptizer. The countryside was alive with speculation about who this wonderworker Jesus really was.…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Today is a day when it I have to say it’s too bad we can’t all read and understand Greek, the original language of the Gospel of John, because our English translation just doesn’t cut…