Category: Sermons
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Conversations with/in Scripture
A sermon for Proper 20 Jeremiah 8:18-9:1; Psalm 79:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13 First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. If you’re like me, you…
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Sermon: (The Lord’s) Prayer
Proper 12 Hosea 1:2-10; Psalm 85; Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19); Luke 11:1-13 I spent most of the last week in Alexandria wrapping up my formal employment at Virginia Seminary. Among the many joys of being with my colleagues one last time was learning that a book project I’d been rooting for is moving forward. The book is a biography…
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Sermon: Imagination and empathy in the season of the Incarnation
Second Sunday after Christmas Jeremiah 31:7-14; Psalm 84; Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a; Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 Audio | Text: Happy second Sunday after Christmas. The prayer book says we are in the season of the Incarnation, but I prefer to think of these days between Christmas and Epiphany as the season of imagination. I believe our primary job as disciples is to…
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Moses says: Learn by (re)living
Proper 17, Year B (Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23) Preached at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in the Bronx on August 30, 2105. Audio | Text: It’s Friday evening at about 6:10 pm. We’ve reached the play’s penultimate scene, which apparently not all of the cast has seen. “Fr. Kyle,…
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How & Why: Big questions in the spiritual life
Proper 15, Year B (Proverbs 9:1-6; Psalm 34:9-14; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58) Audio | Text: I’m an engineer by training, which means I’m fascinated by how things work. HOW can be a big question, a noble question. HOW can set us at fascinating tasks, send us on great quests. It can also really mess up…
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Loving “on command”
Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B (Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17) Audio (or via Dropbox) | Text: In chapter 14 of John’s gospel, Jesus says these familiar words: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” That’s a pretty tall order, no? Kind of a lot of pressure? It gets even more incredible when we arrive…
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We have been this way before: An Easter Vigil homily
Great Vigil of Easter We have been this way before. Once again, Jesus gathered us together in community. Once again, we left our betrayals and our brokenness at the foot of the cross. Once again, we were there when they laid him in the tomb. Once again, he proved to us that the powers of…
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Resolving to practice faith at home: A sermon for the Feast of the Holy Name
Feast of the Holy Name (Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:15-21; Psalm 8) PDF | Text: Some of you know that my job at Virginia Seminary is as a coach and curator in the area of Christian formation. So I spend my days immersed in the world of best practices for teaching and learning about faith, for claiming…
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Psalm 126 and National Lament: Black Lives Matter
Advent 3, Year B Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28 With profound respect and gratitude to the many people whose writing and witness helped me prepare, including Remington Gregg, Osheta Moore, Mike Kinman, Broderick Greer, the Theology of Ferguson/StayWokeAdvent/DearWhitePastor crew (especially Micky Jones and Jake Dockter), Mike Angell, and Emily Scott. PDF | Audio…
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Horcruxes, podcasts, and singleness of heart: A stewardship sermon
Proper 24, Year A Isaiah 45:1-7; Psalm 96:1-9; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22) PDF | Audio (or via Dropbox) | Text: Of all the profoundly adult spiritual insights J. K. Rowling explores in the Harry Potter series, the most fascinating to me is an object the wizards call a horcrux. Over the course of the…