Category: Sermons
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Conforming to Christ: Romans 12 & Michelangelo’s Prisoners
Proper 16, Year A (Isaiah 51:1-6; Psalm 138; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20) PDF | Audio (or via Dropbox) | Text: I want to begin by passing on a word of thanks and admiration from a recent visitor. It was sent to our music directors and acolyte coordinators but applies much more broadly. The Rev. Dr. William…
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“Less certain, more convinced”: A sermon on the end of Romans 8
Proper 12, Year A (1 Kings 3:5–12; Romans 8:26–39; Matthew 13:31–33, 44–52) PDF | Audio (soon, or Dropbox) | Text: Do you ever get jealous of the disciples? Not for the mighty deeds or the heroic deaths, necessarily, but for the simple fact that they met and knew the Lord as none of us can?…
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Celebrating the Blessings of Social Media
I gave this sermon/forum thing about the promise and pitfalls of social media at Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke, VA on July 15. You can also read a reflection on the experience over at Key Resources, which is where I’m doing most of my blogging these days. [View the story “Celebrating the Blessings…
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A sermon for Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday (Exodus 12:1-14; Psalm 116:1, 10-17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35) PDF | Audio (soon) | Text: A dear friend of mine is the cantor at Congregation Beth El in Bethesda. Each year, my wife and I do our best to get ourselves invited to his Passover Seder. This is one of those years where the Gregorian…
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Suffering, endurance, character, hope
Third Sunday in Lent, Year A (Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-42) Image source: “Hope” by Renato Giordanelli via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) PDF | Audio (soon, or via Dropbox) | Text: I’m breathing slightly easier this weekend than I have for the last few months. We have reached the end, at least as far as the calendar…
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His whole life for our whole lives
Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (Numbers 6:22-27; Psalm 8; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:15-21) PDF | Text: At first glance, today is a very literal sort of feast. We celebrate the Holy Name of Jesus because it is the eighth day of Christmas and, as our Gospel reading says, “After eight days had passed, it was time to…
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Waking up, keeping watch
Advent 1, Year A (Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44) PDF | Audio (or via Dropbox) | Text: A recent early-morning flight had me picking up fellow travelers on the Virginia Seminary campus at half past four. A few minutes later, as we crested the hill that opens up onto Arlington and the District, which were still…
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Pilgrim Virtues
Proper 20, Year C (Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 113; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13) Image source: Ahron de Leeuw via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) PDF | Audio (soon, or via Dropbox) | Text: Let me start by saying that I’m as confused by our Gospel passage today as you might be. A manager “squanders” the resources he’s been entrusted…
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Healing and the Sabbath
Proper 16, Year C (Isaiah 58:9b-14; Psalm 103:1-8; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17) Image source: Josh James via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) PDF | Audio (soon, or via Dropbox) | Text: I am something of a monastery groupie. Maybe that’s not the right phrase. But I follow—with great passion, in person and online—a number of monks,…
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A common life of uncommon devotion
The Feast of St. Mary the Virgin (Isaiah 61:10–11; Psalm 34; Galatians 4:4–7; Luke 1:46–55) Image source: Eric R. via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) PDF | Audio (or via Dropbox) | Text: Earlier this week, I was at a gathering in Colorado that brought together leaders in the Episcopal Church for a couple days of…