Lent 4 – Mark 6:32-44 Please listen with me to a reading from the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark, beginning at the 32nd verse. This is a parallel text to today’s appointed Gospel from St. John. And [Jesus and his disciples] went away in the boat to a desolate place by…
Video has no sound 📢 Romans 5:1-11 We’re all probably familiar with the well-known Groucho Marx gag, where Groucho is a doctor, and a patient comes to him and says, “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.” The doctor replies, “Then don’t do that.” This is funny as slapstick humor. But we wouldn’t think that…
Genesis 3:1-21 “Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” Through the Prophet Isaiah, as God there addresses Israel and the human race, he describes himself in this way: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are…
Job 4:14-20 A well-known African-American spiritual includes these poignant words: Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they laid him in the…
1 Samuel 16:1-13 Today’s lesson from the First Book of Samuel includes this very significant statement: “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Samuel had been told by God that he had chosen one of the sons of Jesse…
Luke 8:26-37 Then [Jesus and his disciples] sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among…
NOTE: Due to technical difficulties the video portion begins mid-way through the sermon. 2 Peter 1:16-21 The Transfiguration of our Lord was an event in the earthly life of Jesus unlike anything else that had ever happened to him. In more veiled ways, Jesus had, of course, often given evidence of his divine power, by doing extraordinary…
Luke 2:40-52 In this world, there may not be too many people you can really trust and count on. Usually, however, we do assume that at the very least, we should be able to rely on our closest relatives: parents, children, siblings, and spouses. They won’t let us down. They won’t turn on us. But you…
Matthew 2:1-12 We all know the Biblical story of the Epiphany, involving wise men from the east who traveled a great distance to find the newborn king of Israel. A star guided them to Bethlehem, where Jesus was, and where the wise men worshiped him. That’s the story, right? Well, not exactly. St. Matthew’s Gospel…
Luke 2:22-40 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. (As it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male will be called holy to the Lord.”) And they came to offer a sacrifice according…