Faith Speaks — Reverend Neil Taylor — Sermon Podcast

Read Matthew 4:21-22

Feast Day of St. James the Elder (Greater) | July 25, 2024

Little did this brash disciple, who left his nets on the shores of the Sea of Galilee,  know that he would be the first Apostle martyred for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, James, the son of Zebedee, was the first of the Apostles to win the crown of martyrdom and the only Apostle whose death is recorded in the New Testament. In Acts 12, we read that the outstretched hand of King Herod Agrippa put James to death by the sword. James paid the ultimate price and, in doing so, obtained eternal glory and the eternal crown of obedience.

Read Job 31:1-8, James 1:13-16, Matthew 5:21-37

Part Three | Moral Spaces

Sometimes, the only way to keep up with all the demands on our lives is to run at maximum capacity and then some. But there is another way...one where we have room to breathe and space to respond to what life brings our way. Join us as we explore what it means to WATCH THE GAP and live with Margin over this four-week sermon series.

Feast  of St Mary Magdalene | Homily

Read John 20:1-2, 11-18

Our Christian faith, in the resurrection of Christ, our risen Lord, depends principally on the testimony of Mary Magdalene. This fact speaks eloquently of the important role of women in the Church universal, and Mary Magdalene stands in a long line of women who have loved and served Christ. Women, who have told others about him, who have witnessed the truth of the Gospel, and who have been the first teachers and preachers of the Gospel.

Read Ephesians 5:15-17, Matthew 6:26-34

Part Two | Planning Sacred Spaces

Sometimes, the only way to keep up with all the demands on our lives is to run at maximum capacity and then some. But there is another way...one where we have room to breathe and space to respond to what life brings our way. Join us as we explore what it means to WATCH THE GAP and live with Margin over this four-week sermon series.

Read Luke 10:38-42

Part One | Managing Life's Sacred Spaces

Sometimes, the only way to keep up with all the demands on our lives is to run at maximum capacity and then some. But there is another way...one where we have room to breathe and space to respond to what life brings our way. Join us as we explore what it means to WATCH THE GAP and live with Margin over this four-week sermon series.

Read Matthew 9:9-13

"When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

Here is the Pharisees' question asked differently: "What is your teacher's philosophy of ministry?"  "What is He all about?"

Jesus heard them and said in verse 12, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

That is what being a Christian is all about; it's not about you and me, the strong and the believing, holding one another up constantly. True Christianity is the strong ministering to the weak; it is the well ministering to the sick.

The Pharisees are totally befuddled by Jesus' conduct. "What's the connection?" "Why are you with these people?" The Pharisees don't understand that this is what it is all about. Jesus is showing them who they were meant to be with and who they were to minister to.

Read John 21:15-19

The two leading Apostles of the early Church are celebrated together in the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, which is observed on June 29th. This liturgical feast honors Peter and Paul's martyrdom in Rome.

Read Luke 1:57-80

When an angel told Zechariah that his aged wife, Elizabeth, was pregnant, Zechariah began asking questions that betrayed his disbelief. It was then that Zechariah's voice failed him. Because of his lack of faith… his powers of speech were temporarily taken away.

In the gospel reading, Zechariah's voice is restored when he signals that his newborn son will be named "John" according to God's set plan and purpose. When Zechariah's tongue was loosed, he uttered a beautiful canticle that described the mission of the child whose birthday we celebrate.

Proverbs 14:4 "Without oxen, a barn stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest." (NLT)

Knowing that a barn's purpose is to store the biggest harvest possible, the question needs to be asked: Would you rather have your barn clean or filled?

Read Acts 11.19-30, 13.1-3

We know more about Barnabas than most of the Saints of the apostolic age. What we know is found throughout the Acts of the Apostles, which are commented on in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Galatians, and Colossians. We can determine that he is a native Cypriot, a Levite, and a leader in the church in Jerusalem; tradition says he was an evangelizer of his native Cyprus and died around 61 A.D. at Salamis. He is commended in Acts 11:24 as “being a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.”