a sermon from Fr. Nathan

True rest requires trust that you are going to be okay, and when trust breaks down, rest breaks down—as it did in the garden, in the wilderness with Israel, and in our own lives.

Jesus enters the wilderness as the true Adam and true Israel, facing the deeper temptations beneath all our particular sins: to provide for himself, to secure love by assertion, and to grasp for power apart from the Father’s will.

Yet he rests in the word spoken over him at his baptism—“beloved Son”—and by trusting that word all the way to the cross, he undoes Adam’s disobedience and overcomes sin and death.

Now, in our own wilderness moments, we are invited to remember our baptism, trust his provision, and rest in Christ as we are led toward the garden of eternal life.

a sermon from Fr. Nathan

Repentance is a continual turning toward the God who is actively forming us into His righteousness, shaping our hearts to reflect His own. Through Christ—who became sin for us—our frailty, failure, and mortality are met with a transforming grace that calls us to live as people reconciled and remade. This life of righteousness unfolds as we confess, repent, and open our hearts to God’s recreating work, allowing His light to overcome the patterns of sin that lead us toward death. Lent invites us to walk this path of joyful obedience, receiving God’s mercy so we may grow into the people He has called us to be—His righteousness in the world.

a sermon from Bishop Ken

When we understand that we are in Christ, we begin to hear the Father’s words at the Transfiguration—“This is my beloved Son, in whom I delight”—as words spoken over us as well, so that we live not to earn God’s favor but from the favor already given. If we miss this, repentance turns into an anxious effort to move from rejection to acceptance, rather than a joyful return to the One who already calls us beloved. Paul longed for deeper intimacy with Jesus because he knew that knowing Christ is worth losing everything else, and that this communion is the heart of the Christian life. Entering Lent with that assurance frees us to repent without self-loathing, to loosen our grip on lesser loves, and to run after Christ in the confidence that we are already delighted in as children of God.

a sermon from Fr. Nathan

When we think of mission, we often imagine dramatic stories, visible success, and impressive impact, yet Paul insists that the gospel took root not through strength or persuasion but through Jesus Christ and him crucified.

The cross exposes how we grasp at power in fear and self-protection, while revealing a God who gives himself away in love, forgiveness, and self-emptying obedience even unto death.

This is not the absence of wisdom but the deepest wisdom of all: that real life is found not in asserting strength, but in embracing weakness so that resurrection life may flow through us.

Mission, then, does not begin with arguments or strategies, but with lives shaped by the logic of the cross—refusing bitterness, practicing forgiveness, welcoming the vulnerable, and bearing faithful witness to Christ in ordinary, unseen ways.

What looks like weakness is in fact the power of God, and if the cross forms our hearts and minds, it becomes the logic of our words, our deeds, and our life together for the sake of the whole world.

a sermon from Deacon Steward

In a world filled with constant temptations to fret, worry, and grow angry, the Lord calls his people to rest in a deeper trust that rises above what our eyes can see.

Psalm 37 reminds us that evildoers may appear to prosper for a time, yet God remains a just judge who will bring all things to their rightful end in his perfect wisdom.

Instead of envying those who seem to succeed by wicked means, we are invited to delight ourselves in the Lord, allowing him to reshape our desires so that they reflect his goodness and his heart.

True meekness is not weakness but a quiet confidence that refuses to be ruled by rage, fear, or anxiety because it knows that the burden of bringing justice does not rest on human shoulders alone.

As we commit our ways to the Lord and feed on his faithfulness, we discover that he himself becomes our peace, sustaining us with a hope so secure that we can face every storm with calm assurance and joy.

a sermon from Fr. Nathan

Paul’s story reminds us that it is possible to oppose God sincerely, religiously, and even legally, while still being profoundly wrong. Fear, pride, and the desire for control can slowly push love out of our hearts until punishment feels righteous. Paul did not think of himself as evil; he was blind, and he needed an intervention. Christ met him with a light brighter than the noonday sun, exposing not only his actions but the deeper resistance of his heart. That same light still confronts us today, calling us away from fear and violence and toward repentance, forgiveness, and life in the light of Christ.

a sermon from Dcn Bryan

Epiphany is not a season that asks the Church to invent something new about Jesus, but one that calls us to recognize and attend to what God has already accomplished.

Again and again in today’s readings, the same story comes into focus—from the blood that marked Israel’s deliverance, to the servant who delights in God’s will, to a people sustained by grace, and finally to the Lamb of God who is revealed and followed.

Our life with God begins not in striving or self-improvement, but in recognizing and trusting what God has already done in Christ, and allowing that revealed grace to shape how we follow him and bear witness in the world.

a sermon from Fr. Nathan

When we come to Matthew 3 and the baptism of Jesus, we are entering a moment shaped by deep religious corruption, imperial domination, and a people longing not only for forgiveness but for deliverance.

John the Baptist calls Israel to repentance in this context, and Jesus—though he has no sin to repent of—chooses to descend into the Jordan to stand with the repentant and the oppressed.

In doing so, he sanctifies the waters, turning baptism from a mere sign into an effective means of God’s saving work, and reveals himself as the one who brings new creation where sin has disfigured the world.

At his baptism, God reveals Jesus’ affiliation with sinners, his allegiance to the Father rather than empire or institution, and his authority as the true Son of God whose power restores rather than crushes.

Joined to Christ in baptism, we share in this same pattern of descent and resurrection, receiving both the call and the promise to live his life for the sake of the world.

A sermon from Fr. Nathan

As a new year begins, we’re invited to reflect on the rhythms that shape our lives—both the joyful milestones and the difficult stretches that test our faith. Drawing on the imagery of pilgrimage from Psalm 84, this our sermon explores what it means to journey toward God through valleys marked by weariness, sorrow, or uncertainty, and to discover that even these places can become sources of life. Rather than avoiding hardship, we’re encouraged to prepare for it by cultivating practices that make us ready to receive grace when we need it most. Jesus himself models this kind of preparation through learning, prayer, community, and trust in the Father, long before he reaches the darkest moments of his path. The invitation is simple: to make space for grace, to walk from strength to strength, and to trust that God meets us faithfully in every season ahead.

a sermon from Fr. Nathan

“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” These words from *O Holy Night* capture the deep longing of humanity. We live in a world marked by division, violence, and cycles of self-destruction. Many of us feel the weight of brokenness—not only in society but within ourselves. Yet into this darkness, a light has come.

The Gospel of John reminds us: *In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.* All things exist through Christ, and every life depends on Him. This truth changes everything. When we recognize that God is not distant but present—Emmanuel, God with us—we begin to see who He truly is and who we are meant to be.

The incarnation reveals God’s love and mercy. Jesus came not to condemn but to forgive, to restore relationships fractured by sin. When we believe in His name, we experience healing and peace. This transforms how we live: mercy replaces judgment, forgiveness replaces resentment, and love becomes the foundation of community.

The message of Christmas is not sentimental—it is revolutionary. Christ breaks chains of oppression, calls us to love one another, and invites us into a family where there is no “us” and “them,” only “us.” His law is love, His gospel is peace. When we live in this light, we become witnesses of hope in a weary world.

Christ the babe is Lord of all. Christ the babe was born for you. This is the truth that changes everything.