Praying with our entire being requires that we use our bodies to express our devotion to God in prayer. It’s an ancient tradition, as Father John explores in this third sermon in our series on various types of prayer. As well as developing a theology for the use of our body in prayer, this sermon offers some exercises that may help us delve deeper into a powerful way of expressing our feelings to God.

The ancient practice of Lectio Divina is a means of using the Scripture as a guide to praying. In this second sermon in our series on prayer, Father John explores how we might approach communicating with God using the Bible as a springboard. Outlined here is a five step process for centering ourselves, Scripture intake, listening to the Holy Spirit, and discerning where God might be wanting to speak a very personal message into your life.

Have you ever found it difficult to connect with God through prayer? Perhaps this is not indicating that something is “wrong” with you – but that you may have not found the right way of praying. Today, Father John begins a new sermon series exploring several different ways of praying to God. He invites all of us to explore prayer week by week using guided experiments. Join us in engaging what is central to our faith: connecting to the living God in real and meaningful ways.

What happens in the church when we allow money to divide us? In this sermon, Father John explores the story of Lazarus and the Rich man, considering how both rich and poor alike can view money as a dividing “gate” between people. Jesus calls us to overcome such separations as his followers.

It should not surprise us that we are called to suffer as Christian. This sermon is a theological exploration of the function of suffering as understood by Jesus and his earliest followers. The authors of the New Testament seem to assume that those who belong to Jesus will suffer in this life – but why? What is the purpose of this suffering? Father John explores two main functions of suffering in the life of believers – and how we can face such with the knowledge that we are suffering “with Christ.”

In this sermon, Father John explores the story of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as examples of people whom God used because they stood by their convictions. So often in life we merely have preferences, even in our ethical and spiritual lives. While preferences are fine in many areas of life, some areas of life call us to exhibit true convictions deriving from our beliefs. Listen and be challenged to follow Jesus’ call on our life to live true to our convictions.

This sermon is a response to the events in Charlottesville, Virginia over the past weekend. In this sermon, Father John points out the sin of White Nationalism, and discusses why we must name it and condemn it in our society.

In today’s sermon, Father John explores another fear that can paralyze us in life: Fear of rejection. Looking at an often overlooked story from the life of Jesus found in Mark 3, we explore how Jesus faced rejection when he encountered it, and note that he gives two key examples that we can follow in our own lives when we face it too. Listen and be encouraged to live into the love of God!

For the last few Sundays of the summer we explore overcoming fear in our lives, beginning with the fear of failure. In today’s sermon, Father John looks at the story of Gideon and the 300 soldiers who routed the entire Midianite army – doing so mainly by means of their faith in Gideon and in God. Following their example, we are challenged to focus on faithfulness rather than “success” as the measurement of being good stewards in the circumstances of our lives.

In this “check in” homily with the parish, Father John addresses an accusation that has been leveled against him and the Episcopal Church in general – that of being “false prophets” for teaching that women can participate in any ministerial order men can, and that LGBT people are fine just as they are in God’s eyes (among other issues). Today we approach such accusations by talking about HOW we discuss such issues – this is not a sermon where we defend the issues themselves. By pointing to Jesus’ own test for determining whether a person is a “false prophet,” Father […]