Sermons from Saint Christopher's By-the-Sea, Portland Texas

Good Friday calls us to remember the Love of Christ in a profound way.  If you wish to read the passages of Scripture related to this sermon, please read the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint John, which with Chapter 18 and is read through the end of Chapter 19

We have finally ended our Lenten Journey and arrived at Palm Sunday, the beginning of Passion Week.  We have shouted Hosanna and proclaimed Jesus as our King.  And we have then turned on him, and crucified him in our Gospel reading.  What has happened?  Saint Paul in his letter to the Philippians exhorts us to "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus".  Join us as we explore what having the same mind looks like for a Christian, and how we can live more fully into our Christian calling.

In John's Gospel, Jesus is sought out by some Greeks, people who more than likely were Non-Jews, who are in Jerusalem for the Festival of Passover.  While they are there, they find Philip and say to him, "We wish to see Jesus".  Today's sermon explores this phrase and what seeing Jesus means for us today.  The passage is John 12:20-33.

One of the ways that we show our love and affections for people is be gathering and remembering.  We celebrate birthdays, but we also remember events, like Independence Day.  As the Church, we gather and remember as well.  But our remembering takes on a different flavour and a different purpose.  As we explore the depths of God's love for us, Fr. John leads us in thinking more about how we are to show the Love of God in our lives, as why gathering is crucial for our Christian Way of Life.  The Gospel lesson is John 3:14-21.

Today's Gospel passage is John's recording of Jesus Cleansing the Temple.  Jesus drives out the money changers and says, "Stop making my Father's house into a market place."  But, what is Jesus saying to his church today?  What can we learn from the cleansing of the Temple about our Church's own needs today.  Fr. Blackburn explores how the Temple of the past and the Church of the present are suppose to be and what work we should be doing.  The Scripture reference for this sermon is John 2:13-22.

Today, we hear some rather hard words from Jesus; words about taking up our crosses, forsaking our lives, and of dying to self.  What does that mean for us.  Fr. John gives us some words of guidance and also of commission in what living a Cross-Shaped Life looks like.  The Text for this morning is St. Mark 8:31-38.

What do we do when Temptations come?

Today's Gospel Reading is one of the accounts of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, when Jesus appears, with Moses and Elijah, arrayed in dazzling white, while several of his disciples look on.  It is one in a series of changes that we have been seeing throughout our season of Epiphany.  Why is it necessary for this "change" to occur?  What does it mean for us?  And, perhaps most importantly, what does it mean for us?  Father John explores these questions as we ponder this account from the beginning of Chapter 9 of Mark's Gospel.

When Jesus comes to us, and restores us, one of our first responses is to serve him.  We learn from Simon's Mother-in-law that serving our Lord is done through gratitude, and is part of how we give our thanks to God.  One of our modern day example is Captain Sir Tom Moore, who died earlier this week, and what we can learn from his example as well.  This sermon is based on the passage from Mark 1:29-39.

Today's Gospel lesson is from Mark 1:21-28.  Jesus encounters a man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue, and Jesus heals that man.  In today's sermon, Father Blackburn helps us learn what unclean spirits look like, and where they hide in our lives.  But, we should always be aware of the need of healing from them, both as individuals and as a community.  And, our healing is found in the power and authority that Jesus has in our lives.