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

There is a question that arises every year about what do we do with Mary.  Do we venerate her?  Is she important in our faith?  What is her role in our History of Salvation?  This Sunday, the Gospel is the Annunciation, found in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke.  We explore and ask the question, "What does Mary's 'Yes' mean for us?"  The Rev'd John Blackburn is the preacher.

Preaching a sermon on the Collect of the Day, Deacon John asks what it would really look like if God were to come right now with Great Power and Might.  

Sometimes there are situations that we must wait through, or we must endure with no true end in sight.  We all go through some of these.  Israel also went through a period like this; we call it the Babylonian Exile.  But over time, God speaks words of comfort, words of assurance to us.  In this Sermon, Deacon John describes what waiting sometimes looks like, and the words of comfort that are spoken to us.

Happy First Sunday of Advent.  The Church often looks both forward and backwards on Advent Sunday; backward as we remember what waiting looked like in ages past, but also forward to the coming judgement of Christ.  As you listen to today's sermon, consider how you might make your own heart ready for him, and what the coming of Christ means in your own life.

Today is the Feast of Christ the King, the end of the Liturgical Year.  But, when we celebrate Christ the King Day, are we actively working in the Kingdom, or simply gazing towards it in the distance?  Learn about a tiny sermon that Mother Teresa would preach, known as "The Gospel of the Five Fingers", and how to be more sheep-like, rather than goat-like.  The text for this morning is the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, found in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25, beginning at the 31st verse.  The Rev'd John Blackburn is the preacher.

In today's Sermon, The Rev'd John Blackburn speaks about his recent trip to the Diocese of Navajoland, and some of the experiences that he was able to take part in.  As he recollects about the experiences that he had, Deacon John relates how the people who he encountered gave of their "talents", which produced more good.

What is a Saint?  Why are Saints considered special in the life of our Church?  Are they superheros on a divine scale?  Or, just ordinary folk who love God.  On this All Saints' Day, Deacon John discusses the active role that the Saints play in our lives today, and why we should all "strive to be one too".

Stewardship is one of the hardest concepts to address in our modern Christian Life.  Between what some people see as the Church trying to "get rich", or for ministers to try to extort money out of their flock, it becomes difficult to discuss stewardship.  In this sermon, Deacon John explains his own discipline of stewardship.  This is the last of our fall stewardship sermons for 2020.  

Not long after the Crossing at the Red Sea, the Children of Israel fell away from trusting in God, and constructed a calf made of gold, and gave willingly the materials needed to fabricate a false god.  How do we prevent ourselves from making the same mistakes?  What are the idols that we have in our lives that prevent us for seeing God clearly?  Deacon John argues that one way we can begin to put things in right order is to practice Stewardship of the resources that we have been given.  Today's text comes from Exodus 32:1-14.