Sermon by Father Bob Wismer – May 3, 2026

What if faith isn’t about having the right answers, but about being willing to be redirected?

In this sermon, Father Bob Wismer uses the image of a GPS recalibrating after a wrong turn to describe the purpose of worship. Church, he suggests, is where we are reoriented. Prayer and reflection reset our perspective, helping us see that even life’s disruptions can become places where grace takes hold.

Drawing on stories from his mother’s quiet wisdom and the early struggles of the apostles, Father Wismer challenges the idea that faith is something you master intellectually. It is something you live into. Not knowledge about God, but relationship with God.

His message is direct. Don’t stand at a distance from what is good and beautiful. Enter it. Like a piano that sits untouched, a life of faith unused produces no sound. We are meant to become instruments, bringing peace, attention, and care into the world around us.

Father Wismer calls us to live with expectation. To look for the presence of God in others. To build bridges where it would be easier to divide. And to practice love and forgiveness as deliberate, daily choices.

Find St. Francis Episcopal Church online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This podcast is a production of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Houston Creative Media.⁠⁠⁠

Sermon by Father Stuart Bates — April 26, 2026

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just a past event. It is the beginning of a different way of living.

In this sermon, Father Stuart Bates explores how the risen life takes shape in ordinary people, focusing on the restoration of Peter. His failure was real. His denial was public. Yet it was not the end. Through forgiveness and grace, he is called forward, not back.

This message reframes the Christian life as something lived, not just believed. Prayer, fellowship, and the breaking of bread become the steady practices that form a life anchored in resurrection.

Even in seasons that feel dark, routine, or unexpectedly comfortable, believers are invited to keep “singing the song of the resurrection” — to remain aligned with a hope that does not depend on circumstances.

Grounded in baptism and the Eucharist, and guided by the Good Shepherd, this is a life shaped by grace over time.

The claim at the center is direct: the resurrection is not symbolic. It is the assurance that life, not death, has the final word.

Find St. Francis Episcopal Church online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This podcast is a production of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Houston Creative Media.⁠⁠⁠

Sermon by Father David Price — April 19, 2026

In this sermon, Father David reflects on the quiet shift from confusion to clarity that comes through encountering the risen Christ. Drawing on the Road to Emmaus, he points to how easily Christ can go unrecognized until scripture is opened and bread is broken. The message confronts the “futile ways” that still shape modern life—status, control, and self-focus—and contrasts them with Peter’s call to a deeper, purified love. What follows is a direct invitation to look again at ordinary life and worship, and to recognize the presence of God where it is often missed.

Find St. Francis Episcopal Church online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This podcast is a production of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Houston Creative Media.⁠⁠⁠

Sermon by Father Bob Wismer – April 12, 2026

This episode presents a sermon on the search for direction and meaning in life. Drawing on the Artemis program and the spiritual awakening of Blaise Pascal, Father Wismer contrasts human technological progress with the deeper demands of faith.

He examines the reliability we place in modern systems alongside the need for spiritual guidance, urging a shift toward service, humility, and engagement with others. The sermon argues that lasting joy is rooted in an awareness of the divine, even in the presence of uncertainty and fear. It closes with a direct challenge to live with intention, grounded in scripture and oriented toward building connection rather than isolation.

Find St. Francis Episcopal Church online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This podcast is a production of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Houston Creative Media.⁠⁠⁠

Sermon by Father Stuart Bates — April 5, 2026

In this sermon, Father Stuart Bates reflects on the resurrection of Jesus as the center of Christian hope. He acknowledges the reality of suffering and death, but frames the resurrection as a turning point that reshapes how both are understood.

He distinguishes between a return to ordinary life and the new kind of life revealed in Christ, one that is not limited by the same conditions. The resurrection is presented as both a future promise and a present reality that begins to take shape now.

Father Bates encourages a response that is practical and communal. Participation in the life of the Church, attention to others, and acts of self-giving are described as ways this new life becomes visible.

The sermon presents the resurrection not only as an event to believe in, but as a pattern to live into, even in the midst of ongoing difficulty.

Find St. Francis Episcopal Church online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This podcast is a production of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Houston Creative Media.⁠⁠⁠

Sermon by Father Bob Wismer — March 29, 2026

In this sermon, Father Bob Wismer reflects on the tension at the heart of Passion Sunday, where the triumphal entry of Jesus stands alongside the reality of the crucifixion. He contrasts the expectations of victory with the path that Jesus actually takes.

Drawing on the imagery of Roman power, he describes how public displays of force were meant to intimidate and control. Against this backdrop, Christ’s entry into Jerusalem appears deliberately restrained, pointing toward a different kind of authority.

Father Wismer emphasizes how quickly public sentiment can shift, and how the same crowd that welcomes can also turn away. The crucifixion, in this context, reveals both the depth of human violence and the refusal of Christ to meet it in kind.

The sermon concludes with a practical implication: to follow this pattern of mercy and restraint in daily life, even in a culture shaped by power, reaction, and self-interest.

Find St. Francis Episcopal Church online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This podcast is a production of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Houston Creative Media.⁠⁠⁠

Sermon by Father David Price — March 22, 2026

In this sermon, Father David Price reflects on God’s power not simply to repair, but to bring new life out of what seems beyond recovery. Drawing on Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones and the raising of Lazarus, he presents both as moments where death is not the final word.

He lingers on the tension in the Lazarus story, where Jesus shares in human grief while also acting with authority over it. These events are offered as signs meant to shift how we understand loss, limitation, and possibility.

Father Price invites listeners to reconsider where they assume life has ended or cannot return. The focus is not on denial of hardship, but on the possibility of renewal within it.

The sermon points toward the work of the Spirit as a quiet but real force that moves people through despair toward a restored sense of life and hope.

Find St. Francis Episcopal Church online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This podcast is a production of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Houston Creative Media.⁠⁠⁠

Sermon by Rev. Katie Gould - March 15, 2026

In this sermon, Rev. Katie Gould reflects on the gap between human perception and the way God sees. Drawing on the anointing of David and the healing of the man born blind, she shows how people tend to judge by appearance, status, or easy explanations rather than attending to what is deeper and more true.

She challenges patterns of faith that rely on assumption, comfort, or quick judgment. Instead, she points toward a way of seeing that requires humility and a willingness to recognize one’s own limits.

Rev. Gould frames spiritual sight as something received, not achieved. It emerges when individuals allow themselves to be changed rather than remaining fixed in familiar ways of thinking.

The sermon calls for a shift in practice: to choose compassion over judgment and to engage others with openness rather than distance.

Find St. Francis Episcopal Church online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This podcast is a production of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Houston Creative Media.⁠⁠⁠

Sermon by Father Stuart Bates — March 8, 2026

In this sermon, Father Stuart Bates reflects on Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, traditionally known as Fotini. He contrasts the necessity of physical water with the “living water” Christ offers, pointing to a deeper source of life grounded in the Spirit.

He focuses on Fotini’s honesty and transformation. By speaking truthfully about her life, she moves from isolation to purpose, becoming a witness to others.

Father Bates connects this to the present, suggesting that faith begins not with self-improvement, but with a willingness to bring one’s real condition before God. The reliance on temporary satisfactions gives way to something more stable and sustaining.

The sermon frames Lent as an opportunity for that encounter, a shift from self-reliance toward a life shaped by trust, clarity, and spiritual depth.

Find St. Francis Episcopal Church online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This podcast is a production of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Houston Creative Media.⁠⁠⁠

Sermon by Mother Emily Hylden — March 12, 2026

In this sermon, Mother Emily Hylden reflects on the tension between human effort and divine grace during Lent. She questions the motives behind religious discipline, noting how easily it can become a pursuit of self-justification or approval rather than genuine transformation.

Drawing on the stories of Abraham and Nicodemus, she shifts the focus away from performance and toward receptivity. What matters is not flawless behavior, but a willingness to be changed.

Mother Hylden emphasizes that justification is not earned. It is given. God works through human limitation, bringing life out of what appears empty or failed.

The sermon offers a steady reassurance: the work of salvation does not depend on getting everything right, but on trusting a God who acts with mercy rather than condemnation.

Find St. Francis Episcopal Church online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This podcast is a production of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Houston Creative Media.⁠⁠⁠