Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

"Let us be mindful that we can do nothing good without God, and that we need the help always of God's grace. If we're able to keep things in that perspective - if we're able to keep our relationship with God front and center - that relationship is the blessing. And, whether the outside world is falling apart, or a constant party, that relationship is the blessing. With God at the center, we are blessed."

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Luke 6:17-26

"You're not struggling now because God is mad at you, and you're not comfortable and wealthy now because God is oh so pleased with you. God loves the rich and the poor. Good loves the joyful and the sorrowful. God loves those who are loved by others, and he loves those who are hated by those around them. And to everything there is a season, but for God's love there is no season."

"Jesus is here, now, present in this church. And, he is calling us to move forward, and this vision that we have is simply a way for us to see what moving forward looks like. It's a way for us not just to do new work, but to re-approach the work that we are doing: the way that we are caring for each other, the way we are participating in the redemption of the world - to look at it again and anew with a sense that in doing this work we are accomplishing something."

Luke 5:1-11

"You need to be willing to convert your life every day. To listen for a God who is calling you out of the old patterns that you think you know, to listen to a God who is going to teach you something new even if you have been doing this for decades and decades."

Luke 4:21-30

"To me [love] sounds so big that I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to grasp it, trying to hold onto it, trying to get closer to that being my understanding of the world. I don't ever want to grow out of that. I want to grow in to that reality. I want this to be the center piece of our lives because its not just something we can move pass or go beyond."

"Our mission as Christians has always been, and will always be, to know Christ and to make Christ known. And, in this community we are gathering together to say, 'no one is dispensable, everyone matters, and if one suffers we all suffer, and if one rejoices we all rejoice.' Our mission and our vision for this community is that we are a symbol of God's love in this town, in this city, and in this nation."

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Luke 4:14-21

"God is not interested in us becoming good, better, or best, God is interested in us becoming whole. God is not interested in us figuring out who to get rid of so that we can be the right kind of people. God is interested in us recognizing our fundamental interconnectedness, that we belong utterly and completely to one another. That we are one."

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

"Just like a fine wine, the complexity and balance and unique gifts that we each have to share often get better with time. Participating in the miracle of transformation is a process... a process in these steps, a process of fermentation that requires an interruption of our current composition, a new ordering of the elements, an embrace of effervescence, and the giving and sharing of warmth."

John 2:1-11

"The temptation for a lot of us is to look for God in the world and expect choirs of angels, and shepherds, and rulers from far off lands to come and point to God. And, what often happens is God is there in the crowd, and there's no fanfare, and there's no heavenly host. It's just God in the crowd, doing ordinary things."

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

"When we love and show mercy and forgiveness, when we look at each other and care for one another, when we care for this world and go out of our comfort zone and risk something of ourselves to make this world more like his kingdom come and his will be done - when we do that, we're not just doing it so that we can get the right number of marks or so that God will pay attention to us. We are participating with God in the work that God is already doing."

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22