Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

Life is a series of letting go. Letting go into an unknown future, but Jesus keeps praying for us to protect us. That, 'Our joy,' as he says, 'that our joy might be full.'

John 17:6-19

To say that we don't belong to the world does not mean that we don't belong to each other, and it does not meant that we don't belong to the love and the hearts of the people out there. It means that we are not going to be defined by the mistakes of our generation. We're going to be defined by God's love. It's who we are.

John 17:6-19

"If you want in this covenant, then you'll obey his commandments, then you'll love one another as Jesus loved us. Not because God's covenant is conditional on that, but because that's what our half of the covenant looks like. But we can know, at the end of the day, when... not if... when we fail... when we fail to love each other as God loves us God is faithful."

John 15:9-17

"But real love is meant to be lived in this life in conflict and pain, in fear, in confusion and uncertainty. We are meant to live lives of love and that means we've got to practice it. That means we've got to wake up today and think on a basic, practical, daily level, 'what does it look like for me to love this person?'"

John 15:9-17

"When you love someone else and when you are being loved by someone else the invisible God is being made visible. When you love someone else and are being loved by someone else God is so clearly present. What's happening when you love is you are training yourself to see God everywhere. This is the gift. This is the gift of the Gospel. This is the gift that Nancy gives this church. This is the gift that the people of this church give each other."

1 John 4:7-21

"Love demands courage, demands forgiveness, demands compassion. Love is a gift, and yet it is a challenge."

1 John 4:7-21

"God our shepherd walks with us in our spaces of isolation and fear of loneliness and uncertainty, and then guides us back into relationship... into the place where we really don't have to just say quietly to ourselves "I'm not alone, I'm not alone, I'm not alone. The Lord is my shepherd, the Lord is my shepherd," because we are surrounded by people."

Psalm 23

John 10:11-18

"To live in the sheep fold of the good shepherd is to trust that God will give us everything that we need. The good news of Easter is that we are all invited to live in that sheep fold. We are all invited to live in radical dependence on God."

John 10:11-18

"We spend so much time looking back at a body we once had, or looking forward to a body we think we should have... and God gave us these bodies that we have now. He doesn't want us to disrespect his creation. He doesn't want us to call the bodies we've been given "bad" or "flawed." He's making us perfect. Not because he's turning us into something without fault or blemish - without rolls or flab - but something complete in God's creation.

Luke 24:36b-48

"God gave you the body you have, right now - not the body you'd like, not the body you could have - the body you have right now to carry you through this world, and to give you arms to hold onto people [...], and to give you a voice to cry out to tell people you love them [...]. What if God gave you the body that you have right now so that you can use it, as it is, to be a blessing and to be blessed in this world? What if you loved your body the way God loves your body?"

Luke 24:36b-48