Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

“We live in a world that is about image. We live in a world, in a culture that tells us that we are what we earn, what we make, what we achieve – how to win, how to succeed, how to be great… this is what we know. And, that’s not actually anything that’s connected to the REAL love that we know in our lives.”

Hebrews 4:12-16

Mark 10:17-31

"Whatever the obstacles that we are putting in the way, we are in relationship with a God that loves us. And, it’s not all up to us, because with God all things are possible."

Mark 10:17-31

"God has built you for this place and for one another, and God has brought you here. God has brought us all here so that we can learn how to live lives of love together. And, part of doing that, just like God is all in on us, part of doing that is being all in on our community – our place – our church – our Christian family."

Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

Mark 10:2-16

"I think every one of us has a glass of water to offer. We all do. And I don’t know what that glass of water looks like for you – it might change over time. But, there is no experience that you have had in your life, no particular gift that you have as an individual that cannot be used by God to be a sign of grace."

Mark 9:38-50

"How can we be for each other? We don’t have to be exactly on the same team, but we need to recognize the bigger picture. We need to recognize that regardless of politics, regardless of gender, regardless of education, or economics, or all those things that we might think of that differentiate us – regardless of all those. The bigger picture is we’re all children of God. The bigger picture is whose we are.”

Mark 9:38-50

"This isn’t about your achievement. This is about learning how to love and be loved right now for who we are… to live into the love life of God – to live into it. Is there work to be done? Of course there is. Do I look around and see a bunch of useless people? I do not."

Mark 9:30-37

"As much as we might talk in our contemporary fashion about servant leadership, Jesus means a whole different kind of servanthood. For Jesus, servanthood means giving up your life... walking right into defeat... letting the bad guys win. For Jesus, that’s servanthood."

Mark 9:30-37

"I think what James is trying to remind me is that, as passionate I might get for a cause... as passionate I might get for a policy or a candidate, if i work for that candidate in a way that tears down other people, I’m just like Peter. I’m thinking about human things and not divine. When I go about the world believing that I know what’s right and telling other people what’s evil, I tear down relationships, and I'm thinking about human things and not the divine."

Isaiah 50:4-9a

James 3:1-12

Mark 8:27-38

"You all need to find your voices… all of us. And, those of us who have had a voice, we need to relearn how to use it. God is calling us – in this time – to rethink how we speak, and he’s calling others of us for the first time to speak louder than ever. And, when we do it, we are being told to do it with love and honesty – with care and respect.”

James 3:1-12

"Its when we hit those hard places – when we know we don’t have the magic answer; we don’t have control of the circumstances; we don’t have the skills to get through them. It’s in those moments that we are most ready to reach out to each other and to reach out to God."

Mark 7:24-37