Sounds from St. Martin's

What does it mean to be kadosh - set apart? How does our baptism or the life of the saints help us to understand those times in life when being set apart was not what we asked for, but is a blessing nonetheless? Here from the Rev. Thatcher in her All Saints' Sunday sermon.

Who are your saints? Are they people who served on the battlefields of years past? Or those who contend with the everyday battles of poverty, grief, and illness? At our All Saints' and All Souls' Evensong, The Rev. Laura Palmer reminds us of some of St. Martin's forgotten saints, while she calls to mind some from her own life that they may help us listen for the voices of our own saints.

We've been on a journey to Jerusalem this summer, did you notice? The Rev. Barbara Ballenger guides us along the way and reminds us that the challenges Jesus offered his followers while he was living are still what we must contend with today.

Garry Duncan invites us to build up our spiritual home. We've been hearing Stewardship messages the last few Sunday mornings. Here is one from Garry Duncan reminding us that our buildings are more than just buildings - they hold our spiritual home.

"I'm here because this is home. As we invest in our homes and the bricks and mortar that support us and put a roof over our head, it's also incumbent upon us to invest in the bricks and mortar of our emotional and spiritual home."

As humans we do not like dealing with in between. We prefer people to fit nicely into boxes that we can define and know what to expect. But our God lives and moves in those between areas. The Rev. Anne Thatcher preaches about the cleansing of the 10 Lepers on this Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost.

When we are faced with uncertainty, perhaps is it just a lack of imagination in the great things that God has in store. If we put our trust in Jesus, in God as Lord, we will take hold of the boost we need.

Thank you to the Rev. Dr. William Flippin, Jr. for starting off our 2019-2020 Evensong season!

There are those people in our lives who showed us the faith. The Eunices and Loises and Pauls to us when we are an uncertain Timothy. The people who show us what faith is, what it means to be a person of faith, how to carry on when times get rough and we get a little doubtful or ashamed. The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel tells us about a few of those people in his life. Who is that person in your life?

Sermon based on 2 Timothy, the Epistle reading for the week, found at https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Pentecost/CProp22_RCL.html#nt1

Church intercedes on behalf of God to the world and on behalf of the world to God. ...What does church as intercessor look like?...What would happen if the church abdicated its role as intercessor for the world? The Rev. Anne Thatcher explores these questions as a glimpse of the answers are revealed to us through the scriptures for this morning.

God, again and again, chooses mercy and invites everyone to the party. Are we also willing to put aside our own ideas of who we are and how we define ourselves to accept the invitation to God's radical mercy party?

The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel reads the message of Jeremiah as one of hope for our times. We together are clay that God breaks down and molds into something new. God does not leave us to remake ourselves. This message is one that needs to be shared with our world today - a plan for how to rebuild the confusion of our time, a message of hope for the future, a clear vision of where life is going, for all of us.