SSJE Sermons

"This Lent, I think it is worth taking the time to listen and discern where God is giving you life, where God is speaking life into your life. Yet also, where has this life been robbed from you?” This Lent, Br. Sean Glenn invites you into reflection about where God is calling you to choose life over death.

“We may be tempted in times of stress to hide, to isolate ourselves and try to heal ourselves. Full of shame and self-reliance, we may even try to hide our wounds from God. Mary and the Beloved Disciple show us that we do not have to do that. We can move in with one another and navigate this pain together.” In this season of Lent, Br. Jack Crowley considers Mary and the Beloved Disciple as models for handling stress.

“Risk, real, material risk, is the heart of this reading today. Risk to our own resources and possessions, even our own bodily health, is what Jesus brings forth to us today. Do to others as you would have them do to you, even when they aren’t treating you the same. Do to others as you would have them do to you, even when such action poses a real risk to your own well-being.”

Br. Lucas Hall consider the true risk inherent in Jesus' teaching and invites us to step from safety into the good work to which God calls us.

“It’s always tempting in times of misunderstanding to just not want to deal with it, to say you don’t have the time and energy to work through the conflict. Ignoring misunderstanding only leads to more misunderstanding down the road. Jesus does not do this and that takes courage.” Br. Jack Crowley watches how Jesus handles misunderstanding among the disciples, and draws three practical lessons for how we can apply them in our own lives.

“Each morning, when I return to my cell for the prayer time, I imagine Jesus sitting there listening to me, as if what I have to say is the most important thing in his life at that moment.” Br. James Koester invites us to trust that, in prayer, Jesus listens to us the way a mom might listen to her child.

“What’s not to love about the wise men? Beyond being picturesque and rather exotic in the Christmas crèche, they give us a prodding inspiration about God’s ongoing revelation oftentimes coming to us in very new ways, far beyond all that we could ask for or imagine.” Br. Curtis invites us to re-experience the transformative significance of the Magi on the feast of the Epiphany, as we celebrate the manifestation of God's saving grace.

“I wonder what 2022 has in store for you? Good news or bad? I don’t actually think that is the right question. For the news is not just what we read in the papers. We are not just passive recipients, victims of news from ‘out there’. The truth is that we can make news.” In a world full of bad news, Br. Geoffrey Tristram urges us not only to believe the good news of God, but to make good news around in the world around us, bringing light in the darkness.

“Sometimes I look around and I think 'This is Christmas? This place is a mess! My mind is a mess! My heart is a mess!' And there in that mess, I see the babe of Bethlehem, and it begins to makes sense.” Br. Todd Blackham finds the miracle of Christmas amid the mess of our hardship, chaos, and humanity.

We have partnered with TryTank – the experimental laboratory for church growth and innovation – to produce a new preaching resource aimed particularly at smaller congregations (those with an average Sunday attendance of 29 or fewer). That said, any congregation can use it. We have also paired it with an adult forum curriculum. From Christ the King Sunday to Christmas Day, we have six…

“How much we are alike, we who long for freedom from COVID, and Mary, Joseph, and the people of Jerusalem and Bethlehem from Rome. Although nearly 2000 years separate us, we are so, so alike. This longing for freedom is now at the core of our identity, just as it was theirs.” On Christmas Eve, Br. James Koester puts a face on the freedom for which we all long: his name is Jesus.