Introduction This morning’s Gospel reading is a continuation of last week’s Gospel reading, which presents some complications since, due to the threat of the storm, we did not have services last Sunday. However, I did preach on the readings from last Sunday on Wednesday when I filled in for the healing…

Fr. Michael’s Sermon for Good Friday, March 29, 2024

Fr. Michael’s sermon for Maundy Thursday, March 28, 2024

Introduction Today marks a turning point in the ministry of Jesus and in the Gospel of Mark itself. Mark begins his Gospel with a conflated quotation. He takes Isaiah’s promise the the Lord would return to his people and combines it with Malachi’s threat that when the Lord comes to his Temple, it may…

Introduction One of my favorite pieces of information about Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is that it likely wasn’t written to the Ephesians. The words ἐν Ἐφέσῳ are missing from some of the earliest manuscripts. This is particularly interesting because Paul mentions a letter that presumably isn’t in…

Introduction Have you ever had this thought? I can’t believe I did/said that. A statement like that enters our mind when confronted by someone else or our conscience about something wrong we have said or done. Several things are happening at once when a statement like that enters our consciousness, not…

Introduction When the ACNA liturgical calendar is followed properly, the first Sunday of Epiphany is a celebration of the Baptism of Jesus, and the last Sunday of Epiphany is the Transfiguration. I say “properly” because we moved the Feast of Epiphany to the first Sunday of Epiphany this year, but in…

Today is Christ the King Sunday. This Sunday is one of my favorite Sundays to preach because the preacher has one job this morning, and that is to talk about the kingship of Jesus Christ. A few weeks ago I preached about the end of the biblical story, which is not disembodied life up among the clouds…

The parable we hear this morning follows the one we heard last week. In that parable, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom. The bridegroom was delayed, and his delay revealed which of the virgins were foolish and which were wise. The wise virgins brought…