Sunday Sermons

Rev. Jordan Rippy describes Pentecost as a principal feast rooted in a Jewish harvest festival and as the fulfillment of Eastertide and the Ascension promise that the Holy Spirit (paraclete, a helper alongside) will be with the church. Noting biblical images of the Spirit—especially fire—Rev. Rippy emphasizes that at Pentecost the fire falls on people, then and now. Through a story about a child asking if one must go to church to be a Christian, he explains that Christian life is communal worship, service, and mutual help so congregants can be changed for the sake of the world. The Spirit gives fearful disciples, especially Peter, a voice and empowers ordinary people. He closes with a Desert Fathers saying urging believers to “become all flame.”

00:00 Pentecost Feastday

01:10 Easter Promise Fulfilled

01:53 Paraclete Helper Spirit

02:41 Spirit as Fire

03:56 Why Church Matters

04:54 Family Story Answer

06:29 Changed for World

07:20 Spirit Gives Voice

08:35 Church Beyond Opinions

09:25 Become All Flame

10:36 Pentecost Sending Prayer

Rev. Daniel Bentley’s sermon at St. David’s Episcopal Church (Washington, D.C.) on the Seventh Sunday of Easter reflects on Acts 1, where the disciples ask Jesus when Israel’s kingdom will be restored, and Jesus instead promises the Holy Spirit and names their identity as his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. He emphasizes that Christian life is not primarily a checklist of deeds; faithful actions flow from first knowing who we are and whose we are. Congregants become witnesses through encountering the risen Christ in baptism, Scripture, prayer, and the Eucharistic table, and then live that witness in ordinary acts of patience, presence, and care, illustrated by a marathon runner’s “being” and the life remembered at Carolyn Bail’s funeral.

00:00 Power to Witness

00:21 Disciples Ask When

01:14 Identity Over Timeline

02:08 Being Before Doing

03:13 What Makes a Witness

04:07 Meeting Christ Today

05:06 Marathon Runner Analogy

06:47 What Witness Looks Like

08:24 Come to Table

00:13 Closing Amen

In: Abiding in Christ Through Life’s TransitionsRev. Kristen Hawley greets parishioners on Mother’s Day and reflects on last year’s sermon word “with,” introducing this year’s word from the Gospel: “in,” or “abide.” Drawing from Jesus’ promises (“I am in my Father,” “the Spirit will be in you”) and Paul (“In him we live and move and have our being”), she describes “being in” as the central lens through which life is interpreted, like a marriage serving as the nucleus that steadies everything else. She situates the Gospel in the disciples’ anxious transition before the Ascension, noting Jesus offers not a “spiritual GPS” but presence through the Holy Spirit, continuing Christ’s life among them. Using C.S. Lewis and nesting dolls, she emphasizes God’s indwelling closeness and invites congregants to remember they are already in God, live in love, and be a welcoming, life-giving church amid life’s changes.00:00 Mothers Day Welcome00:12 Last Years Word With01:24 Todays Word In02:33 What It Means To Be In03:36 Marriage As The Center04:36 No Map Just Presence05:21 Gospel Context And Transition07:26 Promise Of The Advocate09:08 Indwelling Not Distance10:55 C S Lewis And Nesting Dolls13:03 Abide In Me Looks Like Love14:11 Steadiness Through Transitions15:02 A Church Alive In Christ17:25 Final Invitation To Live In

Rev. Jim Quigley offers a children’s sermon at St. David’s Episcopal Church (May 3, Fifth Sunday of Easter) using an object lesson about a priest’s stole. He shows a stole made for his ordination by South Sudanese boys, decorated with small feet to remember the “Lost Boys of the South Sudan,” who walked for three years to reach safety; he explains they disliked the label because, though they didn’t know where home was, they were “never lost to God.” Connecting this to Jesus as “the way and the truth and the life” and to Isaiah (“I have called you by name… I have written your name on the palm of my hand”), he gives congregants a “roadmap” home with five routes: Forgiveness Place, Generosity Boulevard, Compassion Avenue, Prayer Street, and Kindness Lane, encouraging them to practice these paths when they feel lost to God.00:00 Welcome and Setup00:14 What Is an Object Lesson01:03 Why Priests Wear Stoles02:24 The Stole With Feet03:50 Lost Boys Journey05:03 Never Lost to God06:14 Roadmap to Home07:34 Five Roads to Jesus08:23 Practice the Five Roads09:32 Handing Out Maps10:33 Closing Blessing

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, April 26th, on the Fourth Sunday in Easter. On Good Shepherd Sunday, Rev. Kristen Hawley reflects on John 10’s image of Jesus not yet as “the good shepherd” but as “the gate,” setting it alongside the earlier story of Jesus healing the man born blind and the Pharisees’ fearful exclusion of him. Using the theme “grace under pressure,” Rev. Hawley contrasts systems that manage access and create chaos with Jesus’ “vulgar grace”—an offensively generous openness that refuses credential-checking and offers abundant life. Through everyday stories about family dynamics and a recent car accident, she invites the congregation to resist blame and gatekeeping and instead “be the gate” by extending God’s grace under pressure.00:00 Welcome Good Shepherd Sunday00:51 I Am the Gate01:42 Seminary Story Setup03:49 Grace Under Pressure Theme05:36 Healing the Blind Man07:48 Pharisees and Exclusion10:12 Everyday Pressure Seltzer13:13 Vulgar Grace Explained15:31 Car Crash Compassion17:25 Be the Gate Closing

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, April 19th, on the Third Sunday in Easter. Rev. Jim Quigley reflects on Luke’s Walk to Emmaus, emphasizing that the Christian story must be known “by heart,” not merely by intellect. He describes Cleopas and his companion walking away in sadness until the risen Christ joins them as an unrecognized stranger who questions them, interprets scripture, and is finally known in hospitality and the breaking of bread—then vanishes. Rev. Quigley connects this fleeting recognition to moments of insight and argues that faith is “recognition” that comes when trust is offered through hospitality, even amid fear. He shares a personal seven-mile walk where he noticed strangers he did not stop to engage, challenging the congregation to see Christ in others.00:00 Love From the Heart00:29 Why This Story Matters02:16 Walking Away to Emmaus03:04 The Stranger Explains04:46 Scripture and the Least06:31 Stay With Us07:18 Recognized in the Breaking07:59 When Insight Vanishes09:10 Recognition Through Hospitality10:15 A Seven Mile Challenge00:16 Closing Blessing

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, April 12th, on the Second Sunday in Easter. In this sermon, Rev. Daniel Bentley argues for “Justice for Thomas,” challenging the “Doubting Thomas” label and presenting Thomas as an exemplar of faith who insists the risen Jesus’ wounds matter, showing that Easter does not undo Good Friday but glorifies and vindicates it. Rev. Bentley notes Thomas’ confession, “My Lord and my God,” and links Thomas’ discernment to a story attributed to St. Martin of Tours about recognizing a false vision of Christ without wounds. He then addresses doubt as normal and generative for faith, offering a “doubt toolkit” for the congregation: talk with clergy, look to martyrs, and read writers like Rachel Held Evans on faith as risk and continued trust.00:00 Justice for Thomas01:31 Wounds and Resurrection02:40 My Lord and My God03:14 St Martin’s Vision04:42 Why Doubt Matters06:21 Doubt as Companion07:24 A Toolkit for Doubt08:22 Rachel Held Evans on Risk09:53 Jesus Meets Our Doubts00:03 Final Blessing

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, April 5th, Easter Sunday. In this sermon, Rev. Kristen Hawley welcomes the congregation and reflects on the challenge of preaching Easter anew, anchoring the message in a House Beautiful quote: “You can’t land at fabulous. You have to experience fabulous all the way through.” Drawing on Matthew’s resurrection account, Rev. Hawley highlights the angel’s first word to the women at the tomb—“Do not be afraid”—as a blessing that makes room for joy and new life. Citing John O’Donohue, she invites parishioners to let old fears and habits fall away and to live Easter daily by receiving God’s blessing and becoming people who bless others, seeing God’s abundance amid anxiety, war, and scarcity.00:00 Easter Welcome00:59 Fabulous Quote01:58 Renovation Metaphor02:55 Easter All Through03:52 Tomb Scene04:48 Do Not Fear05:47 Blessing Begins06:20 O'Donohue Wisdom07:19 Be People Who Bless08:26 Scarcity vs Abundance09:40 Practicing Blessing10:52 Easter Changes Everything11:43 Live Easter Daily

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Saturday, April 4th, at the Celtic Easter Vigil. Rev. Daniel Bentley reflects on the phrase “Easter is what God does with things that are buried,” connecting Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection to the image in John 12 of a grain of wheat that must fall into the earth and die to bear fruit. Speaking to the congregation gathered in darkness and candlelight, he emphasizes that baptism is not only ritual washing but a real participation in Christ’s death and resurrection, as described in Romans: being “buried with him” so as to “walk in newness of life.” He addresses the baptismal candidate, Declan, and invites the parishioners to remember their own baptisms as God’s ongoing work of raising new creation from what has been buried.01:12 Grain of Wheat Promise01:48 Vigil in the Darkness02:37 Baptism as Burial04:51 Seed Must Break Open06:11 Declan at the Font07:39 Remember Your Baptism08:13 Easter for All Stories

Rev. Kristen Hawley welcomes congregants at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Good Friday and invites them to sit with darkness and suffering without resorting to clichés about God. Drawing on her experience accompanying people through grief and addiction, she challenges common atonement theories that portray Jesus’ death as a required payment to Satan or to an angry, transactional God, asking what such beliefs imply about God’s character. She proposes an atonement understanding rooted in solidarity: Jesus dies not in place of humanity but with humanity, embodying restorative justice and God’s desire to be present with creation in all things. Through stories of a parishioner who bristled at cross-centered messaging and a clergy friend overwhelmed by liturgical details, she emphasizes that Good Friday proclaims God’s nearness in suffering and that there is nowhere in life or death beyond God’s presence and saving love.00:00 Welcome to Good Friday00:41 Facing Darkness Together03:33 Why Did Jesus Die07:40 Transactional vs Restorative Justice09:38 Joe and the Cross11:39 Rejecting Cliches About Suffering13:41 Created for Light and Love15:09 A Text About Being Present16:49 Reclaiming the Cross