Weekly Sermons

Transfiguration - February 19
It was a couple of weeks ago. Our EFM group was meeting on a Tuesday evening a little after 6 pm. People seemed to be distracted. I was not really aware of what was going on. And then some of the people there got my attention—“Look! Look at the sunset.” And I finally did.

A New Way - February 12
After only a few miracles, Jesus' reputation as a healer was such that crowds of people would come to him to be healed. This sudden chaotic turn in his life, caused Jesus to go off by himself in the middle of the night to pray. When his frantic disciples discovered that Jesus was missing, they began to look for him.

Out of Control - February 5
Have you ever felt your life was out of control? That sense of losing control usually comes at us based on one of three broad areas. That out of control feeling can come with a diagnosis, or a job loss; it can even come with some great success, like a promotion.

What Church Are We? - January 29
Last weekend, the vestry and I went on retreat at Amicalola Falls in north Georgia. It was a different type of retreat—we met with five other parishes from across the Diocese of Atlanta.

Do You Know Me? - January 15
After the majestic prologue of John’s Gospel—you know, “In the beginning was the Word…”—there has been a series of social interactions that we did not hear today. These social interactions are filled with questions about identity.

Christ's Baptism - January 8
Mark’s Gospel is very different from the other three Gospels in the New Testament. Unlike Luke, there are no details about how John the Baptist and Jesus were conceived miraculously. Unlike Matthew and Luke, there are no angelic messengers communicating to Mary or to Joseph.

Making Resolutions - January 1, 2012
There is one thing I’d like to offer to you as you may be considering resolutions or reflecting on your life as we begin 2012 — and that’s your motivation for any resolutions you may make in the New Year.

Sermons from 2011

What Does The Christmas Story Mean? - December 24
In our adult Christian Education class here at Holy Spirit, we have asked questions like “Why do we use purple vestments for Advent?” or “What is an ember day?” Others of us discussed the contrast between the church’s teaching that Advent is a peaceful season in which we prepare for the coming of Christ; and the secular holiday season that surrounds us.

Being Restored - December 11
Being restored is a common theme in the Bible. For example, Job lost everything, suffered much, and asked many questions of God. In the Bible, being restored means to be made whole again. What does being restored mean to you?

Take Time To Be Interrupted - December 4
This Advent, let’s take time to be interrupted, and ask ourselves, “What sort of persons ought you to be?” It may give you an insight into what's really important.

Using Your Gifts Wisely - November 20
This week’s Gospel points out that life is not simply about succeeding by using our gifts. The message this week talks about finding Christ in unexpected people, especially among people who appear to be short of talents.

Your Gifts From God - November 13
What do you think about politics? What do you think about the public discourse in our country today? Based on what I hear and read, many people are frustrated.

All Saint's Sunday - November 6
Why come to church? That’s a question many of us struggle with or at least think about from week to week. There are so many competing alternatives to church on a Sunday morning.

All Saint's Day - November 1
All Saints Day is a day to remember -- to remember that heaven is very near, breaking in all around us all the time; and that God has a purpose for us that is more than we can see.

Servant Leadership - October 30
The Gospel lesson for today is harsh. Jesus’ words are a severe criticism of the religious leaders of his day. In his statements, Jesus points out the failures of institutions and leaders to be faithful to God and caring for God’s people.

Poetry of Faith - October 23
Our Jewish and Christian sacred writings are filled with poetry. Did you know that roughly one-third of the Holy Bible is poetry? There is something about poetic language that points to truth and beauty beyond the traightforwardness and necessity of prose.

How Are You Marked? - October 16
That may be a strange question to answer this early on a Sunday morning, so let me ask it in some other ways—How are you identified? Where is your loyalty? How do people know what is important to you?

Loving God or Harsh Judgment - October 9
Today’s Gospel was written over two thousand years ago in a very different culture. The language used evokes images from the ancient prophets like Jeremiah, images of harsh judgment. That language pointed to what was seen as God’s judgment on God’s people—judgment that resulted in death and destruction.

Parables - October 2
Jesus used parables to teach about God’s kingdom. He would take something from everyday life and either go deep into the details—like the parable of the sower in which we learned about all the possible outcomes of sowing seed; or else he would take what we expect to hear based on our experience and turn it upside down in order to help us see life differently.

Confrontation Regarding Authority - September 25
This week’s Gospel has a strange quality to it. The first part describes a confrontation between Jesus and some religious leaders about the nature of his authority. And then the second part is a parable like last week about working in a vineyard. As we listen to them at first, we may wonder, “How are these two connected?

God's Work - September 18
How do you feel about work? For those of us who are employed or who have our own business, our first thought of work is probably our job or business. And depending on many different factors — including the day or the hour — we may answer that question positively, negatively or somewhere in between.

Faith and Forgiveness - September 11
Today is the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our country. I imagine many of us have been reading articles or watching programs that bring up memories of that awful day: the courage of first responders; the tragedy of lives lost; our sadness as we watched these events; and our anger and desire for justice.

Love - August 28
Love: What a universally admired concept and emotion. The commandment, “Love one another” is held up as the standard for faithful living not only in our Christian faith, but among other world religions.

Living Sacrifice - August 21
Most of us have had those moments: perhaps an early morning walk in our neighborhood; or getting up before anyone else when we’re camping in a remote area. Something stirs inside of us, connects with us.

Inconsistency - August 14
Have you ever been caught in an inconsistency? You know, when you say one thing, really believe it in your heart; and then it’s pointed out to you that you’re not living consistent with what you say you believe.

The Word - August 7
The Christian faith is a religion of the Word. One of the central statements of our faith is “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We use “Word” to describe who God is, how God is known, and how this divine Word became human and lived among us.

Paul and the Jews - July 31
The apostle Paul was a Jew. We sometimes forget that as we read his letters. In fact, everyone who we can identify with some certainty that wrote any part of the NT was Jewish. That’s important to keep in mind as we read our Christian scriptures; maybe especially with Paul.

Nothing can separate us from God's Love - July 24
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? … For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Being Pregnant - July 17
I have never been pregnant (I know, that’s a shock). I assume none of the men here have been pregnant either—right? So it is always a little dicey when a man talks about being pregnant. Like the Apostle Paul did in the passage from his letter to the Romans that we heard this morning.

No Condemnation - July 10
“There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Condemnation: What do you think of when you hear that?

Serve Somebody - June 26
Over the last month or so, many of you have participated in our study of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. We had a supper that 75 people attended on May 25th that was followed by an amazing recitation from memory of the letter by an actor named Chris Moses. By hearing someone speak and in a sense “perform” the words of Paul, they came to life in a different way.

Trinity Sunday - June 19
Today is Trinity Sunday. It is the only Sunday in the Episcopal Church year that is in honor of a dogma of the church. That often makes it an intimidating Sunday on which to preach. As soon as a preacher opens his or her mouth to talk about the Trinity, it is likely that he will say something heretical or at least wool-headed about such a profound doctrine of the church.

Glory - June 5
Glory. Not a word we use every day. There is “Old Glory,” a term for our national flag; and “Glory, glory to old Georgia” (at least I think that’s how it goes; it’s not my fight song). When we see a wonder of nature—like the Grand Canyon, a beautiful sunset or the starry heaven, we may call it “glorious.” But I think it is fair to say that glory may not be a central part of our thinking for most of us as we live and observe the world around us every day.

Our Divine Attorney - May 29
What do you think of lawyers? Comedians and everyday people usually have at least one “lawyer” joke that they can tell in a pinch. Yet lawyers are very important to our way of life—the rule of law, due process, the Constitution and on and on. I guess our response to the question, “What do you think of lawyers?” might depend on whether or not we need one and what issue we’re facing.

Glenn and Hiking - May 22
Do you like to go on hikes? When we had a meeting a few weeks to talk about various new small groups that might start at our church, interest in a hiking group was one of the most popular. Over a dozen people (out of the twenty so who attended) expressed an interest in getting together with other parishioners to walk or hike.

Resurrection Faith - May 1
Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a wonderful day last Sunday. I know the worship was joyful—Jeff and the choir, Midge and the Altar and Flower Guilds, Julie and her teachers and helpers, all the servers and all of you-- through your service and presence-- made it a special day. Many of you also had celebrations after church with family and friends; and some of you probably enjoyed a nice, quiet afternoon.