Proper 17 Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost Sunday, August 25, 2019 Year C Luke 14:1, 7-14 I want to share one of my favorite stories about the life of the Episcopal Church, a church that has traditionally welcomed, as the Prayer Book says, “all sorts and conditions,” regardless of age, race, economic status or education. If…
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Proper 16 Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost Sunday, August 25, 2019 Year C Luke 13:10-17 and Psalm 103:1-8 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! … He has done great things, bless his holy Name!” (“Bless His Holy Name” by Andraé Crouch) “Bless the Lord, O my…
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Proper 14 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost Sunday, August 11, 2019 Year C Luke 12:32-40 Jesus once again speaks to us in the middle of our fears: our turmoil, our insufficiency, our inadequacy, our smallness. And he says: Fear not! “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you…
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Proper 13 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Sunday, August 4, 2019 Year C Colossians 3:1-11 Sometimes we can feel like holiness is a buzzkill. I know that before actually coming into the faith in college, I regarded Christians as vapid killjoys. I liked doing things that they didn’t do and my own experience proved the idea…
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Proper 12 Sunday, July 28, 2019 Lectionary C Luke 11:1-13 Remember the comic “Peanuts”? Linus kneeling by his bed has an epiphany! He can’t wait to tell Lucy: “I think I’ve made a theological discovery! … If you hold your hands upside down, you get the opposite of what you pray for.” Look, prayer is…
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Proper 11 Sunday, July 21, 2019 Lectionary C Luke 10:38-42 Mary, Martha, and Lazarus of Bethany are described in the Gospels according to Luke and John as close and much-loved friends of Jesus. Luke records the well-known story of their hospitality, which made Martha a symbol of the active life and Mary of the contemplative,…
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Proper 10 Sunday, July 14, 2019 Lectionary C Luke 10:25-37 The parable of the Good Samaritan is so much more than a Sunday school story from Jesus encouraging us to love our neighbor. It’s way more interesting than that. The story really isn’t even primarily about loving your neighbor; it’s about how impossibly far we…
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Proper 9 Sunday, July 7, 2019 Lectionary C Luke 8:26-39 2 Kings 5:1-14; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16a) and we gratefully trust in his precious sacrifice. Jesus said, “Love one another” (John 13:34b, 15:12b), and we take that as foundational to…
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Proper 7 Sunday, June 23, 2019 Lectionary C Luke 8:26-39 Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being? (Book of Common Prayer, page 305) Does this sound familiar? These are the last…
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First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday Sunday, June16, 2019 Lectionary C Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15 Psalm 8 I own a wonderful book that I came across in a bookstore somewhere, entitled, “What We Believe but Cannot Prove: Today’s Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty.” This book, edited by John…
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