Sermons

On the last Sunday of our February Black History month series, Deborah Nelson-Linck considers the place of teaching history. In a wide-ranging sermon on the "Great Cloud of Witnesses" she wonders what role the church can plan in teaching the stories some in our society want left out.

Meditation in Black: Deborah Nelson-Linck

How many of us are covert about our Christian faith because we don't want to be associated with that label? John 3:16 is perhaps the most famous line in the Bible. How we read it, how we interpret it, tells us a great deal about the kind of Christianity we practice. Is your faith about exclusion, hate and power? Is your faith about love?

Loud About Love- The Rev. Mike Angell

Faith tends to do one of two things. It can close us down or open us up. When you read a Gospel like story of the Samaritan Woman, you have to wonder why we think it's our job, as Christians, to shut people down. Ours is a faith with the capacity to bring light, and curiosity, and hope. Ours is a faith which can help us to laugh and to listen.

Transform Shame Into Laughter- The Rev. Mike Angell

Our Rabbi in Residence Rori Picker Neiss preaches on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

What Do We Do With Power? -Maharat Rori Picker Neiss

The Rev. Julie Graham invites us into the space to say, "Jesus, if you had been here." What does it mean to trust God with our grief and our lament?

Jesus If You Had Been Here- The Rev. Julie Graham

The Rev. Mike Angell preaches on Sunday. Holy Week teaches us, for Christians, there is no escaping pain and loss. The only way out is through, and the only way through is together.

Palm Sunday Stay Human- The Rev. Mike Angell

On Easter morning, we find Mary at the tomb, weeping. "Why are you crying?" she is asked. I suspect many of us know, know in our bones this pain, this grief. Easter is the story not just of Jesus rising up, but of Mary too. Mary goes to tell good news from the graveyard. Mary is sent so the world may know, hope is never finally dead.

Easter Tells Us 'Rise Up' : The Rev. Mike Angell

Welcome to Easter part 2. The Rev. Julie Graham preaches on the story of Doubting Thomas

Doubting Thomas- The Rev. Julie Graham

Jesus calls his disciples, on the road to Emmaus "slow of heart." After this week in Missouri, it is easy to see Christians who are too slow to love. LGBTQ+ people, trans people, are being attacked in our state. Our faith isn't about wishing away diversity. At this church we practice knowing in our hearts that all our differences somehow fit within the love of God, which gathers us in one body.

Breaking Bread- The Rev. Mike Angell

We live in the days of constant distraction, with technologies and ideologies competing for our attention. Today it is hard to tune out the angry noise. But if you listen, you can still hear the Good Shepherd's song.

The Shepherd Song- TheRev. Mike Angell

(The almost Rev.) David Luckes comes back to Holy Communion to preach about the stoning of Stephen, the challenge of Jesus, and joy as he prepares to be ordained a deacon on June 3.

Dancing In The Dark- Seminarian David Luckes

On Mothers' Day: what happens if we imagine God as a mother? What happens if we imagine the Spirit as a beloved auntie? How does shifting our sense of the divine feminine change our spirituality?

Mothers Day And God's Wild Love- The Rev. Mike Angell

In order to understand the Ascension, you have to see the pattern. Every time the people want to take Jesus and install him in a throne of power, he escapes. Every time they ask Jesus when he will give them power, he says "you're missing the point." Jesus ascends to heaven itself to frustrate all our human desires for control and certainty.

The Ascension And The Location Of God- The Rev. Mike Angell

On Pentecost, what do we miss because of our self-protective cynicism? Can we make room for mystery? Can we make room for God's Spirit? Can we learn to trust?

A Little More Pentecostal- The Rev. Mike Angell

On the Feast of the Trinity, the Rev. Julie Graham speaks about the love of the Trinity as a practice of giving up fear.

The Practice of the Trinity- The Rev. Julie Graham

Is your faith a system of belief, or is your faith a journey? How we frame what we mean by faith can determine the kind of Christians we become.

Faith In the Unexpected Journey- The Rev. Mike Angell

The Rev. Chester Hines preaches on Jesus' sending out of the 12 apostles in mission to the world.

Love Everyone- The Rev. Chester Hines

After notifying the congregation that he has taken a new call, the Rev. Mike Angell preaches: "Life comes with complicated emotions. It is okay, when a pastor leaves to feel excited for them, and a bit sad, and a bit angry. It's okay if your emotions are complicated, and it has nothing to do with church too."

Trust - The Rev. Mike Angell

In our rector's second to last sermon he invites us: "keep seeking to follow Jesus. Don't let the anxieties of the world or the church weigh you down. Keep inviting all the wrong people to the table. Keep gathering in a spirit of gentleness, of humility, keep sharing joy and love."

Discipleship- The Rev. Mike Angell

In his last Sunday at Holy Communion, the Rev. Mike Angell preached a sermon he didn't expect to preach: The parable of the sower is not about faith or performance. Jesus' story is about God's abundant, reckless, love.

Love Recklessly -The Rev. Mike Angell

The Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion is a welcoming and diverse community seeking to walk in the way of Jesus and to reveal Christ’s reconciling love in our city, nation, and world.

Sermons

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