Texts: John 1:1f, Luke 2:1ff, Hebrews 1:1ff, and Hymn #28 Merry Christmas! Now, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. Again, I say, Merry Christmas! I say this every year, but Christmas is absolutely my favorite…
Texts: Philippians 4:4ff, John 1:19ff The fourth week in Advent always feels a bit rushed. For starters, it’s often a short week, as it ends with Christmas, regardless of whether Christmas is the day after the 4th Sunday in Advent, or whether it’s a whole week later. Second, since our local custom is to have…
As you have no doubt noticed, today we are vested a bit differently: we are in rose. This only happens twice a year here at All Saints, and never in many other congregations! Both in Advent and in Lent, we mix a little joyful white into our penitential violet right around the halfway point for…
If I had to pick a single favorite prayer in the Book of Common Prayer, today’s Collect would certainly be a top contender. This Collect was composed by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer for the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549 and sums up a chief concern of the Reformers: the supreme authority of the Bible…
When I was growing up, my father was in the Navy, so we moved around every three or four years. He was raised Episcopalian, but my mother was raised Roman Catholic. Each duty station, my folks would check out both options, looking for a parish in either tradition where the priest preached Christ. So, I…
Texts: James 1:16ff, Matthew 6:25ff, Isaiah 12 Harvest festivals are an almost universal aspect of human culture. In the Old Testament, all three of the “Pilgrim Feasts,” the three most important of the Levitical Holy Days are related to the Harvest. Passover includes the offering and celebration of the First Fruits. Pentecost or Weeks is…
Text: Jeremiah 23:5-8 & John 6:5-14. One of the more noticeable differences between the older one-year lectionary and the more modern three-year lectionary is the transition between Epiphanytide and Lent. In the newer calendar, Epiphanytide lasts three weeks longer, and we jump right from Epiphanytide to Ash Wednesday. In the older calendar, like we use…
Texts: The Offertory Sentences from the BCP Christians are often surprised to discover how much the bible talks about money. By one statistic I found, there are approximately 2,350 verses concerning money, which is almost twice as many verses as those on faith and prayer combined. Though I don’t particularly like to preach on…
Text: Matthew 9:18-26 The Christian life is both one of assurance and repentance. Throughout the Scriptures and our liturgy, we are assured of God’s love and mercy towards us. In the Sacraments, we have “effective signs and seals” of God’s grace and promises towards us. But we are also always reminded that we have a…
Now that we’re firmly in November, I trust everyone is looking forward to Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is one of two uniquely American observations that are part of our 1928 Book of Common Prayer. As is our local custom, we will have Communion for Thanksgiving on the night before at 6:30pm. We all have our family…