sermon

SERMON: The Temptation In The Wilderness by George MacDonald

March 10, 2019

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said [...]

SERMON: Of Charity, or The Love of God by Jeremy Taylor

March 3, 2019

Love is the greatest thing that God can give us; for himself is love; and it is the greatest thing we can give to God; for it will also give ourselves and carry with it all that is ours. The apostle calls it the band of perfection; it is the old, and it is the new, and it is the great commandment, and it is all the commandments; for it is the fulfilling of the law. It does the work of all other graces without any instrument but its own immediate virtue. For as the love to sin makes a man sin against all his own reason, and all the discourses of wisdom, and all the advices of his friends, and without temptation, and without opportunity, so does the love of God; it makes a man chaste without the laborious arts of fasting and exterior [...]

SERMON: A Sermon For Sexagesima Sunday (and the Purification of Our Lady) by Robert Crouse

February 24, 2019

The seed is the word of God that on the good ground are they who hearing the word keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. (Luke 8:11-15) For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up anew your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. (Jeremiah 4:3) The three Sundays before Lent, Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima, constitute a time of preparation; and the scripture lessons appointed for these Sundays have the purpose of preparing our minds and hearts for the spiritual undertaking which lies before us in the season of Lent – our spiritual pilgrimage, our spiritual journey with Jesus to Jerusalem. Thus, on the first of these Sundays – Septuagesima – the lessons impress upon us the urgency of our [...]

SERMON: The Cleansing of the Leper by Richard Chenevix Trench

February 3, 2019

When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. (Matthew 8:1-4) We are told that the ascended Lord confirmed the word of his servants with signs following; here he does the same in the days of his flesh for his own. his discourse upon the Mount, that solemn revision of the moral code, lifting it up to a higher level, has scarcely [...]

SERMON: Discourse On The Day Of The Baptism Of Christ by John Chrysostom

January 20, 2019

We shall now say something about the present feast of the Baptism of Christ. Many celebrate the feastdays and know their designations, but the cause for which they were established they know not. Thus concerning this, everyone knows that the present feast is called Theophany; but what this is, and whether it be one thing or another, they know not. And this is shameful every year to celebrate the feastday and not know its meaning. First of all therefore, it is necessary to say that there is not one Theophany, but two: the one actual, which already has occurred, and the second in the future, which will happen with glory at the end of the world. About this one and about the other you will hear today from Paul, who in conversing with Titus, [...]

SERMON: The Beginning Of Miracles by George MacDonald

January 13, 2019

Already Jesus had his disciples, although as yet he had done no mighty works. They followed him for himself and for his mighty words. With his mother they accompanied him to a merry-making at a wedding. With no retiring regard, with no introverted look of self-consciousness or self-withdrawal, but more human than any of the company, he regarded their rejoicings with perfect sympathy, for, whatever suffering might follow, none knew so well as he that – “There is one who makes the joy the last in every song.” The assertion in the old legendary description of his person and habits, that he was never known to smile, I regard as an utter falsehood, for to me it is incredible – almost as a geometrical absurdity. In that glad [...]

SERMON: A Sermon Of Saint Augustine On The Gospel For The Fourth Sunday In Lent

March 11, 2018

Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. When Jesus then lift up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” (And this he said to prove him; for he himself knew what he would do.) Philip answered him, “Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, “There is a lad here, which [...]

SERMON: The Dumb And Deaf Spirit by John Keble

March 4, 2018

He was casting out a devil, and it was dumb, and it came to pass that when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake. (Luke 11:14) As the holy time of Lent begins with the remembrance of our Lord overcoming Satan, so during the course of it we are warned by the church, again and again, of our warfare with the same evil spirit. Last Sunday we heard of an unclean devil being cast out of the daughter of a Canaanitish woman; and by and by, as the week of Christ’s Passion comes on, we shall hear more and more of Satan entering into Judas, and continuing to do Christ all the mischief he could. And on the third Sunday again we are told of a very remarkable case, a very signal blow struck in the warfare betwixt our Savior and our enemy. Jesus was [...]

SERMON: Homily For Lent by The Venerable Bede

February 25, 2018

Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto [...]

SERMON: On Lent I by Leo the Great

February 18, 2018

I. The benefits of abstinence shown by the example of the Hebrews In former days, when the people of the Hebrews and all the tribes of Israel were oppressed for their scandalous sins by the grievous tyranny of the Philistines, in order that they might be able to overcome their enemies, as the sacred story declares, they restored their powers of mind and body by the injunction of a fast. For they understood that they had deserved that hard and wretched subjection for their neglect of God’s commands, and evil ways, and that it was in vain for them to strive with arms unless they had first withstood their sin. Therefore abstaining from food and drink, they applied the discipline of strict correction to themselves, and in order to [...]

SERMON: The Testing Of The Apostles by Origen

January 28, 2018

The Lord going into the boat his disciples follow him. They were not weak men, but strong and steady in faith, kind, good, and unworldly: nor were they two-faced, but simple of heart. They followed him, not alone in his footsteps, but also walking with him in holiness of life, striving after justice. And behold a great tempest arose upon the sea. For since the Lord had wrought great and wondrous signs upon the land, he now crosses over the sea that here also he may show yet greater wonders, that he might make plain to all that he was master both of the sea and of the land. Entering therefore into the little boat he caused a storm to arise upon the sea, and caused the winds to blow and the waves to swell up. Why did he do this? That he [...]

SERMON: The Beginning of Miracles by John Keble

January 14, 2018

Thou hast kept the good wine until now. (John 2:10) Epiphany means “manifestation,” the manifestation of God on Earth: the eternal Son showing himself in sundry ways when he had taken our nature upon him, and had been made true Man as we are, of the substance of the Virgin Mary, his Mother. To outward appearance, he generally seemed as any other man; but every now and then tokens of Godhead broke out through the veil of his flesh, as flashes of lightning from a dark cloud; and these were so many Epiphanies, so many manifestations of his true self. The day, which we call the Feast of the Epiphany, is remarkable for three of these manifestations, three of the most glorious and blessed and most exactly set down in scripture. On [...]

SERMON: On The Gospel [Matthew 11:2] by Hilary of Potiers

December 17, 2017

Now when John had heard in prison the works of Christ: sending two of his disciples, he said to him, “Art thou he that is to come or look we for another?” Did John in his prison not know the Lord? Did so great a prophet know not his God? But as Precursor he had foretold that he was to come; as Prophet he had recognized him standing in their midst; as Confessor he had venerated him before men. Did error creep into so profound and varied knowledge? The subsequent testimony of the Lord concerning John does not permit us to think so. Nor can we believe that the light of the Holy Spirit was denied him in prison, when the Light of that same Power was to be given to the imprisoned apostles. Why John sent to Christ But a clearer [...]

SERMON: Detecting False Gods by L. R. Tarsitano

December 10, 2017

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. (2 Timothy 3:8-9) “Jannes” and “Jambres” are the names that tradition gives to the court magicians who were brought forth by the Pharaoh to confront Moses and Aaron. Pharaoh, of course, wanted to do more than to prove that his magicians were as powerful as Moses and Aaron, the prophets of God. A prophet speaks for another, and Pharaoh did not want to hear what God had to say to him. He did not want to obey God’s commandment: “Let my people go.” And this is what [...]

SERMON: On The Advent Of Our Lord And Its Six Circumstances by Bernard of Clairvaux

December 3, 2017

Today we celebrate the beginning of Advent. The name of this great annual commemoration is sufficiently familiar to us; its meaning may not be so well known. When the unhappy children of Eve had abandoned the pursuit of things true and salutary, they gave themselves up to the search for those that are fleeting and perishable. To whom shall we liken the men of this generation, or to what shall we compare them, seeing they are unable to tear themselves from Earthly and carnal consolations, or disentangle their minds from such trammels? They resemble the shipwrecked who are in danger of being overwhelmed by the waters, and who may be seen catching eagerly at whatever they first grasp, how frail whatsoever it may be. And if anyone strive to [...]

SERMON: Shoes by L. R. Tarsitano

August 13, 2017

“Put shoes on his feet.” (Luke 15:22) Quite often, it is the little details in the parables of our Lord that tell us the most about his teaching. It is the details that lead us deeper into the Gospel, refining our understanding of the eternal and life-giving Truth, so that we will not be satisfied with vague or careless summaries of the scriptures, such as “the parable of the Prodigal Son is about forgiveness.” Yes, of course, the parable of the Prodigal Son is about forgiveness, but at the same level of superficiality we might as well say that Huckleberry Finn is “about a boy” or that Gone With the Wind is “about a fire.” We wouldn’t think much of a school that didn’t dig deeper than [...]

SERMON: Transfiguration by John Mason Neale

August 6, 2017

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty when we were with him in the holy mount. (2 Peter 1:16, 18) Such an evening as this should teach us something of the glorious sight we keep in mind this day. When we were looking at those long lines of dark-brown gold that lay so quietly in the west, and at the intense brightness beneath them, where the sun had gone down, we might have remembered him who was as at this time transfigured before his disciples; when his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And we might have looked on to that day when, if by God’s grace we are counted worthy to [...]

SERMON: The Care of God’s Children by John MacArthur

July 23, 2017

Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in Heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in Heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:10-14) We’d like you to take your Bible now, if you will, and look at the 18th chapter of Matthew. Matthew [...]

SERMON: Mystical Vineyards And The Prudence Of The Flesh by Bernard of Clairvaux

July 9, 2017

“They made me the keeper of the vineyards.” (Song of Solomon 1:6) Who are they? Do you mean those opponents to whom you recently referred? Listen and understand. Perhaps she is saying that she has been given this charge by the very people who persecuted her. No need to wonder at this if she was attacked for the purpose of correcting her. Everybody knows that lots of people are frequently opposed in a well-intentioned way for their good. Every day we meet with people whose ideals are purified, who advance to perfection through the friendly corrections of their superiors. Therefore let us rather show, if we can, hew her mother’s sons fight against the church with hostile purpose and with a loss that is her gain. This is [...]

SERMON: Pilgrimage To Nonviolence by Martin Luther King, Jr.

June 18, 2017

In my senior year in theological seminary, I engaged in the exciting reading of various theological theories. Having been raised in a rather strict fundamentalist tradition, I was occasionally shocked when my intellectual journey carried me through new and sometimes complex doctrinal lands, but the pilgrimage was always stimulating, gave me a new appreciation for objective appraisal and critical analysis, and knocked me out of my dogmatic slumber. Liberalism provide me with an intellectual satisfaction that I had never found in fundamentalism. I became so enamored of the insights of liberalism that I almost fell into the trap of accepting uncritically everything it encompassed. I was absolutely convinced of the natural goodness of [...]

SERMON: The Mysteriousness Of Our Present Being by John Henry Newman

June 11, 2017

[Preached on Trinity Sunday] I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. (Psalm 139:14) In the very impressive Psalm from which these words are taken, this is worth noticing among other things,—that the inspired writer finds in the mysteries without and within him, a source of admiration and praise. “I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Thy works.” When Nicodemus heard of God’s wonderful working, he said, “How can these things be?” But holy David glories in what the natural man stumbles at. It awes his heart and imagination, to think that God sees him, wherever he is, yet without provoking or [...]

EASTER SERMON: Meeting Christ in the Liturgy, by Fr. Cusick

May 7, 2017

Meeting Christ in the Liturgy Fr. Cusick

The Easter mystery is completed in Christ’s glorious ascension to the Father’s right hand: “a little while and you will not see me.” But he will come again to judge the living and the dead: “and again a little while and you will see me.” The Christian who lives in expectation of Christ’s second coming will experience the hardships of being set apart from the world, of living a life of detachment from the world: “you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will sorrow but your sorrow will turn into joy.” The discipline of the Christian life is not a punishment but a safeguard, that the eternal joys of life with the Triune God may not be lost for the sake of sin and its [...]

EASTER SERMON: The Wounds Of Jesus, by C. C. Lovelace

April 30, 2017

From The Sanctified Church, by Zora Neale Hurston Our theme this morning is the wounds of Jesus. When the Father shall ask, What are these wounds in thine hand? He shall answer, Those are they with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. (Zachariah 8:6) We read in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah where He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities; and the apostle Peter affirms that His blood was spilt from before the foundation of the world. I have seen gamblers wounded. I have seen desperadoes wounded; thieves and robbers and every other kind of characters, law breakers, and each one had a reason for this wounds. Some of them were unthoughtful, and some for being overbearing, some by the doctor’s knife. [...]

SERMON: Created For Glory, by L. R. Tarsitano

April 23, 2017

The First Sunday after Easter “I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the Earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” (Isaiah 43:6-7) God addressed these words through his Prophet Isaiah to Jacob, to the head and personification of his Chosen People Israel. Jacob, you will recall, was given the name “Israel” by God, and he was the father of the twelve sons who became the patriarchs of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. These words of God are specifically a promise, first and foremost, in the historical time of Isaiah, when the Chosen People were about to [...]

SERMON: The First Sunday After The Epiphany by David Curry

January 8, 2017

Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2) The twelve days of Christmas end with the Feast of Epiphany, the last and great festival of Christmas. Epiphany is, as it were, the Christmas of the Gentiles, for in the journey of the Magi-Kings, the birth of Christ is made known to all the nations of the world. As a 17th century Anglican divine, Bishop John Cosin of Durham puts it: Christmas has been indeed a feast of joy to us all this while but our fullness of joy comes not until now, for the Angelic tidings of joy came first to the shepherds, to Israel, to those near at hand, but upon this feast it is omni populo (to all people), news which the star brought to all the world, and to us [...]

SERMON: From Sorrow To Joy, by Charles Spurgeon

November 8, 2016

Your sorrow shall be turned into joy. (John 16:20) Our Lord was very honest with his followers when any enlisted beneath his banner. He did not profess that they would find an easy service if they took him to be their leader. Over and over again he stopped some young enthusiastic spirits by bidding them count the cost; and, when some said they would follow him wherever he might go, he reminded them that though the foxes had holes and the birds of the air had nests, yet he had no where to lay his head. He never duped any man. He told all the truth to them, and he could honestly say to them, If it were not so, I would have told you. He kept back nothing which it was needful for them to know in enlisting under his name. In this verse he [...]

HOMILY: Towards Holiness by Josemaría Escrivá

July 31, 2016

We are deeply moved, and our hearts profoundly shaken, when we listen attentively to that cry of Saint Paul: This is God’s will for you, your sanctification. Today, once again, I set myself this goal and I also remind you and all mankind: this is God’s will for us, that we be saints. In order to bring peace, genuine peace, to souls; in order to transform the Earth and to seek God, our Lord, in the world and through the things of the world, personal sanctity is indispensable. In my conversations with people from so many countries and from all kinds of social backgrounds, I am often asked: What do you say to us married folk? To those of us who work on the land? To widows? To young people? I reply systematically that I [...]

SERMON: Men In White by Graeme Hotter

July 17, 2016

The other day I was listening to the radio in my car and heard an interview with a lady called Genelle Guzman-McMillan who was the last survivor pulled from one of the twin tower buildings. She had written a book that is called Angel in the Rubble which is all about the 27 hours she spent pinned under the tangled mess of steel and concrete. She wasn’t a Christian before the terrible event but she became one because of it. While trapped in the darkness she cried out to God time and time again. Just before the rescue crew got to her, a man came to her through the hole that her hand was stretched out in and said his name was Paul. He comforted her and placed his hands around her one outstretched hand that was free. When the rescue crew [...]

SERMON: Why Stand There Looking Up Toward Heaven? by C. S. Song

July 10, 2016

Why Stand There Looking Up Toward Heaven? C. S. Song

From And Their Eyes Are Opened So when they [the disciples] had come together, they asked him [Jesus], “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward Heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking [...]

SERMON: Love Thine Enemy by George MacDonald

July 3, 2016

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48) Is not this at length too much to expect? [...]