Hear the messages that Father Jeremiah delivers each week
to the congregation of Grace Anglican.
Jesus taught a group of people about honor and shame and humility in today’s Gospel lesson from Luke 14. He saw guests vying for better seats of honor and told them a parable about what happens when you claim honor that you do not have. Instead, one should pursue humility and the lowest place that you can be exalted in the eyes of all.
Image: Picture taken by Mark Freeth, license CC BY 2.0, cropped. Image location: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/326821
St. Paul tells us that it is for freedom Christ has set us free. What does this mean for us? What did it mean for the people of Galatia? Is it true that Jesus went to Jerusalem to enable us to know true freedom?
Image: Jean-Léon Gérôme, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
In writing to the Galatians, St. Paul reminds the that the law itself is a harsh prison and disciplinarian. To live by that way is to find only death and condemnation. However, to recognize that the law is meant to reveal sin means that they can cling to Christ by faith through baptism. Baptism becomes that foundation upon which we can trust that God is at work in us.
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The Trinity is one of the most important doctrines in our understanding of God. The purpose of the doctrine is to enable us to better understand the relation between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The nature of God revealed to us reminds us that salvation is dependent upon all three persons being truly God, but being only one God. If God is only a singular person, salvation falls apart biblically. Salvation in Jesus Christ reveals to us that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons, but one being.
Image: Eugenio Hansen, OFS, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Image cropped to make into a square.
On the first day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit swept down upon the Apostles, empowering them to share the good news of Jesus Christ raised from the dead for the forgiveness of sins. Who is this Spirit? What is he doing? And why does he come down upon the Apostles and all those who believe in Jesus? Harrison Northey answers these questions and leads us to know the Holy Spirit more deeply.
Image: Veni, Dator Munerum, phtoto by Lawrence OP, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/5807014763/in/photostream/
On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he told his disciples that he was going to be glorified, that they could not go where he was going, and that they were to love one another just as he had loved them, all in quick succession. What does he mean by all of this? How does this help us walk in the faith he has betwoed upon us? Are we capable to receive such things?
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Jesus is the shepherd who calls his sheep by name. He is the one who has come down from heaven to find these sheep and make them his.
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When some of the disciples went out fishing, they didn’t expect to make such a great catch after toiling all night. And in that great catch, they meet Jesus once more, finding that he calls them back to other moments in their lives with him that they might discover the restoration that he brings to them.
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When Jesus appears to the disciples on the evening of his resurrection they are shocked and surprised, but Jesus quickly brings them peace and calling. However, Thomas was not there and he refuses to believe until he can see and touch Jesus himself. These events are shocking to us when we consider the unexpectedness of Jesus’ resurrection, but they teach us a great deal about where we can now meet Jesus.
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What is so important about Jesus’ resurrection? Why do we talk about it constantly and set aside one day a year in which to have a grand celebration? Father Jeremiah looks into these questions and helps all to see that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is now the hinge upon which all the world turns.
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Jesus’ death is the final sacrifice. No others are needed because his is a truly perfect one. He embraces death that we might know life for eternity.
Image: Drawn by Gustave Doré, engraved by J. Gauchard Brunier. Scanned by Michael Gäbler with Epson Perfection 4490 Photo., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At the Last Supper our Lord, Jesus established the Eucharist and washed his disciples’ feet. In the process of this, we are reminded that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. How does this connect to the establishing of the Passover so long ago? Father Jeremiah explores this and explains it in his Maundy Thursday sermon.
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What is so unique about Jesus’ death upon the cross? What makes this man’s death so important to all of history? St. Paul gives us a glimpse of this reality when he speaks of Jesus being in the form of God and yet taking on the likeness of man. We come to realize that Jesus is no ordinary man dying upon the cross, but God in the flesh dealing with our sin. And thus, Christmas and Good Friday come together for us on this Palm Sunday.
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When Jesus tells the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, he is confronting the wicked leaders of the Jewish people with the reality that they had neglected how they came to be in the vineyard in the first place. The tenants were chosen and brought into the vineyard by the owner that they might care for it while he was away, but they rejected him and wanted to keep everything for themselves. Father Jeremiah explains how this relates to our very salvaiton.
Image: Phillip Medhurst, Photo by Harry Kossuth, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons
When the younger son returns from his shameful life and the older son refuses to come to the party for his brother, the father chooses not to reject his sons, but instead bears their shameful actions upon himself so that they can be reconciled to him. The father in this parable is a picture of what Jesus does for us through the cross in his bearing of our sin to restore us to God the Father.
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When Jesus is questioned about terrible events that happened to others, he turned the question back on the questioners. He saw the heart of their question came out of presumption that they were not as bad as the others that these terrible things had happened to. How do his words lead us to know a path away from presumption and guide us into true salvation through Jesus?
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Jesus tells us that salvation is a narrow gate that we must strive through at the right time. To ignore the gate can be disastrous. Father Jeremiah leads us through this parable and Jesus’ words about Jerusalem and his desire to gather the people to himself in Luke 13.
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St. Paul speaks of the word being near to our hearts that we might not have to bring it down from Heaven or raise it up from the abyss. This word is Jesus himself and he is revealed as the one who resists temptation and sin for us that we might follow in his steps and receive him.
Image: The Temptation of Christ, by Augustin Hirschvogel, public domain. Image location: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.39380.html
An important part of Jesus’ Transfiguration is that his divine glory is revealed to his disciples. Another aspect of that event is that in our union with Christ, we become partakers of that glory in the resurrection. We too will shine with the light of the glory of God through the grace of Christ to us.
Image: The Transfiguration, Giovanni Bellini, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Image Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The-Transfiguration-1480-xx-Giovanni-Bellini.JPG
Bishop Terrell Glenn joined us to preach on John 20, walking through the first evening after the resurrection. He directs us to recognize that Christ’s peace gives to us a new standing, his commands give us New purpose, and his breathing upon us gives us new creation.
Image: The Risen Christ Appears to His Apostles, photo taken by Lawrence OP. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, no changes made. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/49780661251/in/pool-our_lord_and_savior_jesus_christ
Grace Anglican Church, Sundays @ 10:30 AM, 800 Robinson Rd, Gastonia, NC
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 551081, Gastonia, NC 28054
