Hear the messages that Father Jeremiah delivers each week
to the congregation of Grace Anglican.
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.
Image: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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.
Image: Jaume Huguet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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
When the wine ran out at the wedding in Cana, Jesus’ mother told him about it. She then left it up to him to act, and act he did! Sometimes our prayers can only be telling Jesus what the situation is and letting him act when he will, and trusting that he will transform what we are to be ready for where we are.
Image: Jesus makes wine out of water at the marriage at Cana, etching by B. Bertoccini, after J.F. Overbeck, public domain. image location: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/pbbenjm2/images?id=qbv9kwwp
On the First Sunday of Christmas, Father Jeremiah read a sermon by St. Gregory of Nazianzus to explain the importance of the Incarnation of Jesus.
Image: Unknown sourceUnknown source, Copyrighted free use, via Wikimedia Commons
Why are St. John’s words, “He became flesh and dwelt among us,” so important to us Christians? Father Jeremiah looks at this verse and how St. John leads us to this beautiful moment in John 1.
Image: Nativity, Sandro Botticelli, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At our Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols, we heard of the promises of God to his people throughout the Old Testament. Father Jeremiah explains that Jesus is the fulfillment of God the Father’s desire to make a people for himself and that he does so through forgiveness of sins.
Image: Nativity, Giotto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
When Jesus stood before Pilate, he confessed that his kingdom, and thus his kingship, was not from this world. What did he mean by this? Is his kingdom and kingship utterly separate from this world? Or do they overlap and interlock together, such that this world will be changed when Jesus returns?
Image: Boston at English Wikipedia & John Stephen Dwyer, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
As Jesus continues teaching about his being the bread of life that is necessary to salvation, he goes so far as to say that his flesh is true food and his blood is true drink! What does this mean? How does it relate to communion? Where can we find Jesus that we might feed on him always?
Image: Nheyob, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Jesus continues teaching the crowds after feeding them with bread and fish. He gives attention to the reality that coming and believing Jesus are connected to being given and drawn to Jesus by the Father and that he will receive all who come because he is the bread of life that gives his flesh to the world.
Image: The Lord’s Supper, taken by Lawrence OP, used under license: CC BY-NC-ND 2 (no changes made). Image Location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/25915485262
Jesus confronts the crowds after feeding them with the reality that they are seeking him, not for the life that he can bring, but simply because he gave them an abundance of bread. How often do we do the same? How should we respond to this one who can give to us the bread of life through himself?
Image: unknown artist. no known copyright
On Trinity Sunday, Jonathan Wells, a member of Grace Anglican, gave us a teaching on the Trinity as revealed throughout Scripture and the importance of how God has revealed himself to our salvation.
Image: Holy Trinity, picture by Lawrence OP. License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED Image Location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/3600731119
The Spirit’s coming was the fulfillment of Jesus’ promises to his disciples and a fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy. His work sets believers in Jesus apart from the world and changes them from the inside out. He unites us to one another and to Jesus himself that we might know the redemption that has been accomplished for us.
Image: Descent of the Holy Spirit, by Paul Gustave Dore’s for La Grande Bible de Tours. Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons. For more info on this and other illustrations see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9%27s_illustrations_for_La_Grande_Bible_de_Tours#The_New_Testament Image location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Bible_panorama,_or_The_Holy_Scriptures_in_picture_and_story_(1891)_(14598407958).jpg
Jesus spent time in deep prayer for his disciples and all those who will come to believe in Christ through their word. What does this prayer reveal to us about he work of Jesus after his ascension? We see through his words that he knew he would ascend and that he would continue to present us to the Father that we might be washed and sanctified in the truth of God.
Image: The Ascension of Christ, Pietro Perugino, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
As Jesus continued to teach the disciples on the night he was betrayed, he told them to abide in his love that he had from them that flowed out of the love of the Father for himself. When we do this, we will discover that we want to keep his commandments and when we keep his commandments, we discover that we are more deeply abiding in his love.
Image: Patchy Grass by Andrew. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED, no changes made. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nez/2428875105/in/photostream/.
Jesus tells us that if we love him, we will keep his commandments. What are we to make of this statement of his? Does it mean that our salvation is because of our good deeds? Or are these words his way of showing us how to realign and calibrate our lives to the salvation we have received by faith? Father Jeremiah helps us understand Jesus’ calling today.
Image: By Tobias Aeppli. Free to use. image location: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-compass-in-forest-1125272/
Jesus calls himself the good shepherd. What kind of claim is this? How does he reflect an earthly shepherd and how does he surpass that to be something greater by the same name?
Image: The Parable of the Good Shepherd, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Public Domain. Image location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Parable_of_the_Good_Shepherd_MET_DP818250.jpg
Jesus appeared to his disciples multiple times after his resurrection. In the first appearance, they were not sure what to think save for the peace given to them by him and revelation of the scars upon body. After this he gives to them the Holy Spirit that they might be sent out in faith to make forgiveness known through Jesus.
Image: St Thomas touches the Risen Lord, picture taken by Lawrence OP. License CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 (no changes made). Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/14036502503/in/photostream/
Jesus spoke of a grain of wheat that must die to bring forth a harvest. Jesus himself is that grain of wheat, and yet, we too are grains of wheat that have come from Jesus falling into the earth and dying. We too must continually die to ourselves in order to bring forth the harvest that God the Father desires.
Image: The Veteran in a New Field, by Winslow Homer. Public Domain. Image Location: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11145
Grace Anglican Church, Sundays @ 10:30 AM, 800 Robinson Rd, Gastonia, NC
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 551081, Gastonia, NC 28054
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