Hear the messages that Father Jeremiah delivers each week
to the congregation of Grace Anglican.
This week, our bishop came to visit our church. Bishop David preached on the prophets of Advent and the importance of their message to us today.
Image: By Liesel (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Liesel_09-12-2012_2._Advent.jpg)
In the Collect of the Day for the First Sunday of Advent, we ask for grace to put on the armor of light. What is that armor and why is it important for us to put it on? Listen to find out.
Image: Close-up of a first lit advent candle, by Per Ola Wilberg, used under Creative Commons Liscense 2.0, found at http://www.freestockphotos.biz/stockphoto/9550
What do the works performed by the sheep have to do with the necessity of faith? The King and Good Shepherd, Jesus, gathers all of His sheep together and separates them from the goats. Their good deeds are acknowledged as a demonstration of the faith they have in their Shepherd. What does this mean for us today?
Image: Last Judgment, by Ravenna. photographed by Nick Thompson. License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). Found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimforest/6052391843
How do you view the master of the servants in Matthew 25.14-30? Is he a cruel man who takes from others what isn't is or is he a generous master who gives freely to his servants? How one views the master will affect how we view our Lord and Savior, Jesus, and his Father in heaven. WE consider just what is happening in the parable of the talents in this sermon.
Image: By Willem de Poorter (The Parable of The Talents) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The Kingdom of heaven is like ten virgins? What a strange picture that Jesus creates for us in our Gospel lesson for this Sunday. What does he mean by this parable? Hear what Father Jeremiah has to say about this passage for us today.
Image: By Meister des Evangeliars von Rossano [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMeister_des_Evangeliars_von_Rossano_002-cropped.jpg
How is the saying "I'm spiritual, but not religious," just as much an error as the formality and religiosity of the Pharisees and Scribes? How does this apply to us? How can we avoid the pitfalls of this religiosity and legalism and the opposite error of throwing out all formality by claiming being 'spiritual'? In today's sermon, Fr. Jeremiah considers these things and how the answer is found in the humility of Jesus creating humility in us.
Image: By Church of England [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABook_of_Common_Prayer_(1662).jpg)
In light of the Reformation, how is it even possible to approach a God who demands complete love of ourselves for himself? How do we serve him? Hear what how we respond to Jesus' statements today.
Image: By Ji-Elle (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons found at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Vitrail_de_synagogue-Mus%C3%A9e_alsacien_de_Strasbourg.jpg
When Jesus was asked a question about rendering taxes to Caesar, he gave an answer that shocked everyone. He said one should! But alongside that he also told us to give to God what is his. What do we make of this today? How might we understand how Jesus perfectly rendered to God what is his? Does it matter to me?
Image: By DrusMAX (Self-photographed) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Image: Jan Brueghel the Elder [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJan_Brueghel_(I)_-_Wedding_Banquet_-_WGA3572.jpg)
What's a wedding banquet with a bunch of random guests have to do with the kingdom of God? What do wedding clothes have to do with being welcomed into the kingdom? Is there a way to make sense of all of this? Listen to find out more from Father Jeremiah.
The wicked tenants refused to give the owner of the vineyard his harvest and instead beat and killed his servants and son. What does this mean for us today? What does their condemnation and destruction have to do with how we respond to Jesus now? Listen to find out more.
Image: By Phillip Medhurst (Photo by Harry Kossuth) [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons
This Sunday, Andrew Hane, a student at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC, preached on the forgiveness that comes to us through Christ. He looked at Psalm 32 and David's words in light of his sin with Bathsheba and the coverup that he attempted before coming under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and returning back to God.
Image: Study of King David, by Julia Margeret Cameron, depicts Sir Henry Taylor, 1866, Public Domain.
When Peter asks Jesus about how many times one should forgive, Jesus tells him that we should always forgive. How does this work in our lives? How do we extend forgiveness to those who refuse to see their own sin? What can we do when we find it impossible to forgive? Hear Father Jeremiah walk through this passage and apply it to life.
Image: The Unforgiving Servant, public domain.
In Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus speaks about reconciling oneself with a fellow believer who has sinned against you. This passage is the basis for our understanding of church discipline. Yet, it begins first with the pursuit of private reconciliation, a coming together of the wronged and the one who wronged. The purpose is that of repentance and life in the kingdom. As we come to understand this, we can find healing in our own personal relationships and be freed from the bitterness that can come when we are sinned against.
Image credit: By Meister des Book of Lindisfarne - The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=155233
After Peter's great profession of Jesus being the Christ, he turns and rebukes Jesus for teaching him and the disciples about his coming death in Jerusalem. Jesus then begins teaching about denying ourselves, taking up our crosses, and following him. What do we make of this today?
What is happening when we baptize someone? Is it merely water poured over the person, or is there something deeper? In this sermon, Fr. Jeremiah reflects on how Anglicans understand baptism, reminding us that it is God is the primary actor, not man. This isn't about an act of obedience, but about a God who graciously claims us through the act of baptism for the sake of what Jesus has done for us through the cross. Listen to find out more!
Image attribution: Posted by WELS net at https://www.flickr.com/photos/welsnet/3404685668/in/photostream/. No changes made to image. Used according to Creative Commons license CC BY-NC 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/)
Image credit: By Julius Sergius Von Klever [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Jesus fed the 5000 because they were hungry and in need. What does this reveal about who Jesus is and how does that affect us? How is the Gospel fully revealed through this simple narrative? Listen to hear this and more!
Image: © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro / , via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
In our Gospel reading today, there were five parables of the kingdom. They neatly broke into three sets, each set considering one aspect of the Kingdom of Heaven. All of these parables direct our thoughts to the fact that Jesus is the center of the Kingdom, he is the foundation upon which all else is built.
Image:Rembrandt [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
When there are weeds growing amongst the wheat, what are we to do? Do we look to our Master and ask him? Or do we just plunge forward and attempt to remove them ourselves? What does the Master tell his servants to do? Wait until the harvest and then the reapers will deal with the weeds. Until them, let them grow and interact. What does that mean for us as we traverse this world?
Image by ㇹヮィㇳ (Ears of wheat) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Jesus told a parable about a sower going out to sow some seed. He tells us that the meaning of the seed is that it is the Word of God. How is seed like the Word of God? One way that they are the same is that the seed is intended to grow just as the Word is effective and does its work. Listen to find out more!
Image: Vincent van Gogh [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Grace Anglican Church, Sundays @ 10:30 AM, 800 Robinson Rd, Gastonia, NC
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 551081, Gastonia, NC 28054
