Hear the messages that Father Jeremiah delivers each week
to the congregation of Grace Anglican.
This week we consider the importance and meaning of the Kingdom of God and what it means that we pray to the Father for it to come. Listen to find out more!
Image: Lord's Prayer Plaque by John Kroll. No changes made. Used under License CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkroll/9525643993
Father Jeremiah continues his series on the Lord's Prayer. This week we look at the first petition, "Hallowed be Thy Name." Why is God's name so important that we start with this petition? How is God's name hallowed? Listen to find out more!
Image: Lord's Prayer Plaque by John Kroll. No changes made. Used under License CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkroll/9525643993
On this First Sunday after Christmas, Father Jeremiah began a series on the Lord's Prayer. This sermon focuses on "Our Father, which art in heaven." He links our ability to pray this prayer to Jesus himself, the only begotten who is from the Father and perfectly reveals the Father to us. The series will continue through the season of Epiphany.
Image: Lord's Prayer Plaque by John Kroll. No changes made. Used under License CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkroll/9525643993
This year, the fourth Sunday of Advent was also Christmas Eve. As such, our focus was on how all our preparation becomes anticipation when the time is right. Listen to find out about Israel's preparation and anticipation for the coming Messiah, whom we celebrate at Christmas.
Image 1: The Annunciation; Luca Giordano [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons. location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AThe_Annunciation_MET_DT404.jpg
Image: Adventskranz 4. Advent By Liesel (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALiesel_22-12-2012_4._Advent.jpg
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
Grace Anglican Church, Sundays @ 10:30 AM, 800 Robinson Rd, Gastonia, NC
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 551081, Gastonia, NC 28054
