Sermons on John

Sermons on John

Believe

It’s Jesus’ first post-resurrection appearance.  The disciples, understandably afraid, were holed up, locked inside, unsure and uncertain about what would happen next.  Jesus came to them, showed them his wounds and breathed the Holy Spirit upon them. Bring your hope, fear, doubts, struggles…bring it all and come as you are!

Good Friday: Were You There?

Good Friday marks the day when hate and fear did their worst…the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.  On this day of grief and sorrow, we will gather with one another, in God’s care, to remember Jesus’ death on a cross.

Brazen

Mary anointed Jesus’s feet with expensive perfume. What bold, brazen acts of faith, beauty and love might we be called to as we approach Holy Week this year?

Revelation

Today we spend time in the Gospel of John with the first of seven “signs” that Jesus performs or offers, each one giving us a glimpse into his true identity and mission. This first sign is the account of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana.

Light in the Darkness

Our Bishop, Grant Hagiya, preaches today on “Light in the Darkness,” sharing his thoughts, hopes and encouragement with all of us as we enter into 2022! 

Unbound

This Sunday we celebrate All Saints Sunday, a day when we are especially mindful of the great cloud of witnesses and the communion of the saints.  It is a day of acknowledging death and the tears, grief and sadness that accompany it.  But it is also a day of holding fast to life, including life in our here and now and the promise of life eternal to come.  

What Shall We Wear?

Our reading from Ephesians is a good indicator that this truly MAY be an age old question! This passage is moving for some and troubling for others with its warrior imagery.  We’ll spend time this Sunday exploring this text in relation to the last of the “Jesus as bread of life” texts from the Gospel of John.

Being Alive

“Take.  Eat.  This is my body, broken for you.”  Those of us who are newer to Christianity might have an advantage here and be more able to perceive how shocking these words were to Jesus’ contemporaries.  Folks who gathered around Jesus, including his own disciples, balked when Jesus started talking about “eating his flesh” and “drinking his blood.”  And who can blame them?  At face value, it’s a fairly gory notion. But in this passage Jesus says, “Unless you do this…you have no life in you.”  That’s the piece we’ll focus on in worship today.  What does Jesus mean when he says this?  Is Jesus talking about physical life?  Eternal life?  Or is there something else?

Soul Pangs

Just like our bodies experience hunger pangs, our hearts and spirits can also experience “soul pangs.”  It seems as if we’re born into this world with certain hungers for love, belonging, connection, joy, play, peace and so much more.  We often experience these “hungers” in isolation, not acknowledging them to others and, very frequently, not even acknowledging them to ourselves.  Today we explore Jesus’ claim to be the “break of life” and what that means for our deepest hungers.