Sermon Given at Church of the Ascension, Knoxville Seventh Sunday of Easter | June 2, 2019 Acts 16:16-34 John 17:20-26 This morning, quite deep into the season of Easter, we hear again a lesson from the Acts of Apostles. From the first day of Easter until the day of Pentecost, the Church invites us to read deeply from the Acts, to listen to the earliest stories of the infant Church. It might be wise, therefore, to pay attention to where
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This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. ~John 21:24-25 (NRSV) This past Sunday, many of us heard the gospel lesson from St. John’s Gospel where Jesus and Peter are reconciled over breakfast. Each
Read MoreEaster does not come to us only when we are ready for it
Sermon given on the 2nd Sunday of Easter St. John’s Cathedral, Knoxville | April 28, 2019 John 20:19-31 I would like to share a quote with you from the late British novelist and philosopher, Iris Murdoch. “Love is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real. Love, and so art and morals, is the discovery of that reality.” The only reason that I know of Murdoch’s words is because of another writer, Zadie Smith. Zadie Smith is
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Sermon Given at St. John’s Cathedral, Knoxville Luke 24:1-12 This morning, let me add my welcome to you here at St. John’s Cathedral on this first day in the Easter season. The good people of St. John’s have outdone themselves in preparing for this morning’s worship and its glorious celebration. The flowers are a witness to resurrection and their fragrance fills the room. The light and the color and the vestments convey new life and eternal hope. The music, if
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Sermon Given at St. Paul’s, Chattanooga | April 19, 2019 John 18:1-19:42 She was 14 years old. She was a runaway. Her name was Mary Ann. She had left home in Opa-locka, Florida. Now she was in Ohio. What exactly caused her to run away, I do not know. And the last I have read about her, she now lives in Las Vegas and works as a cashier at a casino. She may be very happy there and enjoy all
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Sermon Given at St. James Episcopal Church, Knoxville | April 18 John 13:1-17, 31b-35 “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” The woman lying in front of you is about to die. That is obvious to all gathered around her. The only question is how long before she breathes her last. There is a wash cloth on her head, keeping her forehead cool. I do not know if she is aware of
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Click above for video. I want to bring greetings to you, the good people of the Diocese of East Tennessee, as we prepare for another season of Easter. In the season of Easter, the Church hears again of the love of the resurrected Christ, the one who meets us in the garden and surprises us by knowing our name. In the Christ, we are reconciled and redeemed and it is a story of hope that we have been given, a
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Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you ~1 Peter 3:13-15 Next week is Holy Week. We will be
Read MoreA message from Bishop Brian on the New Zealand Terrorist Attack
Micah 4:4-5 (NRSV) 4 but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. 5 For all the peoples walk, each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. East Tennessee friends, Last week, I attended the House of Bishops at Kanuga Conference Center in
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Sermon Given at Church of the Good Samaritan, Knoxville Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany | February 24, 2019 Luke 6:27-38 On February 17, 1977, in Uganda, the Anglican Archbishop Janani Luwum was murdered on orders by the dictator Idi Amin. For years since, he has been remembered as a modern Christian martyr, a man of God who stood up to a brutal, demonic dictator. For doing so, he was killed. This week, on the 42nd anniversary of Luwum’s murder, the
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