Harrowing Of Hell

Category: Calling

Breakfast on the Beach

Sermon | April 10, 2016

April 10, 2016, The Rev. Kate Wesch preaching

For Peter, Jesus was his safety net, always there to catch him as he impetuously and impulsively flung himself off one trapeze after another. And Jesus patiently remained that net, never giving up, ever present to catch Peter in the net, to bear him up one more time. Jesus called him Peter “the rock” when things were going well and always “Simon, son of John” when he meant business, but Jesus was always there—Peter’s net that would not tear.

Islam, Jesus, and Empathy

Sermon | September 13, 2015

September 13, 2015, The Rev. Doyt L. Conn, Jr., preaching

“When I saw on the news the other day, that man running across a field in Hungary, carrying his child and getting tripped by a camera woman, I remembered Jesus. I don’t know if he was Muslim or not, but it doesn’t matter. He was a person, personal, and incarnational, and a resident of the kingdom of heaven. All I know was that he was vulnerable. I remembered Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, the Syrophoenician woman in Tyre, the blind man, the leper, and the little children who he blessed. I remembered the outsider, who I know to be my neighbor, who is loved by God, like Hagar and Ishmael. I remembered my time of vulnerability, and I knew for a moment what it might feel like to be that Dad just barely holding on.”

Jesus Calms the Storm

Sermon | June 21, 2015

June 21, 2015, Fr. Peter Snow preaching

In the gospel story he doesn’t jump up and say, “Sure. Where’s the bailer?” He could have bailed, contributing to their weathering the storm, but he did not in this case. He stood up and addressed the storm itself.