Harrowing Of Hell

Category: Human Identity & Purpose

What it means to be free

Sermon | June 12, 2016

June 12, 2016, The Rev. Doyt L. Conn, Jr. preaching

Here is the assumption Luke is making: every soul deeply desires freedom from the expectations of their context, whether a hedge fund manager in Manhattan, or a grandmother in Seward Park, or a shepherd in the Sudan. We all have cultural expectations set upon us, and while much of this is good and healthy, some of this can be constricting and onerous and cause us to give away our lives in favor of someone else’s expectations. And that is not Good News. Jesus came to give us Good News. He came to set us free, to liberate us, which is why he introduces us to this woman. Because she is free.

It’s Still Christmas

Sermon | January 3, 2016

January 3, 2016, Holly Boone preaching

But today is still Christmas. We can look upon the infant in the manger and imagine our own newborn souls lying there. There is a whole new year before us to nurture and care for our baby souls. Stick around Epiphany very long and you will learn that here is a community devoted to the raising and training of souls, yours and mine and each others’. It’s still Christmas.

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.

Possessions: Burden or Blessing?

Sermon | April 12, 2015

April 12, 2015, The Rev. Kate Wesch preaching.

Just as Spring is a good time for a deep clean, a de-cluttering of the stuff in your life, the Fifty Days of Easter are an excellent time for a de-cluttering of your Spirit. Reflect upon this honestly. In what ways do the possessions in your life weigh you down and get in the way of your relationship with the resurrected Jesus?