Jesus doesn’t become glorious on the mountain. He has always been glorious, from before the beginning of time, from before the foundations of the world. In the Transfiguration, we find the veil being pulled back and Jesus is seen and revealed as he truly is! Continue reading Behold and Beholding the Glory
This isn’t a forgiveness story or reconciliation tale, however. It is a reinstitution, restoration, and redemption story. It is a reprise, a re-commissioning for ministry. As C.S. Lewis so masterfully describes it in The Last Battle of The Chronicles of Narnia: Jesus invites Peter to go further up, further in. Continue reading Further Up, Further In: The Reprise
I sonder as I wander to the cross at calvary;
I watch the faces in the crowd discover his blood for thee;
Every life finds its meaning in the weight of his glor’y;
I sonder as I wander to the cross at calvary. Continue reading I sonder as I wander
This sermon was originally preached at St. David’s By-the-Sea in Cocoa Beach, Florida on Sunday, September 15 2024 for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 19B). The lessons assigned were: Proverbs 1:20-33; Psalm 19; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38. In July of 2015, Nigel Richards performed a feat so astounding it sent the internet into a … Continue reading Scrabble and The Word Made Flesh
This sermon was originally delivered at St. David’s By-the-Sea in Cocoa Beach Florida on September 8, 2024. The lessons were from Proper 18B (Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; Psalm 125; James 2:1-17; Mark 7:24-37) In 1994, legendary country singer, Alan Jackson, famously announced: the whole world’s gone country. Country music seems to fall in and out … Continue reading This One’s for the Losers
The grace and glory of God are most fully revealed and embodied through Jesus in the cross as he bears the weight and punishment of our sins so we don’t have to! We had racked up a debt which we could not pay, but the Son poured himself out on the cross in our stead. Continue reading God of Grace and God of Glory
Jesus took our sin and shame to the cross and he said, “It is finished.” You are forgiven. You are redeemed. There is no fine print or blackout date. It is finished. God has parted the red sea of your sin and brought you to a land flowing freely with forgiveness. Continue reading Losers Rule
Because Jesus’s heart overflows with mercy and abounds with grace, therefore we are enabled to bind up the broken, heal the sick, search for the strays, bring back the lost, and strengthen the weak. This is not a task built upon retribution but a process soaked in prayer, covered in the name of Jesus, and teeming with divine love. Continue reading A Community of Character
Once God sees that Moses has turned aside and drawn closer, God calls out to him, calling him by name. God knew Moses before Moses ever knew God. You, my friends, were known by God before you ever knew him. God knows you intimately. He knows your deepest thoughts, your strongest fears, your most burning desires. He knows the number of hairs on your head, he knit you together in your mother’s womb. You are known by God and you will be known by God, world without end. Amen. Continue reading Call and Response
Heavenly Father, this is your world. You are the source of all comfort, the author of all life, and the giver of all good things; you are both promise maker and promise keeper. We come before you with deep gratitude for giving us the spirit of adoption and making us joint heirs with Christ of your eternal kingdom. Bless this time, O Lord, and open your scriptures to us and us to your scriptures that we might know who you are, who we are, and whose we are. We ask this all in the name of our savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Continue reading Hope (in the Resurrection) Changes Everything
Porter C. Taylor 