Lessons: Jeremiah 31:7-9 Psalm 126 Hebrews 7:23-28 Mark 10:46-52 The last thing I do before I leave the sacristy to begin a service is to check my cell phone to make sure it’s turned off. Cell phones are a wonderful form of communication, that give us access to all kinds of information anywhere in theContinueContinue reading “Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Corbet Clark”
Category Archives: Sermons
Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Isaiah 53:4-12 Psalm 91:9-16 Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 10:35-45 The comedian Hasan Minhaj is a second generation American. His father, like me, is an immigrant to this country. I come from Canada: Minhaj’s Dad, Najme, comes from India. Unlike me (I grew up in a stable and peaceful context in Vancouver, BC), prior to comingContinueContinue reading “Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Amos 5:6-7,10-15 Psalm 90:12-17 Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 10:17-31 The blogger and comedian Gaby Dunn talks about engaging in a do-it-yourself social experiment. Dunn’s experiment involved going up to strangers in coffee shops and other public contexts and saying: Can I ask you two questions? Most folks said “yes,” and so Dunn began. HerContinueContinue reading “Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost by Rachel Sanborn
Lessons: Genesis 2:18-24 Psalm 8 Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12 Mark 10:2-16 Worship in Pink The chance of winning the Powerball lottery is 1 in 175 million. Yet people play. A LOT of them play. We take our chances. The chance of being struck by lightning in a lifetime is 1 in 14,000. Yet people walk inContinueContinue reading “Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost by Rachel Sanborn”
The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Blessing of the Animals by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Jeremiah 22:13–16 Galatians 6:14–18 Matthew 11:25–30 Psalm 148:7–14 I’ve been struggling these past few days. Maybe you have been struggling too. Watching and listening to and reading about Thursday morning’s hearings was hard. Witnessing the kind of pain we saw on Thursday morn, the kind of grief that we saw, the kind ofContinueContinue reading “The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Blessing of the Animals by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Jeremiah 11:18-20 Psalm 54 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37 A professor emeritus from the University of British Columbia by the name of Dennis Danielson has taken on an unusual retirement project. Danielson decided to examine curricula and student handbooks from educational institutions across Canada. Danielson reviewed these documents looking for a particular word.ContinueContinue reading “Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Corbet Clark
Lessons: Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 116:1-8 James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38 I’m feeling a little strange so far this Fall, because this is the first Fall in thirty-five years that I haven’t been working in a school. I’m so used to the rhythm of school – of the school year and the school day. I realize thatContinueContinue reading “Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Corbet Clark”
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Isaiah 35:4-7a Psalm 146 James 2:1-10-17 Mark 7:24-37 A couple of minutes ago we listened to part of a letter written by James, an epistle that today might be most famous for reputedly really annoying Martin Luther. Those of you who know a little bit about Lutheran theology, who have hung out with LutheransContinueContinue reading “Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Dick Toll
Lessons: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 Psalm 15 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Our lesson from Mark’s Gospel today is probably the most controversial of the teaching that Jesus gave to the people in the 1st century. Why? Because it touched the nerve of religious law…the nerve of religious practice. Thirty years ago I had theContinueContinue reading “Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Dick Toll”
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18 Psalm 34:15-22 Ephesians 6:10-20 John 6:56-69 This teaching is difficult; who can accept it? Of all the things that the disciples say in all four of the Gospels, this one might be my favourite. It is such an unvarnished, such a direct, such a real response to a teaching by Jesus. AndContinueContinue reading “Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”