Field Notes: Stories from St. Martin's

The healing in John 9 is not the good news. Not for this man. The moment he receives his sight, everything else starts falling apart. His neighbors don’t recognize him. The Pharisees interrogate him twice. His own parents hand him over in the middle of his trial to protect themselves. And by the end of the chapter, he has been thrown out of his community, his synagogue, and every structure that wa...

She didn’t come to the well at noon by accident. She came because it was the only time no one else would be there. She had arranged her whole life around not being seen. And Jesus was already waiting. In John 4, Jesus crosses every boundary that should have kept him silent — and has the most theologically rich conversation in the Gospel with a Samaritan woman who has known grief, loss, and the wei...

In this sermon from St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Keller, Texas, Father Alan explores one of the most honest questions people ask in the dark: Does God really love? Drawing from John 3:1–17 and the story of Nicodemus, this message unpacks the radical scope of John 3:16, what it means that God loved the world, and why that changes everything. This sermon is part of the Lent series Listen to...

What does Lent really mean? Sometimes it’s not found in grand gestures or perfect spiritual disciplines, but in ordinary interruptions. In this Ash Wednesday reflection, I share a simple encounter at the gym that completely reframed how I see Lent. An old friend, recovering from surgery and carrying concern for his wife’s upcoming procedure, asked me to pray for him. It happened because my routine...

Before you even walk into church on Sunday morning, you have already heard dozens of voices. Kids. Spouses. News alerts. Inner criticism. Expectations. Demands. In Matthew 4:1–11, Jesus walks into the wilderness and hears a different kind of voice: “If you are the Son of God…” This sermon begins our Lenten series, Listen to Him . But this is not a self-help message about how to resist temptation b...

On the last Sunday before Lent, we stand between celebration and ashes. At the Transfiguration, Jesus shines with divine glory on the mountain. But the heart of the moment is not just the light. It is the voice from heaven: “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.”As we move from Jazz Mass joy and Shrove Sunday celebration toward Ash Wednesday and the road of Lent, this sermon invites us to se...

The Rev. Mark Odieny preaches on Matthew 5:13-20.

In this sermon, we turn to Matthew 5 and the Beatitudes to ask a simple but brave question: Who are we becoming as a church? Jesus’ Beatitudes are not rules to follow but a vision of the kind of community God is already forming among us. This sermon explores how a Beatitude shaped church becomes authentic, merciful, courageous, and grounded in grace. The question is not whether we can achieve this...

What do we do when violence silences a voice and the world feels less safe? In Matthew 4, Jesus begins his public ministry not in a moment of calm, but after John the Baptist is arrested. This sermon reflects on how Jesus responds to injustice and violence, how lament becomes the soil of God’s work, and what it means to follow Christ when silence would be unfaithful. Preached in the shadow of real...

What does Christmas mean once the carols fade and the candles burn low? In this sermon on John 1:1-18, we turn to the opening of John’s Gospel, where Christmas is not told through shepherds and mangers, but through mystery and meaning. John pulls the curtain back to the very beginning and shows us who Jesus really is: the eternal Word, the Light that shines in the darkness, and God who has come ne...

On Christmas Eve, we asked a question: Do you hear what I hear? We listened for the sounds of good news, hope, and love. On Christmas Day, the question shifts: Do you see what I see? In this sermon on John 1:1–14, we explore how the Word who spoke creation into being did not remain distant or abstract, but became flesh and moved into our neighborhood. Christmas is not only something we hear sung o...

On Christmas Eve we hear the same story every year. The same Scripture from Luke 2. The same carols. The same familiar sounds. And yet, we never hear Christmas quite the same way twice. In this sermon, Do You Hear What I Hear , we explore how Christmas speaks differently to us each year because we come carrying different joys, losses, hopes, and fears. Like bells that all ring but sound different...

A short children’s sermon from our 3pm Christmas Eve family service built around the theme “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Using the sound of bells, this message invites kids to discover that Jesus speaks to each of us in ways we can understand. Just as one bell can mean different things to different people, the good news of Jesus’ birth was heard differently by the shepherds, Mary, and Joseph. The ser...

The Rev. Mark Odieny preaches on doubt, faith, and what it means to follow Jesus. The Gospel text for the Third Sunday of Advent is Matthew 11:2-11.

None of us are ever fully ready. Not for children, not for life, and not for following Jesus. In this Advent 2 sermon on Matthew 3:1-12, we explore what repentance truly means. It is not perfection or spiritual performance. It is a return to the God who comes close long before we have everything figured out. This message weaves together John the Baptist in the wilderness, the story of bringing a f...

Deacon Ayo Ominiyi kicks off our Advent season, preaching about preparation is Matthew 24:36-44.

On this Thanksgiving Eve, Father Alan reflects on John 6:25-35 and the honest truth that none of us are ever fully satisfied. He begins with his recent HYROX race, where even after beating his goal he crossed the finish line wanting more. That feeling, he says, is something we all carry. We try to satisfy our restlessness with achievement, success, possessions, or praise, but the hunger always ret...

The Rev. Mark Odieny preaches on Luke 21:5-19, sharing about Jesus' love for those whom the world casts aside.

The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle preaches on Luke 20:27-38 during his visitation to St. Martin's.

The Rt. Rev. Francis Omondi, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Garissa, Kenya, preaches on the Feast of All Saints.

In this sermon, Fr. Alan Bentrup reflects on Paul’s final words to Timothy, a charge to keep preaching the Gospel in every season. From an old Boston church that still proclaims the Gospel after centuries of change to Paul’s prison cell awaiting execution, this message reminds us that the world may change, but the Word still works. We all crave words that make us feel strong or self-sufficient. Bu...

Most sermons on the healing of the ten lepers focus on the one who came back to say thank you. But what about the other nine In this message, Fr. Alan Bentrup invites us to listen for the stories we don’t hear. The stories of grace that continue beyond the page. Ten people were healed. All ten received God’s mercy. God’s grace is not earned or repaid. It is given freely, without condition or trans...

We live in a world built on transactions. Do your part, pay your share, and someone owes you something in return. But in Luke 17, Jesus turns that system upside down. He reminds us that God does not owe us anything, and that is exactly what makes grace so amazing. In this sermon, Fr. Alan explores Jesus’ teaching about mustard seed faith, radical forgiveness, and humble service. The life of faith...

This week’s gospel reading tells the story of a rich man who feasted every day and a poor man named Lazarus who longed for crumbs at his gate (Luke 16:19–31). The rich man never saw Lazarus as a neighbor. Even in death he only saw him as a servant. But the good news of Jesus is not a morality tale about being nicer. It is the announcement that God sees us. Whether we feel like Lazarus, wounded and...

We’ve all been there. The moment you realize you messed up. You squandered the opportunity. You wasted the time. You failed the people who trusted you. In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of a steward who had blown it completely. And yet, instead of being discarded, he discovers something surprising: grace. In this sermon, Father Alan explores what it means to face our failures honestly, to trust th...