Going DeeperWith Christ Episcopal Church

The Passion According to Matthew The Gospel is Matthew 26:14- 27:66 On this Palm Sunday, our congregation reads aloud the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew. Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Need for Trust The Gospel is John 11:1-45 “Believing” is a central theme of John’s Gospel. What does this mean? What does it mean to believe in Jesus? The New Testament word translated as “believe” can just as well be translated as “trust.” Trust isn’t an intellectual process. Jesus didn’t want us to think the right things about God, but rather to trust in Him and thus open ourselves to the fl...

Bridging the Split The Gospel is John 9:1-41 How do we interpret the objective fact that a blind man is physically healed? The Pharisees interpreted this legalistically, as a violation of the Sabbath and therefore not of God. No one in the story rejoiced with the blind man who could see after a life of blindness, not even his own parents. The “spin” on the event became more important than the mira...

Jesus Himself Gets a Drink The Gospel is John 4:5-42 We can contrast the story of Nicodemus and Jesus, and the story of the woman at the well. Nicodemus was of high status, and the woman was of an ethnic and religious group despised by Jews and likely shunned by her own community. Nicodemus didn’t see Jesus for who He was, but the woman at the well did see Him. He was full of himself, but she was...

Seeing With the Eye of the Heart The Gospel is John 3:1-17 Jesus tells Nicodemus, “No one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless he be born from above.” Nicodemus misunderstands, interpreting this in a literal, physical sense.  The Kingdom of Heaven is within us and among us, to be seen with the spiritual eye, the “eye of the heart”, not with physical eyes. With the eye of the heart we see sp...

Suffering, Humanity, Jesus and God The Gospel is Matthew 4:1-11 In the beginning there was the Word…and the Word became flesh and lived among us. God became flesh and lived among us in the person of Jesus. He became truly human, like all os us. This understanding sets Christianity apart from many other religions, and is one of the most difficult parts of our faith to believe. What if the perceived...

Ash Wednesday 2023 The Gospel is Matthew 6:1-6,16-21 Jesus argues with the pharisees about outwardly observing religious laws, some of which don’t make sense to us today. Therefore it is easy for us to dismiss Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel, and to miss His guidance on how to practice our religion. Many elected leaders make a show of their piety, but their policies and actions don’t comport wit...

Three Commands and Blessings The Gospel is Matthew 17:1-9 What was the experience of the disciples during Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountaintop? Did they see with “Kingdom of Heaven eyes?” The eyes of their hearts became enlightened about Jesus, and about themselves. This would have been a confusing, heady, exciting and uncertain time for them. How do we interpret Jesus’ transfiguration? The t...

What’s Gotten Into Jesus? The Gospel is Matthew 5:21-37 What disturbs Jesus so that he would offer frightening language, using the common rabbinic technique of hyperbole, about our inner attitudes, passions, mindsets and beliefs? He says these interior states are a kind of violence, and are more important than our external acts, because the external acts proceed from our inner states that may have...

Ye are… The Gospel is 5:13-20 Why is Jesus so incensed about religious hypocrisy? Perhaps because it represents a missed opportunity to have the abundant life Christ wants for us. The glory of God is the human being fully alive. Such a person is a small thing that can make a big difference. Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the C...

Blessed Are… The Gospel is Matthew 5:1-12 What did it mean to be “blessed” in the time of the Bible? What are our contemporary, often implicit, beatitudes? How do the beatitudes of Jesus compare to each? Are we in touch with the already present blessedness that has not yet been fully revealed, and of which we’re often not aware? Do we grasp that we are loved unconditionally, recipients of the free...

One, One, One We are brothers and sisters in the singular body of Christ. Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

What Are We Looking For? The Gospel reading is John 1:29-42 Jesus wants us to look inside ourselves to identify and name the source of our souls deepest desires. Our culture provides all kinds of substitutes for this. But what will truly satisfy that deep longing in our soul? Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Chri...

Jesus’ Baptism The Gospel reading is Matthew 3:13-17 Why did Jesus need to be baptized, as He was without sin? “To fulfill all righeousness….” which had the import of alignment with God, one another, and the world. And all involved were part of that. Instead of looking down on the crowd, Jesus threw away his innocence and separateness to take on the identity of struggling men and women, becoming i...

The Mindset of Christ Jesus The Gospel reading is Luke 2:15-21 Jesus’s identity and mindset reflected and expressed his name, which means “God saves.” We, too are called to bear the name of Jesus! It’s the very meaning of our baptism, to embody in our own lives his compassion, love and humility. We are called to have the same mindset to Christ Jesus? Do we? If we look at our world, what do we see?...

Christmas Day 2022 The Gospel reading is John 1 1:18 Will the Child wrapped in swaddling clothes, in the inner room of Christmas, be you? A Christmas Blessing: The light of the Christmas Star to you The song of the heavenly host to you The awe in Shepherd’s eyes to you The trust of the Virgin Mother to you The love of the newborn Christ to you Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Ver...

Christmas Eve 2022 The Gospel reading is Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) Christ is born today. “Is” not “was.” Today, this very day. We must live out this eternal message in our time, in our place, in our souls, in our flesh. Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rig...

Not One and Done The Gospel reading is Matthew 1:18-25 Matthew regarded Jesus as a new Moses, a new lawgiver, with a new law to be written on our hearts. Joseph found that to fulfill the law he had to go beyond it, to go beyond ordinary waking consciousness to the direct personal experience of Divine intentions and activity. Tradition told Joseph to divorce Mary, but Spirit told him to take her in...

What Are We Looking For? The Gospel reading is Matthew 11:2-11 John questioned whether Jesus was actually the longed for Messiah, because Jesus was not about conquest and domination. Perhaps Jesus felt what John really needed was not an answer, but a transformation of his expectations of Jesus and the nature of the Kingdom of God. For John, the crowd, and for us, the big question is “what is the d...

Changing the Way We Think and Act The Gospel reading is Matthew 3:1-12 The heart of John the Baptist’s message of repentance is not a threat, but an invitation to enter the Kingdom of Heaven which is here, right now. But only the repentant will see it and reach for it. We have the opportunity to turn to God, and change the way we think and act. This requires self-reflection and self-awareness, and...

Staying Awake to the Invitation of God The Gospel reading is Matthew 24:36-44 Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the season when we prepare for the coming of Christ—his birth and also the second coming of Christ. Interpretations of the second coming of Christ are all over the board. Today’s sermon focuses on interpreting today’s Gospel reading. What is the difference between those who are taken...

What Did the Criminal See? The Gospel reading is Luke 23:33-43 The crucified criminal, hanging beside Jesus, heard Jesus praying God’s forgiveness on those who had unjustly persecuted and crucified Him. The Kingdom of God is contrasted with the kingdom of the world, and requires us to put aside our egos. God’s Kingdom is not of this world: love, compassion, service and reign. We are called to live...

Called to Bear the Beams of Love The Gospel reading is Luke 18:9-14 Prophets in the Bible, having intimate connection with God, often see incongruity between God’s will and human activity, and make prophetic statements about the consequences if people do not listen to the prophecy and change their ways. Prophecies are not forecasts of inevitable occurrences in the future, but rather guidance that...

We Are All Sisters and Brothers The Gospel reading is Luke 18:9-14 On this All Saints Sunday, Fr. Mark explains how we are all sisters and brothers, with human beings and all of Creation. He explains that to demonize others, to “cancel” them, is not consistent with Jesus’ teachings. Instead, we can learn to call one another home within the communion of saints, where there are no nationalities, rel...

Engage From a Place of Prayer The Gospel reading is Luke 18:9-14 Fr. Mark offers guidance on how to understand the teachings of Jesus, and discusses the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. We are encouraged to be less full of ourselves, to make room for God’s grace, and to engage with others and the world from a place of prayer. Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version...