Grace Anglican Church Gastonia, NC

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Swords and Crosses, Matthew 10.34-42 Jesus tells us that we must face swords and crosses as his disciples. He didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword that would divide his people from those who aren’t his people. In that, we must take up a cross that means self-denial, for without taking up that cross we are unworthy of Jesus. Image: Take up Your Cross, photo by Lawrence OP ,...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Of More Value than Sparrows, Matthew 10.16-33, Romans 5.15-19 In light of being sent by Jesus out to proclaim the kingdom, Jesus warns his apostles of the difficulties they will face amongst the people they go to. This warning extends far beyond the immediate mission they are going on, but expands to include all of church history. There is persecution and mockery faced Christ...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Tripping upon Grace in order to Stand Up, Matthew 9.35-10.15, Romans 5.1-11 Jesus tells his disciples to pray for laborers to go out bring a harvest of salvation. He then sends them out in light of their prayers. But they go with grace, they go as sinners saved by the very grace that they put forward to their hearers. We too go out with grace that overcomes all our sinfulness...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Sinners in Need of Healing, Matthew 9.9-13 Download When Jesus called Matthew to be his disciples, the Pharisees were upset that the was a great feast in the aftermath. All kinds of various sinners they didn’t care for were having a meal with Jesus. Jesus’ response is one we all know so well, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” All those...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Do you know the Trinity_ Matthew 28.16-20, 2 Corinthians 13.5-14 What’s so important about the doctrine of the Trinity? Is it really necessary for salvation? Can’t we know God without knowing anything about the Trinity? Through the witness of Scripture, we are confronted with the reality that the one true God is three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These t...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Ongoing Pentecost, Acts 2.1-21, 1 Corinthians 12.4-13 What happens when we see that the coming of the Holy Spirit isn’t a one time event in our lives, but an ongoing reality? It’s like the children going to Narnia and breathing the air and finding themselves strengthened for whatever they have been called to do. Likewise, we are called to have an ongoing Pentecost in our live...

Reflecting upon St. Peter's words in chapter 4, we are reminded to not be surprised, faithless, or ashamed when trails come upon us as Christians. Instead we should rejoice, be faithful, and rest in the work God gives us in Jesus.

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Blessing, Defending, Enduring as Christ has, 1 Peter 3.8-18 Download St. Peter continues to call his readers and us today to faithful obedience. After speaking of various vocations, St. Peter returns to Christians as a whole calling upon us to bless those who would revile, to defend our hope in Christ, and to endure as Christ has already endured because Christ has done all of...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Four Ways of Identity in Christ, 1 Peter 2.1-12 Download As St. Peter writes to believers, he reminds them of their identity in Christ and how they should approach him in order to grow as the people of God. He is not teaching them to be individuals, but emphasizes the reality of the corporate nature of our identity in Christ. Through four pictures, St. Peter grounds us in the...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Subjected for the Good of Others, 1 Peter 2.13-25 Download In 1 Peter 2:13-25, St. Peter reminds us that we are to be subject to various kinds of authorities, even if it means suffering because we are to follow in the footsteps of Christ who was subject to authority and thus suffered. However, there was and is a greater authority above all others in our lives and it is God th...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Past and Future Known in the Present, 1 Peter 1.13-25 Download St. Peter tell us to consider the future and the past works of God and to understand them the word of God in the present. In many ways, Reepicheep, in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, does this very thing in his pursuit of going to Aslan’s country. We too can walk in this way by seeing God’s promises from the past and...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Born Again for the Beloved, 1 Peter 1.3-9 Download In Peter’s first epistle, he begins with exuberant praise of God the Father because he has caused us to be born again in Jesus Christ. This is baptismal language and out of that we have a foundation for all the gifts that are ours in Jesus. This foundation can enable us to endure testings and trials because we know that we be...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Do you see the Resurrection, Matthew 28.1-10 Download Jesus’ resurrection wasn’t expected by the women who went to his tomb on that first day of the week. The went to see a dead Jesus in order to complete the preparations for his body to remain in the grave. And yet, when they arrive, the tomb is empty and an angel proclaims that the crucified one is now alive. Jesus has pier...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran God_s Perfect Will Accomplished by Jesus, John 19, Genesis 22 Download How does Jesus accomplish God’s will upon the cross? Is this really what he was called to do? It is true that Jesus going to the cross is what God desired him to do, in fact, Jesus’ act upon the cross of bearing the sin of the world is well-pleasing to the Father. Image: Master of the Starck Triptych, CC0,...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Deep Desire that Leads to a Great Gift, Luke 22.14-30 Download On the night that Jesus would be handed over and betrayed, he instituted the Communion meal. He transformed the Passover Supper into something new that would feed us with the gift of his sacrifice and new life. In fact, Jesus deeply desired to share this Passover with his disciples and through that deep desire off...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Raised to be Unbound from Sin, John 11, Ezekiel 37.1-14 Download In the raising of Lazarus from the dead, Jesus proclaims that he himself is the resurrection and the life. These things are not abstract promises, but are fully embodied in Jesus himself, which will be completely revealed to all through his death and resurrection into his glorified state. The Valley of Dry Bones...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran From Blindness to Seeing, John 9, Ephesians 5.1-14 Download When Jesus and his disciples encounter a man born blind, they wonder about the cause of the blindness, but Jesus wants to reveal that this someone that God can work in and he calls them to be about the work of the Father in all that they do. Image: William Blake, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Submitting Our Desires to Christ, John 4.1-42 Download Just after the Israelites left Egypt, they find themselves in the wilderness without water and cry out against Moses as their desire for water becomes overwhelming to them. When Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well, he merely asks for water and the conversation leads to a discussion about living water that gives ne...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Christ the Foundation Places our Focus on Him, John 3.1-16 Download Nicodemus went to speak with Jesus and got more than he was expecting. Jesus points Nicodemus to the reality that it is the Holy Spirit that causes faith that will be founded upon the one lifted up that our eyes might gaze upon him alone for salvation. This remains true to this day. Christ as our foundation m...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran The Remedy to Temptation and Death, Matthew 4.1-11, Romans 5.12-21 Download Jesus’ temptation in the desert should not come as a surprise for us. For him to be our substitute and representative, he must undo where Adam failed. In the Garden, Adam gave in to temptation and sinned. In the wilderness, Jesus said ‘No,’ and resisted Satan. He then cast him away from himself. Jesus...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Transfigured to Encourage, Matthew 17.1-9 Download Image: Giovanni Bellini, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The-Transfiguration-1480-xx-Giovanni-Bellini. JPG

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Jesus' Great Compassion Leads Laborers Forth, Matthew 9.35-38 Download When Jesus is healing and teaching in the Gospel of Matthew, we hear of his looking upon the crowds with compassion and calling upon his disciples to pray for God the Father to raise up laborers to go into this harvest of people who need the Good Shepherd. This passage is part of our readings for World Mis...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran The Foolishness of the Beatitudes, Matthew 5.1-12 Download Often when we hear the Beatitudes, we are given a picture of them being a step by step process to becoming holy or as ways that we are supposed to behave or think in order to get God’s blessings. However, they are really something all believers have in Christ because he is the one who has lived a life that reflects th...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran From Compassion to Repentance to Following, Matthew 4:12-22 Download When Jesus begins his public ministry, he starts in the town of Capernaum after John the Baptist has been arrested. Why start here? Is there something unique about this place? How does Matthew’s reference to Isaiah 9 help us? Father Jeremiah walks us through this amazing moment in his sermon today. Image: Du...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Your Baptism Matters Because of Jesus, Matthew 3.13-17 Download When Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River, he changed the meaning and the blessings of John’s baptism. As we are baptized into Christ, we receive the blessings of him being our representative and our substitute. Through that union with him, we receive life and salvation from the Father because the Spiri...