Grace Anglican Church Gastonia, NC

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran All the Blessings In Christ, Ephesians 1.3-14, Luke 2.41-52 Download In Ephesians 1, we hear from St. Paul of various spiritual blessings that are bestowed upon us through our union with Christ. Even the Holy Spirit himself is given to us on account of who Jesus is! Alongside that we hear of Jesus being in the Temple when he was twelve years old and amazing the teachers there...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Why Do The Angels Sing_ Download One of the greatest hymns for Christmas is Hark the Herald Angels Sing . In this hymn, Charles Wesley reminds us of the heavenly reality of where Jesus comes from, that he is God incarnate for us and that through him, our sin nature can be overcome. This beautiful hymn is the basis of Father Jeremiah’s sermon for the First Sunday of Christmas....

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Born to Make Us Heirs, Titus 3.4-7 Download Through the birth of Christ, we have become heirs by baptism and faith in the promises of God. St. Paul reveals this reality to us through his writing to St. Titus. Image: St. Paul writing to the Thessalonians, by Jan Lievans, Public Domain. Image location: https://www.wikiart.org/en/jan-lievens/st-paul-writing-to-the-thessalonians

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran God's Faithfulness is Fulfilled this Night Download On Christmas Eve, we reflect on the reality of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. With the birth of Christ, there comes the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to his people in the Old Testament. Image: Giotto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons .

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Quiet Faithfulness in Our Work, Matthew 1.18-25 Download We don’t always think about St. Joseph very deeply at Christmas. Yet, he is an important part of the whole story. He was called by God the Father to raise Jesus as his son and to take care of him and Mary throughout his days. And then he vanishes from the text. His faithfulness was quietly executed and completed. What d...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Patience that Leads to Joy, Matthew 11, Isaiah 35, James 5 Download John the Baptist sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one to come. John has found himself imprisoned while pursing obedience to the Lord. He has also wanted his disciples to leave him and follow Jesus. What are we to make of John’s question? Is he question Jesus’ messiahship? Or is he wanting his own...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Repenting for the Coming King, Is. 11, Matthew 3, Romans 15 Download When John the Baptist went out preaching repentance and baptism, even Pharisees and Sadducees took notice. They came out to hear him and to be baptized. But he called them out calling them a brood of vipers and wanting to know who warned them to flee the wrath to come! Many think that John is utterly rejecti...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Waiting on Advent, Isaiah 2, Matthew 24, Romans 13 Download As we enter this time of Advent, we are reminded that we are called to wait on Christ during this season. We are to turn with repentant hearts toward preparing for his coming at Christmas, in the future, and even now through Word and Sacrament. Christ comes to us continually to make us ready to receive him and celebr...

Bishop Terrell Glenn Where History is Headed, Matthew 25.31-46 Download In this picture of the Last Judgment, Jesus speaks to those who served him in the least of his brothers and those who didn’t. What does this reveal about judgment? What does this reveal about how closely we identify with Jesus? Image: Last Judgment (Ravenna) , photo by Jim Forest, no changes made, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 . Image locat...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Future Hope for Present Change, Luke 21:5-19 Download Jesus speaks of wars, tumults, earthquakes, and diseases as well as persecutions for his followers. All of these things are what has been taking place since his death and resurrection throughout the world around us. What are we to make of that? How should we live in the midst of these things around us? What is our anchor i...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Heavenly Minded for the Resurrection, Luke 20.27-28 Download Jesus is asked an absurd question by the Sadducees about the resurrection. Instead of answering their question, he redirects them because they have a false understanding of what the resurrection is actually like. When we don’t understand the reality of continuity and discontinuity of the resurrected and glorified st...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Belonging to God as a Saint, Revelation 7, Ephesians 1 Download All Saints’ Day is an old feast day within the Church. It hasn’t always been on November 1, but that is where it has been for 1300 years now. Why do we celebrate such a day? Why remember the saints and commemorate the work of those long dead? It’s because they are not truly dead, but live in Christ awaiting the r...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran A Pharisee, a Tax Collector, and the Atonement, Luke 18.9-14 Download When Jesus told the parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector, there was a great deal packed into it. The Pharisee was certainly believing in his own righteousness, but what does the tax collector mean when he asks for mercy? When we ask for mercy, we aren’t merely asking God to overlook our sins, we are as...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran The Heel-Grabber, the Widow, and the Slumberless God Who Blesses, Gen. 32, Luke 18.1-8 Download Jacob wrestles with God. The Widow wrestles for justice. The slumberless God seeks to bring blessings to his people. This is the reality that we are confronted with in our various texts this Sunday. How do we wrestle with them and be drawn near to a God through our own prayers? Ima...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Faith for Prayer, Obedience, and Thanksgiving, Luke 17.11-19 Download Jesus’ healing of the 10 lepers is an amazing moment that leads us to reflect on sickness of soul that we have and how he calls forth trust in his work for us. When we pray in faith, he calls us forward into the world to do his will, leading us to turn back and give thanks for his healing hand upon us. Imag...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran The Beam of Light of Faith, Luke 17.5-10 Download As Jesus is teaching his apostles, they cry out for an increase in faith. What causes such a prayer to come from their lips? How does one actually find an increase of faith? How does humility and love of God undergird this increase? Father Jeremiah considers all of this as he turns our eyes from analyzing what our faith looks...

The Rich, the Poor, and Baptism for All, Luke 16.19-31 Download Jesus tells the unique parable about Lazarus and the rich man and this life and the afterlife are full of contrasts. The contrasts that exist are founded upon faith and trust in God’s promises to us through Jesus Christ. We encounter these promises in baptism and receive the through faith in Jesus Christ. Image: Lazarus at the Rich Ma...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran A Blessed Future Begins with Trust Now, Luke 16.1-13 Download The parable of the Unjust Steward in Luke 16 has given many people trouble over the years. It has the appearance of approving of the unrighteous actions of the steward. Yet, what is the shrewdness he is praised for? Father Jeremiah directs us to see that shrewdness is betting everything on the Master’s generosity a...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Burden of Lostness Lifted, Luke 15.1-10 Download The parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin in the Gospel of Luke are of great importance. Not only do they introduce the parable of the Prodigal Son, but they remind us that they Pharisees had lost the people of God by adding layers of law to God’s word. Jesus cuts through the man-made laws of the Pharisees and comes to s...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Impossible Discipleship, Luke 14.25-33 Download It is easy for us to reduce Jesus’ call to discipleship to a mere way of following him. The reality is that the discipleship that Jesus demands of us is one that will lead to our deaths! His call is one that is utterly beyond our abilities. He wants to us realize our complete need for his grace and his death so that we can be en...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Receiving Honor through Humility, Luke 14.1, 7-14 Download Jesus taught a group of people about honor and shame and humility in today’s Gospel lesson from Luke 14. He saw guests vying for better seats of honor and told them a parable about what happens when you claim honor that you do not have. Instead, one should pursue humility and the lowest place that you can be exalted i...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran For Freedom Jesus Went to Jerusalem, Galatians 5.1, 13-25 Download St. Paul tells us that it is for freedom Christ has set us free. What does this mean for us? What did it mean for the people of Galatia? Is it true that Jesus went to Jerusalem to enable us to know true freedom? Image: Jean-Léon Gérôme, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons .

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran From Law to Baptism and Faith, Galatians 3.23-29 Download In writing to the Galatians, St. Paul reminds the that the law itself is a harsh prison and disciplinarian. To live by that way is to find only death and condemnation. However, to recognize that the law is meant to reveal sin means that they can cling to Christ by faith through baptism. Baptism becomes that foundation...

Fr. Jeremiah Caughran Salvation in the Trinity, John 16.5-15 Download The Trinity is one of the most important doctrines in our understanding of God. The purpose of the doctrine is to enable us to better understand the relation between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The nature of God revealed to us reminds us that salvation is dependent upon all three persons being truly God, but being...

Harrison Northey The Gift of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2.1-21, 1 Corinthians 12.4-13 Download On the first day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit swept down upon the Apostles, empowering them to share the good news of Jesus Christ raised from the dead for the forgiveness of sins. Who is this Spirit? What is he doing? And why does he come down upon the Apostles and all those who believe in Jesus? Harrison N...