Notoriously Episcopalian

A sermon for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost, July 31, 2022, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Principal text: Colossians 3:1-11 “We look to the heavens, not as our escape route, but because Christ is there—seated at the right hand of God. Through the mystery of our baptism, we are already there too. We set our minds on heavenly things so that we can keep our priorities in or...

A sermon for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost, July 24, 2022, for the Episcopal Church of the Messiah, Heflin, Alabama. Principal text: Colossians 2:6-19 What does it mean to be rooted in Christ? And how does that rootedness allow us to walk on our faith journey? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kelleyhudlow.sub...

A sermon for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, July 17, 2022, for the Church of the Messiah, Heflin, Alabama. Principal text: Colossians 1:15-28 What do the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope have to do with Jesus and the letter to the Colossians? They invite us to stand in awe of the mystery of God. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or...

This is a sermon for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost, July 10, 2022, offered at the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Heflin, Alabama. Principal text: Colossians 1:1-14 The letter to the Colossians begins with thanksgiving and prayers for the continued fruitfulness of the community in the midst of swirling beliefs and philosophies. The Colossians are called to endure and be faithful knowing that t...

This is a sermon for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, July 3, 2022, offered at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Roanoke, Alabama. Principal text: Galatians 6:1-16 Paul concludes his letter to the Galatians with a reminder of what life in a community led by the Spirit should look like. Paul reminds them that the freedom received in Christ is to be shaped by our love of neighbor. We are to gently car...

This is a sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, June 26, 2022, offered at the Church of the Messiah in Heflin, Alabama. Principal text: Galatians 5:1, 13-25 Paul tells us that Christ has set us free. But that freedom is not for our own selfish desires, but instead is for the love of neighbor. When we live in that sort of freedom, we will see the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patienc...

This is a sermon offered for a service of Holy Baptism and Eucharist at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greensboro, Alabama, on the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, June 19, 2022. Principal texts: Galatians 3:23-29 ; Baptismal Covenant We gathered this morning as Christians to celebrate welcoming a child into the family of God through baptism, and to mourn the three people killed at St. Stephen’s Episco...

A sermon given on Trinity Sunday, June 12, 2022, at the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Heflin, Alabama. Principal texts: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 ; John 16:12-15 When we talk about doctrine, we often get too caught up with being right: right ideas and right words. So when the church celebrates the doctrine of the Trinity, we can get lost in the complex images and explanations. It is important to...

A sermon given on Pentecost Sunday, June 5, 2022, at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Roanoke, Alabama. Principal text: Acts 2:1-21 Pentecost is considered the birth of the church. In the midst of the cacophony of wind and flame, the apostles received the gift of being understood. It was so remarkable that the crowd accused them of being drunk. But wine was not to blame, but the Holy Spirit. Right...

A sermon given on the 7th Sunday of Easter, May 29, 2022, at Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Uniontown, Alabama. Principal text: Revelation 22:12-14,16-17,20-21 As Eastertide comes to a close, we get a glimpse of the end of the story. The final few verses of the Book of Revelation weave together all of the strands of our story with God. Knowing the ending of our story should shape how we write our...

A sermon offered on the 6th Sunday of Easter, May 22, 2022, at the Episcopal Church of the Messiah, in Heflin, Alabama. Principal texts: John 14:23-29 ; Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 "The peace that Jesus offers holds us steady in the presence of God so that we can bring love and justice, healing and reconciliation to the world." This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other s...

A sermon offered at the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Heflin, Alabama, on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, May 8, 2022. Principal texts: Acts 9:36-43 ; Psalm 23 ; John 10:22-30 On this Good Shepherd Sunday we return to the familiar image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, a psalm most of us know by heart, and perhaps the unfamiliar story of the ministry of Tabitha. Psalm 23 is ofter our go-to prayer...

A sermon offered at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Roanoke, Alabama, on the Third Sunday of Easter, May 1, 2022. Principal text: John 21:1-19 Sometimes we take reading the Gospel so seriously that we forget that it must have been a joyful experience for the disciples to have breakfast with Jesus on the beach following the Resurrection. These post-Resurrection stories remind us that our lives sho...

A sermon offered on Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022. I had the privilege of celebrating Easter with the good folks at St. Barnbas in Roanoke and at the Church to the Messiah (recording) in Heflin, Alabama. Principal texts: Luke 24:1-12 “How idle those tales must have seemed for the women walking at dawn, carrying spices to a tomb. I am sure they told stories because that is what we do at times like...

A sermon offered on Palm Sunday, April 10, 2022, at the Episcopal Church of the Messiah, Heflin, Alabama. Principal texts: Luke 19:28-40 ; Luke 23:1-49 "Our journey on Palm Sunday begins in the tension of Jesus’ triumphal arrival in Jerusalem and his death on the cross. It begins with the shouts of joy and celebration of his followers, and their silence when faced with the reality of the cross." T...

A sermon offered at the Church of the Messiah in Heflin, Alabama, on the 4th Sunday in Lent, March 27, 2022. Principal text: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kelleyhudlow.substack.com

A sermon offered for the Third Sunday in Lent, March 20, 2022, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Greensboro, Alabama. Principal text: Luke 13:1-9 "The barren and stuck fig tree is given a reprieve. The gardener intercedes and asks for one more year to tend the tree and encourage growth. The fig tree gets a second chance, not to heal itself, but to be tended to by the gardener." This is a public epis...

A sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Lent, March 13, 2022, offered at St. Barnabas in Roanoke, AL. Principal text: Luke 13:31-35 "Jesus now faces the earthly power of Herod and his response is to send word that he will keep on casting out demons and healing, no matter what the fox has to say about it. And to those in Jerusalem that will conspire to kill him, he does not offer threats but instead reminds...

A sermon for Ash Wednesday, March 2, 2022, offered at the Church of the Messiah in Heflin, AL. Principal text: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 "Ash Wednesday calls us to see and recognize how we are missing the mark in these relationships and begin to explore what turning closer to the mark—to God and each other looks like. Ash Wednesday calls us to ask questions and to realize that the work of reconcili...

A sermon for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, February 27, 2022, at the Church of the Messiah in Heflin, AL. Principal Text: Luke 9:28-43a "The Transfiguration also reveals one of the purposes of Christian community. We come together to pray, to seek those “thin places” where we are closer to God and each other. But we as the Church are not called to stay forever in these moments, instead, they...

A sermon for the 7th Sunday after the Epiphany, February 20, 2022, for St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Greensboro, AL. Principal Text: Luke 6:27-38 "When we focus on the challenge of love, when we seek blessing for those who oppose us, when we pray for those whom, we disagree with, there is a lot less room for hate. Each day we do it again and again, and soon find that there is so much love that th...

This sermon was offered on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, January 16, 2022, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, in Greensboro, Alabama. Principal text: John 2:1-11 “We are perhaps tired. Tired of the pandemic. Tired of all the thinking and planning that life takes right now. Tired of the constant hum of anxiety that fills our lives, it is important to remember that the Christian life calls us t...

This sermon was offered on the First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of our Lord, January 9, 2022, at the Episcopal Church of the Messiah, in Heflin, Alabama. Principal text: Isaiah 43:1-7 ; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 “When we baptize in the church we begin with the person’s name. Our passing through the waters of baptism joins us with the people of God that have experienced God’s redeeming power...

This sermon was offered on the Second Sunday after Christmas, January 2, 2022, at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Roanoke, Alabama. Principal text: Matthew 2:1-12 “Beginning our year with the story of the Magi invites us to consider our response to the mystery of the incarnation and Christ’s ongoing work in the world. At a time when we are making lists of resolutions or setting intentions for 202...

This sermon was offered on the First Sunday after Christmas, December 26, 2021, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greensboro, Alabama. Principal text: John 1:1-18 “The church calls us to pattern our lives on God’s time. To return again and again to the familiar stories of Christmas and Epiphany and Easter. Each year we look back with new eyes, through new experiences, to see Christ revealed in his...