Saint Paul’s Sermons

God is always more ready to hear us, than we are to pray. More generous to bless us than anything we ask.

The Gospels record some 26 (depending on how you count) miracles of healing done by Jesus. The miracles serve many purposes. They do good for the person healed of course. They manifest the deity of Jesus and who he is, the Messiah. They display the power of God and God's response to faith. They fulfill prophecy, as in the case of man who is deaf and mute, whose healing was foretold in Isaiah&#...

We mark Saint Bartholemew today, August 24. We also reflect on the forgiveness of Jesus to sinners who repent, even to his close friend and co-worker Peter, who denied Jesus three times in a dreadful and heartbreaking incident of betrayal. Luke 22 tells the story.

Jesus feeds us, whether 4,000, 5,000, or 50,000 with true food, spiritual food that only Jesus can provide.

The parable Jesus told about an ungrateful and wayward heir, "the Prodigal Son," is vivid with images of dissoluteness, repentance, and reconciliation. It also teaches us about the ugliness of bitterness and pride as the older son is not only angry and disrespectful of his father but also unwilling to forgive his brother.

In Matthew 7, Jesus teaches us not to rest on our laurels, not to forget about him or become complacent. He teaches us that there will be people who come to him at the last days thinking they are "with him," and that they're part of his team. "Lord, Lord," they will say, reciting for him all the wonderful things they enjoyed and did in his name. But Jesus will say, "I...

The Gospels record many miracles of Jesus. Today's was about the incredible catch of fish Peter and his fellow fishermen caught in response to Jesus' telling them to go back out to fish after a long and unsuccessful night. Peter's response is to fall at Jesus' feet and leave everything behind to follow him. Miracles are events or effects brought about by direct action of God to int...

Where is God in calamitous times and events?

Jesus teaches us acceptance of those who may not look right or seem to be like us.

When Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep in Luke chapter 15 he refuted the proud scorn of the scribes and Pharisees, who failed to realize how God welcomes repentant sinners.

Christians have long wrestled with the proper balance between Christian compassion and the righteous use of force to oppose injustice and protect others. God himself has decreed the warlike destruction of immoral people, such as in the wars led by Joshua in the book under his name, cleansing the promised land of child sacrificing pagan teachings. In the early church great thinkers sought to reconc...

This is Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is plainly taught in scripture, as the existence and activities of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and The Holy Spirit are recounted throughout the Bible, even as we affirm the oneness of God. It's in the Nicene Creed we recite, and appears throughout the prayers of faithful Christians everywhere, particularly in our Book of Common Prayer. "[Almighty God...

On Pentecost we celebrate the birth of the church on the day when the promised helper, the Holy Spirit, descends mightily on the apostles. He continues to bless the church and empower the church today!

John's Gospel records the teachings and admonitions of Jesus during the last supper with his disciples, and he says, among other things, the world will hate us, will hate Christians, just as it hated him. Why is that? Why do people outside the family of faith often react to Christians with hostility while turning away from God, running from him? Part of the answer of course is that as fallen h...

"But I myself know that my Redeemer is alive, and at the last he will stand up upon the earth." Job 19:25 Who is your Redeemer, and do you know he is alive? If you are a Christian your Redeemer is the one and only redeemer of fallen mankind, Jesus Christ, and you can know he lives and will return.

The collect for the Third Sunday after Easter this morning is one attributed to Pope Leo I, "Leo the Great." It asks God to show those in error the light of truth, "that they may return to the way of righteousness." It goes on to say, "Grant unto all those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ's religion, that they may avoid all those things that are contrary...

In the Gospel for today from John chapter 10, the Lord declares himself the "good shepherd," who knows and cares for the sheep, and who is known by them. In saying, "I am the good shepherd," Christ also reaffirms his divinity by the use of the "I am" formulation. We the sheep can rest assured in the good stewardship of our Lord and Savior, the Good Shepherd.

On this Good Shepherd Sunday, Father Andrew reflects on what Jesus means to us and on living with joy in Christ.

The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the pivotal fact upon which the Apostles and other early church evangelists made their case for the person and work of Christ as the savior of sinners. It's a miraculous fact that has been repudiated and attacked, even by some in the church. But objectively, it is a fact proven by evidence, even the kind of evidence that would prove the case in a cour...

As Christians saved by faith in Jesus Christ and his Resurrection, we should be filled with joy and should stand up for Jesus in every situation!

Fr Francois celebrates and elucidates the blessed season of Eastertide.

A New Commandment (Jn 13:31-35) When he [Judas] had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You willseek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new comm...

When Jesus said, "before Abraham was, I am," his shocked hearers were ready to stone him for blasphemy. Why? Because that double emphasis formula was a clear proclamation of his deity, using the sacred name of God revealed to Moses on Mt Sinai. In translating the Old Testament, particularly Ex 3:14, the 70 Jewish scholars of the LXX used this same Greek formula "ego eimi," for...

From the well-known example of the Lord's Prayer to many other passages in the scriptures we find inspiration and guidance as to how we should pray to God, such as Matthew 6:6-13, where Jesus advises us to pray sincerely and without show, unlike the hypocrites.

Saint Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus is full of wise advice and pastoral care, not surprising as Ephesus was a major city he had lived in and preached in for three years. So, it was especially close to his heart.