Sermons from St. John the Divine

Jesus was interested in every person he encountered. He didn't wait for them to get it together first.

God made a promise to Abraham in Genesis. In this sermon, the Rev. Dr. Doug Richnow explores how it is sometimes hard for us to believe the promises from God.

Trinity Sunday is an opportunity for the Church to celebrate her unique understanding of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our Gospel passage gives to the Church her mandate: " to make disciples of all nations". The sermon therefore is a challenge to all who believe in Jesus Christ to obey this Mandate.

As we practice breathing as one, as we forgive and live in God’s peace with each other, God will send us out in power, with the Good News that there is love and forgiveness for all in Jesus. 

The Holy Spirit is not just about new conversions and baptisms. It is about transforming the lives of those perhaps already committed but still not walking in the fullness of the power of God already given.

Eternal life isn’t about relaxing in a sweet mansion for all eternity, but about knowing the Father.

Of all the gospel writers, John gives us more teaching on the last days of Jesus’ life than the others. Jesus focuses especially on the coming of the Holy Spirit and the formation of the early Church. Because we are created in the image of God, the Holy Spirit will come and dwell within us. Jesus will build his Church upon that fact. As he approaches the Garden of Gethsemane, he prays for his disc...

All of us have a deep desire to be known. In Jesus Christ, we believe in a known God. You can know Jesus through the Word of God, through communion, and in community with God's people.

As we rest in the love of Christ, our mother, and follow his example of selfless love, we as Christ’s mother will give birth to him in a world of people that need to know they have a God who holds them, cares for them, and loves them dearly.

It is easy to seek out Jesus plus many other things that we think will bring us happiness. But Jesus promises a rich and full life if we follow him.

Today's passage gives encouragement for troubled hearts. Though the disciples were saddened by the impending death of Jesus, their Rabbi, they knew that the world would not end with his death. Jesus assures them of his return to take them and all who believe in him to the glorious Kingdom of God. We all face personal problems and hear and read of troubles in the world. In spite of all that, Jesus...

In spite of our griefs and sorrow and disappointments and questions, the valleys of life may offer the very places for refreshment and growth as a gift of grace alone, refreshment from the Lord himself.

Jesus promises us life to the fullest. He shows us that he is the way to that life, he leads the way to that life, and he makes a way for us to have that life.

The disciples on the Road to Emmaus grieved Jesus’ death. They were not well-versed in God’s word, not understanding that the Messiah must suffer. The prophets did not hide his suffering, but humans overlooked the suffering and focused on the glory of the Messiah. To help them, Jesus began a systematic study of the Old Testament. He connected all the dots to help them see that he was in every book...

We look at the story of the men on the road to Emmaus, their loss of hope, and then their plea to Jesus to stay with them after they recognized who he was and heard him explain how all the events in Jerusalem were foretold by the ancient prophets!

We know doubting Thomas or so we think. But is his doubt his whole story or simply a single piece of him?

Jesus does not say, “You need to be somewhere else in order to receive me.” Rather he says, “I will come to you right where you are. Indeed, I have already done so by becoming flesh, by living among you, dying for you, and rising again.”

For those first disciples, the Easter event is less a happy ending for Jesus than a confounding new beginning for themselves. And one thing they do: they move into the new reality with faith overcoming fear.

We live in a world filled with expectations that we cannot meet. We think God is like our world, stingy with love. But Jesus rose again from the dead even when no one believed he could. He rose again to free us from the fear of sin and death and to give us new life.

Today on this Good Friday, I pray that you will fall on your knees at the foot of the cross, thanking the King of Glory for his self-sacrificing love and salvation. Then let him raise you up and send you out to walk the way of the cross, the way of love, in your world. 

In a world that holds deep convictions, some of which agree with and others that are antithetical to the gospel, what are we to do? How do we enter into the conversation of deeply held ideas and convictions? Our greatest weapon is love. It is not that Christians do not hold beliefs, but if we do not have love, we are just more noisy gongs and clanging cymbals in our culture. Jesus said, “A new com...

As we choose not to skip from Palm Sunday to Easter, and walk step by step this Holy Week, in solidarity with our Lord Jesus, the healing, forgiveness, and love that we experience on Easter will be much deeper. I invite you to not just be a bystander, a person in the crowd, but enter this week as a disciple, a follower of Christ, walking the way of the cross with Jesus.

Jesus’ celebratory parade into Jerusalem was a deliberately staged demonstration full of symbolic actions designed for maximum impact upon the suspicious Jewish authorities. His plan was to have them drive him to the cross for our salvation. Jesus entered Jerusalem not on a warhorse, like a victorious king or general would do, but on a humble colt. Jesus humbled himself for the sake of those he se...

The humanity of Jesus teaches us how to grieve and the divinity of Jesus gives us hope. Jesus could be both human and divine at the same time. He could be both full of grief and full of life at the same time too. And he offers us the same possibilities.