Sermons from St. John the Divine

Will God use us in revival? Like Saints Paul and Timothy, we need to perfect our imitation of Jesus. Our character and our lives must reflect his. Our lifestyle must be consistent with his message. If we want God to use us in revival, we must be willing to give ourselves wholly to him to use us in his mission: for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Filled with...

For Christians, real contentment is to know that sufficiency and self-satisfaction come from beyond ourselves. Whatever we have or do not have, whatever we gain or whatever we lose, nothing can bring us what Paul calls “the life that truly is life” except Christ Jesus.

How can we really know God and what he says? Paul simply directs us to look at Jesus. If we want to really know God, we must know Jesus. Perhaps we see this best at the cross. At the cross of Jesus, we see the unfailing pursuit of God’s righteousness intersect with his equally unfailing love. We know revival is coming when our lives are focused on the cross where God gave up power. We know revival...

Do you feel disconnected from God—out of touch, out of conversation with the Lord? Do you think you need God to revive you? We all need revival. Revival begins with you and me. It begins with being born again, living again as you let the Holy Spirit breath new life into you. It begins as you commit to following Jesus in all aspects of your life, of serving God and no other master.

Jesus doesn't give us trite advice but wants us to be fully alive. One of the things that keeps us from this life is a love of money.

What does it look like when a whole congregation of various sorts and conditions of people has been freed from a false world where success and flourishing and happiness are mistakenly thought of as a product of human achievement or merit? Well, it would look like a joyful community.

Jesus eats at the table of the lost sheep, the broken, the sinners, and the unclean. God celebrates everyone who comes to him and repents.

Being a disciple means loving Jesus above all else, above even good things like family. It is a hard call, but with God's help we can surrender our lives and our lives to him.

When you become a believer, your bonds are to Christ. You are set free from the bondage to all the worldly ways we sort and judge and relate to different people. We are one in Christ.

We are never closer to Christ than we come before him stripped of pretense, fully confessional that our lives may be filled with all kinds of good things that get us good seats, but humble to acknowledge it’s never enough. We need God’s grace and life.

When you become a believer, your bonds are to Christ. You are set free from the bondage to all the worldly ways we sort and judge and relate to different people. We are one in Christ.

When Jesus teaches at the synagogue, you know it's not going to be an ordinary sabbath. On this particular sabbath day, Jesus heals a woman, shows that the healing work of God is never out-of-bounds, and catches the entire assembly off-guard.

Jesus wants to bring freedom to us all. And he wants to use us to do it. Sometimes we need to be the one leading the other by the hand, supporting them, taking them to the throne of God in prayer. Sometimes we need to let someone else lead us. We all serve something or somebody. Christ sets us free so that we can serve God. That is where true freedom is found.

The Rev. Dr. Doug Richnow provides a short, basic view of the theology of baptism in the Episcopal Church in preparation for the baptisms of five children.

The story of Abraham, in our Hebrews reading, is a story of someone following their heart. What does that say about where he found his treasure?

The beautiful crescendoing mix of objective and subjective faith sets our hearts ablaze for God, ignites love, and fuels the fiery torrents of hope, the lifeline of the soul.

The life of Jesus is too grand, too magnificent, too beautiful to allow our lives to be scrunched down to a mere quest for wealth, success, and security.

Paul wants the young Christians in Colossae to know they are vitally connected to Jesus through the Holy Spirit, giving them access to the Father. Because of this, they, and we too, can live holy lives, using our minds, our bodies, and our voices to bless God and our neighbors.

A mediation on the purpose of prayer and the expectations around it, with an emphasis on God's desire for a relationship with us.

Martha and Mary demanded something from Jesus, but he responded that only one thing is important. If we but dwell in him, what he gives can never be taken away. Being grounded in Christ will hold us stable, centered, and strong.

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.

It may be the hardest thing about being Christian, being a believer, is truly trusting that it is God and God alone who justifies our lives in the gift of Christ. When we are assured of God’s justification of our lives, we no longer need to obey this instinct to justify ourselves before others or even before God.

God is the one who is moved by gut-wrenching compassion and moves near to those who need God’s life and love. Therefore, it is God who will inspire us to go ahead and look. God will put that fire of compassion in our bellies, and God will enable us to act, to do something, to bring life to this hurting world.

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. As we pray to the Lord of the harvest our vision and heart become for those who are not yet part of the church. The call of the disciple is to be “all in”; the call of the apostle is to be “all out” in the world in evangelical mission.