Sermons from St. John the Divine

When God brings salvation he creates a new people, a new family. Jesus continues this pattern of salvation by creating a family, not of biology or ideology but of his grace and healing.

Christ is Lord of the Sabbath who gives us rest by sharing his life with us, making us one with himself. As Christ’s Body, we are made into a people called to witness to that life we've been given, not in the form of a “welcome sign,” but in the very form of our shared life as St. John the Divine.

Are Christians kooky to think God speaks to us? How do we cultivate a life where the word of the Lord is not rare but real, where God’s voice may be mysterious and unpredictable, but also revealing and loving?

So many of us long for the exuberant, joyful life of self-abandonment to the call to be Christian, to be living within the inner life of God that is forever inviting us in.

The Holy Spirit continues to be poured out upon all who will yield to his movement, assuring us more and more that we are God’s possession, loved beyond measure, given God’s power working through our weakness.

Before his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus promised his disciples that he was sending the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would bear witness to all that Jesus did and spoke. Jesus further promised his disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came and would bear witness to him as well. This promise of empowerment is for disciples (believers in Jesus Christ as Savi...

Jesus both speaks of loving the world and seems against the world. Which is it? How are we supposed to live in the world faithfully?

On the night he was betrayed, Jesus prayed for his disciples and those who would come to believe him later. That’s us! He prayed for protection and sanctification as they go out into the world. Jesus assures this prayer when he goes to the cross.

We can always be connected to Jesus as our phones connect us to one another and the world. Yet the connection to Jesus will always be stronger because he chose you for his eternal, abiding, unconditional love!

This Sunday's Gospel passage follows that of last week where Jesus describes himself as the Vine and his disciples are his branches. Today's passage stays on that theme of 'abiding' in terms of love. What are the practical implications of 'abiding in the love of Jesus Christ'?

Jesus calls us to look to him as the true vine, the one from whom we receive the nutrients and subsistence that sustains us and allows for our growth. By dwelling in him and his word, we can live out God's purpose for our lives. We must look first to Jesus, focusing on our relationship with him before we can live out his will and produce the fruit of the Kingdom of God.

This low and dangerous moment for the culture is actually a glorious opportunity for the church – at least for churches filled with people who are learning more and more how to abide in Jesus, to love the Father as he loves the Father, to love the people he loves, to love the works he does. This is the life that truly is abundant life, the source of flourishing that matters most.

Jesus, like a shepherd, is willing to lay down his life for us. He calls us to love him as our top priority, use him as a living example for our lives, and be committed to giving him to others.

Through the Holy Spirit, we hear the voice of the good shepherd and experience God's loving-kindness.

God has called us to be a witness who testifies to what they have seen and know. We are called to be witnesses to the Good News, the received testimonies of those who saw and knew the risen Jesus - that He is the Son of God, who died and was raised from the dead.

Missional joy arises in Christian community. How do people become Christian? They see other people living in such beautiful, joyful fellowship that they want that kind of life for themselves too – one that only makes sense if Jesus is raised from the dead and alive with his people.

The most powerful word we can ever hear is our own name spoken in tender love. The risen Christ speaks to you by name as he speaks to Mary. He knows everything about you, and he wants everything for you that is good and true and loving and lasts forever.

The Christian story is a grand comedy. We can laugh with joy because Jesus defeated death, sin, and bring us back to right relationship with God. But he does much more than even that.

Jesus asks us whom do we seek in his cross? God, a perfect and innocent man? Yes. But the cross is also his way of seeking us out.

Jesus took bread, his body, everything that is. He gave thanks, thanks to his Father.  Everything came from God. He broke it - offered everything that that is. Sacrifice accepted. Death defeated. Life broken, Life given. His life in you. Do this!

The heart of Mark’s Gospel is verse 10:45: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus came to serve, to give, to die, and to pay a humanly unpayable ransom.   At the cross, God showed the world there is no sin, there is no evil too great that he cannot bring from it everlasting righteousness and joy. During this Holy Week, remember Jesus w...

Jesus enters Jerusalem on a humble donkey as hands wave palms in welcome of another. Into those same hands, turned against him, Jesus still goes and gives himself triumphant. No one is here by accident - not the blinkered disciples nor the demanding crowds; all show who Christ had come to triumphantly gather to himself by going to the cross. 

The secret of living inside the glory of God is to share in the pattern of Jesus who is the grain of wheat that is sown and dies. But we carry around a lot of seeds that we let go of, that never die, and they never bear any fruit. Only the work of Jesus being lifted up for our sake can help us let those seeds go.

Our Gospel passage focuses on the passion of Jesus as he approached his death and resurrectionn. His passion was to glorify his Father by offering his life for the salvation of the whole world. He would achieve that by doing three things simultaneously: glorifying the Father, judging the world, and rescuing all people. What are we passionate about as believers in Jesus Christ?

Guest preacher, the Rev. Dr. Matthew S. C. Olver leads us in a meditation on the strange connection that Jesus draws between his own lifting up, and how Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so that Israel might be saved.