Hear the messages that Father Jeremiah delivers each week
to the congregation of Grace Anglican.
When Jesus receive the Holy Spirit in his baptism, that very Spirit drove him into the wilderness. There Jesus resists Satan for his people and brings to us who trust in him, deliverance from temptation and, ultimately, sin itself through his death and resurrection.
Image: The Temptation by the Devil by Gustave Dore, engraving, 1865. Public Domain. Image location: https://www.artbible.info/art/large/18.html
The sin and death that is within us is something that must be dealt with on Earth. It is the problem of Earth and not that of Heaven. Thus, Jesus comes to deal with it here on Earth that we might be saved from sin and death by his death and resurrection. On Ash Wednesday, we embrace that reality and enter the season of Lent recognizing that we can’t deal with death without Jesus.
Image: The story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_Hezekiah,_clouthed_in_sackcloth,_spreads_open_the_letter_before_the_Lord.jpg
St. Paul speaks of the one act of righteousness of Jesus in his epistle to the Romans. What does this act encompass? Is it only a reference to the crucifixion or is there a an underlying reality within the one act of Jesus? What does his temptation have to do with this? So many questions flowing from the texts for this First Sunday in Lent and Father Jeremiah examines them in this sermon that considers the one act of righteousness.
Image: Temptation of Christ, 12th century mosaic in basilica di San Marco, anonimus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
As we come to Ash Wednesday, we must consider just what we are doing on this day. C.S. Lewis said, “Good and evil both increase at compound interest.” Everything that we do will shape and remake us. Father Jeremiah considers this truth as he reflects on the ashen crosses upon our foreheads.
image: Celebration of Ash Wednesday and Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church, by Bernard Picart. Public Domain. Image location: https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/YR0308725/Celebration-of-Ash-Wednesday-and-Eucharist-in-the-Roman-Catholic-Church
On Ash Wednesday we hear from Scripture about sinful fasting and repentance that isn’t really fasting and repentance because it is done for the publicity and show of it. And yet, we are fasting and repenting publicly ourselves. What do we do with this tension that we find before us in Scripture and ourselves? Father Jeremiah considers this in his Ash Wednesday sermon.
Image: by Jerome Quinto, SDB. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. No changes made. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/techunk_7/16566392255/in/album-72157648552783614/
Father Jeremiah expounds on the Collect for Ash Wednesday as a way for us to not lose focus on Jesus and what he has done for us during Lent. This prayer draws our eyes to our continual need to be sorrowful for our sins and to pray for a heart that is truly sorrowful from God for only God can give us that kind of heart through Jesus.
Father Jeremiah finishes our series in the Ten Commandments today. As he teaches us about what it means to not bear false witness and to not covet, we see how coveting is committed every time we break any of the other commandments. How does all of this relate to the foundational commandment to not have any other gods but the God and Father of Jesus Christ? Listen to find out more.
Image: The Ten Commandments, Lucas Cranach the Elder [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Located: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A10_Gebote_(Lucas_Cranach_d_A).jpg
Adultery and other sexual sins can be viewed as a kind of treason against our spouses. But is also treason against God who has ordered the world a certain way. What do we do when find ourselves in these sins? We continue our way through the Ten Commandments and consider sexual sin and stealing today. What hope do we have when we have committed these sins? Listen to find out more.
Image: The Ten Commandments, Lucas Cranach the Elder [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Located: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A10_Gebote_(Lucas_Cranach_d_A).jpg
What do the fifth and sixth commandments have to do with each other? Honoring father and mother is foundational to not murdering and in fact, foundational to all the commandments that follow it. Listen to find out how far we go in giving honor and how we obey this command by not murdering.
Image: The Ten Commandments, Lucas Cranach the Elder [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Located: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A10_Gebote_(Lucas_Cranach_d_A).jpg
In today’s Gospel, Peter rebukes Jesus for predicting his coming death in Jerusalem. How does Peter's rebuke relate to the third and fourth commandments? Father Jeremiah helps us to see that Peter was taking God's name in vain and how we can more fully obey this commandment in our own lives. Out of this, we can find rest in God's name that has been placed upon us in our baptisms.
Image: The Ten Commandments, Lucas Cranach the Elder [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Located: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A10_Gebote_(Lucas_Cranach_d_A).jpg
Jesus was driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit in order to be tempted by Satan. How does Jesus fulfill the first two commandments in his resisting Satan? This is the question that is explored in this first sermon on the Ten Commandments during this season of Lent.
Image: The Ten Commandments, Lucas Cranach the Elder [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Located: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A10_Gebote_(Lucas_Cranach_d_A).jpg
Grace Anglican Church, Sundays @ 10 AM, 800 Robinson Rd, Gastonia, NC
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 551081, Gastonia, NC 28054
