Seed and Growth, Mark 4.26-34

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How does the Kingdom grow? What causes it to grow? How are we part of that growth? These are the questions that spring out of the parables told by Jesus in Mark 4.26-34. Listen to find out more about how these parables raise and answer these questions and what it has to do with you in your own life.

Image: From the book, With the Children on Sundays, through eye-gate, and ear-gate into the city of child-soul, by Sylvanus Stall. No known copyrights.

The Plundering of Satan, Mark 3.20-35

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What do Adam and Eve's sin, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and family have to do with each other? In this sermon, Father Jeremiah brings these biblical concepts together and helps us to understand how Jesus' work brings about a new family and the plundering of Satan's house.

Image: By Shakko [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons

The Beauty of Grace, Mark 2.23-28

How do you respond to the beauty of grace? Do you find it wonderful or uncomfortable? Our sermon this week looks at how wonderful Jesus' grace toward us is and what it means for us.

Image: A an etching by Jan Luyken from the Phillip Medhurst Collection of Bible illustrations housed at Belgrave Hall, Leicester, England (The Kevin Victor Freestone Bequest). By Phillip Medhurst [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Philip De Vere. https://www.flickr.com/groups/the_phillip_medhurst_collection_of_bible_prints

Knowing the Holy Spirit

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 On Pentecost nearly two thousand years ago, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Church. Who is this person that the Father and Son have given to the church? Why does he do what he does and what is it that he has come to do? Listen now to find out more about all of this from Father Jeremiah.

Image: Heilige Dreifaltigkeit by Andrej Rublev [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Bearing Our Humanity

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Does it really matter that Jesus ascended into heaven bodily? What kind of impact does that have upon my own faith? Does it make a difference to my daily life and the life of the Church? Far from being unimportant, Jesus' ascension of utmost necessity for our redemption and salvation. Hear what Father Jeremiah has to say about this extraordinary event in both Jesus' life and the life of the Church.

Image:  The Ascension, by Benjamin West, [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Ascension)_by_Benjamin_West,_PRA.jpg

What is Love? John 15.9-17

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What is love? Is it merely an emotion that we experience or is it something more? St. John says that God is love and that love is not us loving God but something greater than that. What is that? Listen to find out more from Father Jeremiah.

Image: By Nheyob [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons. Found at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_Our_Lady_of_the_Miraculous_Medal_(Columbus,_Ohio)_-_Sacred_Heart_of_Jesus_statue_statue.jpg

The Promised Spirit, John 14.15-20

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We encounter Jesus' teaching on the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John in the midst of Easter. What will the Spirit do for the disciples and for us? How can we live the life that will receive the Spirit? How does our having the Spirit relate to Christ dwelling in us? Listen to find out more! 

Image: The Last Supper, Simon Ushakov, [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Located at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simon_ushakov_last_supper_1685.jpg

The Good Shepherd that We Need, John 10.11-18

There have been many wicked shepherds that have led God's people astray. Yet, so often God's people have embraced them more quickly than God himself. What are we to make of this? What does God do in response to the wicked shepherds and his people's need? Listen to find out more.

Image: By Anonymous (http://polymer.bu.edu/~jdm/good_shepherd.html) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Good_shepherd_icon.jpg)

The Resurrection, Luke 24:36-49

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The resurrection changes everything! In texts from Micah, Luke, and First John, we see the wide ranging effects of Jesus' resurrection on us and all the world. What are these effects? How do they come to us? How do we receive the benefits of Jesus' resurrection? Listen to find out more.

By Lucas Cranach der Ältere (1472–1553) - Herzogliches Museum Gotha, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58440155

Doubt, Grace, and Blessing, John 20.19-31

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Why does Thomas cast doubt on the resurrection of Jesus? Is he any different from the other disciples? Is he any different than us? Thomas' doubt wasn't surprising to Jesus as he gives grace to Thomas. Find out more about this amazing passage today with Father Jeremiah.

Image: By Toros Roslin (Romkla Gospels) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_by_roslin.jpg)

That Which Our Enemy Does Not Have, Mark 16.1-8

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Jesus resurrection is the greatest act of God in history. The women, in Mark's Gospel, visited Jesus' tomb but did not find him there, only a young man. What do we make of this? What does it mean? What does it reveal about God our Father in heaven? Listen now to find out more from Father Jeremiah.

Image: Der Auferstandene, by Lucas Cranach. Public domain in the United States.

To the Uttermost, John 13.1-15

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In John 13, Jesus reveals what the humble servant really looks like and shows us that only he is that true humble servant. Can we embrace the washing that we need to undergo continually through Jesus Christ? Or will we have no part in him? Listen to find out more about John 13.

Image: Simon Ushakov [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Found at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simon_ushakov_last_supper_1685.jpg

The Glory of the Day that the Lord has Made, Mark 11.1-11; Psalm 118:19-29

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Jesus said that the hour of his glory was coming after he entered into Jerusalem. What was this glory that he was anticipating? Did his own disciples understand what was going to happen? The day that the Lord has made is a glorious day that we are called to rejoice in. What is that day that the psalmist is referring to? Is it the same as the one that Jesus is thinking of? Listen to find out more.

Image: Giotto di Bondone [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Found at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giotto_-_Scrovegni_-_-26-_-_Entry_into_Jerusalem2.jpg

To Lie and to Covet, the Ninth and Tenth Commandments

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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

The Treason of Sexual Sin, Seventh and Eighth Commandments

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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

Honoring All, the Fifth and Sixth Commandments

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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

Who Ya Gonna Worship?

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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