Hear the messages that Father Jeremiah delivers each week
to the congregation of Grace Anglican.
Jesus left Nazareth to extend his ministry throughout Galilee in order to fulfill prophecy. What happens when the light enters dark places? What happens when this Light calls others to his side as disciples? Father Jeremiah explains Matthew 4.12-22 for us in his sermon today.
Image: A Sun Rising, photo taken by bluesbby, licensed under CC BY 2.0, no changes made. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/17367470@N05/24411335287
Why does John the Baptist delight in pointing his own disciples to Jesus? What does John understand about Jesus that others had not grasped yet? And just why does the Holy Spirit come to rest upon Jesus at his baptism? Father Jeremiah considers these things in his sermon for the Second Sunday of Epiphany.
Image: San Giovanni che indica il Cristo a Sant'Andrea, by Ottavio Vannini (1585-c. 1643), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ottavio_vannini,_san_giovanni_che_indica_il_Cristo_a_Sant%27Andrea.jpg
Why did Jesus go to John the Baptist to get baptized? Was it needed for Jesus himself? Or did he do it for a greater purpose? Father Jeremiah considers why Jesus was baptized and how that changes us today.
Image: Andrea del Verrocchio, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, no changes made. Image location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Baptism_of_Christ_%28Verrocchio_%26_Leonardo%29.jpg
image: AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Menologion_of_Basil_047.jpg
St. John tells in the first chapter of his Gospel that the Word was with God, the Word was God, and the Word became flesh. God has become man he declares. And out of that, humanity receives three gifts that John brings forward. Father Jeremiah preaches about these gifts and their importance to our salvation in this Christmas Day sermon.
image: See page for author, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0> no changes made, via Wikimedia Commons. Image location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_birth_of_Christ;_outside_the_crumbling_cave,_an_angel_an_Wellcome_V0034608.jpg
When the angel appeared to the shepherds, he told them that the Messiah had been born and a whole host appeared and declared the peace had come and was coming because of this birth. This glorious event reminds us that Jesus came to bring true peace and redemption to humanity by being born as a man.
Image: Leonhard Goffine, CC0 (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:An_Angel_appears_to_the_Shepherds.jpg
How does Joseph respond when he discovers Mary is pregnant? How does he respond when he learns her pregnancy has been caused by the Holy Spirit? He responds with righteousness and faithfulness before God! He is a quiet man who strives to do as God commands and takes on the task of being the earthly father of the Messiah, who he knows to be more than an ordinary man.
Image: An Angel Appears to Joseph in a Dream, uploaded by Martin LaBar, licensed under: CC BY-NC 2.0, no changes made. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinlabar/2079380
John the Baptist’s disciples come to meet with Jesus and ask him about his messiahship and Jesus simply points to his words and actions instead of giving a direct answer. Why does he do this? What does he mean when he goes on to say that the violent are laying hold of the kingdom? All of this goes together as we consider the. nature of repentance and who is repentant in most cases during Jesus’ ministry.
Image: Peasants Carrying Sticks, by Camille Pissarro, National Gallery of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
John the Baptist came preaching judgment and repentance in light of the coming of the Messiah. How does this relate to the idea of peace? How does peace come out of a word of judgment and call to repentance? Father Jeremiah tells about this reality in his sermon today.
Image: St. John the Baptist icon, picture taken by Ted. No changes made. Used under license: CC BY-SA 2.0. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/frted/10181902566
How does Christ’s judging Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD and his future return affect us today? Father Jeremiah reflects upon this and how Christ’s previous coming and his future coming gives us hope for today that he will come to us through Word and Sacrament.
Image: The Falling Stars, from pg 323 of Bible Readings of the Home Circle located at www.projectgutenburg.org. Image location: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/34520/pg34520-images.html#id-6453421722991906772
What is a saint? What is holiness? What does this have to do with baptism? Father Jeremiah explores these questions in his sermon for All Saints’ Sunday.
Image: Baptism Stained glass window detail, Mountfield church, picture by Julien P Goffogg. License: CC BY-SA 2.0, no changes made. Location: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3912954
The people grumbled when Jesus went into the house of Zacchaeus. They grumbled because he was spending time with a sinner and having table fellowship. Yet, without Jesus doing this for all of us, none of us could be saved. In fact, Jesus even comes to us in our baptisms that he might have this fellowship with us.
Image: Jesus Speaks to Zacchaeus, who is in a tree uploaded by Martin LaBar License: CC BY-NC 2.0. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinlabar/6876656
What was the real difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector of Luke 18? Was one a good guy and the other bad? Or are both bad and one simply recognizes his proper need for an atoning sacrifice before God? Father Jeremiah looks at the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector and considers what this parable teaches us to understand about ourselves.
Image: The Pharisee and the Publican, After Sir John Everett Millais, Engraved and printed by Dalziel Brothers. Public Domain. Image location: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/382281
The widow of Jesus’ parable in Luke 18 is unwilling to give up her cause before an unjust judge. The judge eventually gives in and does what is right. What does this tell us about prayer? What does it tell us about God? How are we to come to God then if we know that he is truly honorable toward his people? Father Jeremiah considers all of this and encourages us to prayer unceasingly to our God who has redeemed us in Jesus Christ.
Image: The Unjust Judge and the Importunate Widow, Brothers Dalziel, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Image location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Unjust_Judge_and_the_Importunate_Widow_(The_Parables_of_Our_Lord_and_Saviour_Jesus_Christ)_MET_DP835791.jpg
Bishop Terrell joins with us for confirmations and so he preached the sermon for this Sunday. He walks us through the healing of the 10 Lepers from Luke 17 and directs us toward the need for gratitude toward God as we walk through our lives as Christians.
Image: See page for author, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, no changes made. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_cures_ten_lepers._Woodcut._Wellcome_V0034943.jpg
Image: See page for author, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Image Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_tells_an_apostle_how_a_mustard_seed_grows_into_a_tree_Wellcome_V0034951.jpg
How powerful is the Word of God? In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, we learn that if the rich man had but heeded what was in the Law and the Prophets, he would have been at Abraham’s side with Lazarus. Instead, he was focused on himself and ignoring the Word of God.
Image: The Rich Man and Lazarus, by Brothers Dalziel and John Everett Millais, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Rich_Man_and_Lazarus_(The_Parables_of_Our_Lord_and_Saviour_Jesus_Christ)_MET_DP835801.jpg
What did the dishonest steward do that was so commendable? In Father Jeremiah’s sermon, he considers just what the steward’s shrewdness was about. Was the steward depending upon his own shrewdness and ingenuity? Or was there someone else he was depending upon in the midst of his crisis? Listen now to find out more!
Image by: Andrei Mironov, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Image location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%87%D0%B0_%D0%BE_%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BC_%D1%83%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5._%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0_XXI_%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%B0..jpg
Image: Marble statue of The Good Shepherd carrying a lamb, c. 300-350, from the Catacombs of Domitilla, Vatican Museums, Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Image Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marble_statue_of_The_Good_Shepherd_carrying_a_lamb,_c._300-350,_from_the_Catacombs_of_Domitilla,_Vatican_Museums_(31302117574).jpg
When we think of being a disciples of Jesus, our thoughts often turn to what we must do in our discipleship. But what if we consider what Christ has done to change us into the right kind of disciples? Father Jeremiah speaks to the reality of Christ bearing our cross in his own cross to enable us to carry ours.
Image: Woodcut of Christ carrying the Lamb, illustration from the prayerbook of Martin Luther, Sebald Beham, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Image Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luther-prayerbook-Beham-1527.jpg
Grace Anglican Church, Sundays @ 10 AM, 800 Robinson Rd, Gastonia, NC
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 551081, Gastonia, NC 28054
