Hear the messages that Father Jeremiah delivers each week
to the congregation of Grace Anglican.
When Nicodemus visits Jesus at night, there is more to their talk than meets the eye. How does Jesus being the light go with Nicodemus visiting him at night? How does someone hearing the wind go with hearing Scripture? Father Jeremiah speaks on these questions in this sermon.
Image: Visit of Nicodemus to Jesus, by John La Forge, Public Domain. Location: https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/YSA003406/Visit-of-Nicodemus-to-Christ
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
What does it mean that Jesus was transfigured? How does this affect our understanding of Jesus? What does Jesus’ work have to do with our being able to enter into his presence? These questions give rise to much in Father Jeremiah’s sermon on Jesus’ transfiguration.
image: The Savior’s Transfiguration, unknown artist, Tretyakov Gallery, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Jesus teaches and heals and sees a harvest all around him of people who need the salvation he is bringing. He also sees that in the people’s needs, they are exactly like sheep without a shepherd, without a good shepherd who will lead them into the truth and protect them no matter the cost. Jesus is that shepherd and calls us to himself to bring others to know him as the Good Shepherd.
Image: Shepherd and Sheep, Anton Mauve, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
We hear of ourselves being salt and light, but how is it that we are made into these things that Jesus calls us? And what does Jesus mean by us needing to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and Scribes? Father Jeremiah considers these things in this sermon on Matthew 5:13-20
Image: Christ’s Sermon on the Mount: The Parable of the Lily, public domain, found at: https://loc.getarchive.net/media/christs-sermon-on-the-mount-the-parable-of-the-lily
Too often, we cling to that which God has not given to us, but what happens when we cling to what is given, seeing it as the place of blessing? Jesus’ Beatitudes reveal to us not how to be blessed, but that God is blessing his people in the midst of their lives.
Image: Phillip Medhurst, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Image location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_Luyken%27s_Jesus_6._The_Sermon_on_the_Mount._Phillip_Medhurst_Collection.jpg
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
Grace Anglican Church, Sundays @ 10 AM, 800 Robinson Rd, Gastonia, NC
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 551081, Gastonia, NC 28054
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