Sermons

O Come, O Come Emmanuel. I speak to you in the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,Mother to us all. Amen+True Confession:I’m terrible atpreparing for Christmas.For years, our houseremained bare of decorationsbecause the weeksbefore Christmaswere all about preparingfor finals when I was a teacher,and now that I’m a priest,I’m too busywith church to […]Read more “Who Makes the Paths Straight?”

Advent begins… What comes to mind when you hear the word Advent?  A season of longing, waiting, pregnant expectation, a time of hopefulness, a call to stillness, a time to step back in prayer and preparation as we approach the day when we will once again hear the great news that God so loved the world […]Read more “Advent Begins…”

Sermon Preached at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Chicago, Proper 29, Christ the King, Year B: 2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132:1-13; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37 For our Revelation passage this morning, “To him who loves us…made us to be a kingdom, priests serving our God…be all glory and dominion…” I speak to you in the name […]Read more ““When Did You Know?””

My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. I speak to you in the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Mother to us all. Amen+ If you were here last week or if you followed the photos on Facebook, you know that we baptized six—SIX!—babies on All Saints’ […]Read more “Commitment Sunday: Putting our whole trust in God’s grace and love”

Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more. I speak to you in the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Mother to us all. Amen+ There is only one movie worthy of our celebration of All Saints and that is the great Pixar film Coco. If you […]Read more “All Saints Day: No One is Lost”

Ruth says, “Do not press me to leave you…” When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. I speak to you in the name of one God: Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen. She saw that she was determined…Determination, according to the Google, “is a positive […]Read more “Determination that Redeems”

Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” I speak to you in the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Mother to us all. Amen+ Today in Mark’s Gospel we meet blind Bartimaeus, someone we might call an accidental saint. […]Read more “Accidental Saints”

Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great. You are clothed with majesty and splendor. I speak to you in the Name of the Living God: Holy Eternal Majesty, Holy Incarnate Word, Holy Abiding Spirit. Amen. Can imagination save you? Can a vision of the awesome stop our questions, […]Read more “Created for Amazement”

I speak to you in the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Mother to us all. Amen+ The Rich Young Ruler. That’s what we call him, that’s how he’s come to be known over the years. He shows up in the three synoptic gospels. In Matthew he’s young, in Luke he’s a ruler, […]Read more “Who Can Be Saved?”

“And he took them up in his arms, laid his hand on them, and blessed them.” I speak to you in the name of one God: Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen. “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” […]Read more “Transforming Hard Hearts into Soft Hearts”

I speak to you in the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Mother to us all. Amen. I found myself years ago, in a dark chapel, praying with teenage girls, on the last night of an intense retreat—Kairos—the capstone of their spiritual formation in the Catholic high school where I was teaching English. […]Read more “Thick Love at All Saints’”

We love people who are the greatest,  those who amaze us  with their skills and talents,  Tiger Woods in his heyday multi-talented superstars like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Beyoncé,  or gymnast Simone Biles who is certainly a GOAT— greatest of all time— in gymnastics and  a courageous crusader against the abuse of gymnasts.  We love knowing  […]Read more “Sermon for Sunday, September 19, 2021”

Well, hello, All Saints! I can’t tell you how happy I am to FINALLY be here! As my home church, the church that sponsored me for ordination, the church that has been my gold standard of what a joyful, welcoming church looks like, you’ve often been on my mind. But for the past few months […]Read more “The Rev. E. Suzanne Wille’s First Sermon at All Saints’ Chicago”

I speak to you in the name of one God, Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen + The way forward requires remembering the wisdom of the past…the way forward requires remembering the wisdom of the past. This summer, I was gifted a journaling companion entitled “The Next Right Thing,” by author Emily P. Freeman. It […]Read more “The Way Forward Requires Remembering the Wisdom of the Past”

Sunday Sermon, 11:00 a.m. service | August 29, 2021 Sermon for the 11:00 a.m. service on the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, August 29, 2021, preached by the Rev. Dr. Mark Andrew Jefferson, assistant professor of homiletics at Virginia Theological Seminary Dr. Jefferson preached three distinct different sermons at each of our Sunday services at 8am, […]Read more “Defiled and Defiant”

Sunday Sermon, 9:00 a.m. service | August 29, 2021 Sermon for the 9:00 a.m. service on the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, August 29, 2021, preached by the Rev. Dr. Mark Andrew Jefferson, assistant professor of homiletics at Virginia Theological Seminary Dr. Jefferson preached three distinct different sermons at each of our Sunday services at 8am, […]Read more “The Hearer in the Mirror”

Sunday Sermon, 8:00 a.m. service | August 29, 2021 Sermon for the 8:00 a.m. service on the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, August 29, 2021, preached by the Rev. Dr. Mark Andrew Jefferson, assistant professor of homiletics at Virginia Theological Seminary Dr. Jefferson preached three distinct different sermons at each of our Sunday services at 8am, […]Read more “The Power of Perseverance”

Hello and Good Morning! Many of you probably do not know me. My name is Logan Lovelace. I am a seminarian at Virginia Theological Seminary, going into my senior year and I have been in Chicago this summer doing my clinical pastoral education or chaplaincy training at Northwestern Hospital. I am from the Diocese of […]Read more “Steps Toward Peace: Finding the Right Shoes”

We are what we eat —- it’s true isn’t it…every cell in our body is created by the food we eat, water we drink, the air we breathe.  We can be a little preoccupied/sometimes obsessed with food in our culture.  What to eat.  When to eat.  Where to eat.  We have millions of books about […]Read more “Come, Believe, Eat”

In St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 4, which we began reading last week and finish reading today, St, Paul is basically outlining what it means to be in community and to live as followers of the “Way” – a title given to the early followers of Christ before they were known as Christians. […]Read more “Being the Bread of Life”