If there was one word to describe 2020 so far what would you choose? Perhaps most of us would choose pandemic, or crisis, or isolation or some other word related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the large scale changes that have rocked our world over the past 6 months. Perhaps some would choose negative emotions or descriptors like terrible, challenging, topsy-turvy. While all those words would be appropriate and true, I think that the word which resonates with me over the course of 2020 is: … [Read more...]
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Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Lent: All Shall Be Well
**Audio Version Below** Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Lent March 29, 2020 Alice J Stewart “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” Julian of Norwich wrote these now-famous words while on death’s door, sick from the plague, during a time of plague when it seemed the world was ending. When it seemed that life would never be the same for the living, which indeed it was not. Julian knew that the life of Christ was fully alive within her even … [Read more...]
Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent: Staying Engaged
**Audio Version Below** Sermon for the Third Sunday of Lent - March 15, 2020 - Alice J Stewart Today Jesus speaks to a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. You remember Jacob. He’s the one who deceived his father, stole his brother’s rightful heritage, and wrestled with an angel of God until he was badly injured, refusing to let go until he received a blessing. Jacob was a lot nicer after that beating and blessing. Jacob wrestled with God and this Samaritan woman is struggling with the … [Read more...]
It’s About Relationships
**Audio version below** **NOTE**: Slides are found in the "read sermon" button at the bottom of the page. Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany: Alice J Stewart [Slide 1] We have some pretty spectacular things happening in our gospel reading today. We’ve got murder, adultery, dismemberment, lust, going to jail, going to hell, and divorce. It sounds like Jesus expects us to follow Jewish law a whole lot closer than we’ve done in the past. But Jesus isn’t talking about the … [Read more...]
Salt of the Earth – Sermon for Epiphany 5
"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?” ~ Matthew 5:13 Like many young people leaving home for the first time, I never learned to cook for myself. In university I spent my first couple years in residence, and then when I was living off campus my idea of cooking was popping a can of something and heating it in the microwave or if I was really fancy on the stove top. I could make eggs and bacon for breakfast, and my one real food item … [Read more...]
Mr./Mrs. Beatitudes – Sermon for Epiphany 4
Audio of Sermon: Mr./Mrs. Beatitudes found below! ”Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:10 Ever since I was a child I have loved both fantasy and science fiction as a genre. Whether it was devouring Tolkien, laughing hysterically at the Hitchhikers Guide Series, or watching Star Trek with my parents – I couldn’t get enough of the stories weaved in the two literary genres. A common enough story in both fantasy and … [Read more...]
Cross-Shaped Glasses: Sermon for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany
**Audio Version Below** Today I want to talk about the cross. It may seem a strange thing to bring up during Epiphany. Shouldn’t we focus on the brilliant glory of the incarnation and the wonderful things Jesus did that illuminate the glory of God? Well, yes. But we Christians look at the light of Christ through cross-shaped glasses. In the first part of our reading from Matthew today, Jesus had heard that John was arrested. When he heard this, Jesus returned from his time of … [Read more...]
New Life – Baptism of Christ Sunday, 2020
“See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.” – Isaiah 42:9 “Gone by 2040? Statistics report wake-up call to church, says primate” If you receive the Anglican Journal or you happened to read one here in our entryway before they were taken, you would have been confronted by this shocking headline, on the front page of our church’s national newspaper. The article is a response to statistics which were recently released … [Read more...]
We Three Kings? – Sermon for Epiphany 2020
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem – Matthew 2:1 Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany here on the first Sunday of the new year, the new decade. Even as all around us Christmas decorations have been taken down and store shelves are now stuffed with Valentines Day paraphernalia, trees put away or put out to the curb, Boxing Day sales have wrapped up, yet our celebration of Christmas continues all the way until … [Read more...]
Shine Christ’s Light with Joy
**Audio below** Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent December 22, 2019 Alice J Stewart We have heard throughout the gospels and the epistles that following Jesus can get you in real trouble. We’ve heard this from Jesus himself, we’ve heard this from Paul, and there are other places we can find this truth. And it is truth. Mary and Joseph found this out even before Jesus was born. Mary was in deep trouble having a child out of wedlock. But today let’s focus on Joseph. Joseph was a … [Read more...]