Sacred Words and Art

This Generous Undertaking A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday After Pentecost June 30, 2024 The Rev. Robin Teasley   As you excel in everything-- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you-- so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something-- now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has-- not according to what one does not have. I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure ...

What is Your Storm? A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost June 23, 2024 The Rev. Robin Teasley   When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mark 4:35-41 Jesus Stilling the Tempest, James Tissot   Set in the hills of northern Israel, the Sea of Galilee is the lowest freshwater la...

Answer the Phone A Sermon for the Second Sunday after Pentecost       June 2, 2024 The Rev. Robin Teasley   1 Samuel 3:1-20          Mark 2:23 – 3:6   Sometimes, when we are in church, someone’s phone will ring, or quack like a duck, or play a great song. This happens because we are blessed with technology and because we sometimes forget to silence our phones. During one of our Holy Week services there was a phone ringing in the vesting room, proving that clergy are not exempt from forgetfulness either. If this ever happens to you, please know that God forgives us. But I also need to tell you that every time it happens, I am so tempted to stop in the middle of the sermon or liturgy and say, “It’s God calling, answer the phone!” Samuel Relating to Eli the Judgments of God on Eli's House, John Singleton Copley   Our reading from the Book of First Samuel is one of many "call narratives" in the Bi...