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Sermons 2017
08/13/2017 sermon by the Rev. Ray Michener. The storms around us rage. The waves threaten to sink our small boat, which we are constantly bailing. But look, Jesus is walking on the water, calm amid the thunder and lightning, the driving rain and the riven waves. Call to him! If you have faith, walk out to him.
08/06/2017 sermon by the Rev. Ray Michener. The witnesses tell us that the face of Moses glowed after he talked to God face to face. The witnesses tell us that Jesus on the mountain was transfigured. The witnesses have passed on the word: “Listen to Him!”
07/30/2017 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, not suffering, or doubt, or years of unbelief, or the worst sins imaginable. God loves us. We may not feel it or see it but it is there and makes all the difference. Search your heart and you may feel a drop of that love. Open your heart and you may experience a flood.
07/23/2017 Sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Be present as a witness. Offer relief. Give them a break. Be patient until the time is right. Confess our imperfections and that of our institutions. Pray. Read. Reflect. Learn to love. Imitate Jesus. Live with the weeds. If you cannot find better, use a rock as a pillow.
07/16/2017 sermon by the Rev. Emily Gibson. Sin, Law, and Grace — There is now no condemnation to those who are in Jesus Christ, we who love even though we fail, we who are found wanting, we who justly feel guilt and sorrow, we who are forgiven, we who forgive, we the guilty whom God loves, we who welcome grace, we whom God inspires.
07/09/2017 sermon by the Rev. Canon Lloyd S. Casson. Are we born into sin? No! What God created is good. When we truly believe that, temptation flees. Be of good faith! Nothing is wanting! God will provide! Put down your burden and put on the yoke of Jesus. His burden is easy. His yoke is light.
07/02/2017 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Abraham’s son, Isaac, was led by his father to a place unknown. Let us trust our Father as every day brings us into an unfamiliar place. Even if we try to stay in place, to preserve the familiar, we find it changes right in front of our eyes. Soon the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware will have a new bishop, someone to join us as the 21st Century continues to sweep us onward towards the unfamiliar.
06/25/2017 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Jesus wants all of us. Let us present our selves, our souls, and our bodies to the Lord. Everything! Let us present ourselves even though we may fail. God’s grace permeates all our lives and is there for the asking at church, at work, at home, and at play. God’s grace abounds!
06/18/2017 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Pray for the victims of domestic gun violence in our country but also pray for the shooters. Bullets fly and so do violent words. Pray for those shooting off their mouths and those who listen. And don’t just pray for them; learn to love them. Don’t laugh thinking it is impossible. Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?
06/04/2017 Pentecost Sunday sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. We can be at peace with our neighbors even when they are not at peace with us. They may persecute us, but we should not persecute them. We who have received the Spirit are called to take our place in a challenging world, one that may not be overjoyed to see us.
05/21/2017 sermon by the Rev. Emily Gibson. Jesus prepared his disciples. We can allow God to prepare us. We can open ourselves to the Holy Spirit. We can love and let ourselves be loved. We can invite others in. Forgive those who trespass. Encourage one another. Stand with and alongside your neighbor. Lend a hand. Lend our hearts. There is hope in God’s call to us.
05/14/2017 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. This is a time of transition for our diocese, which now has five nominees for our next bishop. We all enjoy and suffer transitions, personally and collectively as churches, denominations, cities, countries, etc. The Episcopal Church is no exception. Our new archbishop Curry calls us to be more consciously a part of the Jesus Movement.
05/07/2017 Good Shepherd Sunday sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Rowing is a team sport, each person moving their oar in perfect harmony with the others in the boat. We are all in the same boat, rowing towards a distant shore. Let us continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers.
4/30/2017 The Third Sunday of Easter sermon by the Rev. Emily Gibson. After Jesus rose from the dead, his followers often did not recognize him at first. Even today, there are many things that cloud our vision so we do not recognize and welcome God’s grace in our lives.
04/23/2017 The Second Sunday of Easter sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. We believe the Good News, even though we, unlike the disciples, have not met Jesus in the flesh. But we have been touched by the Spirit, and so believe that good is triumphant, and death is not the final word.
04/16/2017 Easter Sunday sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. The glorious resurrection of Jesus from the grave came after his torture and death. His disciples huddled in grief and fear. But that devastation changed to joy. Let us, too, suffer the ordeals that life gives us. Let us endure, confident that our troubles will end and we will be, once again, fearless and joyful. (Note: there is some static in this recording we were unable to eliminate; that is, there are still some weeds in the wheat.)
04/15/2017 The Great Vigil of Easter sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Christ is risen! Hallelujah! This is the night when all who believe in Christ are delivered from the gloom of death and are restored to life. This is the night when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell and rose victorious from the grave. Light has been restored after a long period of darkness. Hallelujah!
04/09/2017 Palm Sunday sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. This Holy Week, ask yourself, “Who is Jesus?” A teacher, a faith healer, a prophet, the Messiah, the Son of God? Why did Jesus have to die? What is Jesus asking of you, for your life? Ask. Go deeper. Get to the bedrock of your soul. Of all the people who have parts in Jesus’s passion and death, with whom do you identify? Pray for them, and for yourself.
04/02/2017 sermon by guest preacher Kaamilah Diabate, MLK Jr. Communication Contest winner in 2016. Insights into what it means to be young and black some 50 years after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. Ms. Diabate is a high-school junior.
03/26/2017 The Fourth Sunday in Lent sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. We all experience rejection. It can be mean-spirited, even evil. It can be based on ignorance or prejudice. Or, it can simply be that others are better and so are chosen for the award, the team, or the job instead of us. How are we, as Christians, to deal with our feelings of anger, injustice, resentment, and hard feelings? Are those feelings to dominate our lives, or can we forgive and find joy?
03/19/2017 The Third Sunday in Lent sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Following God, being faithful, means we must work to overcome what separates us from one another and from God. Pray. Meditate. Fast. Repent. Reach out. Find and celebrate the good in your neighbor.
03/12/2017 The Second Sunday in Lent sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. During Lent, we prepare for Easter by make a right beginning of repentance, by self-examination; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. In some ways, it is like getting ready for surgery, which my wife did this past week.
03/05/2017 The First Sunday in Lent sermon by the Rev. Canon Lloyd S. Casson. Do you feel scattered? Unfulfilled? Lonely? Listen! God is reaching out to you inwardly and outwardly. See what there is to be found when you pray, fast, and meditate. See what there is to be found when you welcome others into your life.
03/01/2017 Ash Wednesday homily by the Rev. David Andrews. I invite you to the observance of a holy Lent, and to make a right beginning of repentance, by self-examination; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.
02/26/2017 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Have you been to the mountaintop and seen God’s glory? Do as Jesus did. Walk back down into the valley and take God’s love with you. And do not pretend you are there only to give love. You are also there to receive it, for we are all human, channels of God’s love, if we will but listen.
02/19/2017 sermons by MLK Jr. communication contest winners, guest preachers Tyrek Traylor and Nana Ohemaa Asante. The second annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Communication Contest for New Castle County, Delaware was conducted on January 15, 2017. The competition is designed to challenge high school students to develop and communicate their ideas using poetry, speech, and/or rap, reflecting on Dr. King’s legacy while sharing their proposed action for change within the Wilmington community.
02/12/2017 sermon by the Rev. Canon Lloyd S. Casson. We forget that we are loved. We forget to be glad. When we remember, our members reunited, our beings whole, we cannot help but love God and one another. We forgive. We are compassionate. We celebrate!
02/5/2017 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. How are we to live in the world? How is our joy to be restored? We are called to be like salt, preserving and flavoring life. Listen for God. Pray that you may hear. Let light in. Yours are the eyes, the hands, the feet, the compassion through whom God works!
01/29/2017 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. The Lord requires you to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. You are called! Even though you are tried, tested, challenged, or doubting, you are called, as were those who came before us. Trust God. Look to God, who does not withhold love, gives us what allows us to answer, “Yes!”
01/22/2017 Post-Inauguration Sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Our smart phones and computers keep getting updated. Just as we get comfortable with one operating system, another takes its place. Aggghhh! Our nation has just changed its operating system. Soon we will wonder that we ever threw up our hands in frustration and impatience. We are patient. We are adequate to the task. We trust in God.
01/15/2017 Black Prophets Sermon by the Rev. Canon Lloyd S. Casson. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Rt. Rev. Quintin E. Primo, Jr. were witnesses to God’s love, that the world should have light and have it more abundantly. They were prophets sent by God into the world. You, too, should be active in the world, to transform it, to restore all people to unity with God and with one another.
01/08/2017 The First Sunday After The Epiphany – by the Rev. David Andrews. We are baptized into Jesus’ name and are, like Him, beloved by God. If the Spirit inspires us, we will love everyone we meet, something we cannot do without the inspiration of God. Otherwise, we fail to see people as individuals and instead see them as men or women, children or adults, rich or poor, black or white, Republican or Democrat.
01/01/2017 New Year’s Day sermon — The Feast of the Holy Name — by the Rev. David Andrews. We live in changing times and even we are not constant. We have good days and bad, but we can give thanks every day, we can pray every day, reminding ourselves to continue in our surrender to God’s love.
