Recordings of recent sermons can be found on our YouTube channel. Click here, then fast forward to the sermon part of any Sunday service video!
12/20/2015 sermon by the Rev. Canon Lloyd S. Casson. The light is almost here. Our world is dark. Fear, anger, anxiety everywhere. Something is going on. It’s been going on for thousands of years. Light has come into the world. Magnify the Lord! Rejoice! Let every heart prepare a place!
12/13/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Rejoice! Even in prison, St. Paul rejoiced because he knew the Lord is near. We too can rejoice, even when challenged to change and to grow. God is at work in us, in we the people. No one person has to do it alone.
12/6/2015 sermon by the Rev. Peter Huiner. Faith is more than just hanging in there, or just getting through another hour. We are children of the day! Even during the night, even at its darkest, we can anticipate the dawn to come, the day of the Lord that overcomes all adversity, even death.
11/29/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Be alert for the Day of the Lord! This world is not a safe place, yet we are told to be vigilant for good things — not only watching for what might harm us but primarily for God’s blessings — to be alert to what direction the Spirit would lead us and to move in that direction, to prepare for the Lord, to reflect in joyful anticipation!
11/22/2015 sermon by the Rev. Emily Gibson. Think of theology as cosmology, the study of the cosmos. In Christ, all things came together, were created, and have their being. Jesus was before the world, is now, and ever will be, God-With-Us since the world began, even now offering us full participation in life.
11/15/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Thank you, God, for the means of grace and the hope of glory, for making us means of grace, for letting us share with others our hope of glory.
11/7/2015 sermon by Dr. Yasser Payne. Our character should be in alignment with God’s will. When that happens, we love our neighbor. We will find it hard to rest when they are troubled. Many in this very city are troubled, are victims of a system that needs to change, a system that can be more just, more equitable.
10/25/2015 sermon by the Rabbi Yair Robinson from Congregation Beth Emeth, Wilmington, Delaware, guest preacher. We experience a world of gates and gatekeepers, often of our own doing. How do we open the gates that we may respond to one another? God’s blessings beckon. Why do we let the voices of others, and the voices inside our heads, keep us from even trying to reach them?
10/18/2015 sermon by the Rev. Martha Kirkpatrick, St. Barnabas, guest celebrant and preacher. God challenges us to love it all — our home town, our country, and all the earth; our family, friends, and all people; to protect the earth and to see how all other issues impact that issue, that they are all connected.
10/11/2015 sermon by the Rev. Canon Lloyd S. Casson, Rector Emeritus. All of creation evolved from the single spark of God’s creation. Everything is connected to that singular event. All are equally created, all of the same origin. We are cousins with elephants and microbes, with rivers and mountains, with the stars in their courses. Let us, individually and as a church, be witnesses to the goodness of God. Let us cultivate gratitude.
09/27/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Relationships! Let us care for this place with our time, talent, and financial contributions, not only the physical place, but the people in the building and outside it. Let us work to build our relationships, not complete tasks. Let us abide in the Spirit, not check items off a check list.
09/20/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Thomas Cunningham, a homeless man here in Wilmington, gave his life last week to protect a woman and a child. Jesus said that those who would be first in the kingdom of God should be servant to all, should put others first. This is true of institutions as well as individuals. Churches and their members establish heaven on earth when they serve others and not themselves, not out of obligation, but out of love.
09/13/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Don’t think like Peter, act like Jesus. The disciple Peter expected the Messiah to be a leader of power, not a servant who would soon be crucified. We would be like Jesus, who bore suffering and forgave those who inflicted it because he loved them. Let us love as well. That is how suffering becomes meaningful.
09/06/2015 “End of Racism” sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Many racists are nothing more than lazy thinkers. It is easy to lump everyone of one race into a category. It is much harder, and much more rewarding, to go beyond simple stereotypes and to actually get to know the individual, the person inside the skin. Open up! Open yourself up to knowing others. And let them get to know you!
08/30/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. We face the new and seek ways of remaining faithful. Family, friends, work, school, technology, styles, world events, and more change every day. We are challenged to change and yet remain faithful to God.
08/23/2015 sermon by the Rev. Ray Michener, guest preacher. We are asked to ponder and question the Bible. What is it about? Who is God? Jesus? What does it mean for us? Let us struggle together to understand what is written and, whatever our understanding, to do our best by the grace given us, without demonizing those whose understanding differs from ours.
08/16/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. “Who do you seek? A friend, a spouse, a co-worker, someone you need to the moment or a lifetime? And what are you looking for?” A person, a church, peace, wealth, reputation, for a moment or a lifetime?
Questions like these are asked by the people we find in the Bible.
8/9/2015 sermon by the Rev. Ray Michener, guest preacher, a retired Lutheran pastor and Navy chaplain. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” This is the beautiful and joyous promise of new and everlasting life. We eat this bread. We accept the promise.
8/2
/2015 sermon by Alejandra Garcia-Gonzalez, guest preacher, Episcopal Church’s Young Adult Service Corp. (YASC), a missionary headed to Costa Rica for a year.
7/26/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Jesus went to Galilee to preach and to heal. It was an out-of-the-way place, not the center of things. We, too, are call to go to the places where the words of Jesus need to be heard, to the places where grace and love are most wanting.
7/19/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Imagine we did not have a church building. Imagine we met instead in homes, offices, restaurants, cafes, and — as we will later today for our annual picnic — in parks.
7/12/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. If you only had 24-hours left to live, what would you do with that precious time?
7/5/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. We are all one flesh and one body. We boast, but only of our dependence on God. Relying on God, we hope to do better, as individuals and as a church.
6/28/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Events this past week – in Charleston, South Carolina; at the U.S. Supreme Court; and at the Episcopal General Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah – remind us of concerns greater than our personal ones. And even if we win, we must remember to mourn and grieve for those who have lost. HYMN: After the sermon, the congregation sings Rev. Carolyn Gillette’s new hymn, “They Met to Read the Bible.”
6/21/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Fr. David reflects on the murder of nine black Christians in Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday, June 17, in their church, while studying the Bible. In this country, it is dangerous to be black. Everywhere, it is dangerous to be different.
6/14/2015 Annual Meeting sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. There is an art to studying and to planning. Everyone should pray daily, study, and plan. We should do this individually, but also as a church.
6/7/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. How do we cope with the culture of violence before the violence happens? How is hope preserved? One way is to come together in our grief.
5/31/2015 Trinity Sunday sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Isaiah, in a dream, found himself answering God, “Send me.” Soon, you will find yourself in a situation where someone needs to step forward. Will you step forward, trusting in God’s grace?
Pentecost — 5/24/2015 by the Rt. Rev. Wayne P. Wright, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware. On Pentecost, the disciples of Jesus were gathered together in one place. Who today will follow Jesus to that one place? Let’s not lie awake at night thinking of all the reasons we should not or cannot. The light is shining! Why don’t we go to the top together?
5/17/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. There once lived a king whose realm was blessed with peace and fellowship. One day that king built a bridge across the river to a neighboring kingdom ruled by a tyrant.
5/10/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. A beautiful woman in beautiful clothes was admired by all. Another woman, just as beautiful, was dressed in rags. No one admired her. Then one day…
5/3/2015 sermon by the Rev. Peter Huiner. Hear the Word of God with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. How should we respond to all the bad-news questions, especially when the church is Good News Central?
4/26/2015 Good Shepherd Sunday sermon by our Rector Emeritus, the Rev. Canon Lloyd S. Casson. Sheep smell, but even the most terrible-smelling sheep knows its master’s voice and the good shepherd knows that sheep and calls it by name. Each of us needs to be known and loved. God knows us, even our sighs and groans.
4/19/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Listen! God loves you. God is thankful for your presence in the world. You are cherished! And, unlikely as it sounds, God also loves your neighbor. You know the one. Yes, even that one!
4/12/2015 Upper Room sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Let’s go all in! Even when we shut ourselves off, even then we may encounter the risen Christ, whose Spirit orders our disordered lives.
4/5/2015 Easter Day sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. What has to die in us so that we might experience new life, and leave behind the tomb of anxiety and fear?
4/4/2015 Easter Vigil sermon by our Rector Emeritus, the Rev. Canon Lloyd S. Casson, followed by the Cathedral Choir School of Delaware singing “This Joyful Eastertide”. This is the night in which the light is re-lit, the night the stone is rolled away, the tomb emptied. Hope returns, faith is renewed. The prophecies are fulfilled and understood.
4/3/2015 Good Friday sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Where is your Calvary? Where, when, will you suffer unjustly and yet forgive and love those who harm you? Do you, even today, have old unhealed wounds from others, wounds you received unjustly? Why are you waiting to forgive those who hurt you?
4/1/2015 Wednesday of Holy Week Sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. A sermon in dialogue, a new kind of sermon in which questions are asked of the congregation, emphasizing community.
3/18/2015 Healing Service sermon by our Rector Emeritus, the Rev. Canon Lloyd S. Casson. We can be healed without being cured; that is, our worries and dread can disappear, replaced by confidence and hope, even though our troubles continue.
3/15/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. The Bible is a love story. That fact is easily lost when reading Bible chapters that describe horrific events. Our lives are also love stories. Give us faith, Lord, in your bright love even when we find ourselves in the dark night of the soul.
3/8/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Listen to your life! Where have we encountered God? Remember the places! See the stability granted to you, your family, community, and nation. Face your life with courage! Listen to your life! Take time! Recall! Feel God’s stabilizing touch!
3/1/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. At the recent meeting of the Episcopal Urban Caucus in Connecticut, we heard from parents whose children had died in the mass shootings at Sandy Hook School. The survivors are learning to live in love and forgiveness, and are teaching us.
2/22/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews on the first Sunday in Lent. Let’s talk about Lent and transformation. The wild things in our lives can be blessings, catalysts for change. Embrace them and transformation. Lent is a time to be reborn, to allow God to care for us, to suffer God to guide us.
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/18/2015 Ash Wednesday sermon by the Rev. Emily Gibson. Some scars are signs of complete healing. As a former nurse, Emily tells of other scars, scars that require further healing, perhaps from burns or abdominal adhesions. These kinds of scars happen not only to the body, but also to our spirits. Lent is a time to heal those spiritual scars.
2/15/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. We all enjoy speaking and having others listen. We perhaps don’t enjoy as much listening when others speak, and then speaking only to ask for clarification, to better our understanding. Click the link above to listen to what Fr. David says about listening. Ask him for clarification.
2/1/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. Everywhere there is conflict and loss, but when Jesus comes into our midst, we have hope, we look for healing, there is time enough to do and play, we are unafraid of failure.
1/25/2015 sermon by the Rev. David Andrews. God’s call can come at any time. We can flee, like the prophet Jonah, or we can follow, like Simon and Andrew, like James and John, who were called in the middle of work. Like those apostles, we may be called to drop everything or, most often, even very often, we are asked for a few moments of our time. Listen! Dare, wonder, and see!
1/18/2015 Speech by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr from the Montgomery Courthouse in Alabama in 1965. Rev. King reflects on the march in Selma, Alabama where 8,000 people had marched the previous Sunday. (This speech was abridged and read by the Rev. David Andrews.) Click here to read the full text of King’s speech, sometimes called the “How long? Not Long!” speech.
1/11/2015 Second Sunday of Epiphany by the Rev. David Andrews. “No, we have not even heard there is a Holy Spirit.” So said the Christians in Corinth. They had been baptized with water, but not with the Spirit until St. Paul visited them a few short years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Repentance prepares us to receive the Spirit. The Spirit assures us that we are loved, unique, and treasured. It is the Spirit that teaches us to love and treasure others, to see their uniqueness.
Epiphany sermon, 1/4/2015 by the Rev. David Andrews. We are prisoners in many ways to hard masters. We can be, instead, prisoners of Jesus Christ. His yoke is easy. His burden is light.
