St. Paul's Memorial Church - St. Paul's Memorial Church, Charlottesville, VA
Sermons from St. Paul's Memorial Church
A War Against Evil
We like to think of ourselves as peaceful people, but you and I use war-like metaphors all the time. “She lost her long fight against disease” is a phrase we frequently encounter in obituaries. Sports writers say that rival football teams are “battling it out” for the championship. Our president uses the word “crusade” to characterize his “War on Terror.” And any of us who are teenagers, or who have teenagers of our own, occasionally use words derived from the battlefield to describe the generational conflicts going on inside our homes. War gives us the vocabulary we use to describe lots of our everyday experiences.Pentecost 14
Remembering 9/11 and reflecting on a God that calls us to be refreshment and hope to all.
Tradition
Last spring, First Year Players presented “Fiddler on the Roof.” Since a number of our Canterbury kids were in the production, I was particularly anxious to see their performance. They did a phenomenal job, and what made it even more impressive was that every one of the actors was a first-year student at the University.Pentecost 12
Looking at our ongoing response to need a year after Hurricane Katrina.
You Are What You Eat
Forever repeating an old adage, my grandmother used to tell me, “You are what you eat.” When I was five years old, I puzzled over what she meant by this. Was she suggesting that if I ate a ham sandwich, I was going to grow up to be a pig? Or was it that our vegetarian friends were destined to be reborn as tomato plants? “You are what you eat.” Since we lived on Long Island Sound at the time, and a lot of the locals ate eels, the implications for some kids I knew were really alarming.Jesus is the Bread of Life
God's love and grace are freely given so that everyone may know life. Jesus, through whom the whole world was made, said that he will not lose anything that has been given him; but will present it to the Father at the last day.
Transfiguration
One of the polling organizations—Gallup, I think it was—did a survey of American religious attitudes several years ago. They asked what denominations people belonged to, and whether they had ever had what they would call a “religious experience.” How do you think we Episcopalians came out? . . . No, you’re wrong, we weren’t last, we weren’t anywhere near last. In fact, we came out at the very top of mainline denominations. Somewhere between seventy and eighty percent of Episcopalians said that they’d had, at least once in their lives, some sort of religious experience. Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Take that, Presbyterians!Jesus Calms the Wind
In Christ we are given grace and gifts for ministry to build up the Body of Christ. When we are in need or facing overwhelming obstacles Jesus is present to calm the storm.
Feeding the 5,000
God's compassion and love is abundant. When we offer our gifts for ministry they are blessed and become sufficient.
Telling the Good News
Fantasize with me for just a moment, if you will. Let’s imagine that Jesus is here this morning, standing right in the middle of our chancel. And let’s suppose he’s saying something like this: “I want all of you to leave here now, but I don’t want any of you heading for home. Rather, I want you to begin a journey today, a journey on foot. You’re going to walk in pairs throughout Virginia, telling everyone you meet that they must repent, for the Kingdom of God is here. And everywhere you go you must heal the sick and cast out devils. Then come back at the end of the summer and tell me how you’ve done.”Getting in Touch
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