In today’s gospel Jesus talks about the coming of the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth. What if the Advocate, in whatever ways she or he shows up, comes not to advocate to another on our behalf but to advocate to us on our own behalf? They are truth tellers for us. They call us more deeply into our authentic selves. They are the ones who transform and change our lives. Who are those people for you?
Tag: Holy Spirit
Letting Peace Hold Our Wounds – A Pentecost Sermon On John 20:19-23
America is in a hard place these days, and we have been for quite a while. Over the last few months of the coronavirus many have said that we’re all in this together. Yes, but we’re not all together in this. We are not “all together in one place” on this day of Pentecost. Our country is divided, fragmented, and wounded. And so is my heart. Maybe yours is too. It’s not easy to talk about our wounds; whether it’s our individual wounds or our national wounds, whether it’s the wounds we’ve received or the ones we’ve inflicted. To talk about our wounds requires us to look at what we’ve done and left undone. It means we each have to look within ourselves. It means taking responsibility for our lives. It means valuing the life and wounds of another as much as our own.
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The Advocate – A Sermon On John 14:15-21
That we need an Advocate to change God’s mind about us just doesn’t fit a God “who so loved the world.” It’s contrary to Jesus saying that he came not to condemn the world but to save, heal, and transform it (John 3:17). “I came,” he says, “that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:9). What if the Advocate’s role is not to change God’s mind but to change our minds about ourselves and each other?
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Living Under the Influence – A Sermon on Acts 2:1-21 for the Feast of Pentecost
“But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’” They sure looked drunk. They sounded drunk. They acted drunk. But Peter denied it. “We’re not drunk,” he said, “it’s only nine o'clock in the morning.” So which is…
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Pentecost Makes us Capable of God
There are moments in each of our lives when we begin to hear a new language. It’s new yet echoes with familiarity. We know it through our deepest longings and desires. If fills us with hope, life, and peace. It…
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A Litany to the Holy Spirit
This Litany to the Holy Spirit was prepared using the traditional form of a litany. The contents of the litany are based on scripture, the Book of Common Prayer, and an Eastern Orthodox prayer to the Holy Spirit. O God…
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God’s Conspiracy Gives Life
Jesus “breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22). Recall a moment when you held another person so close that you could hear his or her breathing, the sound of life. Maybe it was your…
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Come, Holy Spirit (Video Litany)
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Believing in the Giver of Life
For most of us, I suspect, there are moments when the existential questions of life can no longer be answered, ignored, or denied by focusing on our careers, jobs, marriages, families, acquisitions, or accomplishments. Who am I? What is my…
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Co-conspirators with God – A Sermon for the Feast of Pentecost: Acts 2:1-21; Ezekiel 37:1-14
The collect and readings for the Feast of Pentecost may be found here. Think about a moment when you held another person so close that you could hear his or her breathing, the sound of life. Maybe it was your…
Interrupting the Silence 