Life Changing Storytellers
May 8, 2022
Church of the Servant
4th Sunday of Easter Acts 9:36-43; John 10:22-30 Click the Audio Link below to hear the Sermon (The second link below includes both the Scripture reading from Acts and the Sermon.)
Tending Our Own Vine
October 4, 2020
Church of the Servant, Wilmington, NC
Proper 22 – Year A
Isaiah 5:1-7
The Shepherding Way
May 12, 2019
Church of the Servant, Wilmington, NC
4th Sunday of Easter
Psalm 23; John 10:22-30
Listen here:
The Imprint of Christ
April 26, 2015
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
The 3rd Sunday of Easter
Acts 3:12-19; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48
(Gospel text is provided at the bottom of this post)
How many of you like commercials?
If you watch TV, listen to the radio, read the paper or surf the web, you are constantly being bombarded by messages telling you about things you need, things you should want, and things you can’t live without. It’s not uncommon to see the same ad over and over again during the same one-hour program, right. This is very intentional by marketers. Communication experts say that you have to communicate your message at least 7 times for people to hear it, and probably dealing with some, it’s more like 70 times 7!
If we apply this to our church context, this concept of repetition is substantiated by our use of the Lectionary. Over a three year period we hear different combinations of Old and New Testament readings, including a significant portion of all four Gospels. Then, after three years, we start over again. So, if you’ve been in the Episcopal Church, or a denomination that follows the common lectionary, it would take 21 years to hear each of these texts 7 times – and that’s if you attend every single Sunday!
But, don’t lose faith! The good news is that because of common themes, it can take much less than 21 years to get the gist of Jesus’ message– to have a sense of Jesus’ call for repentance, of God’s gift of forgiveness, the importance of servant-hood, and the command to love God and show compassion to all people. So, sign up today! Don’t delay! There’s still time!