Sermon Archive

Video Sermons

February 5, 2012  Do you believe in miracles? Miraculous and instantaneous healings? Whose side is God on in the wars that we fight? Sometimes we discover that God is bigger than our labels and categories. Fr. Mark talks about God the General and Jesus the Great Physician. (February 5, 2012)

January 29, 2012  Does it surprise you to learn that Jesus' first recorded act of public ministry was an exorcism? What to make of that, in a time and culture that doesn't know what to make of all this spiritual warfare language? Demons, devils, gods, God, evil spirits, the Holy Spirit...it's all a little hard to get our minds around. But there it is. In the text. Fr. Mark begins talking about The Game, but the real question here is what is "evil" and what are Christians supposed to do about it? (January 29, 2012)

January 22  Mark recorded the stories he knew and had heard about Jesus, and did it in such a way that the reader was invited into the story -- not merely be inspired but to be transformed. This was something entirely new and singular, and the church (and the world) would never be the same. Today we hear the story of the call of the two sets of brothers, whose own lives were forever changed by this encounter with God in Christ. Fr. Mark talks about inflection points. (January 22)

January 15, 2012   Corinth was a town with a bad reputation. Well deserved. It was a port city with lots of travelers and merchants and ships, and you could find about anything you wanted in Corinth. Paul found a willing audience for his message of grace and salvation in Christ, and he built a thriving church there. But it didn't take long for problems to set in. This morning Fr. Mark has a lot to say about Paul and not all of it is flattering, but in the end there is a message for this and every community of faith. (January 15, 2012)

January 8, 2012  An absolutely glorious day of worship with our Bishop, The Rt. Rev. J. Scott Barker celebrating and preaching! In this morning's sermon, Bp. Barker connects the great stories of Epiphany with our own lives, and gives a surprising message about the where we find and experience the greatness of God's revelation. (January 8, 2012)

January 1, 2012 Eight days after His birth, Joseph and Mary take Jesus to the Temple for two important rituals. How they impacted Jesus and how we are impacted by similar rituals is the theme of Fr. Mark's sermon today. What is in a name? Why were you given your name and what expectations or promises did it contain? (January 1, 2012)

Christmas Eve Children's Service  This is a precious moment with the kids as Dn. Pat and I bring the story to them in a new way. The video is focused on Dn. Pat and Fr Mark is off camera for most the story, so don't worry about that, but do listen to the kids. They are exceptionally cute. One needs to leave early to use the restroom. Another keeps adding her own narrative. But it is all precious. And we close with a message of hope for the adults as well as the kids. (Christmas Eve Children's Service)

December 18, 2011  We have so romanticized the call of Mary and the journey to Bethlehem and the nativity scene and the birth of our Lord that is it easy to forget that Mary was a real woman, a girl really, who accepted God's offer to do something extraordinarily difficult. Sghe would become pregnant, when "the power of the Most High ... overpower[ed]" her. That might have been terrifying, we have no way of knowing. What we do know is that she accepted God's offer to bear a child who would not be hers in the sense that most parents know it. This one hits close to home for me. Here's my sermon (4 Advent Yr B)

December 11, 2011  Living a life of faith is no walk in the park. We are called to reflect the faith we claim, and yet often we struggle to understand it, much less live or reflect it. Today's scripture readings show us three authentic moments in a faith walk that put us in good company no matter where we find ourselves -- in confusion, in clarity, or in mystery. Living what we believe requires knowing what we believe. Easy to say, harder to do. Sometimes, like John, it is enough to simply declare who or what we are not. Here is Fr. Mark's sermon for the third week in Advent. (3 Advent)

December 4, 2011  Well, another video failure. This time the camera failed to completely tape over last week's sermon, and so the result was a messy mash-up of two sermons given simultaneously, which is more than any human should ever be expected to sit through. I admit failure. I know when to give up. I am going out this week and buying a video camera produced in this century and while I can't promise perfection going forward, I can say that the equipment will not be the issue. Here are my notes from today, which will give anyone interested at least some sense of where it went. The long and short -- Mark's Gospel tells the story of Jesus, but only after talking about John, and Isaiah, and Malachi, and even harking back to Genesis. This is a long story, and John the Baptizer stands squarely in the beginning -- the beginning of the middle. We, too, when encountering Mark are invited to ask where we stand in the story, and what to make of this Baptizer and the Messiah he announces. You may be one who is desperate to hear this story of God's Spirit. If so, come back for the next 4 week and, if you are really brave, the next four months. We will be telling the story. If that is not you, if you are not dry and thirsty to hear of Jesus' baptism in the Holy Spirit, perhaps you have been invited to be the storyteller. Advent 2 Yr B

November 20, 2011  What an amazing worship service today! The choir anthem was jaw-dropping. Christ the King! Alleluia! And our last Gospel reading from Matthew for the year is all about the end times, sheep and goats, and the seeing the face of Christ. This was a fun day.

November 13, 2011   I am embarrassed to say that once again we suffered "technical difficulties" and have no video sermon this week. The issue this time was the sound feed. The sound system was on and working but the mic feed into the video camera was unplugged which resulted in a great picture but with complete silence. Now, I know some of you would say all my sermons would be improved by more silence, but I think even my critics would say this is too extreme! Check back next week to see if we can get it right. My apologies.

Too bad. This was an awesome sermon. Maybe my best ever  :)

Fr. Mark+

November 6, 2011   It's a rare treat to preach on the Book of Revelation, John of Patmos, and his visions. So, I didn't want to miss out. Here is my take on John the Revelator and All Saints Day.

October 30, 2011  Why is Jesus so doggone made at the Pharisees? Or was it Matthew that was mad? Or is it me? What does it mean to call someone a hypocrite?

October 9, 2011  Deacon Pat talks about her mission trip to the Dominican Republic with Sandra, and how they met God anew in the midst of a servant community.

September 18, 2011  We all know the story of Jonah. Big fish...three days...yada yada... But the big fish is the smallest part of this story. It's actually a story about justice and grace, and our enduring refusal to recognize the essential characteristic of God.

September 11, 2011

Today we remember what happened.

We honor those who died -- both the innocents who were struck down immediately,

And the heroes who were lost serving and saving others.

Remembering them, we honor their sacrifice.

Remembering that day, we keep it alive

Not so that we can hold on to the pain,

But so that we can release it's hold on us.

In order that we might see through the suffering

Fr. Mark+

September 4, 2011 Fr. Mark forgot his mic AGAIN and so we apologize the second week in a row for poor sound quality. He's on notice -- three strikes and he's out!

So better take this chance to watch what may be his very last sermon ;)  This one's about church conflict -- which has been around at least since Matthew was writing his Gospel...

August 28, 2011 How many crosses do you own? What do they mean to you? What did the cross mean to Jesus and what did he mean when he said "pick up your cross and follow me?" To where? For what? Fr. Mark takes a stab at these questions. (the sound is a little uneven on this video -- Fr. Mark forgot to turn on his mic.)

August 21, 2011 Fr. Mark asks where we would be without Moses? Or without Shiprah and Puah? Or the unnamed woman who risked everything to teach us what it means to love as God loves?

August 7, 2011   Fr. Mark looks at Matthew's version of Jesus walking on the water.

July 31, 2011 Sean Steele, a rising senior at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Tx, was our guest preacher today. We apologize to Sean and to the viewer for the slightly cluttered audio. Our mic system was not adjusted properly. But this is an amazing sermon given by a young man with a very bright future in the Episcopal Church.

A link to our first attempt at a video upload of Fr. Mark's sermon from June 26, 2011 is here June 26, 2011 2.0

Manuscripts from 2010/11

EASTER 2011

It's been a while since I wrote out a sermon, but I did for Easter, and so this is the one I preached at all three services (more or less.) Easter Day 2011.doc

February 20, 2011 -- 7 Epiphany

It's been a good year so far for peace. Or maybe I should say for non-violence. What is so interesting is how unusual it feels to have non-violent change in the world. Southern Sudan. Egypt. So far so good. It seems crazy to even say it, but we may have just witnessed non-violent revolution in two places where we might not have expected it. Jesus teaches about this. And we are called to live it out. It hit me in a small way in my life this week, but made me think about things in a larger way. Here's the sermon...7 Epiphany Yr A 2.0.doc

January 23, 2011 -- 3 Epiphany

Sometimes the best thing the preacher can do is edit. This was one of those weeks. Here's the sermon I wrote (narrative) but did not give. It's a good sermon, theologically sound and not overly long, and I link it here because it does have all the points I wanted to make. But the sermon I actually gave was more focused. On light. On the symbol and metaphor and theology of light. I didn't write it out, but here's the basic outline of what I actually preached. OUTLINE

January 9th, 2011 -- 1 Epiphany

Why we celebrate Epiphany, why we need the Incarnation, and what the heck it might mean that Jesus was baptized...(1 Epiphany Yr A)

Christmas Eve, 2010

We all know what Christmas is about, right? The baby, of course. But there is a great disconnect in our minds between the reading of the Gospel and the reality of the presents. I think a close reading of Luke's story gives us something to ponder besides the shepherds and the angels. I think Luke's story is about war and peace and politics and religion. Good stuff...(Click for Fr. Mark's Christmas Sermon)