Angela V. Askew

Sermons and Bible Studies
About Ten Years Ago…, Proper 20 (A) – 2005
About ten years ago, in The Good Book: Reading The Bible With Mind And Heart, Peter Gomes wrote that what makes the Bible so compelling is the company of characters who, like ourselves, are so often both confused and confusing and yet play their part in the drama of human relationship to God. The stories […]
Sooner or Later…, Proper 17 (A) – 2005
Sooner or later, all of us have to bear something that is, to all intents and purposes, unbearable. A young widow is left with three children to raise alone because her husband was killed in Iraq. A baby dies at birth. A sister dies in a car crash involving a drunk driver. Sometimes it is […]
At the Time Matthew’s Gospel…, Proper 4 (A) – 2005
At the time Matthewâs Gospel was being written, in the 80s of the first century, the city of Antioch in Syria had become the third most important city in the nascent Roman Empire. But Antioch was sitting on top of a geological fault-line that nobody understood in those days, and it had repeatedly suffered from […]
The Readings Today Start Out…, Lent 2 (A) – 1996
The readings today start out with the beginning of the story of Abraham and Sarah. The story itself twists through more than 12 chapters of Genesis; and this being the book of Genesisâwhich means âoriginsââit is introduced by a genealogy that links Abram and Sarai to Shem, a son of Noah. The significant thing about […]
A Favorite Prayer…, Proper 16 (C) – 2004
A favorite prayer for “birthday blessings, in churches where people’s birthdays are publicly celebrated, begins: “O God, our times are in your hand ¦( Prayer #50, BCP p.380) Isaiah would recognize the phrase, and being a daring and confrontational prophet, he would no doubt ask if we lived, not just on our birthdays, but every […]
With the Story of Jesus and Zaccheus, Proper 26 (C) – 2004
With the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus we are nearly at the end of Lukeâs narrative of Jesusâ journey from the region between Galilee and Samaria up to the city of Jerusalem (17:11 – 19:27) for the events leading to the Cross. The stories and parables told in this section all point to one of […]
Once Pentecost and Trinity…, Proper 9 (C) – 2004
Once Pentecost and Trinity Sunday have passed, the church comes into âOrdinary Time.â For many months now, we will have ample opportunity to explore concretely what the effects are of Godâs mighty acts of salvation in our lives together. On this July 4 Sunday, as we celebrate this countryâs Independence Day, the Ordinary Time lectionaryâin […]
We Are Poised Today…, Easter 6 (C) – 2004
We are poised today on the threshold of the Ascension, with Pentecost rising on the horizon. The reading from Johnâs Gospel today reflects that. It is part of the long love-letter that scholars call Jesusâ âFarewell Discourseâ in which Jesus promises his friends that although the time has come for him to depart, he will […]
We Begin Our Sundays…, Lent 1 (B) – 2003
We begin our Sundays in Lent this year with St Mark. On a small canvas with only a few brush-strokes, Mark shows Jesus being baptized in the river Jordan, and then being driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. In the mind’s eye we can see the sharp contrasts. In […]
One of the Odd Things…, Epiphany 1 (B) – 2003
One of the odd things about the Church Calendar is that the baby Jesus grows up very fast after his birth on December 25, his circumcision into the Covenant on January 1, and the visit of the Wise Men to the stable in Bethlehem on January 6, the Epiphany. Here we are just a few […]
There Was Once a Time…, Proper 9 (A) – 2002
There was once a time when any of us going to a service of Holy Communion in an Episcopal Church might hear some of Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel. “Come to me all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Or, in a slightly older form of the English […]
In John’s Gospel This Morning…, Day of Pentecost (A) – 2002
In John’s Gospel this morning, the gift of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ disciples seems to be part and parcel of their initial experience of Jesus’ resurrection. If our worship schedule in church followed John’s picture, we would be celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit on Easter Sunday evening. The fact that we don’t […]
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