Barbara Beam

The Rev. Barbara Beam is vicar of St. Nicholas Church, Noel (a bi-lingual congregation) and St. John’s Church, Neosho. Both congregations are located in the southwest corner of Missouri. E-mail: madre@netins.net
Sermons and Bible Studies
What Is the Kingdom…, Proper 12 (A) – 2005
What is the kingdom of heaven like? Jesus seems to have a lot of different answers to that question is todayâs Gospel. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Or, itâs like yeast. Or, itâs like a treasure hidden in a field. Or, itâs like a pearl of great value. Or, itâs like […]
You Will Be My Witnesses, Easter 7 (A) – 2005
âYou will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.â (Acts 1:8) In his commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Joseph Fitzmyer says that this is the âprogrammatic verseâ of Acts; it […]
A Man and A Woman Are Chatting…, Thanksgiving Day (C) – 2004
A man and a woman are chatting over dinner. The woman says, “John, are we ever going to get married?” The man obviously doesn’t want to answer this question. He splutters a little and replies, “Uh, thank you.” It works! The woman is so pleased to hear these two words that she forgets all about […]
Oh, the Cleverness…, Proper 20 (C) – 2004
Oh, the cleverness of this fellow in todayâs Gospel! OK, so he wouldnât have scored well in the honesty department, but you must admit he was quite clever. It seems that he was dishonest many times over. He worked for a rich man, managing his property. Probably he was well enough paid for this service, […]
May the Grace…, Proper 9 (C) – 2004
âMay the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters.â These words, written by St. Paul to the Christians in Galatia, come coursing down the centuries this morning, a benediction on us from this man of God. And then, being the teacher that he is, Paul gives us some instruction, […]
In a Little Town…, Easter 4 (C) – 2004
In a little town in a little church in southwest Missouri, the children and their Sunday school teacher were talking about Jesus. âDid Jesus speak English or Spanish?â the children wanted to know. For the most part, their parents speak Spanish as their âfirstâ language. Their teachers, for the most part, speak English. The kids […]
I Regard Everything…, Lent 5 (C) – 2004
âI regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.â These are very autobiographical lines from Paul, who once thought […]
Listen to Him!, The Transfiguration – 2003
It’s a glorious feast today: the Transfiguration of Our Lord on the mountain top. The calendar of our Church Year (BCP, p.15ff) lists seven days as “Principal Feasts,” followed by the Sundays of the year, and then by “Other Feasts of Our Lord,” of which this day is one. The event of the Transfiguration is […]
Walls Come A-Tumblin’ Down, Proper 11 (B) – 2003
The world into which Saul of Tarsus was born was a world in which people were divided into two camps: the Jews — that is, the chosen people of God, the ones to whom God had been revealed, the ones to whom all the promises of Hebrew Scripture had been made — and the Gentiles […]
Our Reading From the Acts…, Easter 7 (B) – 2003
Our reading from the Acts of the Apostles today gives us an interesting glimpse into the lives of the earliest Christians. In this story, they were fresh from having witnessed the Ascension of Jesus Christ. His last words to them were: …you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you […]
The Story in Today’s Gospel…, Lent 4 (B) – 2003
The story in today’s Gospel has a familiar ring to it. Well, of course, it is one of the better known stories in the New Testament, appearing in all four Gospels, and, in some cases, more than once. But beyond that, it is familiar because it reminds us of the way things still happen in […]
Showing God’s Love with Open Arms, Epiphany 3 (B) – 2003
Simon and Andrew were literally just minding their own business, that day on the Sea of Galilee. It was just a day like any other day. How many days of their lives had they spent in the same way — casting their net into the sea and hoping for a good catch? Fishing wasn’t just […]
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