[RCL] Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12 The lessons for this second Sunday in Advent are absolutely magnificent in their belief in, understanding of and knowledge about life in the kingdom of God. What do we have here, from the Psalms, through Isaiah, Romans and Matthew? What will it be like? There…

[RCL]: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  – Romans 15: 13 In every age when God’s people turn to sin and waywardness, human prophets…

We encounter a strange image for the coming Messiah in our lesson today from Isaiah 11: “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” Now picture what this looks like, you’ve seen it before. A tree gets chopped down to a stump, and a…

Note to the Reader: The following sermon includes a story with dialogue. It would be helpful to highlight the dialogue in different colors to help present the effects of the different personalities. The streets of one suburban town in northern New Jersey ooze with history. There is a stately gothic Episcopal Church on one corner…