[RCL] Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5; John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9 We begin with a garden. It’s no small matter that the committee who culled, edited, and arranged our anthology of sacred texts started the pages with the story of creation, of growth, of dreams. And in the final pages of our anthology,…

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns…

There is something perplexing and difficult at the heart of the Christian faith. This perplexing something is the central value of the Kingdom of God; the primary, identifying characteristic of the Christian Church at its best and the clearest picture we have of our relationship with Jesus and his relationship with us. At the same…

Today we come to what is, for practical purposes, the conclusion of the biblical story, the climax, the consummation, the finale. We hear from the last chapter of the last book of scripture, and what we hear is glorious. Do you want to know something of heaven and why it is a home to long…

Picture this scene. There’s a person we will call “Samantha,” who is a good, faithful Christian. She has attended church most Sundays for about a decade. She volunteers when needed and even served on the vestry for a term. She always attends special church events and Christian education offerings. But somehow, Samantha feels that something…

Today is Rogation Sunday, when the church has traditionally offered prayer for God’s blessing on the fruits of the earth and the labors of humankind. The word “rogation” is from the Latin rogare, “to ask.” Historically, the Rogation Days are a period of fasting and abstinence, asking God’s blessing on the crops, for a bountiful…

We are poised today on the threshold of the Ascension, with Pentecost rising on the horizon. The reading from John’s Gospel today reflects that. It is part of the long love-letter that scholars call Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse” in which Jesus promises his friends that although the time has come for him to depart, he will…

During these Great 50 Days of Easter we reflect on what it means to be people who live their lives shaped and formed by the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our Collect for the day calls us to love Jesus so fully that we might obtain his promises to us, which will…

The Book of Acts tells the story of the cripple from Lystra, a man crippled at birth. Most of society ignored him — he was a beggar, after all. He would sit all day in his invisibility and watch people pass by. But there was one who truly saw him. The Apostle Paul recognized him…