Sermon, 23rd Sunday after Trinity, 2024
This Sunday, we wrapped up the Unification cycle of our Trinity series on the Seven Deadly Sins by revisiting one final time, the sin of covetousness. Covetousness desires what belongs to another person. Christ said to the Pharisees, render unto Cesar the things that are Cesar’s, and render unto God, the things that are God’s. As ancient coins bore the image of the sovereign that minted them, we bear the image of the sovereign that created us. We belong to God. Will we render ourselves unto Him? Or do we withhold ourselves from Him in our self-covetousness? This is the challenge for us today and every day. Propers Manuscript …
Anglican Hymn Singing Workshop, Nov. 15-17, 2024
Do you like to sing, but feel timid about singing along with everyone in Church? Do you wish that you could sing better, but don’t know where to begin to improve? Then please join us at Christ the King Anglican Church on the weekend of November 15-17 when we welcome Andrew Dittman, Choirmaster at Chapel of the Cross in Dallas, Texas, to help us to better understand why we sing and to help us to sing better! Besides being choirmaster at the Chapel, Mr. Dittman also leads the music department at St. Timothy’s School in Dallas, and is also Artistic Director of the Denton Bach Society. Here is the weekend’s…
Sermon, 15th Sunday after Trinity, 2024
Covetousness is, at its core, a distrust of God through an attempt to provide for ourselves. Yet we cannot make the sun rise or set, we cannot make it rain or shine, we cannot control the vast majority of what happens to us. So how exactly are we going to provide what we need for life? The virtue we need which opposes our greediness is justice – giving to all his due. The just person understands the relative value of things and does not clamor for that which cannot satisfy and which cannot save. God is our hope and strength, a very present help in trouble. God takes care of…
Sermon, 14th after Trinity, 2024
Will we live in the flesh or in the Spirit? This question is posed to us by St. Paul in the epistle lesson this morning. The sins of the flesh may seem attractive to us, but then the gospel lesson illustrates for us that such a life is like having leprosy. How then, are we to live in the Spirit? The virtue we need is Temperance. As followers of Jesus, this isn’t simply a strength of will to avoid sin, but it is a longing for something greater to be found in our relationship with Christ. Propers Manuscript
Baptisms, August 18, 2024
We were honored to welcome 6 new members into Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church in August.
Sermon, 13th after Trinity, 2024
Too often, we use the Law, those biblical principles of what things are right and wrong, to attempt to justify ourselves. Such is the case of the student of the Mosaic Law that we read about in Luke 10:23-37. Then having incorrectly justified ourselves, we become angry with those who disagree with us or thwart our purposes. Yet St. Paul makes the case in Galatians 3, that our relationship with God, established first in the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis, is entirely on the basis of God’s promise. Our obedience is built upon God’s gift, not upon our keeping of the Law. We do not justify ourselves. God, in Christ Jesus,…
Sermon, 12th Sunday after Trinity, 2024
Accidie or Dejection is the sin that steals our agency. At some point, we look at the problems in the world and the problems in our own lives, and we give up. We don’t think that anything we do can change the course that is set in motion. The virtue that opposes our dejection is Hope for hope is a confidence that is based on the agency of God who makes us able ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What we do, any act of service no matter how grand or how unseen, makes a difference. This isn’t because we see the difference that our actions make. We may…
Sermon, 8th Sunday after Trinity, 2024
In what do we really put our trust? In God? Or in our own abilities to get what we desire? We are tempted to neglect worship because we want to get ahead. We are tempted to manipulate others to get them to behave as we desire them to. It is hard to rest in God and to accept what He has for us, but that is exactly what we are called to do as followers of Jesus Christ. Propers Manuscript
Sermon, 7th Sunday after Trinity, 2024
Are the Seven Deadly Sins really all that deadly? They do not immediately cause our physical death, but the certainly do lead to death of the soul. Why then do we not repent and amend our lives? Because to do so means that we must put off our sloth, dying to ourselves, and embracing the work that God has for us to do. Let us not be intimidated by this, but rather, being strengthened by Christ, let us embrace the work set before us to the building of The Kingdom of God and to the Glory of The Almighty King. Propers Manuscript
Sermon, 6th Sunday after Trinity, 2024
In this sermon, we continue with our series on the purgation cycle of the seven deadly sins. This sermon focuses upon the sin of wrath or unjustified anger. Wrath seeks to destroy whatever may be causing one frustration, the ultimate end of which is murder. Christ Himself connects anger with murder in the Sermon on the Mount which is one of the texts referenced. Is there the possibility of a justified anger? Yes, for there truly are injustices in this world that we are called to correct. As recovering sinners, however, we should always be wary because our natural tendency is to rationalize our sin away. Propers Manuscript