Sermon, Sunday Next Before Advent, 2024
The Sunday Next Before Advent is coloquially called, “Stir Up Sunday,” from the first words of this day’s collect. “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people.” In reading the lessons, we note the theme of “in-gathering” for the Kingdom of God is a harvest of those who have previously been dispersed throughout the whole world. Yet in the Kingdom, we are not only the object of the verb “to gather in”, but we are the subject as well. We have been gathered in, and we are called to gather in others as well. This, therefore, is the reason that we are to be stirred…
Sermon, Sunday Next Before Advent, 2023
God is always doing a new thing. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but His creative power in redemption is always fresh; it is always new. Will we join Him in the work of redemption? Will we allow ourselves to be broken so that we may be given to others? May we answer yes. May our wills be stirred-up to obedience for God’s glory. Propers Manuscript