Speaker: The Rev. Timothy Patterson
It really is a stunning story. Though it has become such a familiar story that the stunning part of it doesn’t always come through to us. The Good Samaritan. It has really become something of a cliché, on the news or in the newspapers, ...Speaker: The Rev. Timothy Patterson
Today I want to focus on our first reading, from Galatians, because in this well-known passage I believe that the Apostle Paul has given us an important map for our spiritual journey – a map which zeroes in on three essential biblical ...Speaker: The Rev. Timothy Patterson
The very first sermon I ever preached in an Episcopal church was on Trinity Sunday, which we celebrate today. It was toward the very end of my pre-ordination intern year at St. Philip’s in Durham back in 1986. And one of my mentors there was ...Speaker: The Rev. Timothy Patterson
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is praying to God for his disciples. He prays that “your love” - God’s love - “may be in them.” That your love may be in them. This, in a nutshell, is God’s plan. And this is the ...Speaker: The Rev. Timothy Patterson
Jesus says: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. I give them eternal life.” Of course, here Jesus is not really talking about sheep at all. He is talking about us - and our own relationship as Christians with him, the ...Speaker: The Rev. Timothy Patterson
“Thus says the Lord: Do not consider the things of old. For behold, I am about to do a new thing.” In our Old Testament reading, the prophet known as Second Isaiah was addressing God’s people in exile from their homeland, exiled ...Speaker: The Rev. Timothy Patterson
In the ancient wisdom of the church, every Ash Wednesday, to begin the season of Lent, we touch each other with the ashes of our own mortality... It is in the brutal honesty of this ritual, in the bracing truthfulness, the earthy realism of this ...Speaker: The Rev. Timothy Patterson
This gospel reading, well, you actually can read it in a literal, straightforward manner as a fishing story. And it is that. Indeed, it is a great and memorable fishing story; and, as is often the case with that genre, almost too much to believe. ...Speaker: The Rev. Timothy Patterson
“On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee.” This well-known story of Jesus’ first miracle, turning water into wine, is very prominent in the Gospel according to John. As Jesus’ first miracle, his first ...Speaker: The Rev. Timothy Patterson
So, let me offer a very concise summary of our scripture reading for today. “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice - you brood of vipers!” Kind of a double message - isn’t it? Of course, it is a double message we ...