mtrbev11

Proper 12 2022

Prayer is one of the most fundamental aspects of our spiritual life and it is the one aspect with which more people, especially those who have grown up in a more liturgical rather than evangelical denomination, find that they struggle. Prayer is a foundational practice of the Jewish faith from which we have deep spiritualContinue reading “Proper 12 2022”

Proper 11 2021

As many of you probably know by now, Fiddler on the Roof is one of my favorite shows. Besides just being entertaining, it gives us a glimpse into the common life of a pre-modern Jewish family. I suspect much of the social etiquette described in that show was in place in Jesus time. Everyone hadContinue reading “Proper 11 2021”

Proper 10 2022

While I was on the 7 hour flight from Ireland back to Virginia, I had plenty of time to watch movies, including some Irish made movies. One of the movies I watched was called Belfast. It was the story of one family’s struggle to stay neutral and compassionate to their neighbors, both Protestant and CatholicContinue reading “Proper 10 2022”

Trinity Sunday 2022

Today is Trinity Sunday. I am not going to try and offer you a comprehensible definition of the Trinity. The Trinity is a mystery that must be accepted by faith if one accepts it. What I do want to do is look at the development of our statements of faith, our creeds, and explain howContinue reading “Trinity Sunday 2022”

Pentecost 2022

I am fascinated by words and their impact on society. So much so, that I have actually listened to two of Dr. John McWhorter’s lecture series on the history of language available through the Great Courses. Dr. McWhorter does not explain the development of language the same way as the book of Genesis does, butContinue reading “Pentecost 2022”

7 Easter 2022

There is so much fear, grief, anger and frustration going on right now and I confess that I don’t have the answers to make it stop. The last school shooting hit close to home for me. I was born one town over and the Episcopal priest in Uvalde is a dear friend of mine. OthersContinue reading “7 Easter 2022”

6 Easter 2022

This is our fifth sermon on John’s Revelation and we have made it half way thorough the book, however, the second half moves quicker and I plan to finish next week, before Pentecost. If you missed any of the previous sermons and want to hear them, they are available on my sermon blog. We endedContinue reading “6 Easter 2022”

5 Easter 2022

This is the fourth sermon in our series on the Revelation of John. We ended last week at the end of chapter 8 with four of seven trumpets having been blown bringing about the destruction of 1/3 of the earth and sky after the last of seven seals were broken. Chapter nine begins with theContinue reading “5 Easter 2022”

4 Easter 2022

For those of you who might have missed the last couple of weeks, I have been preaching from the Revelation of John. This will be the third sermon in this series. We will be reading from the Revelation as our second reading throughout the Easter season, but we only get snippets of the book andContinue reading “4 Easter 2022”

3 Easter 2022

Today I want to begin by talking about the letter seven in Biblical texts. In Hebrew the root of many words, especially verbs are made up of three consonants and not until the 6th century AD were vowel points added to aid in the reading of text. The word “seven” in Hebrew has the exactContinue reading “3 Easter 2022”