Category: Sermon

Sermon on Luke 15. 1-10

So we are at a point in the story today in St. Luke’s Gospel where Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem to be crucified and on the third day rise again. His ministry moves between blocks of teaching on what it means to follow Him, in the way of the Cross, and responding to the mounting opposition and criticism from the religious leaders, who are becoming increasingly disturbed and alarmed by the things Jesus is saying-. and doing.

Continue reading “Trinity 13. Sept 15, 2019 Canon Claude Schroeder”

St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Trinity 6, July 28.2019. Canon Claude Schroeder. (Luke 11. 1-13)

“Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after He had finished, one ofthe disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray.”

So today it’s going to be all about prayer, and the three part teaching on prayer which Jesus gave his disciples in today’s Gospel reading. In the first part, we have the words of a prayer Jesus gave his disciples to pray, what we call the Lord’s Prayer, which we should actually call “The Disciples’ prayer.” Then we have a parable about prayer. Jesus preferred method of teaching was to tell a parable. Here it’s the story of the man who when to his friend at midnight to ask for bread, and then, thirdly, we have some sayings on prayer.

Continue reading “Trinity 6, – July 28, 2019”

July 21, 2019

Beth Christianson

I indulged in a flight of fancy this week. I imagined the preacher as preschool teacher, and the authors of our various lections as mini, four-year-old versions of themselves. Over there is Amos, watching the news on television and scolding the authorities who are explaining why tearing down an old and poverty-stricken neighbourhood to make room for a shopping mall is a good idea. And in that corner, little Paul is standing on a chair looking out the window, declaiming poetry to the squirrel in the tree outside. And here in front of me is sweet Luke. He’s got a big idea for a great story, and he’s sitting at the little tab!e with his crayons and a big sheet of drawing paper, making a map to go with his story world, a la J.R.R. Tolkien. The psalmist is the little girl sitting in the playhouse singing to her doi!. Even little Collect is there. She’s the kid who invariably catches you if you stub your toe and swear. and she mostly only speaks in short, declarative sentences. Working with these preschool iections is a little bit like herding cats. It takes a light touch and a little bit of reverse psychology, but the trick is to get them to realize that in fact, they are all telling the same story.

Continue reading “Image of the Invisible”

Canon Claude Schroeder (Luke 9-51-62)

In our Gospel today Luke tells us, “When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” This marks the beginning of what the bible scholars call the “Travel Narrative” in St. Luke’s Gospel, in which, over the course of ten chapters Luke tells us what happened as Jesus left Galilee with his disciples, and walked down the pilgrimage route to Jerusalem. Starting today and continuing to the end of November, we are going to be taking in some of the highlights of Luke’s Travel Narrative, which is for us an extended teaching on the Christian life, what does it mean for us to follow Jesus on His journey to Jerusalem?

Continue reading “Trinity 2 – June 30, 2019”

St. Mary’s Anglican Church – Revd. Canon Claude Schroeder

Well, for the last six weeks since Easter Sunday we have been proclaiming and celebrating in church the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead. And we are not quite finished yet! Alleluia, Christ is Risen!….

And then last Thursday, the 40^th day after Easter, we celebrated the Ascension of Jesus into heaven.

For those who missed the service, happily for us at St. Mary’s, there is no avoiding the Ascension of Jesus Christ. It is something that literally stares us in the face every Sunday morning, in the window above the altar.

At our open house Saturday before last, I explained to the people on the church tour, that in the Ascension Jesus does not become the world’s first astronaut, blasting off the earth and going up into heaven out there somewhere beyond the stars. The Ascension is Jesus into heaven is His entry into the eternity of God.

Continue reading “Sunday after Ascension – June 2, 2019”

Creation and New Creation – Beth Christianson

Well, we are now coming up on the end of the Easter season. This Thursday will be AscensionDay, the 40th day after Easter. Ten days after that, the 50th day after Easter, is Pentecost Sunday. There has been a tradition in the church since the 5th century that the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Ascension are Rogation Days. Over time, this Sunday has been attached to those Rogation Days, becoming known as Rogation Sunday.

Continue reading “Easter 5 / Rogation Sunday – May 26, 2019”

St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Canon Claude Schroeder

Today, Palm Sunday, marks the beginning of what in traditional Christian churches is called Holy Week. It is the most spiritually intense week of the year for Christians. It’s the time of year we seek to enter more deeply into the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection. To set the scene we just heard St. Matthew’s account of the Passion of Christ. If we were to follow the plan as it is laid out in the Book of Common Prayer, we would be back in church every day this week, where in the service of Holy Communion on Monday and Tuesday we would read through Mark’s account of the Passion; Wednesday and Thursday we would read through Luke’s account of the Passion; and on Friday, Good Friday, we would bring have the climatic reading of the Passion according to John. That’s pretty intense.

Continue reading “Palm Sunday – April 14, 2019”

“Good Parenting 101” – Beth Christianson

In lots of ways, I still consider myself to be pretty new to this Anglicanism thing. Before I began coming to church at St. Mary’s, my impression of the Anglican church was synonymous in my mind with England and Englishness. But I’ve learned a lot about our rituals, our church calendar, the festivals and feasts and fasts we observe, and I’ve come to appreciate how much deeper into the history of the Church our Anglican roots go. The lectionary we are following in Lent dates all the way back to the 5th century. We share feasts and fasts with other liturgical churches, holy days which Christians have been observing for nearly all of our history.

Continue reading “Mothering Sunday – March 31, 2019”

St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Canon Claude Schroeder

Sermon on Matthew 15. 21-27

The Gospel lessons in the first three Sundays in Lent comprise what we might call a mini course in demonology. Everything you wanted to know about demons but were afraid to ask. Well, may not everything you wanted you needed know about demons.

So last Sunday Jesus goes into the wilderness and is tempted by the devil himself on three separate occasions, which serve to inform our understanding of the triple renunciations Christians make in Holy Baptism.

Today we have the story of the Canaanite woman whose daughter was tormented by a demon.

Continue reading “Lent 2 – March 17, 2019”

St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church, Canon Claude Schroeder

Sermon on Matthew 4. 1-11.

The Gospel lesson for the First Sunday of Lent is the same every year. It’s the story of how Jesus after His Baptism was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he fasted 40 days and 40 nights and was tempted by the devil.

Starting today and for the next two Sundays we are going be considering the reality of demonic temptation, which are the obstacles that we face on our journey to Jerusalem where at Easter we will celebrate the Paschal Feast of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

For converts to Christianity preparing for baptism at Easter, these lessons would have been very instructive. Christian baptism begins with a triple renunciation of the demonic powers of the world, the flesh, and the devil. But just because in baptism and in confirmation you renounced the demonic powers and received the Holy Spirit, doesn’t mean that the demonic powers are going to leave you alone. St. Peter, in a letter to the newly baptized, wrote, “Be sober, be watchful, your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith. (1 Peter 5, 8,9)

Continue reading “Lent 1 – March 9, 2019”