Click HERE to view The Ven. Pat Zifcak’s sermon from Sunday, October 10, 2021.

“Seek the Lord and live.” So says the prophet, Amos, at the start of our

first reading. “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-

edged sword….” Yet we have a great high priest who understands our

weakness and guides and teaches us by his word proclaimed to us through

the gospels.

Click HERE to view The Rev. Jeffrey W. Mello’s sermon from Sunday, October 3, 2021.

To view this sermon on Youtube, click HERE.

A few weeks ago we heard the part of Mark’s gospel, a chapter earlier than this one, in which Jesus asks his disciples, “who do you say that I am?”

The question of identity as followers of Jesus; that is, “who is Jesus” and “who are we who follow the one called Christ?” continues through this morning’s reading from Mark.

To view this sermon on Youtube, please click HERE.

Our parish mission statement is “To be a place in this world where all can experience the fullness of Christ's love and learn to follow the Two Great Commandments: to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength; and to love our neighbor as ourselves.”

How much of what we have experienced in our lives can be traced back to an ill-advised word spoken; to a word meant not to build up the kingdom of God here on earth, but to gain something of this world for themselves; to conquer another for the sake of greed, or power. Words used in order to gain the world yet forfeiting life.

There are two points of interest for me in the readings this morning. One is how clear it is to me that our scriptures are a living, breathing text that interacts with us from the ancient past and in the present moment. The other is how hard it is for us to accept that our heroes are flawed. That is hard enough when our heroes are superstar athletes, movie stars, our favorite singer or heads of government. How much more unsettling when it is Jesus!