“Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…”

“We have been spending the last three weeks studying Paul’s first letter to Timothy. Today we come to the summation of all we have said. Before we get to that I want to make sure we all are clear on something.

When you and I share this sermon time together, my expectation is not that you are necessarily going to have a Eureka moment and all of the sudden become a super Christian, involved in 4 ministries, catching up on the pledge and then going beyond it in blessed thanksgiving for all that our Lord God has done in your life…” — Listen here, or download the MP3!

Jesus Came To Save Sinners

“These are the words that Rite 1 congregations hear just after the priest pronounces God’s absolution for our sins. There is such comfort in these words. As we have been moving through the Epistles we have been noting that this literature contains a lot of instruction…” — Listen here, or download the MP3!

Jesus Nailed Our Sin To The Cross

“This, He set aside, nailing it to the Cross. Today, Paul is replying to the thought that there are some sins outside the power of our Lord Jesus to forgive. But before we dig into this portion of Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, perhaps we should spend just a bit of time reminding ourselves of the reason Jesus came to us.” — Listen here, or download the MP3!

Parish Update

To the families and friends of St. Mark’s.

Summer Sermons: I wrote last month about the deep season of Pentecost and what that means for our discipleship.  To support this season of learning, you will have noticed that I am preaching through the Letters, or Epistles, of the Bible.  These letters are rich with instruction, pastoral advice, and even some admonition to a Church trying to find its own way after Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father.  Further, these letters help Christians today see the Trinity at work in the world.

Hearing sermons from this portion of the Scriptures can be difficult simply because the material may be less familiar than the Gospel readings.  In your devotions during the week, it might be helpful to review the readings from Sunday so as to get a sense of the issues and solutions that the authors are offering.  It is important to realize that it is not only the Gospels that are the inspired Word of the Lord.  I hope you will find these portions of Holy Scripture to be very relevant to us today.

Our Cool Church, went through a spell of not being so cool, as you no doubt remember.  As of now, we still are not completely sure what caused at least three of our air conditioning units to fail and one other unit to reduce its efficiency but we are working on the issue with the proper professionals.  I am so grateful for the ministries of our Jr. Warden, Bill Martichuski, Dave Brudi, and not least of all our own George Watson (who did the hot roof top work for us).  None of these men would want recognition but I want each of you to know how much our parish relies on them.

Please remember your parish as we move through this summer season.  With so many people taking time off, large expenditures must be paid for out of church savings.  If you can, please consider adding to your regular pledge to help us meet our budget and replace our savings account.

May God bless you and keep you.

Fr. Greg+

How to Be a Community of New Creation

"This is the last time we will be in Paul’s letter to the Galatians for a while and he does not disappoint in this final volley to a church in trouble. Paul is reducing the several themes of this letter to a very ‘thick syrup’ of what it means to be a Community in Christ – that New Creation he speaks of so often. How does he do this?" — Listen here, or download the MP3!

Jesus Fulfills the Law of Moses

“We continue this week with Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Paul is drawing conclusions about the law and a strong faith in the redemptive power of Jesus on the cross. Now we know the law is that portion of the first five books of our Old Testament that provide the do’s and the don’ts to God’s chosen people…”Listen here, or download the MP3!