Christ proclaims the arrival of the Kingdom of God: “Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!” CEB Christ describes the Kingdom of God: it is like a small lump of leaven in a large quantity of dough; it is like a shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to save the one that is lost; the kingdom is like a father who has two sons; and like a Samaritan who saves a man left for dead in a ditch. The Kingdom is like a king who invites the poor to the wedding banquet of his Son. Christ also Demonstrates the Kingdom with Healings of body and healings of mind—setting people free from Mortal Mind’s false programs of happiness that run on fear, anxiety, greed, lust, jealousy, and anger. He demonstrates the Kingdom by eating meals with outcasts and sinners, sex workers and tax collectors.  

Last Pentecost/Christ the King, November 24, 2019 + William Bradbury. Jeremiah 23:1-6, Psalm 46, Colossians 1:11-20, Luke 23:33-43

Sermon:22 Pentecost–November 10, 2019: William Bradbury

Job 19:23-27a, Psalm 17:1-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17, Luke 20:27-38

“Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven—”This part of the Lord’s Prayer sums up the whole prayer. This is his first announcement and his final goal: to get us to join him in living our prayer to manifest God’s Kingdom on earth. Jesus did not come to call us to fly away from earth to heaven, but rather to pray and live for God’s Kingdom to show up in our neighborhood and in our homes and hearts.

 William Bradbury

Daniel 7:1-3,15-18, Psalm 149:1-5, Ephesians 1:11-23, Luke 6:20-31

It’s a paradox isn’t it! We live in a time of great prosperity, yet in our country, in the UK, Western Europe, and around the world, there is great fear that things are falling apart, that the center can’t hold. So, we huddle up in our separate tribes and hate those we think are ruining our world. I find following even a little news can create havoc in my head and heart.

Sermon: 20 Pentecost—October 27, 2019–William Bradbury–Sirach 35:12-17, Psalm 84:1-6, 2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18, Luke 18:9-14

Decades ago, when I led the youth group in Saint Paul’s Church, in Augusta, Georgia we’d do the Trust exercise. You all know how it goes: you pick a partner and then you practice falling backwards into the arms of your partner. We’ve seen sitcoms where the person who is the catcher gets distracted and the one falling goes all the way to the floor, and gets a big laugh. So mostly we know you have to really trust the person who is behind you, otherwise you can get hurt and worse, appear to be a gullible fool. In our parable, today, we see two religious men given the chance to play the Trust Game.   

Sermon: October 20, 2019-William Bradbury

(NOTE: Due to a technical problem, we were unable to record this sermon)

Genesis 32:22-31, Psalm 121, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, Luke 18:1-8

The crosses in the Episcopal Churches I’ve known have been small, shiny, ornate and in good taste, befitting our Church of England heritage.  Then over 7 years ago I walk into this space and see this larger than life wooden cross—embedded in a wall of fieldstones above the altar. It’s not hard to imagine this belonging to the Jew from Nazareth, though I wonder how many of us do in fact imagine him actually being on it.

Sermon by William Bradbury —October 13, 2019

2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c, Psalm 111, 2 Timothy 2:8-15, Luke 17:11-19

The gospels tell us that Jesus’s ministry consists of three basic things: as Matthew puts it, Jesus travels around “teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness.” Matthew 9:35 The ten lepers, who may have a variety of different skin diseases, understand that where Jesus is the Kingdom of God is and therefore God’s healing becomes possible. When he shows up in their border town these ten  shout out hoping to receive from Jesus the merciful healing of the Realm of God he has given to others.

Sermon: Creation Care Sunday–October 6, 2019 William Bradbury

Genesis 2:18-25, Psalm 148:7-14, Revelation 5:11-14, Matthew 6:25-34

You’re at a dinner party and a stranger asks: “Well, what’s your story?” What do you tell them? Do you tell them about–your job and family configuration? Do you go back to when you were born? Or do you go back further still to what country your ancestors came from 5 generations ago?