St. John's Franklin Podcast

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “The Miracle and Mystery of Christmas, Part 3” based on John 1:1-18 for The First Sunday of Christmas on December 29, 2013.   One of mysteries and miracles of Christmas is that we can become sons and daughters of God. God shares His very life with us through our union with Christ in the midst of the darkness and resistance of the world.

The First Sunday of Christmas

Isaiah 61:10-62:3 

Psalm 147:13-21 

Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7 

John 1:1-18

Direct download: Miracle_and_Mystery_Pt_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “The Miracle and Mystery of Christmas, Part 2” based on Luke 2:1-20 for The Feast of the Incarnation on December 24, 2013.  "You, Christ, are the king of glory, the eternal Son of the Father. 
When you took our flesh to set us free you humbly chose the Virgin’s womb."        

The Feast of the Incarnation

Isaiah 62:6-12 

Psalm 97 

Titus 3:4-7 

Luke 2:1-20

Direct download: Miracle_and_Mystery_Pt_2.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 12:47pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “The Miracle and Mystery of Christmas” based on Matthew 1 for The Fourth Sunday of Advent on December 22, 2013.  Matthew wants us to pay attention to the mystery and miracle of Christmas, and each of his signs or markers reveal to us something of the strange and wonderful beauty of this miracle.     

The Fourth  Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 7:10-16 

Psalm 80:1-7,17-19 

Romans 1:1-7 

Matthew 1:18-25

Direct download: Miracle_and_Mystery.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 6:27am CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Strengthen Your Hearts” based on Matthew 11:2-11 and James 5:7-10 for The Third Sunday of Advent on December 15, 2013. Only as our hearts are established in the Gospel can we live in an imperfect world, with imperfect people, and with our own imperfection, with patience, hope, and gratitude. 

The Third Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 35:1-10 

Luke 1:46-55 

James 5:7-10 

Matthew 11:2-11

Direct download: Strengthen_Your_Hearts.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “A Lifestyle of Repentance” based on Matthew 3:1-12 for The Second Sunday of Advent on December 8, 2013. When God enters our stories it often results in disruption and re-orientation. Such occassions can become opportunities for repentance.
 

The Second Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 11:1-10 

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19 

Romans 15:4-13 

Matthew 3:1-12

Direct download: Lifestyle_of_Repentance.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Preparing for the Long Haul” based on Matthew 24:36-44 for The First Sunday of Advent on December 1, 2013. Jesus uses the disciples’ questions to train them to know how to wait in a world in which some presume they can read the signs of the time. Jesus is preparing his disciples for the long haul. The Gospel means that the future has invaded the present, endurance and waiting are the way of the followers of Jesus between the first and second advents.
 

The First Sunday ofAdvent

Isaiah 2:1-5 

Psalm 122 

Romans 13:11-14 

Matthew 24:36-44

Direct download: The_Long_Haul.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 6:50am CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “The Crucified King” based on Luke 1:68-79 for Christ The King Sunday on November 24, 2013. Jesus turns on concept of kingship upside down on Good Friday, and provides a paradigm for understanding times when God seems absent or inactive.

Christ The King Sunday

Jeremiah 23:1-10 

Luke 1:68-79 

Colossians 1:11-20 

Luke 23:33-43

Direct download: The_Crucified_King.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Brian Goodwin preached a sermon entitled “The Former Things Shall Not Be Remembered” based on Isaiah 65:17-25 for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time on November 17, 2013.  

The Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 65:17-25
Isaiah 12:2-6

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19

Direct download: Former_Things.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 6:05pm CDT

Mary Maggard Hays preached a sermon entitled “Trying To Trap Jesus” based on Luke 20:20-40 for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time on November 10, 2013. As Jesus responds to various attempts to trap Him in theological conundrums, He reveals the richness of life that is offered in the Gospel.  

Mary is Canon to the Ordinary of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh.

The Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Haggai 1:15-2:9
Psalm 98

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
Luke 20:20-40

Direct download: Trying_to_Trap_Jesus.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “The Communion of Saints” for the All Saints Day on November 3, 2013. All Saints Day reminds us that the Gospel travels through human relationships.

All Saints Day

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 

Psalm 149 

Ephesians 1:11-23 

Luke 6:20-31

Direct download: The_Communion_of_Saints.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Giving” based on 1 Timothy 6:6-21 for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time on October 27, 2013. One of the ways spiritual maturity shows up in our lives is in learning to participate in God’s gift economy; growing in our understanding of using our material possessions for God in response to His grace and abundance. 

The Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Joel 2:23-32 

Psalm 65 

1 Timothy 6:6-21 

Luke 18:9-14

Direct download: Giving.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “The Power of Words” based on 2 Timothy 2:1-19 for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time on October 20, 2013.   Words are holy—all words; whether we are making up a shopping list, making conversation with an acquaintance, praying in the name of Jesus, reading the prophet Jeremiah or writing a letter to our congresswoman. But words are also vulnerable to corruption, twisted into blasphemies, trivialized into gossip. 

Because God has chosen speech as the means for His action and revelation, when we speak, a mysterious power is attached to what we say. When our words are not connected with the Eternal Word, a misuse or abuse of the power of our words is likely.
    Jacques Ellul, The Humiliation of the Word 

The Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 31:27-34

Psalm 119:97-104

2 Timothy 2:1-19

Luke 18:1-8

Direct download: The_Power_of_Words.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 6:00am CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Stepping Up” based on 2 Timothy 1:1-14 for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time on October 13, 2013.  The Gospel is transmitted through the church from generation to generation. We each must step up and do our part.   

The Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 29:1,4-7

Psalm 66:1-11

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Luke 17:11-19

Direct download: Stepping_Up.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

KennyBenge preached a sermon entitled “Thinking Together About Church” for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time on October 6, 2013.  Despite its weakness and frailty, the church is the core element in God’s strategy for providing human witness and physical presence to the kingdom of God.       

The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lamentations 1:1-6

Lamentations 3:19-26

1 Timothy 3:14-16

Luke 17:5-10

Direct download: Thinking_About_Church.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Arthur Boers preached a sermon entitled “The Wells of Salvation” for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time on September 29, 2013. Wells often are places where significant cultural and spiritual things happen in Scripture. They are focal places that draw and connect people to each other and God.   

The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 12:1-6

Psalm 36:5-9

Revelation 22:16-17

John 4:1-15

Direct download: Wells_of_Salvation.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Seek the Welfare of Your Community” based on 1 Timothy 2:1-7 for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time on September 22, 2013. Paul instructs the church on its posture toward the watching world.

The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
Psalm 79:1-9
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Luke 16:1-13

Direct download: Posture.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “He Came Down From Heaven” based on John 1:1-14 for the Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist on September 15, 2013, the celebration of our 3rd anniversary as a church.

Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
Exodus 33:18-23

1 John 1:1-9
John 21:19b-24
Psalm 92

Direct download: He_Came_Down_from_Heaven.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Rod McLain preached a sermon entitled “Where Are You?” based on Genesis 3:6-9 for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time on September 8, 2013

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 18:1-11
Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17
Philemon 1-21
Luke 14:25-33

Direct download: Where_Are_You.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Efficiency Vs. Love” based on Luke 14:1-14 for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time on September 1, 2013.   At its best, efficiency is a way of structuring our lives in the ways of love that God has called us to. At its worst, efficiency is what the NT calls a power; causing us either to avoid or manipulate the dignity and value of the people around us.                        

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 2:4-13
Psalm 81:1, 10-16
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1, 7-14

Direct download: Efficiency_Vs_Love.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Two Mountains” based on Hebrews 12:18-29 for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time on August 25, 2013.  The author of the Letter to the Hebrews uses contrasting images of Mt Sinai and Mt. Zion that help us experience the gravity of our choice to trust in our own religious efforts or to trust in Christ’s finished work on the Cross.                    

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 1:4-10
Psalm 71:1-6
Hebrews 12:18-29
Luke 13:10-17

 

Direct download: Two_Mountains.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “A Long Obedience” based on Hebrews 11:29-12:2 for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time on August 18, 2013.  In our Epistle reading calls us to a "long obedience in the same direction." The Christian life is a pilgrim journey through life toward God.                 

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56

Direct download: Long_Obedience.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Where Is Your Heart?” based on Luke 12:32-40 for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time on August 11, 2013.  In our Gospel passage today, Jesus continues his warning about seeking security outside of God’s kingdom.  He admonishes us to train our desires so that they are oriented to God’s kingdom.             

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 1:1,10-20

Psalm 50:1-8,23-24
Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16
Luke 12:32-40

Direct download: Where_Is_Your_Heart.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 1:12pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Being Rich Toward God” based on Luke 12:13-21 for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time on August 4, 2013.   Jesus teaches us we need discerment regarding our possessions if we are to live richly toward God.         

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Hosea 11:1-11

Psalm 107:1-9, 33-38, 43
Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 12:13-21

Direct download: Rich_Toward_God.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:57am CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “The Fatherhood of God” based on Luke 11:1-13 for the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time on July 28, 2013.   Despite our imperfect experiences with earthly fathers and friends, we can trust that God the Father cares for us as His children and acts on our behalf to save and redeem us. We know that because He promises us to give us Himself and everything we need for life in His kingdom.         

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Hosea 1:1-10

Psalm 85
Colossians 2:6-15
Luke 11:1-13

Direct download: Fatherhood_of_God.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:49am CDT

Danny Bryant preached a sermon entitled “Living a Better Story” based on Luke 10:38-42 for the Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time on July 21, 2013.     

Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Amos 8:1-12

Psalm 52
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42

Direct download: Better_Story.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:16am CDT

Thomas McKenzie preached a sermon entitled “OBO: The Good Samaritan” based on Luke 10:25-37 for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time on July 14, 2013.     

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Amos 7:7-17

Psalm 82
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

Direct download: OBO.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:02am CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Being A Witness” based on Luke 10:1-20 for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time on July 7, 2013.  We are sent as parables of grace to a hurting and hungry world.     

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 66:10-14

Psalm 66:1-9
Galatians 6:1-16
Luke 10:1-20

Direct download: Being_a_Witness.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “No Little People, No Little Places” based on Galatians 5:1, 13-26 for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time on June 30, 2013. Because we are fallen creatures, our propensity toward comparison with others and the resulting pendulum swing of feelings of superiority and inferiority can isolate us from the Christian community, but the Gospel heals us and makes us whole, enable us more and more to know in relation to our self and others that "just as there are no little people in God's sight, so there are no little places." 

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21

Psalm 16
Galatians 5:1, 13-26
Luke 9:51-62

Direct download: NoLittlePeople.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 9:02am CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Healing the Soul” based on Luke 8:26-39 for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time on June 23, 2013. Jesus has just stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee; now He heals and calms the soul of the man filled with demons. Luke is demonstrating that all forces—nature, evil, demons, disease and death—that threaten to overwhelm us, threaten to diminish or extinguish human flourishing—are rendered powerless by Jesus' presence and power. Relationship to Jesus brings security in the midst of the trials and temptations of this life.

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 65:1-9

Psalm 22:19-28
Galatians 3:23-29
Luke 8:26-39

Direct download: Healing_The_Soul.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 12:47pm CDT

Brian Goodwin preached a sermon entitled “Finding Ourselves In The Story” based on Luke 7:36-8:3 for Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time on June 16, 2013. This narrative from Luke 8 provides us with an opportunity to see Jesus as he relates to humanity. Looking at the passage more personally helps us see the many parts we play in God's story.

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15

Psalm 32
Galatians 2:15-21
Luke 7:36-8:3

Direct download: Finding_Ourselves_in_the_Story.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “Embracing A Sabbath Way of Life” based on Genesis 1:26-2:3 for Creation Sunday on June 9, 2013. A Sabbath way of life helps us delight in and receive the good gifts of God—Sabbath helps us see our homes, our families, our friends, our community as gifts from God—an economy of gift, that leads to gratitude, and that gratitude becomes worship. True Sabbath rest means making room in our lives to love God and love the world around us.

The Sabbath opens Creation for its true future. Jurgen Moltmann

Creation Sunday
Genesis 1:26-2:3

Psalm 104:5-24
Romans 8:18-25
Mark 2:23-28

Direct download: Sabbath_Way_of_Living.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 6:00pm CDT

Rod McLain preached a sermon entitled “Amazing Faith” based on Luke 7:1-10 for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time on June 2, 2013. Jesus discovers faith in the Gentile Centaurion.

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 8:22-23,41-43

Psalm 96:1-9
Galatians 1:1-12
Luke 7:1-10

Direct download: Amazing_Faith.mp3
Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “The Great Dance of God” based on Romans 5:1-5 for Trinity Sunday on May 26, 2013. The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the deepest reality of Christian faith and life. In the best sense of the term, God doesn’t need us. The love that He has for his creation is a love that overflows from fullness of his being.  He delights to give Himself to us.

Trinity Sunday
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Psalm 8
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15

Direct download: The_Great_Dance_of_God.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled “The Giver of Life” based on John 14 for the Pentecost on May 19, 2013. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. The Holy Spirit is now God’s way of being active and present among us—He makes real to us all the benefits of the Gospel—all Jesus accomplished through his Incarnation, life, death, and resurrection.

Pentecost
Genesis 11:1-9

Psalm 104:24-35
Acts 2:1-21
John 14:8-17, 25-27

Direct download: The_Giver_of_Life.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:58pm CDT

Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled Grasping the Reality of the Ascension based on Luke 24:36-53 for the Ascension of the Lord on May 12, 2013. To grasp the truth of the ascension is to know that the throne of God, which would have been a place of judgment for us, is now filled with grace and kindness. Now that the ascended Christ has taken our humanity into heaven, He resides at the right hand of the Father, and He constantly is our advocate and our intercessor, a great high priest who sympathizes with us.

    The Ascension of the Lord
    Acts 1:1-11
    Psalm 47
    Ephesians 1:15-23
    Luke 24:36-53

    Direct download: Grasping_the_Ascension.mp3
    Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

    Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled Re-Imagining Heaven With St. Paul based on 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 for the Sixth Sunday of Easter on May 5, 2013. The Easter accounts in the Gospels and Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 15 confront us with our often poor and impoverished understanding of heaven. These impoverished views lead to faulty views of what it means to live and work for God's kingdom in the present. God is making all things new, and He invites us to participate in the present.

      The Sixth Sunday of Easter
      Acts 16:9-15
      Psalm 67
      1 Corinthians 15:50-58
      John 5:1-9

      Direct download: ReimaginingHeaven.mp3
      Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

      Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled The Redemption of Our Bodies based on 1 Corinthians 15:35-49 for the Fifth Sunday of Easter on April 28, 2013. The Scriptures regard persons as a totality: in the Biblical mindset; human beings operate as integrated, connected and embodied people. Jesus' human body was integral, not merely instrumental, to the redemption of mankind. God's future for us will involve the redemption and transformation of our bodies.

        The Fifth Sunday of Easter
        Acts 11:1-18
        Psalm 148
        1 Corinthians 15:35-49
        John 13:31-35

        Direct download: The_Redemption_of_Our_Bodies.mp3
        Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

        Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled The Lord Is My Shepherd based on Psalm 23 for the Fourth Sunday of Easter on April 21, 2013. We are creatures in time and space, and our vulnerability and uncertainty arise out of our “creatureliness”—our body and soul is tied to particular times, places, and people. Psalm 23 tells us that The Good Shepherd understands our creatureliness—and His shepherding care transcends both life and death.

          The Fourth Sunday of Easter
          Acts 9:36-43
          Psalm 23
          Revelation 7:9-17
          John 10:22-30

          Direct download: The_Lord_Is_My_Shepherd.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled All Shall Be Made Alive based on 1 Corinthians 15:12-28 for the Third Sunday of Easter on April 14, 2013. The resurrection of Jesus is the paradigm of the New Creation; Christ the first fruits, then the resurrection and transformation of both mankind and Creation itself. Christ is the second Adam, He has done what what Adam failed to do.

          The Third Sunday of Easter
          Acts 5:27-32
          Psalm 30
          1 Corinthians 15:12-28
          John 21:1-19

          Direct download: All_Shall_Be_Made_Alive.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled Witnesses Must Come Forward based on 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 for the Second Sunday of Easter on April 7, 2013. It is not enough for Paul to declare the Resurrection as true history; witnesses must come forward. Jesus is the Risen Messiah and Lord; this reality is to give shape to our way of life and it is the basis for our hope of resurrection; and for the renewal of all Creation with us.

          The Second Sunday of Easter
          Acts 9:1-20
          Psalm 118:14-29
          1 Corinthians 15:1-11
          Luke 24:1-12

          Direct download: WitnessesComeForward.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled That We Might Walk in Newness of Life for Easter Sunday on March 31, 2013. The empty tomb meant that power of Peter’s closed world—the world defined by his failure and betrayal of Jesus—is broken…

          The Resurrection of the Lord
          Isaiah 65:17-25
          Psalm 118:1-2,14-24
          Acts 10:34-43
          Luke 24:1-12

          Direct download: Newness_of_Life.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled The Embrace of Death for Palm Sunday on March 24, 2013. The death of Jesus provides a starting point for us as Christians for understanding and living in a broken world. Jesus entered into the same messiness of life that we live in: failed plans, disappointing relationships, political despair, accidents, sickness, disability, mean people, bullies—Jesus entered into the broken world in which we live—and the remarkable thing is that He embraced it. His embrace of this broken world resulted in enormous suffering and an excruciating death.

          Palm Sunday
          Isaiah 50:4-9
          Psalm 31:9-16
          Philippians 2:5-11
          Luke 19:28-44, 24:1-56

          Direct download: Embrace_of_Death.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled The Deadly Sin of Gluttony for The Fifth Sunday of Lent  on March 17, 2013. During Lent, we are exploring an ancient taxonomy of sin to help us examine our lives, develop a lifestyle of repentance, and experience a fresh and joyous grace in Christ. Gluttony does not give any particular value to anything it consumes. It does not savor, it only devours. Because of that, it is a sin against the created order. Gluttony and lust are the only sins that abuse something that is essential to our survival…and because of that, they are particularly susceptible to becoming institutionalized in the structures that we live within. A disrespect for food and sexuality is a disrespect for creation, for the goodness and bounty of creation. It is the great curse of Gluttony that it ends by destroying all sense of the precious, the unique, the irreplaceable.

          The Fifth Sunday of Lent
          Isaiah 43:16-21
          Psalm 126
          Philippians 3:4-14
          John 12:1-8

          Direct download: Deadly_Sin_of_Gluttony.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 9:05pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled The Deadly Sin of Sloth for The Fourth Sunday of Lent  on March 10, 2013. During Lent, we are exploring an ancient taxonomy of sin to help us examine our lives, develop a lifestyle of repentance, and experience a fresh and joyous grace in Christ. The deadly sin of Sloth is a complex and contradictory phenomenon, an “obscure evil.” It is a sin of omission, a sin of “things left undone.” It is a sin of neglect--it abhors what is there and fantasizes about what is not.” It despises our actual life while dreaming of ”what could be.” Sloth tempts us to escape from reality. Sloth demands that life must not ask too much of us, and tells us that we have a right to get by with a minimum of effort, tells us that deserve achievement and reward despite our sluggishness.

          The Fourth Sunday of Lent
          Joshua 5:9-12
          Psalm 32
          2 Corinthians 5:16-21
          Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

          Direct download: The_Deadly_Sin_of_Sloth.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 10:13pm CDT

          The Rt. Rev. Frank Lyons preached a sermon on Luke 13:1-9 for The Third Sunday of Lent on March 3, 2013. 

          The Third Sunday of Lent
          Exodus 3:1-15
          Psalm 63:1-8
          1 Corinthians 10:1-13
          Luke 13:1-9

          Direct download: Bishop_Frank.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled The Deadly Sin of Envy for The Second Sunday of Lent  on February 24, 2013. During Lent, we are exploring an ancient taxonomy of sin to help us examine our lives, develop a lifestyle of repentance, and experience a fresh and joyous grace in Christ. The deadly sin of Envy hates to see other people happy. It begins by asking: Why should I not enjoy what others enjoy? And it ends by demanding “Why should others enjoy what I cannot? The envious man does not love himself, although he begins with self-love. He is not grateful for, or happy in what he is or what he has. It will not let him live as himself, grateful for his qualities and talents, such as they are, making the best and most rewarding use of them. The sin of envy keeps us from accepting the ordinary parts of ourselves 

          The Second Sunday of Lent
          Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
          Psalm 27
          Philippians 3:17-4:1
          Luke 13:31-35

          Direct download: The_Deadly_Sin_of_Envy.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled The Deadly Sin of Pride for The First Sunday of Lent  on February 17, 2013. During Lent, we are exploring an ancient taxonomy of sin to help us examine our lives, develop a lifestyle of repentance, and experience a fresh and joyous grace in Christ. Pride is the first, worst, and most prevalent of the seven deadly sins.  The Greeks warned of hubris, the overreaching arrogance that creates an illusion of invulnerability (“pride goes before a fall) and in the biblical view, pride is the fundamental violation and disordering of love because it puts the love of the human self before the love of God.

          The First Sunday of Lent
          Deuteronomy 26:1-11
          Psalm 91:1-2,9-16
          Romans 10:8-13
          Luke 4:1-13

          Direct download: The_Deadly_Sin_of_Pride.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 9:34pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled The Transfiguration, Lent, and the Good Life for Transfiguration Sunday  on February 10, 2013. The New Testament teaches that those who are spiritually alive in the Kingdom of God are the most well off. Being alive in god’s Kingdom is a gift from God, not a moral program we design for ourselves to better ourselves.  Spiritual practices that we undertake during Lent help to put us in a place for God to work, making room for Jesus, training us in how to respond to God with a lifestyle of repentance. 

          Transfiguration Sunday
          Exodus 34:29-35
          Psalm 99
          2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
          Luke 9:28-36

          Direct download: Transfiguration_and_Lent.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Thomas McKenzie preached a sermon entitled Love Story based on 1 Corinthians 13 for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany on February 3, 2013. 

          Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
          Jeremiah 1:4-10
          Psalm 71:1-6
          1 Corinthians 13:1-13
          Luke 4:21-30

          Direct download: Love_Story.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Rod McLain preached a sermon entitled The Missional Church and Youth for the Third Sunday after Epiphany on January 27, 2013. Hospitality is a central missional practice of the church—having been welcomed by God into His presence, we are to welcome others. Rather than segmenting youth away from adults, as many churches do today, our vision for youth ministry means incorporating our youth into the body of Christ —extending hospitality to them so they have a sense of belonging, recognizing that adults and youth need each other, and allowing God to bring healing.

          Second Sunday after Epiphany
          Nehemiah 8:1-10
          Psalm 19
          1 Corinthians 12:12-31
          Luke 4:14-21

          Direct download: MissionalChurchYouth.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled The Missional Church for the Second Sunday after Epiphany on January 20, 2013. The Scriptures teach that in Jesus Christ, God is redemptively restoring his fallen creation in every part, until at last all things are made new. This is the missio Dei, the redemptive mission of God to the world. God intends to accomplish this mission by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Christian church. The church, that one, holy, catholic, and apostolic community—that is both global in its reach and local in its expression—is the intended instrument for the mission of God. Hospitality is a central missional practice of the church—having been welcomed by God into His presence, we are to welcome others.

          Second Sunday after Epiphany
          Isaiah 62:1-5
          Psalm 36:5-10
          1 Corinthians 12:1-11
          John 2:1-11

          Direct download: Missional_Church.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled Solidarity With Humanity” based on Luke 3:15-22 for the Baptism of the Lord on January 13, 2013. In His baptism, Jesus identifies with us in our humanity. He assumes and shares in our humanity, in the burden of life in the flesh, with all its temptation, heartache, disappointment, sin, and death.  Jesus becomes human to redeem humanity.

          Jesus rises from the waters; and a drowned world rises with Him. Gregory of Nazianzus

          Baptism of the Lord
          Isaiah 43:1-7
          Psalm 29
          Acts8:14-17
          Luke 3:15-22

          Direct download: JesusBaptism.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

          Kenny Benge preached a sermon entitled Partakers of the Promise” based on Matthew 2:1-12 for the Epiphany of the Lord on January 6, 2013. Epiphany marks the celebration of the New Testament reality that the revelation of God, the Gospel, is now available to all the peoples of the earth. The focus of the people of God is no longer not located in racial descent nor in solidarity with a nation state, but in relationship to the Son of God.

          Epiphany of the Lord
          Isaiah 60:1-6
          Psalm 72:1-7,10-14
          Ephesians 3:1-12
          Matthew 2:1-12

          Direct download: PartakersofthePromise.mp3
          Category:Sermons -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT