St. John's Franklin Podcast

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