Month: June 2007

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Her faith saved her

Fr. Scott Russell

Her faith saved her A sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6C) Luke 7:36-8:3 I notice bumper-stickers.  I even have one or two on my own car.  Once upon a time in my life, however, my car was festooned with them.  My sister, on one of her visits, looked at my car and said, “Wow!  You’ve got a lot to say!”  We came to refer to them as “preachy” bumpers.  The members of Canterbury will tell you that I have engaged in what is called “Bumper-sticker theology” in the past, and will probably do so in the future.  … Continue reading Her faith saved her

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Hope for the Hopeless, or a Tale of Two Widows

Fr. Scott Russell

A Sermon for the Second Sunday after Pentecost I Kings 17:8-16; Psalm 146; Luke 7:11-17 This morning we hear two stories of God’s provision.  The reading from 1 Kings and that from Luke feature two widows, widows in desperation. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that women had very little or no status in the ancient cultures that serve as the context for these stories.  Widows had even less.  Without a husband to head the house, families would often slip into poverty and be among the first to starve in a famine. Jesus and the apostles repeatedly admonish … Continue reading Hope for the Hopeless, or a Tale of Two Widows

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Wisdom speaks, but are we listening?

Fr. Scott Russell

A sermon for Trinity Sunday, Year C (Proverbs 8:14,22-31) Today, the first Sunday after the day of Pentecost, is traditionally known as “Trinity Sunday.”  Our hymns celebrate this sacred mystery of the church and not just the ancient faith, we even hear from St. Patrick and his breastplate.  Our readings try to shed light on this concept, this story we tell over and over that God is not one, or three, but three-in-one. Now the temptation for many preachers on this Sunday is to either spoon feed her congregation cute illustrations and even more metaphors for this threeness-in-oneness.  Or, worse, … Continue reading Wisdom speaks, but are we listening?