Confirmation, 2024
Are you being called to follow Jesus? Continue reading Confirmation, 2024
What are we waiting for? Earth and Altar Article
Advent offers more questions than answers, more uncertainty than peace and hope and joy. Advent requires honesty; and honesty can lead to lament, to pain, to unanswered questions, and finally to prayer: Come, thou long expected Jesus. Continue reading What are we waiting for? Earth and Altar Article
The First Sunday of Advent, 2023
This sermon was preached for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lynchburg, VA on the First Sunday of Advent, Year B 2023.Photo by Ben Cowgill of All Saints Chapel in Sewanee, TN on a foggy day.Isaiah 64:1-9; Mark 13:24-37 Happy Advent! This weekend’s fog took me by surprise— as maybe it did many of you. As I drove down 29 on my way to my wife … Continue reading The First Sunday of Advent, 2023
Church?
This sermon was preached for St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (Clifford, VA) and Grace Episcopal Church (Massies Mill, VA)n Lynchburg, VA on the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A 2023.Photo by Ben Cowgill at Grace Episcopal Church, Massies Mill.Exodus 3:1–15; Romans 12:9–21; Matthew 16:21–28 What is task of the church? I think there is a lot of confusion— well, maybe I have a lot of confusion— … Continue reading Church?
Weeds and Wheat
No matter how evil, no matter how powerful, God will ultimately judge and resolve it. That is Good News. Sin? It’s gone. The Devil? Taken care of. Racism? Sexism? Homophobia? Poverty? Injustice? Solved. Jesus’ explanation is finally about the completion of God’s plan, of God’s redeeming power over the world to set all things right, and invite all into his heavenly kingdom. Continue reading Weeds and Wheat
Anything but Ordinary Time
“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. Luke 8:39 NRSV I speak to you in the name of one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.Before I begin, I want to acknowledge the tragedy that happened this past Thursday in Alabama at St Stephen’s … Continue reading Anything but Ordinary Time
We Go the Way of the Cross
This sermon was preached for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lynchburg, VA on Palm Sunday, Year C 2022.Photo by Yannick Pulver on UnsplashLuke 22:14-23:56 I speak to you in the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It may not seem so at first, but the passion narrative, the gospel story this morning that we just heard, is profoundly Good News. This week, this … Continue reading We Go the Way of the Cross
The Prodigal Son
This sermon was preached for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lynchburg, VA on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year C 2022. Photo by Federico Respini on UnsplashLuke 15:1-3, 11b-32 There are a lot of things going on in today’s gospel story. Did you notice some of them? Disgruntlement with Jesus. Public humiliation. Legal proceedings and inheritance law. Disagreements about money. Family Values. Famine and poverty. … Continue reading The Prodigal Son
Who is the True Vine?
How then are we to orient our lives, knowing that we are not at the center of them? How are we to grow towards God, knowing that we are not the gardener at work delicately fashioning them? How are we to abandon our desires for power over our circumstances, knowing that we cannot control them? Continue reading Who is the True Vine?
Palm Sunday
Entering into Holy Week means entering into the passion of Christ. It means journeying alongside him. We watch as first the public turn against him, then as Judas betrays him. Then sit vigil with the disciples who cannot keep awake. We hear Peter’s promise to never betray him. Then his disciples scatter; Peter follows but sure enough denies Christ three times. The authorities condemn him, then the Roman authorities crucify him. Continue reading Palm Sunday
Ben Cowgill 