The Arrow's Path

Excerpts from my sermon on Sunday for the 2nd Sunday of Advent. -The Archer This week, the theme for the 2 nd week of Advent is Love, which seems to be at odds with the message of the Gospel reading about "Repentance and broods of vipers!" and all that. As I mentioned last week, it has been my tradition for some years to use Advent to preach on more topical themes and not just talk strictly about what is the Lectionary reading for the day. This year I am going to attempt to continue that theme of treasure in a series I am calling "treasures from the Prayerbook." There are a lot of valuable resources in the Book of Common Prayer that a lot of people don't know are in there, or at least have forgotten about. I think the treasure of the Prayerbook that I think best ties together the theme of Love with John the Baptist's theme of Repentance is to take a look at the Prayerbook on pg. 449. This if Form 2 of the Rite of Reconciliation, more commonly called Con...

I am doing a topical series of sermons for Advent entitled Treasures from the Prayerbook. Here are some excerpts from this Sunday's sermon on the Christian Hope: What I usually assign to the Advent wreath are the 4 themes of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. The candle symbolizing the Christian hope is the candle that is lit this morning on the Advent Wreath. There are several items-treasures if you will, in the Book of Common Prayer that I could direct you to that has the theme of hope. There are psalms; there are collect prayers; there are some canticles, the entire funeral service is very hope filled. But more basic than that is the definition of what we as Episcopalians mean when we say the Christian hope. Some Christians would define the Christian hope as nothing more than the hope that we'll all be with Jesus one day in heaven in the sweet by and by, as the old gospel hymn goes. Some Christians would define the Christian hope as some formula-some mathematical-like equation...