Trinitybeth: Sermons and Songs

2006-09-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

Are there always correct "yes" or "no" answers to our questions? Jesus' admonition to the Pharisees in this week's gospel reminds us that though we want clear answers, sometimes we find that our clear answers take in the wrong direction. We are called to listen to the spirit of the Law and to live into the Gospel message.

2006-08-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

"This is my body. This is my blood." God takes the common ordinary things of everyday life and transforms them into things of cosmic significance. God does the same with people too.

2006-08-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

"Wives be submissive to your husbands" is one of the "clobber" passages of Holy Scripture. People have used them historically to clobber each other over the head. But Scripture is not meant for that. Rather we need to look for the deep spiritual teaching about our relationship to God that is found in almost everyone of them. The passage read in today's epistle lesson is no different.

2006-07-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

What can we learn from the "ghostly" aparition of Jesus walking across the windy water? How is Jesus walking on the water in our lives?

2006-07-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Even when we see death, Jesus brings us hope.

In the lessons of the lectionary this morning we see both a promise to never give up our saving trust in the power of Jesus to work miracles, and a call for us to be faithful while Jesus' will is made manifest.

2006-06-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

Jesus gives power to the Church to bind and loose early behavior. How exactly does this work? What does this tell us about the essence of what it means to be the Church in the world today?

2006-05-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

If the Holy Spirit is going to transform us by virtue of our baptism, what will we be changed into? What is that God is expecting of us in our everyday lives? (Credit to Sarah Dylan Bruener for much of the background information to this sermon.)

2006-05-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

How shall we manage when things happen in the Church or in the World that we disagree with? What does God ask of us as we live out our lives in the community of the faithful? A sermon by The Rev. Laura Howell.

2006-04-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

The Early Church was filled with people who witnessed and were witnesses to the Risen Christ. In many cases they gave their lives as part of that witness. Remembering this fact is one of the strongest counter arguments to any claim that the Church has lied about who Jesus is and what he represents.

Now what about us? If people observed our lives, what would we be bearing witness to by how we make our choices and how we live our lives?

2006-04-30T11:42:00.000-07:00

The Rev. Canon Cliff Carr preaches: "We are Easter People - and Alleluia is our song! We say this because Christ has risen from the dead. But how can we see the Risen Christ? Where is it possible for us to meet him in the same way that the early disciples were able to?"

2006-04-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

Alleluia! Christ is risen. These words are proclaimed in parishes all around the world today. What do we mean? Are we happy because one man has conquered death - or has a deeper, more profound event occurred?

2006-04-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

The story of Jesus Passion and Resurrection is the greatest treasure that the Church posses. But the Church is not called to horde this treasure - rather it is by giving away this gift that the Church fulfills its reason for existing.

2006-04-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

How can we make sense of what God is doing when we find ourselves in a place where we suffer? Has God abandoned us? Are we being punished?

A sermon by The Rev. Laura Howell.

2006-03-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

Do you believe in scarcity or abundance? Are you willing to share what you have? How about sharing intangible things? Like power? Jesus demonstrates in the gospel reading this week that we live amongst great abundance, even if we can't see it.

2006-03-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

A sermon by Canon Rommeril that continues the Lenten theme this year at Trinity of asking ourselves the hard questions about our own spiritual journey.

2006-03-12T10:09:00.000-08:00

Do you believe that God loves you? Do you believe that God will always love you? Do you live your life as if you believe that? Why not?

2006-03-05T09:52:00.000-08:00

Satan asks Jesus "hard questions" in the gospel reading for this week. What hard questions is God asking us? Are we even able to recognize them?

2006-03-01T18:48:00.000-08:00

Being public about being a Christian isn't going to impress many folks these days. But being public about our faith may keep us accountable for our behavior - at least to those around us. Is it time to leave our ashes on our foreheads for while rather than brush them away as we leave the church today?

2006-02-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

This week we have a "parish family" Sunday and invited the children of the congregation to be with us at the main Sunday Service. This sermon asks them two questions... What is the sound of God? and Why are we quiet in Church?

2006-02-26T11:33:00.000-08:00

Lent is the time when we are invited to realize that the living God does not exist in a little box in our heart. We are asked to commit ourselves to encountering God in the places we can't imagine we would be able to find God.

2006-02-20T10:18:00.000-08:00

We had to cancel services at Trinity last week because of the awful weather on Sunday morning. But we've made up for it this weekend! We had a "visitor" with us. Mother Anne is the Associate at Nativity Cathedral across the river from our parish. She preached this sermon on God's forgiveness and our healing.

2006-02-06T11:54:00.000-08:00

What does it mean to commit to being a member in a community? One thing is certain, you can not be part of a community if you enter it with the intention of rejecting or excluding other members.

2006-01-30T10:20:00.000-08:00

Our Parish meeting is a time for us to take stock of where we are, and where it is that God is calling us to travel. How is God asking you to rethink your day to day living?

2006-01-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

Discipleship means a new way of doing the same old thing. We're still doing what we did before, but now it has a different, and more cosmic meaning.

2006-01-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

God calls each one of us to ministry. Have you heard God's call to you? Have you responded? What will happen to you if you do?

2006-01-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

God is has adopted us, each by name, into a new relationship with the divine by virtue of our baptism. Like Jesus we can go to God directly for insight and help. A sermon by The Rev. Laura M. Howell.

2005-12-18T10:17:00.000-08:00

Why is it that our Christmas stories are so important? The way we remember re-incarnates the events in our lives and makes the real and new each year. A sermon by The Rev. Laura Howell.

2005-12-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

Why do we decorate our houses at the beginning of Winter? Why do we sing songs about peace in a time of war? Why does God speak to people in the moment of calamity and make them a promise of a new future?

2005-12-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

Advent raises questions for us about the meaning of time and difference ways the passage of time is perceived. St. Peter points out that God has a plan and we wait as God's plan unfolds in the fullness of God's time. A sermon by The Rev. Laura M. Howell.

2005-11-27T10:07:00.000-08:00

Knowing the story of the Church year tells us who God is. Knowing the arc of our own story tells us who we are and what is going to happen to us. Knowing what is going to happen to us, frees us to be servants of the Risen Christ.

2005-11-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

Do we actually make Jesus the Lord of our lives? Completely? The Rev. Canon Cal Adams leads us in a story about transformation and new life that comes about when we really give ourselves, our total selves, over to Jesus.

2005-11-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Why is Christian Stewardship important? People keep saying that giving is better than receiving and that stewardship is ultimately a matter of our own spiritual growth. Why?

2005-11-06T09:42:00.000-08:00

All Saints and Baptism. How we start and finish the course of Faith.

2005-10-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. What is the greatest commandment God has given us? Can we find a single theme that runs throughout the Bible?

Sermon for Proper 24, October 16, 2005

2005-10-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

The Rev. Canon Clifford Carr: "Give to God What is God's."

Are we ever really able to imagine a dichotomy between the sacred and secular realms? Are we asked to live differently when we find ourselves in each?

The Parable of the Missing Wedding Garment. Or, does "cheap" grace lead to costly apathy?

2005-10-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

Do we take seriously enough the extraordinary gift that we have been given? Do we understand all the implications of being a guest at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb?

What is the proper role of the Law?

2005-10-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

How shall we live our lives - according the Law of God or according to Gospel of Grace? Or is that even a question that makes sense to ask?

MP3 File

Sermon for Proper 21. September 25, 2005

2005-09-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

"There are none so blind as those who refuse to see."

Why does Jesus speak so harshly to the Pharisees? Why does he call them blind leaders in other places? What do we do when our faith journey takes us to a place we didn't expect to go?

MP3 File

Sermon for Recovery Sunday

2005-09-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

Canon Romeril, a member of the Diocese of Bethlehem's recovery commission gives us concrete examples of things we can do to both support members of our community in recovery, and also to help make sure that young people aren't tempted into addictions.

MP3 File

Sermon for Proper 19, 2005 (September 11th)

2005-09-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

In this sermon preached on the 4th aniversary of the attacks of September 11th 2001 and in the midst of the recovery operation from Hurricane Katrina, we find ourselves confronted with Jesus command to "turn the other cheek."

Jesus gives us this commandment for our good, not necessarily for the good of those who sin against us.

MP3 File

We're podcasting!

2005-09-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to our new podcast from Trinity:
Trinity's Sermons and Songs

Please make a note of this (and share it with your friends.)

You can copy the link below and paste it into the "Advanced" menu on iTunes to load the sermons into iTunes automatically.
You can paste it into a News Aggregator like News Gator, Feed Demon or Net Newswire to have those programs do the same thing.

http://wnknisely.audioblog.com/rss/trinity_bethlehem-sermons_and_songs.xml

Our first post

2005-09-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

This Blog has been created to be an easy way for folks looking for sermons, songs and music that is preached, sung or performed at Trinity Episcopal Church in Bethlehem PA. Our parish website can be found by following this link if you are interested in more information about who we are.

If you're ever in Bethlehem PA do come and see us sometime!

Fr. Nick+