Sermons and other recordings from St. Mary's Episcopal Church has been in downtown Eugene for over 150 years to worship, serve, and grow in faith. Guided by the teachings and life of Jesus Christ, we value community, inclusiveness, compassion, our living tradition, health, and collaborative leadership. All are welcome at St. Mary's, no matter what age, ethnicity or race, gender identity, sexual orientation or economic and social circumstances.
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God loves us and gives us gifts too numerous to name, more than we can ask for or imagine. It is our responsibility to receive the gifts and pass them on to others. God chose us to be God’s children, and we can live a life where we are ready to respond with generosity and a belief in abundance. Listen to or read Deacon Nancy’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”
Deacon Nancy told us there were more parables to come and here we are! Today’s parables are all about one thing, The Kingdom of Heaven. Would you be surprised to hear that The Kingdom of Heaven, also known as The Reign of God, is the thing that Jesus talks about more than anything else in the gospels? By some accounts up to 126 times! But what is it? And what do today’s parables have to say about…
My first summer in the northwest, back in 1973, the friends I was staying with heard that a strawberry farmer in the area was looking for field bosses for the harvest. Since teachers were highly prized candidates for this role, they suggested I go see Mr. Tsigawa about a job, which I did. After exchanging pleasantries Mr. Tsigawa asked if I’d ever been a field boss. Oh, heavens no I replied. Read…
For today I would like us to consider the Parable of the Hundredfold Harvest. “But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” In first Century Palestine sevenfold meant a good year for a farmer, and tenfold meant true abundance. The words of Jesus…
The last section of this gospel is truly lovely. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Ahhh. Sweet, right? What are you carrying today? What’s weighing on you? Weighing you down? Holding you back? This human life can be SO hard. It’s exhausting at times. Our lives are complicated, they are tough, confusing, stressful, overwhelming. Jesus,…
This morning’s Collect alludes to a famous passage from the epistle of Ephesians: “So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone” (Eph 2:19-20). It’s figuratively a Temple that God is building within us, and…
WHAT? Let me just double check. Is this really Jesus talking here? Because it sure doesn’t sound like the Prince of Peace to me. Is this the time when I start looking around for the rector to come back, or someone, ANYONE else to preach? Anyone? No? Alright, well, here we go together to try and make some sense of this lectionary selection from Matthew for this Sunday. Listen to or read Ryan’s…
As Aimee concludes her year of deacon training with us, she leaves us with a love letter. Listen to Aimee’s sermon by clicking “Read More.”
Today’s Gospel is a big, rich, deep, multi-faceted, multi-layered story. If this story were a meal, it would be a multi-course feast with appetizers, a salad, entrée, dessert, a cheese plate, and beverages with each course. There is a lot going on in this Gospel. I think if we take one step back from this story it gets a little easier. We realize there are four stories, not just one. Each of the…
Today’s readings offer us several views of the Holy Trinity. That sometimes confusing, always mysterious, human attempt at defining the nature of the Creator of all that is! In the beginning, the great wind of God, in Hebrew, Ruah, moved over the waters and created life. God the Creator, the life-force hovering over the void, bringing everything into being. The animating, creating Spirit of God.…
On this Feast of Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, we commemorate, we remember, we celebrate the moment when the Disciples were gathered together, and the Holy Spirit came down upon them like a rushing wind and tongues of flame. It empowered them to preach the Good News, and 3000 people were baptized that day. I cannot imagine that number. I am super excited because we have one baptism today.…
A Sermon for the End of the School Year Aimee Fritsch
“Always be ready to give an account of the hope that is within you.” In my first year of Seminary on the first day of my first preaching class, the professor gave us an assignment to prepare a 5-minute speech, memorized, on the hope that is within you. And for that assignment, I told the story of Jonah. Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”
Nurture Your Faith with Hope and Love The Rev. Bingham Pwell
