Ascension Written Sermons

The Call to Love                      Third Sunday after Epiphany, Year B, January 25, 2015 Episcopal Church of the Ascension                          The Reverend Dr. Howard J. Hess I. Introduction . Approximately eight years ago, I received a call to become the priest-in-charge of The Episcopal Church of the Ascension. The story of that call is known by many of you here this morning. The abridged version goes something like this. I had been asked by several members of the church I served in Aiken, South Carolina, to apply to become their priest-in-charge. I decided to meet with Bishop Charles von Rosenberg to seek his advice. The Bishop advised me wisely, and I decided not to apply. But in the course of our conversation, the topic turned to Ascension, and looking at the Bis...

The Second Sunday After Epiphany John 1:43-51 “The In-Breaking” Perhaps it does sound childish to some, spiritually immature maybe, or theologically incorrect.  I even catch myself trying to explain it away sometimes, but in the end I know, at my gut, in my heart, at my core, that I have experienced God.  I have experienced God, in a dream that disturbed me, in a storm that showed me a sign, in a mountain that moved me, in a smile that soothed, a hand that healed, in a silence that spoke.  I have felt God in the darkness of death, and heard God in the miracle of life.  For me, this is ultimately undeniable. So I wonder, how do You hear the voice of God?  What are those moments in your life when the veil has been pierced, when you’ve seen clearly even if only for a moment?  When have you experienced an In-Breaking of the Spirit?  What is Your Epiphany story?  These are the things that the season of Epiphany is about.  Not just ...

The Rev. Robert P. Travis Second Sunday of Christmas Sermon   – 7:45 (exclude parenthetical sections), 9 and 11:15am Service, Church of the Ascension, Knoxville TN -  RCL  1/4/2015 Text: Jeremiah 31:7-14, Psalm 84:1-8, Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a, Luke 2:41-52 Sermon Text: The great miracle of the incarnation, which we focus on and celebrate for such a short time during these 12 days of the Christmas Season, is that the Word of God, the second person of the eternal Trinity Humbled himself to become one of us, Human in every way. And by humbling himself, He gave us the greatest glory, By giving us the gift of connecting his divine nature, To our humanity. In today’s gospel we see His incarnation in one of the most humble ways. That of the adolescent. (I love this Gospel story, and have meditated on it over and over for many years, especially since it was central to the Journey to Adulthood program I used to run ...