Ascension Written Sermons

The Power of the Logos The Reverend Dr. Howard J. Hess Christmas Day 2012 The Episcopal Church of the Ascension I. Introduction . On this Christmas Day, our Gospel reading is the beautiful Prologue to John. Many, myself included, believe it to be one of the most moving passages in the Scriptures. “In the beginning was the Word (The Logos) and the Word was with God and the Word was God All things came into power through him . . . ‘”The Word, The Logos, is of course the Son of God, Jesus Christ. This passage affirms that Christ is co-eternal with God, present at the formation of the world. Not only was Christ present, but the creator of all that was made, the agent that brought order out of chaos and light out of darkness. In sum, Jesus Christ, The Logos, created the world as we know it – all that is beautiful all that is inspiring. And Christ created even us. And as we read in Genesis , God looked upon creation and said that it w...

The Brightness of True Light The Reverend Dr. Howard J. Hess Christmas Eve 2012 The Episcopal Church of the Ascension I. Introduction . Sacred space is filled with light. On our recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a group of us ascended to the top of Mount Sinai. We had anticipated a cold and treacherous trip to the mountaintop, first on camelback and then on foot, which would begin at 2:00 am. Leaving in the middle of the night allowed us to watch the sun rise from the peak of the mountain. Our small Ascension band was excited, but also apprehensive about mountain climbing in the pitch darkness of the middle of the night. But the experience was not to be what many of us had expected. In the midst of the darkness, we were enveloped in a canopy of stars that illuminated our way and permitted us to see the shadows of those next to us, in front of us, and behind us. And there were multiple shooting stars that punctuated God’s active presence...

The Rev. Robert P. Travis Advent 4 th Sunday Sermon – 8:00am and 10:30am Church of the Ascension, Knoxville TN RCL Advent 4 Year C 12/23/2012 Scripture Text: Micah 5:2-5a, Canticle 15 (Magnificat), Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-45 Sermon Text: “ O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.” We sang that hymn at the healing service on Wednesday, and it struck me then, that we are more like captive Israel in this country, this week, than we have been at any time in my memory, that we are mourning in lonely exile here. Three years ago, I preached on this Sunday, and at that time Jackie and I were expecting the birth of our third child, and first son. It was a very different fourth Sunday of Advent for us, full of expectation and hope, in which I shared the joy of Mary and Elizabeth in the same gospel reading we just heard. Would I have...

The Third Sunday of Advent Luke 3:7-18 Repentance and the Good News of Change Let us pray: Heavenly Father, Quiet our minds, quiet our hearts, in this Advent season, and create in us a true desire for you, that we might prepare with right intention and real effort for the indwelling of your Christ in our world, in our lives, and in our souls. Amen. “ So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people” You know, I think it's funny the way that we change. The way that we change our likes and our habits as we get older or move into different phases of our life. The way we can even change very deep parts of who we are. Of course, I don't know how it works with you all, but if I ever even think about saying, “oh I'll never do that, or I'll never eat that, or I'll never like that,” well, it is pretty much guaranteed that I will, eventually. I mean I was never ever going to just sit down and snack on sliced to...

Advent 1, Year C Church of the Ascension December 2, 2012 The Rev. Amy Morehous Jeremiah 33:14-16 Psalm 25:1-10 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 Luke 21:25-36 I will walk out of the darkness And I'll walk into the light And I'll sing the song of ages And the dawn will end the night. I'm a dweller on the threshold And I'm waiting at the door And I'm standing in the darkness I don't want to wait no more. --” Dweller on the Threshold ”, lyrics by Van Morrison ------------ So, here we are at the beginning again, you and I. Advent. That song by Van Morrison has been stuck in my head for weeks, as Advent drew closer. Even though it isn’t actually about Advent at all, it held a lot of my feelings about this holy time. A time when we wrestle with the now...and anticipate what has not yet come. Our readings today acknowledge that now, and point us toward that not yet. They arise out of times of darkness: Jeremiah wrote for the exiled Hebre...

The Last Sunday After Pentecost: Christ the King John 18:33-37 Listening to The Voice “ Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”     So, in case you don't really know me all that well, I will go ahead and openly confess that I am a stubborn man. Recently I had a pretty important learning as a result of my being stubborn, that I'd like to share with you today. You see, many ordained people, priests and deacons, even before they are ordained, usually in seminary, are typically encouraged ( and of course that really means they are told and expected ) to find and meet regularly with a spiritual director. A person who is trained to be kind of a spirituality coach. A person who can provide some sort of spiritual accountability, and who can function as a kind of advisor for all things spiritual. So, a few years ago, I, just like all of my colleagues in seminary heard this message, received this command, and because at the time I really didn...