This is the podcast feed for The Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Montgomery, Alabama. Here you will find sermons, studies, morning prayer, special events, and more.
The Great Divorce - Chapter 5 (Part 2)
The Great Divorce - Chapter 5 (Part 1)
The Great Divorce - Chapter 2 (Part 2)
The Great Divorce - Chapter 2 (Part1)
Lent is a reminder that our relationship with God is one built not simply on faith but acts of spiritual discipline done to grow closer in the knowledge and love of God. We take on these disciplines not out of guilt or spiritual anxiety, but out of love. Our small acts of surrender train our hearts for larger acts of mercy. We do not store things up for ourselves, but in the sacrificial act of releasing those things which we are clinging too, we discover the true treasure that neither moth nor rust can destroy: a life rooted in the self-giving love of God. And you can't buy that off the wall or off the rack.
How do I carry this Peace that I find at Ascension with me Monday through Saturday? How do I keep my ASCENSION SUNDAY SALTINESS? Jesus answers the question in the very next verse, “DON'T HIDE THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL BASKET!” Take what you find right here at Ascension with you all through the week and every day. Don't hide that light within you. Live Ascension every day!
The still point of the turning world is the place where the divine meets the human. It is where peace beyond understanding takes root—even in suffering and despair. It is the point where we discover that there is more than this worldly life we know now. It is the place in which true wisdom is found. It is the cruciform life.
“Let it be…” These words do not suggest that the suffering or harm of the world does not matter. They do not excuse injustice or minimize pain. Instead, they invite us to release our ego-driven desires and open ourselves to God's call. And when we do—when our response is one of trust rather than control—we begin to discover our own belovedness.
Tonight, we call him the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. And yet, he is also the prince who becomes a pauper—rich beyond measure, choosing to dwell in human poverty. Christ comes to delight in us, just as Mary and Josephdelighted in him. He comes to give us the gift of love, and he will always love us.
The season of Advent is one of preparation and expectant waiting. But I wonder how our expectations of the season shape our experience of it. I wonder if our expectations might actually limit the joy and wonder of what God desires for us.Maybe instead of holding tightly to our expectations—for ourselves, for others, even for God—we are invited to trust in God's purposes. To loosen our grip. To surrender. Our best-laid plans may fall apart. But if we have prepared our hearts—if we have released our expectations and our egos—we just might discover the truth proclaimed to Joseph: God is with us.
When our expectations of Jesus amount to making himin our own image—demanding he perform according to our standards and meet our desires—then the divine becomes nothing more than our puppet, and we the puppeteers. That is not “the one who is to come.” That is not the Jesus we are waiting for. Because that is not who God is.Emmanuel, God-with-us, is the one who walks with usin our sorrows and hardships. He strengthens us to meet the days ahead, especially when we are full of questions and doubts and cannot know the future. Even more, he empowers us to walk with others—to help them see, to help them hear good news.God knows that we will suffer times of doubt anddiscouragement and it is ok to question God—God is big enough to handle it. But God is not here to meet our expectations. We are here to meet his.
In just 17 more days - NEAR the Arctic Circle, people will gather in Skarsvag, Norway at the one church in town for Christmas Eve. The temperature is forecast to be MINUS 4 degrees. They are expecting more snow that night. They will also be expecting the presence of God - who will be here also. They will look forward to the birth of the Christ Child once more just as we will. It's going to be cold. It's going to be exciting. Hear the voice of John crying out in the wilderness. Prepare the WAY. Jesus is Coming.
This morning, we remember the hope of God's love as we baptize Jackson. In so doing, we will proclaim to him, and ourselves, that our starting point with God is not “sinner in need of redemption” but “beloved child of God.” It is an important reminder and definition of who we are. It does not mean that, at times, we won't fall short. We will. We will sin, and we all need God's redemption. But it does mean that no matter how often we fall, God still loves us and welcomes us back into his redemptive grace and power.
Sherlock Holmes often said to Dr. Watson, “When you haveexcluded the impossible, whatever REMAINS, however improbable, must be the truth.” Christ remains. He is the WAY,the TRUTH, and the LIFE. 2,025 years later we have gathered here this morning to worship and the fact that we are here means that we are next in the order of the story. And it is a story of hope. We believe and people are fed. We believe and the love of God is spread. We believe and we gather at thisaltar rail and faith is made real. So, rethink what you think. Watch more Sherlock Holmes and read one of the Riley Page mysteries. Believe in God. And let's change the order!
On this Celebration Sunday, we encounter passages that speak of dreadful portents, destruction, famines, plagues, persecution, and rejection. And yet, we do not fear. We understand that the reordering of the world always requires disordering. In times of great disorder, we remember that the worst things are never the last things—disorder can never be the end—because, at our very essence, we are resurrection people.
We catch a glimpse of glory divine in this part of the Kingdom of Heaven we call the Church of the Ascension. And it is definitely a Heaven that we can believe in now and forever.
In the spirit of that prayer, and in the light of this Feast of All Saints, I hope we turn our attention—as our ancestors did—to the relief of those in need. Our feeding ministries—Beans and Rice, Food Boxes, Angel Food and dinners for New Beginnings—have all been affected by rising costs. We continue to serve those in need and have seen an increase in the numbers of those who come to us for food. Our response in these times must be one of love, humility, and generosity. We will continue to meet the rising demands placed on our food ministries and we need your help to do so.
Most of us value generosity. We strive to be generous people, and we admire those who embody generosity in the world. We recognize those who are generous with their time and money as well as those who are generous of spirit. Wethink of them as kind and unselfish, always willing to lend a hand and help out when someone is in need. Generosity,typically, feels good. It lifts us up whether we are the ones giving or witnessing the generosity of another. We evensay things like, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
None of us journeys toward healing or faith alone. Naaman had a king, servants, and soldiers who stood by him. The Samaritan leper had a community of fellow sufferers who stayed with him in his pain. When healing came, it came from God—but community prepared them to receive it.I wonder if this is not exactly what we are called to be as the church: a people who walk with others, especially when they are struggling; a people who remind others of their dignity when the world tells them they are unworthy; a people who offer shelter and encouragement and hope, so that when God moves in someone's life, they are ready to receive it—not with suspicion, but with gratitude and faith.Because the truth is, faith makes us well—and community makes us whole.
Faith is not about what we have—it's about what we hope for.Suffering, sorrow, anger, and frustration can absolutely make us question God—even make us question our belief in what God is doing, or not doing, in the world. But those things don't have to limit our faith. If we are willing to trust God enough to walk through our pain, we will find God there—in the struggle—as our strength, our redeemer, a sure presence in the darkest of times. And our faith will be increased.
I hope we will always be asking God and ourselves WHEN can we help next – WHAT can we do next – WHERE will we put our faith in the God who calls us to the Heavenly Banquet. Let's proclaim that WE BELIEVE enough to believethat God will always use the hearts and hands of Ascension to make a difference in this part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let's BELIEVE – EVERY day - that someday is TODAY.
The Bible is not a moral codebook. It is the messy, complicated, ongoing story of God's people. And yes, it's full of failure. More importantly, it is the story of God's relentless, unceasing love in the face of all those failures. Again and again, God—shrewd and compassionate—calls us home. Even, and especially, when we don't deserve it.
Mercy and grace are not abstract ideas. They are embodied in vulnerable acts of humility and courage. They are practiced when we risk relationship instead of retreating into division. They are revealed when we lay aside loyalty to ideology and choose instead the way of Christ.
Our expectations can serve us, and they can also get us into trouble. When they serve us, they motivate us. They give us clarity about what we want, help us set goals, and keep us focused. Expectations reflect what we believe and value. When they grow out of positive beliefs, they help us persevere in hard times and set healthy boundaries that protect us.
We are all daughters and sons of Abraham even if we do not resemble one another in health and wholeness or skin color or nationality. Each of us—every single one—is a beloved child of God, worthy of love, care, and liberation.
I've learned so much from your guidance and leadership, and what I've learned from you—and from everyone here atAscension—will guide me in the days to come. And I take comfort in knowing the Lord remains near to all of us now and in the days ahead.
If your heart is hurting, maybe it's time to reexamine the treasure you are holding—a fool's gold is fear, and it will never afford you the possibility and potential of a faithful life in Christ. That life is one in which we discover hope and grow in love—not because we are assured of the outcomes, but because, like Abraham, we trust in God's promises. We trust in faith.
When we give of our time and of our treasure to help others we are truly living into God's call to serve the least of these and I see so much of that here at Ascension. Whether in scouting, in New Beginnings, in our feeding ministries in our efforts to be better neighbors we are giving from our abundance rather than storing up and that is something truly worth exchanging for a day in our lives.
The beauty of memorizing the Lord's Prayer is not that itallows us to recite it faster or participate more often in worship. The beauty is that memorization frees us—to be more open to God's voice and responsive to His desire for deep relationship with us. That deep relationship is what wewere made for, and it is what we are constantly being called back into.
I believe God is rooted in compassion. And because of that compassion, our starting point is that we are beloved children of God—each and every one of us. That includes Jan and Marcia, Martha and Mary. And it includes you and me.And if our starting point with God is our belovedness, then our starting point with one another can only be rooted in that deep compassion.
Will we be the ones who cross to the other side to preserve our comfort or identity? Or will we draw near, take a risk, love? Because to follow Jesus is not just to admire the Good Samaritan—it is to become one. Not for the sake of a nation, but for the sake of the kingdom of God.
God's grace—and his desire to seek relationship with us—is the ultimate expression of love. When we do the work He has called us to, we must be careful not to become prideful. Instead, we take comfort in knowing that God desires relationship with all of us.
As Christians, we are to set our hands to the plow, look forward, and live as new creations, bearing the fruit of the Spirit for the sake of God's kingdom.
For three weeks in June, these youth and campers show uswhat the Kingdom of God looks like. They give us a glimpse of heaven on earth. For those three weeks, we witness what it means to have our identity restored—as beloved children of God, made in His image and created to be in relationship with Him.
That's the beauty of the Trinity. It's not a formula to be figured out, but a relationship, a mystery, a presence to be experienced. A God who meets us as Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. A God who moves toward us in love, calls us by name, and shows up—sometimes jogging down a city street—right when we need to be found.
“The deepest level of communication is not communication, but communion. It is wordless. It is beyond words, and it isbeyond speech, and it is beyond concept. Not that we discover a new unity. We discover an older unity. My dear brothers (and sisters), we are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our originalunity. What we have to be is what we are.”
As beloved children of God, formed by prayer and shaped by love, we are offered a destiny greater than our darkest prisons—a destiny not defined by our chains, but by ourchoices. We need only trust that the prayers we offer—day after day, week after week—shape our lives and the lives of those around us.
The peace that Christ gives is not the world's kind of peace—but it is the peace we so deeply desire, whether we are lizard-brained, dog-brained, or owl-brained.
Superman may save the day, but Jesus saves souls, hearts, and moments. He saves us—and he stays with us. And I believe that's what we truly need right now: not just a superhero from above, but a shepherd beside us, with us—walking through this BANI world together.
© 2020-2026 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
