Sounds from St. Martin's

What does it mean to be kadosh - set apart? How does our baptism or the life of the saints help us to understand those times in life when being set apart was not what we asked for, but is a blessing nonetheless? Here from the Rev. Thatcher in her All Saints' Sunday sermon.

Who are your saints? Are they people who served on the battlefields of years past? Or those who contend with the everyday battles of poverty, grief, and illness? At our All Saints' and All Souls' Evensong, The Rev. Laura Palmer reminds us of some of St. Martin's forgotten saints, while she calls to mind some from her own life that they may help us listen for the voices of our own saints.

We've been on a journey to Jerusalem this summer, did you notice? The Rev. Barbara Ballenger guides us along the way and reminds us that the challenges Jesus offered his followers while he was living are still what we must contend with today.

Garry Duncan invites us to build up our spiritual home. We've been hearing Stewardship messages the last few Sunday mornings. Here is one from Garry Duncan reminding us that our buildings are more than just buildings - they hold our spiritual home. "I'm here because this is home. As we invest in our homes and the bricks and mortar that support us and put a roof over our head, it's also incumbent upon us to invest in the bricks and mortar of our emotional and spiritual home."

As humans we do not like dealing with in between. We prefer people to fit nicely into boxes that we can define and know what to expect. But our God lives and moves in those between areas. The Rev. Anne Thatcher preaches about the cleansing of the 10 Lepers on this Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost.

When we are faced with uncertainty, perhaps is it just a lack of imagination in the great things that God has in store. If we put our trust in Jesus, in God as Lord, we will take hold of the boost we need. Thank you to the Rev. Dr. William Flippin, Jr. for starting off our 2019-2020 Evensong season!

There are those people in our lives who showed us the faith. The Eunices and Loises and Pauls to us when we are an uncertain Timothy. The people who show us what faith is, what it means to be a person of faith, how to carry on when times get rough and we get a little doubtful or ashamed. The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel tells us about a few of those people in his life. Who is that person in your life? Sermon based on 2 Timothy, the Epistle reading for the week, found at https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Pentecost/CProp22_RCL.html#nt1

Church intercedes on behalf of God to the world and on behalf of the world to God. ...What does church as intercessor look like?...What would happen if the church abdicated its role as intercessor for the world? The Rev. Anne Thatcher explores these questions as a glimpse of the answers are revealed to us through the scriptures for this morning.

God, again and again, chooses mercy and invites everyone to the party. Are we also willing to put aside our own ideas of who we are and how we define ourselves to accept the invitation to God's radical mercy party?

The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel reads the message of Jeremiah as one of hope for our times. We together are clay that God breaks down and molds into something new. God does not leave us to remake ourselves. This message is one that needs to be shared with our world today - a plan for how to rebuild the confusion of our time, a message of hope for the future, a clear vision of where life is going, for all of us.

Does the banquet table illustration in today's Gospel not convict you enough? How about a recent anniversary and a shared history? The Rev. Carol Duncan takes the Gospel story of the festival banquet and uses it to shine a light into the spaces of our own lives we may not even realize are there.

What makes us choose or refuse to heal? What makes us decide who we believe deserves healing or not? How do we deal with the "cruel light" that healing seems to be - as imagined in C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce? The Rev. Anne Thatcher asks us to reconsider the pain of that light and healing, and God's promise of love and life.

Jesus came to sow division? Is that really what our Gospel is telling us this morning? Or is there more that we must dig deeper in order to find the truth? The Rev. Barbara Ballenger preaches on this 10th Sunday after Pentecost.

As St. Martin's holds our 4th Annual Celebration of Caribbean Emancipation Day, 400 years since the first enslaved persons were brought to this country, what does emancipation mean? And how do we continue to emancipate people from what binds them today? Our guest preacher this evening is the Rev. René John, Dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Trenton, New Jersey.

We are called not to live in this world as it is, but to follow in Christ's footsteps, living in this world as though the Kingdom of God is already here.

God is generous and God is merciful. So, why do we not turn to God in our time of need? The Rev. Canon Betsy Ivey, from the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, was our guest preacher this morning, bringing a message of hope and grace.

The Rev. Anne Ritchings brings a message to us today straight from the ancient desert fathers and mothers - a reminder of our call to welcome.

Can you imagine sharing your faith with another? In a world full of people desperate for the freedom from voices of hate - both external and internal - can you imagine sharing the voice of God's love? The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel's sermon from July 7 is a call to engage in the evangelism - sharing the words of freedom, peace, and love that the people right next to us need to hear.

Christ sets us free, but the freedom offered is not to be wasted. Quoting the Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, Episcopal Bishop of Maryland, the Rev. Carol Duncan reminds us of the blessed responsibilities of our freedom, bringing together how bound up our freedom is with the freedom of others.

Our name is so tied to our identity, that when we do not know another's name it is as if you are implying that they do not matter. What happens when our name is stripped from us, when our identity is stripped from us? And what do we do when a name and identity is stripped from another? The Rev. Anne Thatcher issues her call to action from the Gospel for today.

On this Day of Pentecost, the newly ordained Rev. Barbara Ballenger shows us just what happens when the world says NO, the Holy Spirit breaks through with her YES.

The Rt. Rev. Frank T. Griswold visited St. Martin's this morning to celebrate confirmations and receptions. In his sermon, he speaks of what it must have been like for the disciples in this brief period between the Ascension and Pentecost, awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit to come.

What is blessing really about and what does Jesus' ascension while giving a blessing to the disciples mean for us as disciples today? Thank you to the Rev. Becca Ehrlich for preaching on Ascension Day.

What does home mean? What does it feel like to be "home?" The Rev. Anne Thatcher preaches this morning about her sense of home in God and with others.

On Kairos Sunday at St. Martin's we celebrated the ministry of our children and youth. One of our Middle School Youth, Daniel Cooper was inspired to offer the sermon connecting today's lectionary with his experience as a youth growing up in times of fear and discord.

All sheep need a shepherd, but how do we know which shepherd to follow among all those vying for our attention?

Sermon for the third Sunday of Easter

Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter.

Guest preacher at Evensong this May was the Rev. Michael S. Rau, rector of Holy Nativity Episcopal Church, Rockledge.

A Very Nerdy Easter by Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields

This week, the final Sunday of Lent, Palm/Passion Sunday, we reflect upon the Epistle reading from Philippians 2:5-11. For each week of Lent we will listen for the Good News in the gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday. Each podcast includes a reading of the Gospel lesson and Rev. Kerbel’s reflections. Join Rev. Kerbel as you explore how God is loving God’s people into freedom through the word this week.

The Rev. Bonnie McCrickard, our guest preacher at Evensong this week, focuses on the final verse of our Gospel reading today, John 12:8, and wonders what it means for the poor to be with us, and how Jesus means for us to be with the poor.

On the 5th Sunday of Lent, Rev. Jarrett Kerbel discusses the extravagance of Mary's gift to Jesus, as she anointed his feet with perfume using her hair and what Jesus is trying to teach Judas in his response to Judas' objection to this extravagance.

This week, the fifth Sunday of Lent, John 12:1-8 For each week of Lent we will listen for the Good News in the gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday. Each podcast includes a reading of the Gospel lesson and the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel’s reflections. Join Rev. Kerbel as you explore how God is loving God’s people into freedom through the word this week.

The Rev. Canon Kirk Berlenbach from the offices of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania visited St. Martin's this week and offered his reading on this week's lesson, the parable of the prodigal son.

This week, the fourth Sunday of Lent, Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 For each week of Lent we will listen for the Good News in the gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday. Each podcast includes a reading of the Gospel lesson and the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel’s reflections. Join Rev. Kerbel as you explore how God is loving God’s people into freedom through the word this week.

Rev. Jarrett Kerbel believes that the Gospel text for this morning -- Luke 13:1-9 -- is not about sin and punishment, but rather it is about mercy, forgiveness, and tending our souls.

This week, the third Sunday of Lent, Luke 13:1-9 For each week of Lent we will listen for the Good News in the gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday. Each podcast includes a reading of the Gospel lesson and the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel’s reflections. Join Rev. Kerbel as you explore how God is loving God’s people into freedom through the word this week.

This week, the first Sunday of Lent, Luke 4:1-13 For each week of Lent we will listen for the Good News in the gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday. Each podcast includes a reading of the Gospel lesson and the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel’s reflections. Join Rev. Kerbel as you explore how God is loving God’s people into freedom through the word this week.

God helps those who helps themselves? Is that really what we learn in the Bible? Because Abram couldn't help himself...What if we are meant rather to shelter under God's wing? Barbara Ballenger explores what that life looks like in today's sermon.

This week, the second Sunday of Lent, Luke 13:31-35 For each week of Lent we will listen for the Good News in the gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday. Each podcast includes a reading of the Gospel lesson and the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel’s reflections. Join Rev. Kerbel as you explore how God is loving God’s people into freedom through the word this week.

On the first Sunday of Lent, Rev. Jarrett Kerbel tackles the story of Jesus tempted in the desert for 40 days. What temptations do you need to free yourself from in order to exist in love?

Rev. Anne Ritchings preached at our 7 p.m. worship on Ash Wednesday.

This last Sunday of Epiphany, Rev. Thatcher reminds us that we are made in the image of God, and that the veils we wear to hide and separate ourselves from ourselves, others, and God are just an illusion.

Our Epiphany Evensong on Sunday, March 3, 2019 featured guest preacher Rev. Samuel Ndungu, Associate Rector at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia, PA. Rev. Ndungu asks us to recall that, “Our problems that we bring to church were not meant to be handled by human intelligence. I did not come here for somebody to try to fix my problem. I need to speak to Jesus. I need to talk to somebody who can actually assist me.”

Neither Revenge Nor Submission by Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields

It may have been nearly 30 years ago, but Barbara Ballenger's experience singing with her church Gospel Choir in Rochester taught her a lot about how to blend. On this Sunday, as we celebrate the Blessed Absalom Jones, let us practice blending our voices with those around us - what might that song sound like? What would lives lived that way look like?

Have we misread today's Gospel passage from Luke? The Rev. Kerbel thinks that perhaps in the past he has. This week he comes with a new look at Peter's exclamation, "Go Away, Lord" and the ways in which we too tell God the same.

We welcomed the Rev. Dr. Koshy Mathews, rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Phoenixville as our guest preacher at Evensong this month.

Gender role subversion in the Gospel of Luke? You might be hearing this first from the Rev. Anne Thatcher. Explore what the Song of Simeon has to teach us today as we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation.

While giving props to the person who first held up the "John 3:16" sign behind the goal posts of a televised football game in the 1970's, the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel suggests that we begin also learning exactly what Luke 4:14 is all about.