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Intro; In 1996, an American comedy film written, starring and directed by Tom Hanks was released called “That Thing You Do” . Its a spin on a local Pennsylvania band that scores a one-hit wonder in 1964 and achieve big time success when they release a Beatles-style pop song. They ride the glory until…

The Danger of Hypocrisy We should do good works to glorify God, not ourselves. Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Many do good things to make themselves look good, instead of making God…

Who do we want as an audience?Who do we want to receive our reward from? Who do we want to get the glory?

Religion Is religion a good thing or not? For some of you, that might be a tricky question to answer. I suspect for many, you’d probably stumble, and say, well… it depends.... It depends on what you mean by religion. If we think of religion as the belief in a God who loves us, then I would argue, as…

Ash Wednesday Homily emphasising Almsgiving, Prayer, Fasting

Introduction: Kingdom Manifesto Beatitudes - Character Last Section - Actions of Righteousness This Week: How a member of the kingdom relates to religious acts of devotion Giving, prayer, fasting Today: Giving Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:1–4 (CSB) “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front…

Preparing for the journey Big trips tend to bring a little anxiety into life packing weather accommodations planning things out in advance helps manage the pre-trip anxiety But more importantly it allows you to get the most out of your trip. Lent is a journey and we need to prepare or else we will loose…

Good For Nothing Religious practice.. One of the greatest American theologians, Johnathan Edwards, lamented, There’s a kind of religious practice without any inward experience which is of no account in the sight of God. It is good for nothing. Jonathan Edwards (American Evangelical Preacher) He was well…

Introduction- The Best of Enemies Baby Boy, Hustle & Flow, Four Brothers, Smoking Aces, The Family That Preys, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Think Like A Man, Hidden Figures, Empire, The Best of Enemies, & The Color Purple Who do all of these movies and TV show have…

The light that shines before others must first be kindled by God in our hearts.

The story of a Franciscan Monk who begins a life of fidelity to Christ and later alters his motivations to impressing people and pursing earthly gain. He gives to the poor only when the villagers are close to his monastery. He prays only in the middle of the day at the place of commerce. His prayers…

Today we come together to mark the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Honestly it feels like we have been living in a perpetual state of Ash Wednesday for 2 years. Recently the CDC has relaxed its recommendations of masks and other pandemic related guidances, but to be honest we don’t know how this…

The missing link Soap: the missing link for a great slip & slide Camp essential equipment for fun 2 conjoined slip & slides hose/water hill It was fun, but expectations were not met UNTIL: Soap Fun to the fullest degree Spiritually Missing Solid spiritual practices Prayer, fasting, confession, sacraments…

LESSON: Almsgiving defined Today begins the Passiontide, the final two weeks of preparation for the Paschal festivities, one of the most solemn and holiest times of the Church’s liturgical year. It is a time to step up our Lenten practices, as we deprive ourselves all the more in these last two weeks…

The value of foundation What determines someones response to challenging situations where there seems to be no answer or direction? The basics and foundations From the womb to the present we are given instructions on how to live and conduct ourselves in life. utilizing spiritual tools We question the…

WHY we help others is just as important as helping them

Jesus now confronts the common tendency of men to draw attention to themselves seeking to be recognized. He instructs the disciples to seek not attention but rather to avoid it.

LESSON: Washing the Betrayer’s feet St. John loves prologues. After all he begins his entire gospel with one. They sound the note of solemnity, and so as the second half of the gospel begins, the portion scripture scholars call the “Book of Glory”, we are once again treated to a prologue. We are solemnly…

“You hypocrites. You Lutherans are hypocrites.” That is a phrase that I have heard multiple times during the Lenten season from a particular man I had the chance of knowing. I think it was his mission to come and talk to me at, or around, Ash Wednesday because he would always come and talk to me about…

One of our favorite movies in our house is Mary Poppins. When you watch Mary Poppins, how can you not fall in love with Dick Van Dyke’s character, Bert? He always has a smile on his face, and is always willing to help someone out. As much as Bert is a wonderful character, he is also someone whom we can…

This lesson will look at the ways we are to be righteous before God and the reward from our heavenly Father for our righteousness.

Christ breaks down several ways that the alms of the religious elite were alms of pure hypocrisy. Let us learn what should not be the motivator of our alms

If we are not to do alms or good works as the hypocrites do, how does Christ say we should go about them? What should be the reason behind them?

In the previous verses of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ emphasis on how the Scribes and Pharisees had failed to teach the whole and intended council of God. They had twisted the Scripture and replaced the righteousness of God with their own standards of righteousness. We saw that they clearly had seen…