Sermons from St. Cross Episcopal Church in Hermosa Beach, CA

Have you been a good little boy or girl? Are your gifts freely given and received out of pure love - or are they rewards for services rendered?

Through our Baptism we are all and each of every one of us a Saint. God is there with the promise to know our sorrow, to help us when we fall, to love us when we get it right and when we get it wrong.

What if the most significant example of persistence is God?

Are you seeking to build only yourself up - or are you seeking to be part of this wonderful community which connects each other and has its source in the living waters of Baptism?

What are the words that describe the relationship that we yearn and strive to have with God and with one another?

How can we, as St Cross, focus on these words for this year as we intentionally drink and share the living water given to us through our Lord Jesus Christ?

Vulnerability is a reciprocal journey.

Who is Christian, really? Is it just the people we agree with, and not the ones we disagree with?

How does asking hard questions lead us into challenging answers?

How do we bear one another's burdens in the Life of Christ?

When a Gentile woman begs Jesus for healing for her daughter, Jesus' initial response is a dismissive one. He responds, in a fully human way, out of the prejudices of his family, religion and culture. But Jesus overcomes what he's been taught. Through Christ we too can overcome our prejudices, and learn to love people who are not like us at all.

What relational advice do people give to couples? How can we tell which ones will help in the long run, and which ones won't? How do we apply that to our relationships with God?

In our post-modern, multicultural world how do we, as inclusive, broad-minded episcopalians, reconcile the Gospel message that there is only one Messiah? Do we become like some of those early followers and say, 'no that's too hard', and walk away? And if we walk away, does God ever walk away from us?

Jesus says he feeds us because he's be bread of life. But is he inviting us into another flesh and blood relationship as well?

Jesus continues talking about the Bread of Life. It seems like a heady metaphor, classic to the Gospel of John, but is it really so simple that it eludes us?

Bread is the staff of life, but maybe that's a tough metaphor in the post-carbohydrate world. What keeps you alive? Where are you fed by God's presence? What would make you never be hungry again?

In the Gospel story of the Loaves and the Fishes, what kind of miracle actually occurs? Who was the generous one in this Gospel? What does this tell us about God's economy?

How do we continue to exclude people when Jesus is so clear that everyone is invited? Kingdom living, after all, is about bringing people in, not casting people out, because relationship is the foundation of it all.

Our passage from Ephesians today beautifully expresses the true nature of what it means to live in the Kingdom of God.

Why is it so hard to see God in the midst of the familiar? What can we do?

Our Gospel today proclaims the expansive and comprehensive nature of God and God's Grace. Reflected also in our nations current issues.