Topic: Truth

Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31). This is what Ash Wednesday is all about: telling the Truth to the LORD – having the courage to tell the LORD what he knows we really are. In doing so, we put down our masks, and come to the realization that Christ really and truly loves us.

The Rev. Stomberg and the Rev. Galloway discuss the meaning and historical context of the Epiphany narrative; what it means to “follow the light”; what the Light actually is; where we can find the Light; what distance we must travel to find it; and what gifts we are asked to offer the King when we find Him.

Jesus told his disciples, “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34). The Rev. Galloway challenges us to examine how far we fall short of this commandment and reminds us that love does not mean saying things people want to hear – it means telling the truth.

Beloved, we cannot afford to excuse ourselves from the work of ministry. We cannot rely on others to speak the truth while we coast through life. God has anointed each and every one of us with the responsibility to serve Him and share the Gospel. When we excuse ourselves of that responsibility, we are being disobedient, and we harm not only ourselves but the next generation as well - because we are robbing them of an opportunity to hear God’s Word.

The Christian celebration of Christmas extends well beyond the limits of its cultural and commercial celebration. As the world is quick to abandon the celebration of Christmas, the holidays become absent of joy – because they are starving for truth. They are held by a pagan law, spiritually starving. At Christmas, in Christ’s Incarnation, we boldly proclaim the miracle that sets us free from the law of sin and fills us with eternal joy, because joy doesn’t come from a holiday, but from Christ himself.

God’s eternal Word, the Logos, Jesus Christ, who existed in the Godhead from eternity past, who participated in the creation of the world, who is the ground and pinnacle of all truth, humbled himself and took on a body like ours, flesh and bones and all, and so manifested His glory to us on the stage of human history. And in that enormous moment, in that greatest paradox of all time, God’s infinite glory and perfect Truth met our dirty, humble, and broken existence. In that moment, God was fulfilling His promise to provide us a Savior to help us bridge the chasm between the profane and the divine.

We don’t get to “play nice” with sin. When we ignore or keep around “small” sins because it is convenient for us, we forsake the Truth and embrace falsehood. God requires us to embrace his WHOLE commandment – not to keep us down, but so we may truly flourish. Watch this sermon by the Rector to learn more.

Many of us today look around and no longer recognize the world we live in. We see that truth no longer matters, facts no longer matter, and the rule of law is only applied preferentially. Our civilization now runs on the fumes of the faith held by our fathers. Watch as the Bishop-retired discusses how as Christians, we must recognize faith is an action, requiring us to carry on the Faith no matter what, just as our fathers did.

When we choose to walk in the light, and not in darkness, we experience deeper fellowship with God and each other. And even in the smallest choices of daily life, we must decide between living in the Truth, or living in darkness. In Christ, we are assured that a Light will always shine in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it.