Book: Psalms

There is the expectation that those to whom we are accountable will eventually visit us, and we should want to have our very best prepared to make a good impression. The same is true of our preparation for the coming Day of the Lord.

The season of Advent prepares us for the Second Coming of Christ. It is a season of anticipation, and of expectant waiting. Yet our waiting in life is not a mere waiting to die. All of us are tempted to live out our days as if we were waiting to die, but our time on earth is much more than that. For Christians, we are not waiting, worrying until the clock runs out, but instead preparing for the dawn of eternal life in Christ Jesus.

God has ordained a profound simplicity in the act of proper gratitude. At its core, God-centered thanksgiving focuses our attention on our eternal reward in Christ Jesus. And from that focal point, every good gift we receive this side of heaven, as well as every misfortune we face due to sin, is put into perspective.

As we look at the Scriptures, we see the stark contrast between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. If we are reminded of one thing on the Feast of Christ the King, it is that we belong to a Kingdom that is not of this earth, serving a King who is perfectly holy, perfectly righteous, and just, perfectly powerful, and yet perfectly loving and merciful.

If we spend even a little time reading the Bible, we will encounter ominous passages about the end times. Yet God does not call us to hide in a bunker for the rest of our lives! Instead, God through the Holy Scriptures calls us to have confidence in the last days, for our faith in Christ is the only thing of ours that will hold firm against an uncertain future. Join the Rector as he discusses our confidence in the last days.

Like the widow before Elijah, like every believer, we have the choice whether or not to obey the Word of the Lord. Obedience requires courage, and we will require both to properly steward God’s gifts to us. Like the widow, we are called to obey God, even if it doesn’t immediately make sense to us. And if we trust and obey, God will reward us, as He has promised. Listen as the Rev. Galloway discusses the confidence we should have in obedience to God’s Word.

We claim to join the saints in following Christ. Are we willing to pay the price for that? Is the eternal reward something we really desire? Do we really just want to live a quiet, comfortable life where we don’t take any risks, and we don’t offend anyone, and we just minimize the amount we suffer until we pass away? Or do we want to join the saints in the beatific vision? Listen as the Rector reminds us of the importance of All Saints’ Sunday.

We spend all our life building our own towers of Babel – monuments to sin and pride. Both collectively and individually, we put ourselves in the place of God. We build them brick by brick, over the course of decades, and we become blind to the fact that our building of the towers is not only sinful, but irrational. And therefore, we can’t expect the world to improve – to take down the collective tower of Babel – unless we are willing to take down our own towers, brick by brick. Listen as the Rev. Galloway explains the importance of confronting our sins.

Most of us spend our entire lives trying to avoid pain and suffering as much as possible, even at all costs. But we serve a God whose Son endured the ultimate pain and suffering on the Cross, so that we might have eternal life. How should we approach suffering, then? In this sermon, the Bishop-retired explains how we should relate to suffering, and that we need not be afraid.