Speaker: The Rev. Nathan Stomberg

Many Christians may not be familiar with the Book of Wisdom (also called Sirach), a book of the Apocrypha. How do we treat the Apocryphal books, and what can we learn from the book of Wisdom?

American Christians are no doubt incredibly disheartened by the myriad moral shortcomings of their political leaders and the march of the authoritarian state against individual and religious freedoms. But we can take heart, for as the Rector reminds us, earthly leaders will always fall short, but God in Christ will never fail us or let us down.

Joshua commanded the people of Israel, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” In today’s sermon, the Rector reminds us of the urgency of this decision the Christian life today. Do we obey God, or man? Joshua’s words warn us: If we don’t choose now, then by default we will find ourselves looking back after a long series of incremental changes, realizing we renounced the LORD long ago.

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.

The Apostle Paul urges us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. Such a way of living requires us to “walk the line”, as the great Johnny Cash song goes. God requires us to meet a high standard in following Christ Jesus. But thankfully, Christ sustains us along the way.

In a sermon delivered for the first Annual Meeting of Holy Communion Anglican Church, the Rector recounts God’s many blessings on the congregation the previous year and reminds us of the one thing which sustains us: God’s Grace alone.

Every day, there are many voices competing for our attention. Social media, television, friends, family, and finances are among those many competing voices. Through the chaos of life, we must remember that we will always become like those people or things we listen to most.

For those who live in the United States, the ingredients of worldly happiness are right there in front of us. Almost anything we want can be ordered online and arrive at our doorstep in two days or less. We have access to all of humanity’s knowledge and information on our laps and in our pockets. And social media provides us a limitless release of dopamine and an endless supply of ideals to chase after. Ironically, none of these riches make us any happier. The more stuff we get, the more stuff we desire. So where is true happiness to be found?

The Feast of Corpus Christi is the Patronal Festival of Holy Communion Anglican Church in RI. From the Latin for “Body of Christ”, the Feast of Corpus Christi celebrates Christ’s presence in the Sacraments. Listen as Elder Nathan reflects on the deep meaning of this festival day and why we must treat these sacred mysteries with the utmost reverence.