Sermons on Apostolate:

Faith Needs A Setting Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 29, 2014

what is communicated in the Church, what is handed down in her living Tradition, is the new light born of an encounter with the true God, a light which touches us at the core of our being and engages our minds, wills and emotions.

Thursday of 4th week of Lent 2014 Lumen Fidei The name “Israel” was given to Jacob, son of Isaac and Rebecca, after an incident in which this patriarch wrestled all night with a divine being. That name means “God-fighter,” and it applied well to his descendants. Our OT ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 32:7-14

Denomination: Catholic

Words Of Comfort

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on May 9, 2014

With that superlative peace and such like promises, why should our hearts be troubled?

WORDS OF COMFORT. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1). These are precious words of comfort from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Cross was imminent, and no doubt a sense of foreboding had dampened the Passover celebrations of the little ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Ministry Of Reconciliation

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Dec 28, 2013

The need for reconciliation arises because of our estrangement from God on account of our sin. The mediator of reconciliation is God. The cost of reconciliation is the death of Christ. The result of reconciliation is a new relationship with God.

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. This passage directly confronts us with the subject of reconciliation. It requires spiritual thinking: no longer regarding people from a worldly point of view - “according to the flesh” - and certainly not regarding Christ from a worldly ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Missionary Aspiration: Reaching Everyone

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 25, 2014

The Church must aspire to a necessary conversion so that our method and message is appealing to those who are in a sinful lifestyle, to return to Christ, convert themselves and be healed and reconciled.

Thursday of the 30th Week in Course Joy of the Gospel My wife was privileged to be the confirmation sponsor for a young lady this year, and her instruction to the girl was centered around this concluding passage from the letter of St. Paul to the church at Ephesus: “take the whole armor of ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20

Denomination: Catholic

The End And The Reward Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 12, 2016

Paul is not focusing on sinful behavior we should avoid, but on exemplary behavior we should practice.

24th or Last Sunday of the Year 2016 Extraordinary Form The five hundred year period since the end of the Renaissance has been marked by two events we Catholics can realistically call religious catastrophes. The first, of course, was the Protestant revolution most agree was begun by Martin Luther ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:15-35

Denomination: Catholic

Holiness And Controversy

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Aug 6, 2018

The life of St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross is inspirational but off-putting to some.

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross August 9, 2018 We are the people of the New Covenant, the covenant made in the blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Israel was brought out of Egypt by the power of God. He then gave them the Old Covenant made in the blood of lambs and oxen, written on stone in the Ten ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Matthew 16:13-23

Denomination: Catholic

A Child-Like Humility

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Aug 11, 2018

If you want to be first, learn to be last!

A CHILD-LIKE HUMILITY. Mark 9:30-37. 1. CONTEXT (Mark 8:29-34). On the back of Peter’s famous confession of faith (Mark 8:29), Jesus began to teach His disciples about His upcoming death and resurrection (Mark 8:31). About this the disciples were, to say the least, slow on the uptake: ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:30-37

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Evangelization Has Many Forms--Some That Would Not Work Today

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Aug 11, 2018

Forgive those who offend you or God cannot forgive your own sins. Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful.

Thursday of 19th Week in Course St Stephen of Hungary Today’s first reading, from the prophet Ezekiel, is so short that it tends to run right through our heads without finding purchase. So I’ll read it again, The word of the LORD came to me: 2"Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35, Ezekiel 12:1-2

Denomination: Catholic

We Must Serve The Poor Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Dec 25, 2016

The church ministered to the poor. If we lose that character, we are no longer the true church.

Fifth Day of the Christmas Octave 2016 Joy of the Gospel St. John the Evangelist is the apostle and evangelist of love, but he can write in very black-and-white manners. In his first epistle his language is stark: if you obey the law to love your brother you are walking as Jesus did. If you say ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:22-35

Denomination: Catholic

No Other Gospel

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on May 11, 2019

To add anything to the gospel of the grace of God is to deny the efficacy of the Cross of Jesus.

NO OTHER GOSPEL. Galatians 1:1-12. From the outset, the tone of the Apostle Paul’s letter to “the churches of Galatia” (Galatians 1:2b) is one of disappointment. The opening signature “Paul, an apostle” is immediately followed by a negative assertion - “not from men nor through man”; and a ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 1:1-12

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Scriptural Ways To Handle Temptation

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Feb 12, 2019

First Sunday of Lent, Year C

The sign outside Immanuel Lutheran Church in Burnside, Iowa, “Lent is not the fuzz in your navel.”  “Led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,…” The desert experience can be the place of mature repentance and conversion.. Basically, the desert represents a stripping away so as to make ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 26:4-10, Luke 4:1-13

Denomination: Catholic

An Open Letter

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Jul 20, 2019

No longer a slave.

AN OPEN LETTER. PHILEMON 1:1-21. Onesimus was a slave who had escaped from his Christian master, Philemon. Yet in a beautiful irony, having not ‘made it’ alone in the big city, he found himself at last brought under the direct personal influence of “Paul the prisoner” (Philemon 1:1). Many a ...read more

Scripture: Philemon 1:1-21

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Gospel Is At Stake Series

Contributed by Donald Mcculley on Aug 7, 2019

The following sermon briefs are a collection of discourses and devotionals taken from the book of Galatians. Some of the outlines and thoughts were borrowed from other sources. This is not an expository work – that is a verse-by-verse study but as the title reads, just some gleanings.

INTRODUCTION: Have you ever written a letter to someone when you were upset? I thought so. Paul did too. When he wrote the Galatian letter, he was beside himself. One writer said, “Paul writes with heat; his language flows like molten lava…He scolds, he pleads, he denounces, he exhorts, he ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 1:1-24

Denomination: Baptist

Scripture In Relation To The Church's Living Tradition Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jan 28, 2012

Our respect for the Word of God must always be subject to our understanding that the Bible is the Church's Book.

Monday of 4th Week in Course 30 January 2012 Verbum Domini In the OT, there are very few persons who are totally devoted to listening to and living out the Word of God. Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and then this wonderful, conflicted soul David, were four of them. Yes, they all had their weaknesses, ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Creativity--The Opposite Of Liturgy Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 21, 2011

Our profession of faith in Christ is guided not only by Scripture, but by the Fathers of the Church, the historic creeds, and our liturgical tradition.

Monday of the 5th Week of Easter Spirit of the Liturgy Mistaken identity. It’s an embarrassment, and occasionally a lethal inconvenience. Consider poor Jude here. No wonder he appears to have preferred the name “Thaddeus,” and became patron saint of hopeless causes. Even the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 14:5-18

Denomination: Catholic