Sermons on Contemplatives:

On The Festival Of Purim Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 8, 2014

Theology is faith seeking understanding. It can help us see the relevance of God's Word to our lives, especially when we don't get what we pray for.

Thursday of the First Week of Lent 2014 Lumen Fidei In the Jewish calendar, which is a lunar, or thirteen-month calendar, spring is the time of Purim, the minor feast of deliverance. The story is well-known in all the world, to Jews and Christians. A Persian king had, in God’s design, an ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:7-12

Denomination: Catholic

How Much Must We Do? Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Dec 30, 2016

It’s ironic that when dealing with these positive commandments, we don’t ever come to a point when we can say, “I have fulfilled them.”

Thursday before Epiphany 2017 Joy of the Gospel St. John teaches us today in both Epistle and Gospel: “By this we know love, that [Jesus] laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But if any one has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:11-21

Denomination: Catholic

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

Mirror, Mirror. (Hix) Series

Contributed by Jimmy Haile on Sep 25, 2011

“Too many Christians mark their Bibles, but their Bibles never mark them!”

Mirror, Mirror Sept. 25, 2011 James 1:22-25-But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural ...read more

Scripture: James 1:22-25

Denomination: Baptist

And It Was Night

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Mar 30, 2019

Metaphorically speaking, the clock is ticking away in the background. The countdown has begun. Gethsemane lies ahead: as does our Lord’s betrayal, trial and death.

AND IT WAS NIGHT. John 13:21-32. As the Lord’s ‘hour’ drew near that He should depart out of this world, He turned His attention more and more to ‘His own’ (John 13:1). After the foot-washing and the teaching which immediately followed it, Jesus “was troubled in spirit” (John 13:21). ...read more

Scripture: John 13:21-32

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Does God's Love Look Like Series

Contributed by John Gullick on Apr 3, 2017

Part of a series looking at God's love through Jeremiah

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS Exodus 20:1-17 The first thing that we notice about the Ten Commandments is that they are the words of God (Exodus 20:1). Secondly we notice that the LORD is the God who has redeemed us (Exodus 20:2). It is not the keeping of the Ten Commandments which saves us: salvation is ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 31:1-5

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Job's Complaining

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Jan 10, 2018

How would a nurse today console Job as a patient?

5B WELCOME TO THIS SPECIAL LITURGICAL HOLY DAY KNOWN AS SUPER BOWL SUNDAY. No use fighting it. I heard about one young guy who is really in a difficult situation. He bought two tickets for today’s Super Bowl far in advance. He forgot that he and his fiancé had scheduled their wedding for ...read more

Scripture: Mark 1:29-39, Job 7:1-7

Denomination: Catholic

Purpose Of Prayer Series

Contributed by Ken Henson on Sep 23, 2017

Paul promotes the purposes of prayer as Watchfulness, Thankfulness and Effectiveness.

42 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 4:1-6

Denomination: *other

Glory In The Midst Of Suffering

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Jan 1, 2014

Even our friends might let us down, but God never will.

GLORY IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING. 1 Peter 4:12-14; 1 Peter 5:6-11. I. Suffering, and the Christian’s response to suffering, has been a recurring theme throughout Peter’s first letter. This is in keeping with the whole tenor of Scripture: ranging from the trials of patriarch, prophet and Psalmist ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:6-11, 1 Peter 4:12-14

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Perfect Interplay Between The Word And Faith Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 26, 2012

The love that is the Holy Spirit is the power that saves us, and empowers us to be like Christ in the world.

Monday after Pentecost Memorial Day Verbum Domini Before the reform of the Roman liturgy back in the 70's, Pentecost had its own octave, culminating in Trinity Sunday. Whatever we may think of the change, we are now taken from the mountaintop experience of the commemoration of the coming of the ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:17-27

Denomination: Catholic

Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit As Applied To Prayer

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Oct 23, 2017

Poverty of soul is a way of entering in prayer, especially at the outset of when we begin to pray.

Poverty of soul is a way of entering in prayer, especially at the outset. Poverty of soul cannot be sought as an item of self-knowledge. It retains always an unknown, elusive quality. It cannot be simply a thought of our unworthiness before God. Much less can it be a mood of despondency about ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Emotions In Prayer

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Oct 23, 2017

There may be souls of spiritual depth who presume in themselves a meager capacity for prayer because they find interior silence unachievable.

“Clearly, then, the idea we have of God can make prayer difficult, if not impossible. We block our way to God by every wrong notion of God. That can happen if we dwell too much on God’s transcendent mystery, if we look upon him as distant and remote, as a God without eyes. A God unavailable to our ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Sermon On The Plain

Contributed by I. Grant Spong on Feb 12, 2019

Have you noticed that Jesus often says the exact opposite of popular ideas? Christianity is for thinking people. Jesus did not establish a Church where people just check their brains at the entry door and blindly follow men. We worship God also with our minds. Jesus challenges us to think.

Have you noticed that Jesus often says the exact opposite of popular ideas? Christianity is for thinking people. Jesus did not establish a Church where people just check their brains at the entry door and blindly follow men. We worship God also with our minds. Jesus challenges us to think. Perhaps ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:17-26

Denomination: Baptist

Infinite Love For Infinite Sadness Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 10, 2017

To enjoy infinite love curing our infinite sadness, we need to live by the moral code Jesus taught, the code of loving even our enemies.

Thursday of 2nd Week in Course 2017 Joy of the Gospel “Our infinite sadness can only be cured by an infinite love.” Those words of Pope Francis ended our reflection last Thursday on the encyclical Joy of the Gospel. Now God’s love is unconditional. He loves even jerks, even sinners like me and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:20-26

Denomination: Catholic

We Are A People Of God Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 16, 2017

"To be evangelizers of souls, we need to develop a spiritual taste for being close to people’s lives."

Thursday of 4th Week in Course 2017 Joy of the Gospel This is a solemnity, one of the three or four greatest saints festivals of the year, and it comes on the heels every year of the solemnities of Corpus Christi and the Sacred Heart, and the birth of St. John the Baptist. Today we hear from St. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:13-19

Denomination: Catholic