Sermons on The Sacrament:

Hope And The Little Child Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 12, 2021

A child, and especially the child Jesus, is above everything a sign of hope.

Monday of 3rd week in Easter Today’s Gospel is so brief that we might be tempted to overlook it, as we are often tempted to ignore a little child. But many commentators believe that when Jesus said that we must turn and become like this little child, he was pointing to Himself. Pope Benedict ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:1-5, Hebrews 10:23, Titus 3:6

Denomination: Catholic

Growing The Flock Of Christ Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 24, 2021

In a world hungry for meaning, hungry for joy, hungry for hope, we must share the story of Christ and His Church.

Monday of 4th week of Easter In Palestine, sheep have been for dozens of generations the basis of animal husbandry. Sheep produce milk and wool–they are not used for meat. Sheep are also pretty stupid, so they need shepherds to keep them from getting into trouble and being killed. Every night ...read more

Scripture: Acts 11:1-18, John 10:1-10

Denomination: Catholic

Prepared, Ready, Oiled Up Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 1, 2020

We have to BYOB–bring our own brightness. Five prepared; five didn’t. Five were always ready; five figured they’d have time to get ready. Oops.

Thirty-Second Sunday in Course reflections As we come to the end of this year of grace, a year with even more challenges of every kind than usual, the Word of God focuses on goals, on ends, on what a football coach would call the “last three minutes of the ball game.” And the first word to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Psalm 63:2-8

Denomination: Catholic

Some Actions Are Always Wrong So What Do We Do? Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 19, 2021

Murdering the innocent is always gravely immoral. Thus we have been taught since the first Christians accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and celebrated communion together.

Homily Monday of 12th week in ordinary time If we are to understand what the Lord is saying to us today, and more importantly what He is not saying, we need to find the key word in the Gospel: it’s “hypocrite.” A hypocrite is someone who calls sin a sin in other people, but ignores the sin in ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 12:1-9, Matthew 7:1-5

Denomination: Catholic

Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Cycle B-- New Manna

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Jul 31, 2021

Complaining became the rubric under which the journey was interpreted.

In our First Reading we heard Exodus 16:2, “The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.” It reminds me of the story of a lady who was a veritable fount of complaints. Her pastor came by to see her one day and she began to enumerate some of her complaints: “The neighbor’s ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 16:2-15, John 6:24-35

Denomination: Catholic

Last Or First? Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Dec 28, 2019

At the beginning of the new year and decade we must ask ourselves if there is any hint of anti-Christ in our hearts.

New Year’s Eve 2019 Last or First? Our holy Scripture today is taken from the apostle John. The Gospel teaches about the beginning, and the letter tells us about the end. And both beginning and end must be centered on Our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, everything we do in the new year, the new decade ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:18-21, John 1:1-18, John 8:12

Denomination: Catholic

Freedom To Be Like Christ

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Aug 1, 2024

We are no longer, if we live as Christians, able to do wrong and hurt others and then plead “but I’m only human.”

Eighteenth Sunday in Course 2024 While looking over my old homilies in preparation for today, I noted that these same readings, as they will do, came up back in 2018. Keying on the lesson from Exodus about the Israelites constantly griping about the time since God, with a “mighty hand and ...read more

Scripture: John 6:24-35, Ephesians 4:17-24, Exodus 16:2-16

Denomination: Catholic

The Struggle With Satan Lent Sunday 1 Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 23, 2023

Was the Lord bragging about how He defeated the old Worm, man’s adversary, Satan? No.

First Sunday of Lent 2023 How did St. Matthew come by the story he shared in today’s Gospel? It was easy to understand the first line, what happened when Jesus, who was fresh from His baptism by John, where the Holy Spirit came upon Him in form of a dove, went into the wilderness of Judea. ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:12-19, Matthew 4:1-11

Denomination: Catholic

Twenty-Eighth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A: Marriage Supper Of The Lamb

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Sep 2, 2023

Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfilment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness

At the wedding rehearsal, the bride told the priest that she was nervous that she would not remember what to do during the wedding. The celebrant told her that she only needed to remember 3 things. First the aisle, because that is what you'll be walking down. Secondly, the altar because ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 22:1-14

Denomination: Catholic

Conversion And Transformation Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 5, 2025

The reading from John's Gospel will help us get insight into the awesome transformation of Saul into Paul on the Damascus road.

Friday of the Third Week in Easter 2025 Sometimes we can aid our personal understanding of the Scriptures by our imagination, and in the Gospel we just heard, our imagination should be running very, very fast. Jesus said, “This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:1-20, Psalm 117:1-2, John 6:52-59, Luke 22:42, 1 Samuel 13:14  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Catholic

Loving All The Way Until It Hurts Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 14, 2025

Remember that the letter to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus Himself was made perfect through suffering. If we, too, want to share in His glory, we must also be prepared to suffer, perhaps a lot. And loving can involve suffering too, can't it?

Fifth Sunday of Easter 2025 Pope St. John Paul II looked at Our Lord Jesus as the fulfillment of what we might call “human potential.” He was and is the man that Adam was created to become. Lamentably, Adam and Eve tried the Satanic shortcut, attempting to become divine by disobeying a direct ...read more

Scripture: Acts 14:21-27, Psalm 145:8-13, Revelation 21:1-5, John 13:31-33, John 13:34-35, Hebrews 2:10  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Catholic

Prayer + Faith = Healing Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on Mar 23, 2009

When should we pray for health? When should we confess our sins? James compels his readers to think about their relationship to one another as a cause of their discomfort.

JAMES 5:13-16a PRAYER + FAITH = HEALING “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith ...read more

Scripture: James 5:13-16

Denomination: Baptist

the Covenant Signs And Seals: Covenant Baptism Series

Contributed by Gregg Strawbridge on Jul 8, 2002

Baptism is a sign of covenant inclusion for the visible people which seals our union with Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.

INTRODUCTION: A Reformation study of the sacraments is a sad study, filled with testimonies of bitter polemics, schism, division, and even execution. One may catch a glimpse of the pain, seeing Zwingli at Marburg, or a drowning protestor in Zurich, or a banished ¡°sacramentarian¡± in the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:38-39

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Communion: It's More Than A Meal

Contributed by Christopher Arch on May 16, 2020

This is a sermon on the meaning of communion for the believer.

Title: Communion: “There’s More to Prepare than a Meal” Script: I Cor. 11 (primary) Type: Expos. Where: GNBC 9-7-14/1-6-19 Intro: What happened to Time: When as a child I laughed and wept, time crept. When as a youth I dreamed and talked, time walked. When I became a full grown man, time ...read more

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Buried, He Carried My Sins Far Away Series

Contributed by David Dykes on Jan 29, 2018

Jesus' burial was conducted by two unlikely undertakers: A wealthy man and a member of the Sanhedrin.

INTRODUCTION I don’t really like watching television commercials. So when I want to watch a program or a golf match, I’ll usually record it on my TiVo. Then when I sit down to watch it I can fast forward through all the commercials. I love playing golf, but watching golf on TV can be little like ...read more

Scripture: Mark 15:40-47

Denomination: Baptist