Preachin': Recent Episodes
Lissie Rhoton
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 - God shows us how to take responsibility and make things right, how to enter into reconciliation and healing.
1 Samuel 8:4-20; 11:14-15; Mark 3:20-35 - Fear keeps us from living in relationship with God.
Delivered at St. Simon's by the Sea - Mark 2:23-3:6 - Sabbath is delight, taking time to bask in what God has made good.
John 3:1-17 - The Trinity exists in perpetual Love and invites us to join that never-ending relationship.
John 15:9-17; 1 John 5:1-6 - God calls us to find joy in each other. In fact, that is the only way to complete our joy.
1 John 4:7-21 - Allowing empathy to change our hearts and spur us to love each other better.
John 10:11-18; Psalm 23 - Finding our home in the church and welcoming others to make it their home as well.
1 John 3:1-7 - We continue to grow in love day after day, helped by a community that can see us for who we are.
Mark 15:1-47 - Palm Sunday invites us into the experience of Holy Week to order our lives to love one another.
Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14-21 - we tend to hide our mistakes, but God invites us to forgiveness and amendment of life if we will just bring our mistakes into the open.
Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 - Our spiritual practices help us create muscle memory for loving our neighbors.
Mark 8:31-38; Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Romans 4:13-25 - The path to the cross isn't littered with suffering. It is a life of love that puts us in the way of hate.
Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8 - God's kingdom is not characterized by the strength of God's arm but by the depths of God's compassion.
Isaiah 64:1-9; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 - Oh, that you would tear the heavens and come down!
Matthew 22:34-46 - We can hear new things even when we listen to something we've heard over and over, and we may find that we have made progress in living out our convictions.
Job 12:7-10a; Luke 12:22-32 - St. Francis shows us how to allow our spiritual practices to be informed by those around us.
Matthew 15:21-28 - when we make mistakes, we have a chance not to leave them "undone," but to learn from them and change.
Genesis 32:22-31 - change comes to us gradually worked in us both by God and by the people around us.
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 - God works our soil so that it is ready for seed and asks us to do the same for people around us.
John 9:1-41 - The story of the man born blind offers us a chance to look at ourselves and see if we have our eyes closed and thus are walking in darkness. The light of Jesus shines further than we often think, and it might be time to open our eyes.
John 4:5-42 - The woman at the well shows Jesus reaching into other cultures to touch them where they already know God.
Genesis 12:1-4a; John 3:1-17 - Sometimes God calls us to do hard things, and it may feel as if we're turned loose without guidance, but the Spirit is always blowing gently in the background if we will still our hearts to listen.
Matthew 17:1-9; Exodus 24:12-18 - our idols are often less recognizable than we might think
Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-12; John 1:29-42 - We are called to live the Kingdom of God in the here and now.
Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 1:26-38: God stands beside us through all our hardest times giving us the promise that nothing will be impossible with God.
Canticle 15 (Luke 1:46-55); Matthew 1:18-25: we each have various callings on our lives and are called to support others in their calls.
Isaiah 2:1-5; Matthew 24:36-44 - we do not know when Jesus is coming, but the Kongdom of God has already begun and we can join in continued preparation.
Luke 6:20-31 - we are part of a fabric of saints that draw us into the upside down Kingdom of God.
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Luke 19:1-10 - Jesus calls us to love without any strings attached.
Luke 18:1-8 - Prayer and action go hand in hand, and actually only work properly when both are present.
Luke 16:1-13 - How do we navigate our own reversals when God calls us to something new?
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Luke 15:1-10 - How might we understand love and wrath in new ways?
Hebrews 13:1-8,15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14 - How do we broaden our communities to help others and be made new ourselves.
Luke 13:10-17: Taking a look at ourselves to make sure our rituals and belief are not getting in the way of loving God and our neighbor.
Hosea 1:2-10; Luke 11:1-13 - Sermon delivered at Advent Episcopal Church; God desires our flourishing
Colossians 1:15-28: we are made in the image of God and called to be reconcilers by actively making peace.
2 Kings 5:1-14; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 - God crosses borders and calls us to do the same to spread the good news of God's loving Kingdom.
1 Kings 19:1-15a; Luke 8:26-39 - On Juneteenth, we can do hard things because God will see us through.
Acts 16:16-34; John 17:20-26 - We are called to love as God loves us, to make God's love known in the world, to change the world around us.
John 5:1-9 - Jesus heals regardless of our faith or readiness, and asks us to treat others the same way.
Acts 9:36-43; John 10:22-30 - Tabitha listened faithfully for the shepherd's voice and took care of the sheep around her, guiding other by following Jesus.
John 21:1-19 - Sometimes we don't quite know how to follow Jesus and we go back to the things we know, but Jesus is calling us forward.
Acts 5:27-32; Revelation 1:4-8; John 20:19-31: Jesus tells us how the resurrection has changed our lives and invited us into a ministry of forgiveness.
Luke 15:1-32 - Jesus tells stories of being lost and found to invite us into the reconciling work between wanderers and those who stay behind.
Exodus 3:1-15; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9 - God does not cause suffering to punish our sins. God longs to bring us into life and abundance. But we also have a part to play. We are called to bear fruit in keeping with who we are made to be.
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 - Jesus asks us to set aside our tendency to search for praise and lean into the goodness of spiritual practices for their own sake.
Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-36 - The Glory of God is overwhelming, but we are invited in to reflect that Glory which is already and not yet.
Genesis 43:3-11, 15; Luke 6:27-38 - Jesus calls us to a life of reconciliation and redeeming love, so that we can break the cycles of harm in our lives.
Jeremiah 17:5-10; Luke 6:17-26 - God cares for us in the midst of adversity and invited us to do the same for others.
Isaiah 6:1-13; Luke 5:1-11 - God calls each of us. May we have the strength to say "yes."
Nehemiah 8:1-10; Luke 4:14-21 - Nehemiah and Luke show us two different reactions to revelation heard in the reading of scripture. We can choose how we will react when we receive our own revelations, remaining open with curiosity or closed off from learning and growing.
Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 - At our baptism, we are blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. I encourage us to get to know this third person of the Trinity and see her guidance in our lives.
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 - The Kingdom of God is sometimes covered by a veil of suffering which God invites us to take part in tearing down.
Genesis 3:1-23; John 1 - God has always wanted communion with us and has always existed in communion as Trinity.
Luke 1:39-55 - Mary proclaims the Kingdom of God brings equity and salvation through reversal. We can join with her on the road towards God's vision for the world.
Luke 3:7-18 - John gives us an answer to how to change our lives to conform to the Kingdom of God.
Malachi 3:1-4; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6 - We are the pathway being smoothed and readied for the coming Kingdom of God.
Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 22:25-36 - Apocalypticism is often misunderstood. The point of it is to draw back the curtain to reveal the Kingdom of God and spur us to form our lives more closely to God's reign. Though this is painful, it is ultimately hopeful.
Revelation 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44: We are grieving and that is ok, but it is not the final word.
Ruth 1:1-18; Mark 12:28-34 - Ruth is an example of loving God by loving our neighbors. These two commands given by Jesus cannot be separated, so how can we more fully love God and our neighbors.
Amos 5:6-7, 10-15; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31: What is the next step in discipleship?
Mark 10:2-16 - Jesus speaks to each of us where we are, and there are human realities which lead to divorce, as well as blessings to be found in remarriage.
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29; Mark 9:38-50 - Let's recognize that God works in many ways, cultivate our own community, and move toward the Kingdom of God.
Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2:1-10, [11-13], 14-17; Mark 7:24-37 - Who do you say that I am, and what does that mean for who we are?
Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2:1-17; Mark 7:24-37 - It was not sinful for Jesus to learn, grow, and change as a result of his interaction with the Syrophoenician woman. Neither is it sinful for us to grow and change. In fact, it is likely necessary to live faithfully as Christians.
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 - Let us take care that our fences do not become barriers to love.
Proverbs 9:1-6; Psalm 34:9-14; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58: Jesus is Wisdom, Word, and Torah. Eat and be fed, so that you may feed others.
1 Kings 9:4-8; John 6:35, 41-51; Jesus gives us our daily bread so that we can feed others
Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:25-35: Can we trust God for our daily bread and for the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth as in heaven?
2 Kings 4:42-44; John 6:1-21 - Though in the line of Prophets and Kings, Jesus is also something much more, God come to earth, to broaden our vision.
Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalm 23; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 - What does it look like to follow in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd?
Given July 11, 2021. On Mark 6:14-29 - The Beheading of John the Baptist. Will we follow the Good Shepherd or acquiesce to earthly powers?
Mark 5:21-43: Jesus gives us hope in the here and now and meets and accepts each us us as we are.
Learn to let go of the fear that masks your vulnerability in favor of love. Genesis 3:8-15, Mark 3:20-35
The Spirit walks alongside us, drawing us into unity which does not obliterate diversity, and sending us out into the world to proclaim good news. Acts 2:1-21
Acts 3:12-19; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48 - Preach repentance and forgiveness to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Acts 4:32-35; John 20:19-31 - Instead of focusing on Thomas' doubt, which was only too understandable since it happened on the very day of resurrection, let's focus on how God comes to us to restore hope and imagination.
4/2/2021 - John 19:1-37 - Jesus broke the cycle of death by stepping outside the cycle.
Psalm 118, Mark 11:1-11 I was unable to deliver this sermon at our outdoor service due to weather, but I recorded it to share here.
God's grace is bigger than we can ask or imagine. Based on Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Romans 4:13-25, and Mark 8:31-38.
Sermon delivered to Christ Episcopal Church Cedar Park on March 1, 2020 for the First Sunday in Lent, year A.