Alix Pridgen: Recent Episodes
The Rev. Alix D. Pridgen
What happens when we are doing exactly what Jesus has called us to do—and the wind is still against us?
In Matthew 14:22–33, the disciples struggle through the night against a relentless headwind. Peter steps out of the boat at Jesus’ command, only to become overwhelmed when he realizes the strength of the wind around him. This episode explores the headwinds that resist us, the surprising power of “Little Faith,” and the Christ who comes to us when we are exhausted, frightened, and struggling to keep going.
What story is shaping the way you see your life?
Every day the world tells us there isn't enough—not enough money, time, security, opportunity, or hope. Before long, that scarcity story begins to shape our own hearts. But Isaiah 55 and the feeding of the five thousand reveal a different reality. God invites thirsty people to come without money, and Jesus feeds a multitude in the middle of a wilderness with five loaves and two fish.
This sermon explores how God's future is often larger than our imagination, challenging us to trust Christ even after we've done the math, counted the loaves, and decided how the story ends.
Scripture: Isaiah 55:1–5; Matthew 14:13–21
In a world that seems increasingly divided between "good people" and "bad people," Jesus tells a surprising parable about wheat and weeds growing together in the same field. Instead of calling us to judge or uproot others, Christ invites us to trust God's patient work—both in the world and within our own hearts. This sermon explores why we are often mistaken about one another, how grace continues to grow amid brokenness, and why the promise of God's coming harvest gives us hope that evil will not have the final word.
When life leaves us feeling stranded—caught between what was and what we hoped would be—we may wonder whether God has forgotten us. Drawing on Isaiah 55:10–13, this sermon explores God's promise that his Word never returns empty. Like rain quietly nourishing the earth, God's grace is already at work beneath the surface, bringing hope where despair has taken root. Through the unforgettable story of a mama duck and her ducklings rescued from a busy Chicago highway, we discover that God is present even on life's "off-ramps," faithfully accomplishing the purposes of love, mercy, and new life.
Text: Romans 7:15-25a
Independence Day Weekend /250th Anniversary of the United States.
Every nation is shaped by a vision of what it hopes to become. Two hundred and fifty years ago, the Declaration of Independence articulated a bold vision of human dignity, liberty, and equality. Though America has often fallen short of those ideals, each generation continues striving toward them.
Scripture presents an even greater vision. From the Law and the Prophets to the teachings of Jesus, God calls humanity into a kingdom marked by justice, mercy, generosity, peace, and love. Yet we know from experience that knowing what is right is not the same as doing it.
In Romans 7, the Apostle Paul names the struggle that every honest person recognizes: "I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do." Our deepest problem is not ignorance or a lack of laws or discipline. It is the power of sin that twists our desires, divides our hearts, and keeps us from becoming the people God created us to be.
The good news is that God has not left us captive. In Jesus Christ, God entered our humanity to break the power of sin, forgive what we could not undo, and set us free for the life we have always longed to live. As Paul proclaims in Romans 8, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus... for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free."
True freedom is more than the ability to do whatever we want. It is the freedom to love, to forgive, to tell the truth, to share generously, to welcome our neighbors, and to become the very people God dreamed humanity could be.
In a world that celebrates the powerful, the successful, and the highly visible, Jesus tells a very different story. Beginning with a memorable account from preacher Fred Craddock, this sermon explores one of the most surprising promises in the Gospel: that the person who offers something as simple as a cup of cold water stands alongside prophets and the righteous in the Kingdom of God. Through ordinary acts of love, quiet faithfulness, and unseen service, Christ reveals that no disciple is insignificant and no gift offered in faith is ever forgotten. This is a message of grace for everyone who has ever wondered whether their small acts of kindness really matter.
Some decisions are easy. Others leave us awake at night.
In this sermon from Genesis 21:8–21, Abraham faces a painful choice between two loves, while Hagar and Ishmael find themselves alone in the wilderness with no clear future. Yet this difficult story reveals a surprising truth: God's faithfulness is larger than our failures, our fears, and the choices that seem impossible to make.
When the future appears to hang by a thread, God is already there—hearing, providing, and opening a way forward.
Jesus looked at the crowds and saw people who were weary, burdened, and longing for hope. Rather than carrying the work alone, he sent ordinary people to share God's compassion with the world.
Drawing on the story of Koinonia Farm and the witness of Clarence Jordan, this sermon explores what happens when Christians take Jesus’ call seriously—living as neighbors, serving those in need, and trusting that God is already at work bringing healing and hope. The Kingdom of God often begins in small acts of faithfulness that grow into something far larger than we can imagine.
Why does Jesus choose to sit with sinners? And what does that mean for us?
In this episode, we explore a powerful moment from the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus shares a table with those society rejects—and challenges the assumptions of those watching from a distance. What unfolds is not a denial of brokenness, but a profound declaration of grace: we are all in need of the healing mercy of God.
This reflection invites us to confront the ways we create distance through judgment, labeling others as “them” instead of seeing fellow children of God. It also calls us into a deeper truth—that we are not observers of mercy, but recipients of it.
As Jesus draws near to the places in us that are wounded, ashamed, and weary, we discover a mercy that does more than forgive—it heals, restores, and transforms.
Come listen, and consider what happens when mercy sits down beside you and refuses to leave.
In Acts 2, the disciples are waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit — but Pentecost does not arrive as quiet comfort or private reassurance. It comes as wind, fire, noise, movement, and courage. In this sermon, “From Fear to Fire,” Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen reflects on how the Spirit transforms frightened people into witnesses, turning silence into speech and fear into faithful action.
Through the story of Peter, a personal reflection on public speaking, and the witness of Aqualyn Kennedy, this episode explores how Pentecost is not just an event in the church’s past. It is what God is still doing: giving people a voice, setting the church on fire with mercy, and sending ordinary people into the world with good news.
In this episode, we reflect on Acts 1 and the moment after Jesus’ ascension, when the disciples are left in uncertainty. Instead of rushing into action, they gather in prayer, learning the discipline of waiting. [Easter 7A 2026 | Word]
Through the stories of Apollo 13 and early wagon trains, we explore how restraint and careful discernment can be the difference between wisdom and disaster. When pressure rises, our instinct is to act—but faith calls us to slow down, listen, and trust that God is still at work. [Easter 7A 2026 | Word]
Key themes:
Waiting is not inactivity—it is preparation
Prayer helps us discern truth beyond fear and urgency
Faithful witness begins with trust, not reaction
Pentecost is coming—but first, we learn to pray and wait.
This week’s sermon reflects on Jesus’ promise in John 14 that we are never left alone. Long before the disciples understood what was coming, Jesus began preparing them—not with certainty or easy answers, but with the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.
Through stories of parents preparing children for the road, strangers showing up after disasters, voices of love that stay with us for decades, and quiet acts of faithfulness that shape a life, this message explores what it means for God’s Spirit to “abide” within us.
In a world that moves quickly and leaves quickly, the followers of Jesus are called to remain: to keep showing up, keep loving, keep praying, and keep standing beside one another. Because Christ has abided with us, we become people who abide with others.
Stephen stands before the powers of his world with nothing but his faith, his voice, and a vision of Christ. In this episode, we reflect on Acts 7 and John 14 through the lens of “lifting our eyes” in a fearful and angry world. Drawing on stories of courage, endurance, and grace from the Black experience in the Jim Crow South, this sermon explores how what we focus on has the power to shape us—and how keeping our eyes on Christ can free us from fear, despair, and hatred. As confirmation students affirm their faith, we pray for “Stephen’s eyes”: eyes able to recognize Jesus standing beside us in every season of life.
When faith falls apart, we don’t always make a dramatic exit—we simply begin to walk away.
In this sermon on Luke 24:13–35, two disciples leave Jerusalem carrying the weight of shattered hope: “We had hoped…” What they believed about God no longer holds. And somewhere along that road of disappointment and confusion, a stranger comes near.
This episode explores the kind of crisis that causes faith to fracture—loss, suffering, unanswered prayer—and the quiet ways Christ meets us there. Not with quick answers, but with presence. Not by avoiding the broken places, but by walking into them.
If you’ve ever found yourself unsure what you believe… if prayer has felt empty… if hope has thinned… this is a story for you.
Because even when we are walking away,
we may not be walking alone.
In this Easter sermon, the story begins where we often live—managing what feels finished, adjusting to disappointment, and learning how to carry what hasn’t changed. But resurrection doesn’t leave those assumptions intact. It disrupts them.
The ground moves.
The stone rolls away.
And suddenly, the future is no longer what we thought it would be.
This episode explores what it means to live in a world where death is no longer final—even when everything isn’t yet fixed. Where fear loses its grip. Where the life ahead of you is unfamiliar, unscripted, and already underway.
Jesus is not behind you.
He is ahead of you.
This isn’t just a story to believe.
It’s a call to step forward.
Saved From the Grave
What do you do when God feels late?
In John 11, Mary and Martha send for Jesus as their brother Lazarus lies dying. They believe he will come. They believe he will heal.
But he doesn’t.
By the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus has been in the grave four days—beyond hope, beyond help, beyond anything they imagined God might still do.
We know this place.
The place where prayers didn’t turn out the way we hoped.
The place where something we loved has come to an end.
The place where we have sealed the stone and tried to move on.
And yet, Jesus stands at the edge of the tomb and says, “Take away the stone.”
This episode explores what it means to trust God in the waiting, to face what we’ve buried, and to hear Jesus still calling us—by name—out of fear, despair, and everything that has held us bound.
Because the fourth day is not the end.
The grave does not get the last word.
Jesus does.
Come out… and live.
In this episode, Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen reflects on John 4:5–42, the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. In a world filled with tension, fear, and lines that divide people from one another, this ancient encounter speaks with surprising clarity to our own moment. Lent 3A 2026
Jesus deliberately crosses a boundary his culture had learned to avoid, entering Samaria and sitting beside a well where he begins a conversation with a woman who would normally have been ignored or rejected. What follows becomes the longest theological conversation Jesus has with anyone in the Gospels. Lent 3A 2026
As the conversation unfolds, Jesus speaks of “living water”—a life that rises like a spring, breaking through hardened ground and flowing beyond the walls people build between themselves. The encounter transforms the woman who came simply to draw water into the first evangelist in John’s Gospel, inviting her entire village to “come and see.” Lent 3A 2026
This sermon reflects on how the living water of Christ continues to soften hardened places in human hearts and communities, dissolving inherited hostilities and reminding us that the Savior revealed at the well is not the Savior of one people alone, but the Savior of the world. Lent 3A 2026
Scripture: John 4:5–42
Season: Lent
Theme: Living water that crosses the lines that divide us.
Lent 2A The Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen Sermon on John chapter 3. Jesus talks about faith with Nicodemus.
“The Spirit is like the wind. It blows where it will. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it goes.” Faith, Jesus is saying, doesn’t always begin with certainty. Sometimes it begins the way wind begins — quietly, mysteriously, moving through places we didn’t expect.
I once knew someone who wandered into church almost by accident. She didn’t know the stories. She didn’t know the language of faith. She mostly stayed in the nursery and kept to herself. But slowly something began to happen. People listened to her. They welcomed her questions. They loved her without demanding that she prove anything first. And one day she said something remarkable. She said, “Somehow I’ve come to believe that God exists… and that God loves me.” Not because someone forced her. Not because she solved every theological question. But because she encountered grace. And that’s what Jesus is trying to tell Nicodemus.
God doesn’t wait for us to understand everything before loving us. God simply loves the world — the whole messy, complicated, questioning world. And when love like that finds us, something new begins.
“Be attentive… as to a light shining in a dark place” — a word for a loud and unsettled age.
The world feels loud right now — constant news, constant reaction, constant pressure to respond. In this Transfiguration sermon on 2 Peter 1:16–21, we listen to Peter’s calm witness: Christian faith is not built on speculation or spin, but on encounter — “we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
Rather than offering quick answers or taking sides, this message explores how a culture of urgency reshapes our inner life, fragmenting attention and narrowing compassion. Peter points us to a different posture: attentiveness, like “a light shining in a dark place.”
The promise of the gospel is not escape from the world, but transformation within it. As the Spirit presses the light of Christ inward, the “morning star rises in our hearts,” bringing steadiness where there was agitation and presence where there was distraction.
Blessed Are You—Even Now
Epiphany 4A | Matthew 5:1–12 | Numbers 6:24–26
We often think of blessing as evidence that life is going well—health, stability, success, peace. But in the Beatitudes, Jesus speaks blessing in places we would least expect: poverty of spirit, grief, mercy-weariness, persecution, longing, and quiet endurance.
In this sermon for Epiphany, Rev. Dr. Alix Pridgen invites us to hear Jesus’ words not as imperatives to strive toward, but as pronouncements that reshape reality itself. These are not “be-attitudes” or conditions for future favor. They are declarations spoken in the present tense:
Blessed are you… for yours is the kingdom of God.
Through rich biblical reflection and a deeply human story of an overlooked grocery store worker who is seen, helped, and named as worthy, this sermon explores how blessing works—not as denial of suffering, but as God’s promise spoken within it.
Listeners are reminded that:
The kingdom of God meets us where our strength runs out
Mercy is costly, and Jesus knows that cost
Longing for justice is itself holy
Every word of blessing bends the world closer to God’s future
The sermon closes by calling us into the sacred work Jesus entrusts to us: to bless what is with the promise of what will be, trusting that every word of mercy allows heaven to lean closer.
Blessed are you. Not someday. Not when things improve. But now.
In a world that insists on dividing us—by politics, class, geography, and identity—this sermon asks a piercing question straight from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: “Has Christ been divided?” Rev. Dr. Alix Pridgen invites us to step out of the noise of competing allegiances and into the deeper truth of the Gospel: unity is not something we manufacture, defend, or negotiate. Unity is God’s gift.
Drawing from Scripture, real‑life stories, and the rich imagery of quilt‑making, this message explores how the Holy Spirit stitches our mismatched lives into a single, grace‑made tapestry. Unity is not consensus. It’s not perfection. It’s a courageous way of being that chooses relationship over rivalry, presence over avoidance, and hope over fear.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
Why division feels so natural—and why it steals more than we realize
What Paul’s challenge to Corinth has to say to our fractured world
How God weaves the loud and the quiet, the broken and the brave, into one Body
Practical, everyday practices for living as a people shaped by reconciliation
Whether you’re wrestling with relational fractures, longing for healing, or simply trying to stay rooted in a polarized world, this sermon offers a compassionate reminder: Christ is not divided. And by grace, neither are we.
“We are many—but made one.”
“We are pieces—but God is the One who stitches.”
“We are held—before we know how to hold one another.”
We’re used to a God who visits.
A God who shows up for a season, a service, a holy day—and then politely stays out of the way. But the Gospel of John tells a different story. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God didn’t stop by. God moved in.
In this episode, we sit with the unsettling and hopeful truth that God has taken up residence in the middle of ordinary life. Not just in sanctuaries and sacred moments, but in kitchens and waiting rooms, in unfinished conversations and unresolved grief.
A God who moves in notices things. Jesus walks past the rooms we’ve carefully curated and opens doors we hoped would stay shut. He touches pain we’ve learned to live with and sits with people we’ve learned to avoid.
And yet—this nearness is not a threat. It is grace.
Because a God who dwells among us is close enough to hear the sigh that never becomes a prayer, close enough to shine light without shame, close enough to hold what cannot be fixed.
Christmas, John reminds us, is not something we pack away with the decorations. When Monday comes—when the calendar turns and life resumes its weight—Jesus is still here.
“A decree goes out. Not a conversation. Not a question. Not a community forum. A decree. A registry. A journey demanded. A law passed in an office far away from those it would affect.
No one asked if Mary was tired.
No one asked if Joseph was worried.
No one asked where they’d sleep… or what they’d eat… or who would be there when the baby came.
Empire never asks those questions.”
John the Baptist is usually pictured waist-deep in the Jordan—wind in his hair, fire in his voice—calling the world to repent and get ready. But in Matthew 11, John isn’t outdoors. He’s chained in an underground dungeon, and the waiting has begun to press on everything he thought he knew. Advent 3A 2025 Advent 3A 2025
From the dark, John sends his question to Jesus: “Are you… the one who is to come, or should we wait… for another?” It’s not the question of someone trying to walk away—it’s the question of someone trying to hold on. Advent 3A 2025
Jesus doesn’t give John a timetable. He gives him a testimony—an invitation to look for God’s kingdom breaking in through mercy you can touch, in ordinary places where God keeps choosing life. And then comes a word of blessing for all who are waiting, questioning, and still showing up. Advent 3A 2025 Advent 3A 2025 Advent 3A 2025
Scripture: Matthew 11 Advent 3A 2025
Sermon: “Are You the One?” — The Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen Advent 3A 2025
In this episode:
• When the future you imagined may not arrive
• A brave, honest faith that asks real questions
• Where to look for God’s “evidence” when nothing feels fixed
• “Blessed are you…”—a word for the weary and the waiting
This Advent 2A message explores Isaiah’s stunning vision of a world remade in peace—a world where wolves nap beside lambs, children play safely near vipers, and creation remembers the harmony it was made for.
Pastor Alix begins with a chilling story from Howard Thurman: a baby girl gently stroking a rattlesnake while the adults look on in breathless silence. From childhood encounters with Louisiana cottonmouths to the modern fear of “two-legged predators,” the sermon names the anxiety we carry in a world that feels perpetually on alert.
Yet woven throughout are shimmering, real-world moments when a different story breaks through—unlikely friendships between animals, a neighbor offering help on a stairwell, glimpses of tenderness where we least expect them.
Advent invites us to lean toward the world God is bringing to birth: a restored creation, a peace that isn’t fragile, and a God who is already shaping something new.
“Christ the King Sunday isn’t about power—it's about presence. On a hill with three crosses, a dying man whispers, ‘Jesus, remember me,’ and the dying King replies, ‘Today you will be with me.’ Maybe that’s where the kingdom really begins: in remembering, in mercy, in hope stronger than despair.”
In this episode, we explore Jesus’ unsettling words from Luke 21:5–19 — words that refuse to calm our fears, yet offer us something far deeper than comfort. When the world feels chaotic and the headlines keep tightening the chest, Jesus doesn’t promise escape. He promises presence. He reframes crisis as calling: “This will give you an opportunity to testify.”
In Luke 20:27–38, Jesus refuses the Sadducees’ small and defensive questions and opens a world shaped by resurrection rather than fear. This episode explores how we still cling to familiar categories—maps too small for the life God is giving us—and how changing the question can change everything. From lost hikers in the Rockies to a city transformed by imagination to students rediscovering real connection, we trace the fingerprints of resurrection in ordinary places.
If you’ve ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure of the way forward, this is a word about the God who speaks in the present tense—and meets us on every road that leads toward life.
Title: Two Prayers, One Mercy
Scripture: Luke 18:9–14 | Romans 3:21–28
Description:
Two men step into the temple — one sure of his goodness, the other barely able to lift his head.
Only one goes home right with God.
In this episode we explore what happens when our need to perform gives way to the grace that meets us in honesty.
From the Pharisee’s proud prayer to the tax collector’s seven-word cry, this story leads us straight to the heart of the gospel: mercy that covers us all.
It’s a word for anyone tired of pretending, anyone longing to know that grace still reaches the real, imperfect you.
Takeaway:
Mercy is not a prize for the good; it’s a gift for the honest.
Listen for:
• The difference between self-righteousness and truth-telling
• What “hilásthēti” really means — and why it matters
• How Reformation grace still frees us today
A sermon on 2Kings 5:1-15
Key Themes: Ordinary faith • Humility • Grace in everyday life • God’s presence in the mundane
Category: Religion & Spirituality — Christianity
“Faith doesn’t always look like certainty.
Sometimes it looks like standing your post—
weary but still watching, hurt but still listening.
Habakkuk stood in the watchtower and said,
‘I will wait to see what God will say.’
Maybe that’s what we’re called to be:
a watchtower people in a restless world.
People who keep hope visible—
who act as if mercy still matters,
who speak as if peace is still possible,
who believe that grace is still stronger than hate.
Because it is.
“When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he didn’t give them a formula for getting what they wanted. He gave them a prayer that begins by saying, ‘God, you are God — and I am not.’ It’s a prayer of surrender.
The Lord’s Prayer calls us to let go — to open our empty hands for daily bread, to release our grudges, to trust God with the trials ahead. Because prayer isn’t just about changing our circumstances. It’s about being changed — about letting God’s grace rise up in us like a song.”
Sisters of the Same Heart
In this episode, Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen explores the timeless story of Mary and Martha — and invites us to challenge the old divide between rest and work. With honesty, warmth, and real-life stories, this message speaks to anyone feeling stretched thin or longing for deeper connection.
You’ll hear how stillness is not weakness, but the sacred space where God meets us, renews us, and empowers us for the road ahead. Whether you’re a Martha in overdrive or a Mary aching for meaning, this episode offers grace, hope, and a fresh invitation: to be held, to be healed, and to be moved by love into action.
What keeps us from being a neighbor?
Is it fear? Hurry? Bias?
In this powerful episode, Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen uncovers the hidden pulls that keep us from compassion — and reveals the radical grace that meets us when we’re the ones in the ditch.
Hear unforgettable stories of unexpected heroes, surprising mercy, and a gospel that promises: you are seen, you are loved, and you are lifted to new life.
“Sometimes, peace isn’t a feeling — it’s a decision.
It’s what we choose to hold onto when respect gives way to resentment,
when the people we once stood beside become distant.
Even if you can’t fix the world — you can still be faithful in it.
And that may be the truest peace of all.”
Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem—and everything changes. The road ahead is urgent. Costly. No time for goodbyes. No room for looking back. It sounds harsh—until we realize: he’s not raising the bar. He’s telling the truth about how hard it already is. Because when love is urgent, we don’t wait. Jesus walked into suffering—not to prove a point, but to pour out grace. And now he calls us forward. Not in our strength, but in his.
In this Pentecost sermon, Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen contrasts the grasping pride of Babel with the outpouring grace of Pentecost. Where Babel was about reaching upward to make a name, Pentecost is about opening outward to make space for the Spirit. Through vivid storytelling—from a dusty plain in Shinar to a peeling church porch in Kansas—Pridgen shows that the Holy Spirit doesn’t rush into towers of power, but into places of humility, hospitality, and hope. She weaves together scripture, small-town witness, and the historic election of Bishop Donna Simon to proclaim that Pentecost isn’t a one-time spectacle. It’s God’s ongoing pattern of grace—blowing through mismatched chairs and open hearts, making not just movements, but community.
Join Dr. Alix Pridgen as she unravels "God's Strange Math: 1 + 1 + 1 = One." Through captivating stories and biblical insights, this sermon challenges us to embrace unity that transforms and reconciles.
Texts: Acts 16 and John 17:20-26
In this powerful Easter message, The Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen invites us to consider what burdens we carry—grief, regret, fear, doubt—and reminds us that the resurrection of Jesus brings more than celebration; it brings release. Through Scripture, story, and honest reflection, we’re led to see how the risen Christ meets us in our heaviest moments, offering forgiveness, freedom, and new life. The tomb is empty, and love has the last word. Step into the light of Easter with resurrection confidence.
TEXT: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Jesus tells the story often called “The Prodigal Son.”
The essence of holiness is loving God with one’s whole heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving one's neighbor as oneself. When we don’t love God with all that we are, and when we don’t treat one another with love, there will be pain and sadness, but our loving God is at work to reconcile us.
Sermon delivered Feb. 23, 2025
Epiphany 7C
Text: Luke
How can we maintain our dignity and sense of self… in the face of bullying and mistreatment… when you cannot run away and fighting back is not an option? Jesus says we can take charge of our story and give the unexpected response.
Sermon delivered on Feb. 16, 2025
Luke 4:14-21If we want to see God’s work in the world… if we want to see God’s miracles in life… We have only to look in the places where nobody else is looking… and at the people nobody else respects. There we will see him -- God’s messiah – coming with power – for us– Just as God did in Nazareth.
REFORMATION DAY Proper 25B
The healing of Bartimaeus and the story of Malala Yousufzai.
Sermon on Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Amos 7:7-15 Amos receives a prophecy from God and reports to the temple leader and king, but his words are rejected.
Mark 16:18-49 John, the baptizer, criticizes Herod Antipas’ marriage to his Herod’s brother’s wife, Herodius and winds up beheaded.
Mark 1:21-28 Jesus casts out a demon from a man in a synagogue. We have our own “demons” and Jesus will cast those out, too.
Luke 8:1-3 Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2 as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources. (NRS)
Sermon on John 3:1-17 Nicodemus comes to Jesus with questions and is offered a Spirit-filled life.
This is how we live in the midst of trials. We rejoice in God’s blessings, even when the barns, branches, and pastures are empty. Trusting in a God who has proven to be faithful and Good.
God calls us to acts of justice and mercy before we come to God with our worship and prayers.
Jesus teaches us to be on guard against greed and invest in our relationship with one another and with God.
Jesus teaches us about prayer, but more importantly about the character of God, to whom we pray.
Jesus encounters a man with a legion of demons and sets him free. We also have hour demons... and Christ frees us, too.
Sermon on Acts 11:1-18 delivered the 5th Sunday after Easter by Pastor Alix D. Pridgen.
Sermon delivered Easter Sunday at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection by The Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen
John Livingston tells the story of how God has been at work in his life making a way out of no way.
We are transformed... transfigured... by our encounters with God's glory... in ways only others can see.
Jesus has the servants fill the empty water jars and then transforms the water into wine as a sign of God's coming Kingdom.
When we are baptized we become the adopted children of God--and we are precious in God's sight.
Sharing those experiences that one can only call miraculous--and finding faith in the confirmation others can give.
Jesus tells his disciples to learn from the ravens and the wildflowers... and stop worrying about life.
A sermon on Mark 10:35-45 that revisits the work of The Rev. J. Wallace Hamilton and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jesus invites a rich young man to let go of the stuff that is preventing him from trusting in the love and power of God... and to receive the inheritance that is his as a child of God.
Sermon delivered 10/3/2021 by The Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection
Text: Mark 10:13-16
A sermon on Ephesians 2:11-22
Unity in the midst of diversity is ours through the Cross of Christ. It is there that we discover atonement (at-one-ment).
Jesus invites us to focus on what we have rather than what we don't have... and then he helps us do something amazing with it.
Sermon on John 20:19-31 delivered at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on the second Sunday after Easter.
Sermon delivered at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection by The Rev. Dr. Alix D, Pridgen on Genesis 1:1-2:4 and Mark 1:4-11.
Sermon on Jeremiah 31:7-14 delivered at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection by The Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen
Jesus tells a parable about a vineyard owner who hires laborers for different shifts and then pays them all the same wage. Is that good news or bad news?
Sermon delivered 09/13/2020 at the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Prairie Village (Zoom Service)
Sermon on Matthew 14:22-23 We do not have to be super-human. We only need to turn to God.
Sermon on Matthew 10:24-39 delivered by The Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen on Father's Day 2020
Sermon on Genesis 18: 1-15; 21:1-7
God, in the form of three messengers, announces to Sarah and Abraham that they will have a child. Sarah, because of her advanced age, laughs at this seeming impossibility. But nothing is impossible for God, and in due course Isaac is born (Gen. 21:1-7). Now, Sarah confesses, everyone will share in her joyous laughter.
Jesus sends us out to share the good news in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Sermon delivered the 3rd Sunday after Easter, April 26, 2020, by The Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen
The Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen, presiding
Dr. Jessica Koebbe, piano
Pat Latshaw, flute
Ed Pridgen, vocals
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WELCOME TO LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION’S FIRST ZOOM WORSHIP SERVICE. (This is an audio recording of a worship service held 03/22/2020 via Zoom. It was our first attempt at live remote worship in response to the for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. )
Humans as beings made from stardust and soil... and the the delicate balance we share with the rest of creation.
John the Baptist wants to know if Jesus is the One (Messiah) or whether we should wait for another. Jesus responds by saying, "God and tell John what you hear and see...."
Sermon on Luke 23:33-43 delivered at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on 11/24/2019.
There are hard times behind us. There will be hard times ahead of us. But this is your opportunity to testify. And not a hair on your head will perish. For by your endurance you will gain your souls.
Luke 18:1-8Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Sermon on Luke 18: 1-8 delivered by The Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection
Sermon on Luke 17:11-19 delivered at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Prairie Village, KS on October 13, 2019.
Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen on Luke 16:19-31 delivered at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on 09-29-2019.
Sermon on Luke 15:1-10
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3So he told them this parable: 4“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 8“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 12:49-56“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Luke 12:35-40
“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
Luke 12:13-34
Someone in the crowd said to (Jesus), “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!
And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!
And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 11:1-13 (NRSV & NIV)
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine who was traveling has come to me and I have no food to offer him. And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him the bread because of friendship, at least because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Sermon on Luke 10:1-20 delivered by The Rev. Dr. Alix D. Pridgen on July 7, 2019 at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection.
Easter 6C 2019
John 5:1-9After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.
Sermon delivered Sunday, 04/09/2019, Lent 5C
Text: John 12:1-11 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” 9When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, 11since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.
Sermon delivered on the 4th Sunday of Lent 2019 on the story of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:1-3 & 11-32 (NIV).