Whose Neighbor am I?
What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? What is love, anyway? This week, Fr. Ben Williams begins a 4-week sermon series called, Hi Neighbor. Now that Mission Saint James has moved to a new neighborhood, we’ll be looking at what it means to be a neighbor. This week, we look at the parable of the Good Samaritan and ask what it means to be a neighbor.
Humble Thyself
What does humility look like and why is it so important to the Christian life? This week, we wrap up our series in the Book of James and discover the key to double-mindedness. James tells us to submit ourselves to God, to resist the devil, and humble ourselves. In this final installment, Fr. Ben Williams looks at James’ three examples of humility with a special focus on judging other Christians. Humility requires all Christians to see themselves and one another as sinners saved by grace, thereby leaving no room for judgment.
A Stagnant Heart
Where do quarreling and infighting come from? Why do so many people feed off of anger and discord? James tells us that this comes from our devotion to our passions. When we are selfish and angry, no good fruit is produced. The Church, of all places, should be different, yet we hear of discord in churches frequently. This week, Fr. Ben Williams compares the selfish and prideful heart to a stagnant pool of water. Unless we receive God’s grace that flows down like a clear mountain waterfall, we will continue to sow seeds of discord, not only throughout the world, but throughout the Church as well. Join us for the third of four sermons on the Book of St. James.
An Impartial Mercy
What do we say about God when we treat others based on appearances? How does our partiality obscure God’s glory? This week, we explore these questions as we continue our 4-part series on the Book of James. Join Fr. Ben Williams and Mission Saint James for this important study on how we are to live our lives while “holding on to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory.”
Are We There Yet?
What does Christian maturity look like? Why is it that we often feel like we should be further along our journey with Jesus than we are? This week, Fr. Ben Williams begins a four part series on the Book of James, which is greatly concerned with Christian maturity. St. James reminds Christians who we are and where we have come from. Just as we resemble our earthly fathers, so our actions should reflect the heart of our heavenly Father. Wherever you are on your journey with Jesus, St. James tells us to persevere.
A Life Worth Dying For
We all want to live rich lives. We long to reach the end of our days satisfies with a life worth living. Jesus came to offer us something so much more. In our final sermon on John 6, Fr. Ben Williams encourages us to not only live a life worth living, but also a life worth dying for.
Working Through Lunch
Have you ever been so busy that you didn’t have time for a lunch break? Our lives can be so full of concern for our temporal life that we can neglect the eternal life God offers us through his Son, Jesus. This week, Fr. Ben Williams continues our series in John 6 where Jesus declares that he is the Bread of Life. Unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood, he says, we have no life in us.
Drawn to The Bread of Life
King Solomon said that “the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing” (Ecc. 1:8). Why is it that our contentment in our temporal lives are so difficult to attain? This week, Fr. Ben Williams continues our series in John 6 where Jesus tells us that the Father draws human beings to his Son. The satisfaction we seek in this life is truly met in “the bread that comes down from heaven,” who is God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Join us for this message, Drawn to the Bread of Life.
Our Bread Addiction
How do we maintain our wonder and awe for the Living God? How do we keep our eyes on Jesus when our earthly lives pull our gaze toward temporal reality? This week, Fr. Ben Williams continues a series in John 6 where Jesus states, “I am the bread of life.” The challenge of the Christian life is to prioritize the eternal life we have in Jesus over our everyday existence with its cares and concerns.
Swallowed Up by Life
What does it mean to live in the Kingdom of God? What difference does our citizenship in the Kingdom of God make in the world? In 2 Corinthians 5:1-11, St. Paul describes a new reality that Christians live in, a reality based in a heavenly dwelling. While he is referring to our resurrected bodies, he is also giving the reason for his boldness and courage in gospel ministry. This week, Fr. Ben Williams continues our series in 2 Corinthians and encourages us to seek the signs of mortality around us, that we might imagine the gospel’s power to swallow all mortality up by life.
A Holy Recklessness
Church history is filled with saints who have dared to obey Christ to the extreme. Saints, martyrs, and heroes of the faith fill our imaginations and leave us both the desire to follow their example and fear of what that might cost. St. Paul was no different. As we continue our series in 2 Corinthians, we see that the Apostle and his friends would stop at nothing to communicate the love of Jesus Christ to as many people as would listen. Join us this week as Fr. Ben Williams challenges us to a similar holy recklessness when it comes to the mission of the Church.
God’s Luminaries
Most Christians believe that they are called to ministry of some kind, but what is ministry? As we move into the Ordinary season of the Church calendar, a season marked by growth and mission, this is an important question. St. Paul insists that his own ministry was to unveil the glory of Christ and that he was wholly dependent on the Holy Spirit to succeed. This week, Fr. Ben Williams delves into 2 Corinthians 3:4-18 and challenges us to anticipate the same power Paul depended on for the ministry of Mission Saint James.