Pastor Sullivan's Blog

Grace and Peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Today’s appointed readings present us with examples of carelessness and indifference and where those lead. In the epistle lesson, St. Paul sets the ancient Israelites before the Corinthian Christians. The Corinthians, like the ancient Israelites, had become overly confident in their status as sons of God. Like Israel, they imagined that nothing could disqualify them this special status that God had conferred upon them. So St. Paul has to burst this bubble. In the wilderness, in between their redemption from Egypt and their entrance into the Promised Land, some become idolaters. At the base of Mount Sinai, while Moses was delayed, the people “ sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play ,” the very words of Exodus 32 when Israel forsook the true God and made a counterfeit God in the form of a golden calf. Three thousand men died as a result of their idolatry. Later in the wilderness they were tempt...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. St. Paul warns the Corinthians, and all Christians, against the false belief that Christians can never lose their salvation. The Corinthians had become cocksure and arrogant. They were baptized. They had the Lord’s Supper. The Lord had called them out of the darkness of slavery to sin. They imagined themselves to be secure in God’s grace and free to do as they pleased. The Corinthians had become secure in their sins and abandoned the life of repentance, imagining that they could not lose what God has so graciously given them. Paul writes to correct this impious notion, and we would do well to heed Paul’s warning as well. We see this deception of the devil today in many who teach and believe that once a man is saved he will always be saved, regardless of what he does with the rest of his life. This is a false notion of security. Although God has promised never to revoke His promises and grace, it is entirely po...

Order of Holy Communion -  Pg. 15 Hymn #  417 How Can I Thank Thee, Lord Hymn #  441 We Give Thee But Thine Own Hymn #  425 All Depends on Our Possessing Introit Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life. He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth, O Lord. ( Psalm 54:4–5 ) Save me, O God, by Your name: And vindicate me by Your strength. Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen up against me: They have not set God before them. For He has delivered me out of all trouble; And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies. ( Psalm 54:1, 2-3, 7) Readings 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 Luke 16:1-9 Collect for the 9th Sunday after Trinity Let Thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please Thee; through Jesus...

Order of Holy Communion - pg. 15 Hymn #  417 How Can I Thank Thee, Lord Hymn # 441 We Give Thee But Thine Own Hymn # 425 All Depends on Our Possessing Introit - Pg. 76 Readings 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 Luke 16:1-9 Collect for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity   Let Thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please Thee; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Sermon on the Holy Gospel Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 1)          This parable is probably the most confusing parable Jesus spoke. As you hear the parable you grow to really dislike the unjust steward. He’s abusing his master’s wealth by enriching himself off his master’s property. He w...