Worship. Serve. Grow.

Sermons by The Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista (Page 3)

The Point of No Return

On the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Fr. Javier reflects on Jesus’ prayer in John 17: “Having loved his own, the gospel reads, he loved them to the end… Death, you see, is not the thing that propels Jesus forward. Violence is not the singularity that redeems his work—rather, it is love that redeems. It is love that…

Before and After

On the fifth Sunday in Lent, Fr. Javier reflects on Psalm 126 and the experience of exile: “We stand in the world as it is, hoping for the world as it should be. And the question before us—the people standing between the times—is simply this: will we succumb to inertia, apathy, and hopelessness, or will…

Discovering Our Call

Fr. Javier reflects on how the prophet Isaiah and the apostles Peter and Paul discovered their vocation, and how we, too, might discover ours: “To find our purpose isn’t a single decision, but the work of a lifetime. And through that work, we are being saved—made into a people pulled from every tribe, tongue, and…

Abundant Life

This Sunday, Fr. Javier reflects on Jesus’ first sign at the wedding in Cana and his message of abundant life: “We work so that we may better enjoy the life we’ve been given. We struggle so that others might do the same… In a world of cheap knock-offs—visions of happiness that are trite and ethereal; moments of…

Worship

At the beginning of our 3-week stewardship series, Fr. Javier explores the meaning of common worship: “Worship—and what we do in it—calls us back to attention to a different way of measuring our time and worth… There is work and there is rest; there is fasting and there is feasting. And all these little habits…