Sermons by Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista
Seek the Welfare of the City
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Earlier this week I bought plane tickets to go visit my parents in Portland Oregon. I am excited to see my family here soon. One of the things I miss about my parents’ home is a minor, insignificant thing … the smell of fresh-brewed coffee….
The Call and Response of Abundance
Rev. Javier A. Bautista discusses Luke 16:1-13: “When I think of the wonder of the world God created in abundance, and I compare it to the world I encounter in the gospel today, a world of seeming scarcity, of being wily with resources, I’m taken aback a little bit. There’s a marked contrast between the faithful stewards of creation, the intended purpose for humankind, and the dishonest manager we meet in our story today.”
View SermonTable Manners of Hope and Mercy
Luke 14:1, 7-14
George Washington, one of the founding fathers and the first president of the United States, transcribed a little book as a school exercise sometime before he was 16 years old. It is entitled Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation … The gospel today sounds a little like Washington’s rules. It reads like a lesson in table manners… but there’s something more at stake here.
Every day can be a pilgrimage
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40
About a week ago, I met up with a group from St. Paul’s, right in front of this church, and we hopped onto a 15-passenger van and headed down to Newton Grove. We visited the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry…
The Hope of Glory
Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42
I moved to a new home a few weeks ago … I know that I’m settling into a new place to call home when I put up a picture frame on the wall … and I have this icon … It’s this beautiful picture of Jesus standing there in colorful robes at the moment of creation …. It’s a beautiful vision of the created order in its right place, of things redeemed, reconciled, living in harmony … I’ve been looking at other icons of sorts this past week — images in the news — and these images tempt me to say, “so much for mystic visions of a redeemed world…”