St. Thomas Episcopal Church Sermons

Seek Joy: The Gift of Giving | Marc Rieke | September 28, 2025

This sermon from guest preacher Marc Rieke invites us to rediscover stewardship as a spiritual practice rooted in joy. Reflecting on 2 Corinthians, Marc shares Paul’s encouragement to the church in Corinth: to let generosity be an authentic expression of love. With humor, storytelling, and deep gratitude for St. Thomas’s ministry, Marc reminds us that giving is not transactional—it is an act of trust and delight in God’s abundance.

True Riches: The Gift of Being With | The Rev. Liz Costello | September 21, 2025

What we leave behind is not measured in wealth or accomplishments but in the gift of presence. In this sermon, Mother Liz Costello invites us into the 2025–26 parish theme of Being With—with God, with one another, with creation, and with our truest selves. Drawing on Amos, First Timothy, and the Gospel, she reminds us that true riches are found not in mammon but in the treasure of being with.
#StThomasMedina #BeingWith #Episcopal #FaithJourney #TrueRiches #Presence #Amos #1Timothy #Luke #CommunityOfFaith #EpiscopalChurch

Lost and Found: Coming Home to God and One Another | September 14, 2025 | The Rev. Liz Costello

This week, the Rev. Liz Costello reflected on Jesus’s parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin, reminding us that God never gives up on us. Even in times of national division and personal disorientation, God searches us out, calls us home, and restores us to dignity and love. In a culture often marked by contempt, Christians are called to live as people who have been found—extending mercy, seeking Christ in every person, and welcoming all God’s children home.
#StThomasMedina #Episcopal #LostAndFound #Luke15 #FaithJourney #CommunityOfFaith #BaptismalVows #GodsLove #EpiscopalChurch

Always We Begin Again | September 7, 2025 | The Rev. Edmund Harris

In this sermon, the Rev. Edmund Harris explores Jesus’ stark words in Luke about the cost of discipleship. With honesty and hope, he reminds us that following Jesus isn’t about perfection but about daily recommitment—a way of life rooted in justice, compassion, and love. Drawing on Deuteronomy’s invitation to “choose life,” we are called to reorder our lives and begin again, together, in Christ.
#StThomasMedina #Episcopal #WayOfLove #LukeGospel #ChooseLife #Discipleship #AlwaysWeBeginAgain

Hospitality That Reorders the World

This week’s sermon explores Jesus’s radical vision of hospitality, not as charity or obligation, but as a reordering of power. Drawing from Father Edmund's experience with Church Beyond the Walls in Providence, Rhode Island and the words of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel, we consider what it means to welcome those who cannot repay us, and to recognize Christ’s presence in every person.

Love and Law Together

On Sunday, Father Edmund reflected on Jesus’s healing of a woman on the Sabbath (Luke 13) and the prophet Isaiah’s call to justice. Far from dismissing the law, Jesus fulfills it by embodying compassion and love in flesh and blood. Sabbath is not opposed to justice; both are central to our faith. Drawing on the witness of Pauli Murray—lawyer, priest, and prophet—Father Edmund reminded us that faithfulness means practicing rest and justice, week by week, together as the church.
#StThomasMedina #Episcopal #SabbathRest #JusticeAndMercy #LoveAndLaw #PauliMurray #FaithInPractice #EpiscopalChurch #LivingTheGospel

When the World Is on Fire: Bearing Witness with Courage | The Rev. Liz Costello | August 17, 2025

In this week’s sermon, the Rev. Liz Costello reflects on Jesus’s fiery words in Luke’s Gospel—“I came to bring fire to the earth”—and what it means to follow Christ when the world feels like it’s burning. Drawing on the “great cloud of witnesses” from Hebrews, and the example of modern martyrs like Pastor Wang Zhiming of China, Mother Liz reminds us that God’s kingdom often stands in contrast to the powers of this world. Through perseverance, love, and courage, we are called to bear witness to Christ’s kingdom—even when it brings division, tension, or sacrifice.
#StThomasMedina #Sermon #Faith #Luke12 #BearWitness #WayOfLove #Courage #Perseverance #GreatCloudOfWitnesses #ChurchCommunity

By Faith: Trusting in God’s Promises | The Rev. Liz Costello | August 10, 2025

This week, Mother Liz begins our sermon series on the book of Hebrews, exploring what it truly means to “live by faith.” From the roll call of saints in Hebrews 11 to Jesus’s call to readiness in Luke’s Gospel, we are invited to hold our possessions lightly, trust God’s provision, and place our deepest longing in our heavenly home. Even when we cannot see the fulfillment of God’s promises in our lifetime, we are called to trust—just as generations of believers have before us. How might living by faith be the balm your soul needs today?
📖 Hebrews 11:1–3, 8–16 | Luke 12:32–40
#ByFaith #SermonSeries #StThomasMedina #EpiscopalChurch #FaithAndTrust #Hebrews11 #SaintsBeforeUs #GospelLiving #ChristianFaith #GodsPromises #Luke12 #MainlineChristianity #Episcopal #FaithJourney #ChurchCommunity

Rich Toward God | August 3, 2025 | The Rev. Canon Carla Robinson

In this heartfelt sermon, the Rev. Canon Carla Robinson challenges us to consider what it truly means to be “rich toward God.” With wisdom, humor, and deep theological insight, she explores the spiritual poverty of self-centered living and offers an alternative vision: One rooted in gratitude, conversation, community, and eternal perspective. Drawing on Jesus’s parable of the rich fool, Paul’s epistle, and our own lived realities, Canon Carla reminds us that we are already rich in God’s grace, and invites us to live like it.

Our Truest Passport | July 27, 2025 | The Rev. Liz Costello

What does it mean to carry a spiritual passport? In this sermon, the Rev. Liz Costello explores identity, allegiance, and the call to resist false teachings—ancient and modern. From Colossians to the Barmen Declaration, we are reminded that Jesus is Lord, not nation, race, or ideology. Our faith affirms the sacredness of bodies, communities, and the work of justice on earth as in heaven. This is not a retreat from public life but a radical reorientation: toward love, humility, and hope.