St. Thomas Episcopal Church Sermons

Hospitality, Holiness, and the Hope of Small Acts | July 20, 2025 | The Rev. Mary Bol

On July 20, 2025, guest preacher the Rev. Mary Bol invited us to reflect on how seemingly small acts—offering a meal, welcoming a stranger, showing kindness—can become sacred encounters. Drawing on Abraham’s story in Genesis 18 and Jesus’ visit with Mary and Martha in Luke 10, Rev. Mary reminded us that hospitality is not just about what we do, but how we listen, care, and respond to God’s call in our daily lives.
Her sermon challenges us to treat one another—and the earth—with reverence, because love in action is a blessing in itself.

Becoming the Neighbor: Mercy in Motion | The Rev. Edmund Harris | July 13, 2025

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” asks the lawyer in Luke 10. Jesus doesn’t just answer—he reframes the question entirely. In this powerful sermon from Father Edmund,, we revisit the story of the Good Samaritan not as a lesson in morality, but as a call to radical empathy and action. True neighborliness, he reminds us, is inconvenient, disruptive, and deeply embodied. The Good Samaritan doesn’t just feel pity—he crosses the road, touches wounds, and offers his life’s resources. In a time of great suffering and social fragmentation, this message is not just relevant—it’s urgent.

It Is the Holy Spirit That Sings | The Rev. Paul Barthelemy | July 6, 2025

Guest preacher Father Paul Barthelemy weaves the beauty of the natural world with the language of Pentecost in this poetic and profound sermon. Drawing on Mary Oliver’s evocative poetry, his personal encounters with the Swainson’s thrush, and the deep power of scripture, Father Paul invites us to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit not just in sacred spaces, but in the song of the forest, in wind and fire, in stars and rivers. Is it just birdsong, or is it the Spirit speaking? This sermon offers a sacred invitation to listen more closely, and to live more gently.

So Free We Can Love | June 29, 2025 | The Rev. Liz Costello

As Independence Day approaches, Mother Liz invites us to reflect on what true freedom really means—not just as Americans, but as Christians. In this sermon grounded in Galatians, she explores Paul’s vision of freedom, which isn’t about personal rights or autonomy, but about being so spiritually liberated that we are free to love others fully, generously, and without expectation. Drawing on stories from the early Church and highlighting the prophetic witness of leaders like the Rev. Pauli Murray, this message calls us to live not by the values of empire but by the Spirit that sets us free for love.

I Was a Stranger, and You Welcomed Me | June 22, 2025 | Guest Preacher: Greg Hope

This past Sunday, our guest preacher, Greg Hope, Director of Refugee Resettlement for the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, reflected on his 46 years of service with refugees from around the world. From Laotian grandmothers planting hillside flowers to Afghan rideshare entrepreneurs and Somali pharmacists, Greg offers deeply personal stories of resilience, loss, healing, and new beginnings. Grounded in Matthew 25—"I was a stranger and you welcomed me"—this sermon invites us to reimagine hospitality as a spiritual practice, a justice commitment, and a lifelong vocation. Learn how the Church can offer not only charity, but real solidarity.

The God Who Is Always More | June 15, 2025 | The Rev. Edmund Harris

This Trinity Sunday, Father Edmund Harris invites us into the mystery of a God who is more than any single image, more than any one name. With warmth and honesty, he reflects on how the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is not just a theological concept, but a vibrant relationship of love into which we are invited. As we begin the season after Pentecost, this sermon challenges us to reclaim our own divine imprint: to live, love, and relate as those made in the image of a relational God. 
What old images of God might you be invited to release?
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The Everlasting Gift of Belonging | June 8, 2025 | The Rev. Liz Costello

On this Pentecost Sunday, the Rev. Liz Costello weaves together the power of the Holy Spirit and the deep significance of baptism in our lives. Mother Liz invites us to remember that baptism is more than a rite; it is a lifelong, living gift that we return to again and again. As we welcome new members into the body of Christ, we are invited to revisit our own baptismal promises and to remember: We are already known and loved by God.
Whether we are navigating seasons of grief, striving for justice, or feeling the weight of high expectations, our baptismal identity grounds us in the belovedness of every human being.
Join us in celebrating the mystery and beauty of God’s Spirit moving in our midst.
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📚📚The baptismal covenant is a small catechism for use during the rite of initiation into the Church. Armentrout and Slocum, in their 'An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church,' note that the baptismal covenant “is widely regarded as the normative statement of what it means to follow Christ” (p. 37); in these questions and answers, the congregation expresses the ways each of the faithful will live their faith both inside and outside the church walls. The first four questions are patterned on the Apostles’ Creed, with the liturgy’s celebrant asking the people about their beliefs in each of the members of the Trinity, along with a concise understanding of their natures. Following these questions, the covenant includes five questions regarding how we, as Christians, are called to live out our faith: with firm commitment and a reliance on God’s help. 🗣✝🗣 🗣✝🗣 Celebrant: Do you believe in God the Father? People: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. Celebrant: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God? People: I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. Celebrant: Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit? People: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Celebrant: Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers? People: I will, with God’s help. Celebrant: Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? People: I will, with God’s help. Celebrant: Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? People: I will, with God’s help. Celebrant: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? People: I will, with God’s help. Celebrant: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? People: I will, with God’s help.

Closer Than Your Breath | June 1, 2025 | The Rev. Edmund Harris

On this Ascension Sunday, Father Edmund explores the tender threshold between absence and presence. As Jesus ascends, his friends are left grieving and afraid, feeling alone. But in this in-between space—this space of uncertainty—the Spirit draws closer. Father Edmund invites us to see how our own places of fear and vulnerability become sacred ground, where God breathes new life and whispers, “You are not alone.”

Imperfectly Perfect Faith | June 1, 2025 | Guest Preacher: Cate Fitzgerald

On Youth Sunday, Cate Fitzgerald, a graduating senior, shared her heartfelt reflections on change, faith, and the journey to college. Drawing on personal experiences with anxiety, transitions, and questions of faith, Cate shows us that an “imperfectly perfect faith” is one that welcomes doubt, embraces uncertainty, and still believes. In her vulnerability, Cate invites us to trust that God’s love holds us steady through every new chapter.
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Release and Renewal: Seeing with Mountaintop Eyes | May 25, 2025 | Rabbi Daniel Weiner

What practices—spiritual or practical—help you resist systems that define people by wealth, productivity, or success?
In a world that runs on exhaustion, profit, and performance, Rabbi Daniel Weiner brings a timely and powerful word: We were never meant to live this way.
Drawing from the ancient Jewish practices of Shmita and Jubilee—sacred pauses for the land, for laborers, and for debtors—Rabbi Weiner calls us to imagine a different kind of world. One where the land gets to rest. One where people are freed from systems that dehumanize them. One where every person is treated with sacred worth.