Hope Springs Eternal
161 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago -Sermons from the Rev. Alan D. Bentrup, rector of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Keller, Texas.
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Episodes
Historical Markers: Fearless Faith (a Sermon for Proper 14C, 2022)
August 07, 2022 22:19 - 11 minutes - 15.9 MBFearless faith isn’t a straight line where we decide to follow God and never doubt or question or fail or want to turn back. Fearless faith doesn’t mean we never struggle with our faith. Fearless faith doesn’t mean we never deconstruct our faith. Fearless faith is taking the next step, knowing God is there. Fearless faith means trusting that God is here, with us, even when we don’t feel it. Fearless faith is believing that God continues to be present, even when we lack the certainty of a vi...
Historical Markers: Bold Prayer
July 24, 2022 19:37 - 16 minutes - 21.9 MBOur historical marker this week is BOLD PRAYER. Followers of Jesus are marked by bold prayer. Despite our enslavement to sin and brokenness and pride and shame, we pray boldly. Our circumstances don’t always change when we pray. But we change. Our hearts and our minds change, as we boldly proclaim that God has been, is, and always will be working in and through us.
Historical Markers: Radical Welcome
July 17, 2022 21:11 - 16 minutes - 21.9 MBWe practice the radical welcome of Jesus who turns the world upside down. Everyone is welcome in God’s kingdom. And everyone is welcome at St. Martin’s. As Jesus continues on his journey to Jerusalem, he leaves behind him individuals, households, villages, and a whole world that will never be the same. Because they have glimpsed a new vision of God’s radical welcome.
A Harvest of Hope
July 05, 2022 16:41 - 16 minutes - 15.1 MBI have a friend who has the word “hope” tattooed on her arm. It’s a reminder to her of God’s presence and faithfulness in times of gut-wrenching pain and grief. For her, it calls to mind 1 Thessalonians 4:13…”we do not grieve as those who have no hope.” Even when we don’t feel it, we are people of hope. Even when we’re all tears and broken hearts, we are people of hope. Even when it seems like a pinprick of light down a really long hallway, we are people of hope.
The Unbearable Love of God (A Sermon for Trinity Sunday 2022)
June 13, 2022 02:33 - 14 minutes - 20.1 MBThe fullness of God is unbearable. The fullness of God is too big, too beautiful, too wild, to be understood, explained, or contained.
Lament & Hope (a sermon for Easter 7C, 2022)
May 30, 2022 17:12 - 15 minutes - 14.7 MBHow long, oh Lord! We lament. We yell. We grieve. But we don’t grieve as the world grieves. We don’t grieve as people who have no hope. Even in the midst of weeks like this…. Even in the midst of heartache like this… We hope. We have Easter hope.
Love Makes All Things New (a Sermon for Easter 5C, 2022)
May 15, 2022 23:02 - 13 minutes - 18.2 MBGod redeems and restores and renews the whole world, through love. And the world will know that we are his disciples, not by the right opinions or positions or allegiances. The world will know that we are Jesus’ disciples by our love. We as Christians don’t stand on issues. We walk with people, in love. And God loves everyone. Even you. And even me.
We're Just Getting Started (a Sermon for Easter 2C, 2022)
April 25, 2022 15:14 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBWhen we walk in faith and love together, your chips and my cracks and your brokenness come together. When we walk in faith and love together, when our life together is shaped by the cross, we're beautiful.
The Story is Just Getting Started (a Sermon for Easter Sunday, 2022)
April 18, 2022 13:20 - 8 minutes - 7.95 MBGod is always out ahead of us, making all things new!
The Story is Good (A Sermon for Good Friday, 2022)
April 16, 2022 01:48 - 7 minutes - 10.7 MBToday, on Good Friday, the cross stands tall and declares that the story isn’t over if the story isn’t good. Jesus, the perfect, sinless man, today is smashed to pieces with us.
The Story Isn’t Over (A Sermon for Maundy Thursday, 2022)
April 15, 2022 02:13 - 8 minutes - 12.1 MBTonight Jesus washes those chipped and cracked and broken pieces. He’s lovingly preparing these chipped and cracked and broken pieces, because Jesus has something better in store for them. And Jesus is lovingly preparing us, too. Because Jesus has something better in store for us.
The Story Is Broken (A Sermon for Palm Sunday, 2022)
April 10, 2022 17:54 - 12 minutes - 16.8 MBI invite you to join us for the triduum, the great three days, as we walk from the upper room to the garden to the cross. You’ll be seeing these bowls again this week. Their brokenness, as a symbol of our brokenness, will be a guide for our Holy Week. I can’t wait to see what God can do with them. And I can’t wait to see what God can do with us. I bet it will be so, so beautiful.
Open Our Hands ( A Sermon for Lent 2C, 2022)
March 15, 2022 23:01 - 13 minutes - 18.8 MBWith each step Jesus is saying, “don’t be afraid, I am with you.” With each step Jesus is saying, “you can’t do it all, you need each other.” With each step Jesus is saying, “I will heal you, forgive you, and make you whole.” With each step Jesus is saying, “I will pursue you to the very end even to death and beyond.” With each step Jesus is saying, “I love you.” We just need to open our hands, let go of the stones, and hold on to Jesus.
I Hate Ash Wednesday
March 03, 2022 16:16 - 7 minutes - 10.9 MBLearning to love, and learning what to love…learning what to hold on to and what to let go of…that’s the real work of Lent. That’s when Lent gets through to me. That’s when I stop doing Lent, and when I start letting Lent do it’s work on me.
12 Mighty Orphans ( A Sermon for Epiphany 6C, 2022)
February 13, 2022 23:34 - 15 minutes - 21.7 MBJesus sees you when you are poor and when you are rich. Jesus sees you when you are hungry and when you are well-Ξlled. Jesus sees you when you are weeping and when you are laughing. Jesus sees you when you are excluded and when you are brought in. Jesus sees you. Even on the days when it is hard to look in the mirror…Jesus sees you. There isn’t anything you can do to change that. Nothing you do can make God love you less, and God won’t ever give up on you. God is with us. God is for us. ...
God’s Agenda of Love
January 30, 2022 17:52 - 14 minutes - 19.9 MBJesus has a broad and expansive and abundant vision for his ministry, and the people seem to have a diΛerent, more narrow and scarce vision. They are so caught up in their own agenda they can’t hear, let alone participate in, God’s agenda. What do you think? Does that ever happen in today’s world? In the church? In our own lives?
It’s Time (A Sermon for Epiphany 2C 2022)
January 16, 2022 18:08 - 19 minutes - 26.9 MBWill we ask ourselves what Jesus is telling us to do? What is Jesus telling you to do? What is Jesus telling St. Martin’s to do?
Expectations
January 10, 2022 02:07 - 4 minutes - 5.77 MBWhere does Jesus meet us in our expectations?
Love Became Flesh (A Sermon for Christmas 1, 2021)
December 26, 2021 18:45 - 12 minutes - 16.5 MB“...the Word became Οesh and lived among us.” It did in Jesus. And it did in two Ξshermen from Virginia. It did in the lawn guy with a truck. So, what about you and me?
God Is Here! (A Sermon for Christmas Eve, 2021)
December 25, 2021 03:26 - 11 minutes - 15.1 MBThat’s why we gather on this night year after year. To hear once again the story of God’s Hope. God’s Peace. God’s Joy. God’s never-ending, never failing, never-ceasing Love. No matter where you are. No matter what you’re feeling. No matter the burden you’re carrying. Listen to what God is saying to you…open your eyes to what God is showing you…through a little boy born this night… I love you any way you feel, no matter what you do. I love you any way you are, I love you because you’re you!
The Next Right Thing (a sermon for Advent 3C, 2021)
December 12, 2021 18:06 - 17 minutes - 23.9 MBIt is Advent. We’re waiting for the world to change. We’re waiting for our world to change. And that usually starts by us making a change. So go and do the next right thing.
Our Kingdoms Fall (A Sermon for Christ The King Sunday, Year B 2021)
November 21, 2021 17:48 - 12 minutes - 16.4 MBIf Christ is our king, then we are free to truly see each other… If Christ is our king, then we are free to truly hear each other… If Christ is our king, then we are free to truly love each other.
A Failure of Imagination (a sermon for the Feast of St. Martin)
November 14, 2021 19:02 - 25 minutes - 34.6 MBWhat does the world need St. Martin’s to be? What does God want St. Martin’s to be? We aren’t the St. Martin’s of Ξfty years ago when those six families got together. We aren’t the St. Martin’s of 21 months ago before COVID. We aren’t even the St. Martin’s of four months ago before I moved here. We can’t be limited by the ideas of who we were, or even who we wanted to be, in those times and in those places. Because we are St. Martin’s, now. This time. This place. And we have to open our ...
Walking in Love (A Sermon for Proper 26B - 2021)
October 31, 2021 17:34 - 18 minutes - 25.8 MBWe’re called to love when it’s hard. We’re called to love when it might cost us something. We’re called to love when we don’t know how the journey will look. We’re called to love, period.
Following the Way (A Sermon for Proper 25B - 2021)
October 24, 2021 19:51 - 19 minutes - 26.5 MBThis blind man could see that following the way of Jesus meant risking ridicule by shouting out. This blind man could see that following the way of Jesus meant giving up any thoughts of power. This blind man could see that following the way Jesus meant leaving behind everything he had.
Giving Up Stewardship
October 10, 2021 18:17 - 16 minutes - 22.6 MBJesus is inviting the young man to give up relying on himself and instead become a disciple. To become part of something greater than he can imagine. To become part of something that will change the world. And Jesus is asking us to do the same thing.
God Hears Our Voice (a sermon for Proper 21B 2021)
September 27, 2021 12:05 - 12 minutes - 11.5 MBWe’re about to baptize two babies. Their parents and Godparents will make some promises, the whole congregation will make some promises, and then these two little babies will be baptized. They didn’t do anything to deserve it, they don’t even yet know what it means. But God knows what it means. It means that they are, today, a child of God. They are, today, a sibling of all of us. And it means they have everything they need to follow Jesus. Sure, they’re going to grow and learn and do g...
Every Step of the Way (a sermon for the Feast of Philander Chase)
September 22, 2021 21:07 - 16 minutes - 22.6 MBRegardless of our career, our call is the same. Sometimes that journey will be scary. Sometimes that journey will be lonely. But we still must go. And like Tommy...like Bishop Chase...we know that Jesus is with us every step of the way.
I Wonder... (A Sermon for Proper 19B)
September 15, 2021 01:25 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBI wonder if this new story can help us redefine our priorities to be more in line with those of Jesus…. I wonder if this new story can help us better see each other as brothers and sisters and siblings in Christ... I wonder if this new story can help us take God more seriously than we take ourselves… Everything we do here, from worship to formation to fellowship to service in the community, the purpose of all of this is to help us learn what it means to be followers of Jesus. I wonder wh...
The Lord is Near (A Sermon for Proper 16B)
August 22, 2021 17:10 - 15 minutes - 7.23 MBScripture doesn’t ever really give us an answer to the question of suffering. Scripture is full of stories of bad things happening to the righteous and the unrighteous, however we’d define those groups. Scripture is full of bad things happening to people that love God. We’re not promised a life free of suffering. We’re not promised a life free from heartbreak. But God does promise to draw near.
The Bread of Life (A Sermon for Proper 14B, 2021)
August 08, 2021 17:23 - 10 minutes - 4.71 MBWhen we feast on Jesus, we live differently. When we believe in Jesus, we live differently. When we trust in Jesus, we live differently. When we pattern our lives in the way of Jesus, we live differently.
A Worthy Calling (A Sermon for Proper 13B, 2021)
August 01, 2021 19:05 - 16 minutes - 22.2 MBI don’t think it’s a coincidence that this reading from Ephesians popped up today. This reading clearly lays out our job descriptions. What we’re called to do. God has called you all to be the people of St. Martin’s. God...through you...has called me to be your rector. God has called us...all of us...to be the body of Christ in this part of the world. And I’m glad that we get to do this together.
Follow Jesus (a sermon for Proper 9B 2021)
July 05, 2021 01:56 - 15 minutes - 21.2 MBWe need to follow Jesus...who calls us to leave our comfortable pews and serve. We need to follow Jesus...who calls us to tell the world the Good News that conquers death. We need to follow Jesus...who calls us to love our neighbor, even when our neighbor is hard to love. We need to follow Jesus, who calls us to dine with tax collectors, beggars, and sinners. We need to follow Jesus, who calls us to reach out to others across the boundaries of race, color, college football team, and anyth...
Jesus’ Touch (A Sermon for Proper 8B, 2021)
June 27, 2021 16:58 - 14 minutes - 19.2 MBBut, when Jesus touches the unclean thing, the power is reversed. This is the power of Jesus’ touch. To make that which the law declares as unclean to be clean. To take that which the world casts out and bring it back in.
Faith and Fear (A Sermon for Proper 7B, 2021)
June 20, 2021 20:18 - 31 minutes - 29.5 MBThey didn’t know the whole plan. They just knew the next step Jesus was asking them to take: Get on the boat and cross the border that lies between what you know, where your comfort is, and that which is wholly other to you. Theirs was a response of faith, not fear.
More Than You Can See (A Sermon for Proper 6B 2021)
June 13, 2021 18:36 - 12 minutes - 16.6 MBIn today’s parable, we’re invited to see how God is always at work in our lives, like a seed scattered upon the earth. As a seed does its seed thing, so the kingdom does its kingdom thing. We may not understand it. Outward appearances may even suggest God is absent. It may look like nothing is happening. We sleep and rise. We wait. We trust. We hope. We pray. We go about the ordinary work of life. Yet within that ordinariness, the life of God has already been planted in each one of us. One d...
The Family Table (A Sermon for Proper 5B 2021)
June 06, 2021 16:05 - 19 minutes - 26.7 MBIt’s alright if the world thinks you’re a little weird, because family even loves the weird ones.
For God So Loved... (a sermon for Trinity Sunday 2021)
May 30, 2021 16:51 - 15 minutes - 21.7 MBFor God so loves Nicodemus. For God so loves you. For God so loves me. For God so loves the whole world...that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but may have eternal life.
Unlock the Doors (A Sermon for Pentecost)
May 24, 2021 01:23 - 17 minutes - 23.9 MBJesus comes to us - behind any locked doors we try to put in the way- and gives us his peace. Then he gives us his power to do the kinds of things that mere humans can’t do, the kind of things that Jesus was doing. Things like defeating our own selΟshness, loving other people, tending to the sick and suΜering, breaking down walls of division, and reconciling the world.
Thresholds (A Sermon for Easter 7B, 2021)
May 22, 2021 19:44 - 12 minutes - 16.5 MBAnd what if we took our cue from Jesus? What if we came to the thresholds in our life trusting that Jesus Christ is with us. In the joy and in the sorrow. In the hope and in the despair. In the living and in the dying. Jesus is with us...always with us...at the threshold. And we know that Easter is always on the other side.
There is Only Us (A sermon for Easter 5B, 2021)
May 02, 2021 23:24 - 22 minutes - 31.2 MBGod’s love knows no boundary. God’s love knows no division. God’s love knows no “us” and “them.”
The Frightening Message of Easter
April 18, 2021 18:04 - 19 minutes - 26.3 MBWhat are we willing to risk?
The Story Isn’t Over (A Sermon for Maundy Thursday, 2021)
April 12, 2021 17:08 - 14 minutes - 20.3 MBIt’s rather like being on the roller coaster of our salvation story: the joyous wine of the banquet mixed with the bitterness of betrayal; the shame and agony of crucifixion answered with the unbelievable promise of life beyond the grave.
The Way of Jesus (A Sermon for Lent 2B)
February 28, 2021 14:53 - 9 minutes - 13.1 MBJesus chose to give in a world that takes. Jesus chose to love in a world that hates. Jesus chose to heal in a world that injures. Jesus chose peace in a world at war. Jesus chose to give life in a world that kills. Jesus offered mercy when others sought vengeance, forgiveness when others condemned, and compassion when others were indifferent.
Can Anything Good Come Out Of Nazareth?
January 17, 2021 14:13 - 15 minutes - 21.3 MBAt the deepest level our Nazareths are about our understanding of God. We just can’t see how anything good can come out of Nazareth. We cannot believe that God can be present, active, and revealed in Nazareth, whether it be another person, a relationship, a situation, or our own life.
Growing Up and Leaving Home
January 03, 2021 17:07 - 11 minutes - 15.8 MBSt. Timothy’s Episcopal Church (Columbia, S.C.) Luke 2:31-52
God Is Always With Us (A Sermon for Christmas Day, 2020)
December 27, 2020 18:40 - 12 minutes - 17.3 MBChristmas this year has been isolating for many. Maybe it was for you. But the Good News of God in Christ is that the Word has become flesh and dwells among us. The Word isn’t just present in the big fancy church services, or the wonderful family dinners, or the Christmas parties. God is not just with us on the days when our calendars or homes or hearts are full. God is with us in the everyday, mundane, isolated moments. God is with us in the joy and the sorrow. God is with us in the dark ...
Risk and Hope (A Sermon for Proper 27A 2020)
November 15, 2020 15:33 - 15 minutes - 20.6 MBWhat are we willing to risk for the treasure entrusted to us?
This World Is Not About Us (A Sermon for Proper 27A 2020)
November 08, 2020 16:12 - 21 minutes - 30 MBSometimes you have to ditch your sermon and just talk about division and reconciliation for 20 minutes...
The Yoke of Christ (A Sermon for Proper 9A, 2020)
July 05, 2020 14:56 - 13 minutes - 18.2 MB“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me,” he says. Let your heart love like Jesus. Let your mind be filled with the same concerns as Jesus. Let your feet walk in step Jesus. Let your hands touch the world like Jesus. Let your eyes see the world like Jesus sees the world. Live a life yoked with Jesus Christ, living and moving and breathing as one, and you will find rest for your soul.