allsaintsjonesboro Sermons

Bearing Witness in the In-Between Time

A sermon for Exaudi, by Fr. Josh Leigeber

In this year’s Exaudi homily, the focus centered on the Church’s calling in the time between Christ’s Ascension and His return. Christ has poured out His Holy Spirit and sent His Church into the world to bear witness to the Gospel — not with a message of our own invention, but with the apostolic testimony handed down in Holy Scripture.

The sermon emphasized that faithful Christian witness will often meet opposition because the Gospel confronts sin and proclaims salvation through Christ crucified. Yet Christians are called to respond not with bitterness, but with love, humility, and patient endurance, remembering that apart from God’s mercy we too would remain in unbelief.

Drawing on Saint Peter’s words that “love covers a multitude of sins,” the homily encouraged believers to use the gifts God has entrusted to them — both individually and as the Church together — in service to the Gospel and the salvation of their neighbors.

As All Saints enters its annual Time of Inquiry and prepares for Pentecost, the congregation is reminded that the Holy Spirit continues to work through the Church’s witness while we await Christ’s glorious return.

Listen to the sermon audio below.

allsaintsjonesboro Sermons

Prayer Flows from Faith

A sermon for Rogate, by Fr. Josh Leigeber

On Rogate Sunday, we heard again Christ’s invitation to pray with confidence to the Father in His Name. But the Gospel also reminds us that prayer does not sustain faith by itself. The disciples scattered when their faith failed — and it was the risen Christ who restored them through His Word, forgiveness, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Christian prayer flows from faith created and sustained by the Means of Grace. God speaks first; faith answers in prayer.

This sermon reflects on the relationship between the Word of God, the gift of faith, and the life of prayer that flows from hearing and receiving Christ’s gifts.

“Prayer doesn’t sustain faith; it flows out of it.”

Listen to the sermon audio below.

allsaintsjonesboro Sermons

Your Sorrow Will Be Turned into Joy

A sermon for Jubilate (the third Sunday after Easter), by Fr. Josh Leigeber.

In this Jubilate sermon, the promise of the Gospel of John 16 stands at the center: “a little while” of sorrow gives way to lasting joy in Christ. Jesus prepares His disciples—not only for His death and resurrection, but for the whole span of the Church’s life between His ascension and His return. Christians live as “resurrection people,” united to Christ in Baptism, bearing present struggles with a sure and living hope.

Drawing on Augustine of Hippo, the sermon reflects on jubilate as a joy that exceeds words—a gladness that spills over in song, especially in the Church’s Alleluias. This Easter joy persists even amid suffering, because it is grounded in Christ’s victory over sin and death.

Jesus’ image of childbirth frames the Christian life: real sorrow now, but a joy that overwhelms it when the new life is revealed. This applies to the disciples’ grief at the cross, the Church’s present longing during Christ’s hidden reign, and even the groaning of all creation (as in Epistle to the Romans 8) awaiting restoration. The Church herself is seen as a mother, bearing new life through Word and Sacrament and rejoicing in the new birth of her children.

The result is a life marked by confident, communal joy—expressed in the Divine Service and overflowing even into fellowship together. Even now, amid temporary suffering, Christ’s people sing: Jubilate Deo.