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.

frsuelzle Sermons

You Need the True Cross

A sermon for The Invention of the Holy Cross, by Fr. Dan Suelzle.

The apostle Paul declares that he would boast in nothing except the cross of Jesus Christ. At first glance, perhaps this focus seems narrow. Why not boast in Christ’s mercy, His resurrection, or the sacraments? The reality is that these gifts are inseparable from the cross of Jesus. As we reflect on the feast of the “Invention”, or discovery, of the Holy Cross, we are reminded that our salvation is not a vague, ethereal concept, but a historical reality rooted in time and space. God enlisted the creature, wood, to be the means upon which his only-begotten Son is crucified for the sin of the world. Thus, the cross becomes the Tree which gives life, undoing the effects of the tree which brought death in the garden.

While historical accounts like St. Helena’s discovery of the True Cross ground our faith in history, they also serve as a cautionary tale. Just as the Israelites eventually turned the bronze serpent into an idol, we are prone to chasing relics rather than the Redeemer. Our boast is not in the inherent power of a piece of wood, but in the promises God attached to Christ’s sacrifice. Today, we don’t need to hunt for ancient slivers of timber to find God’s favor. Instead, Christ continues to deliver the fruits of the cross by connecting them to other creatures: the water of Baptism, the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist. We honor the cross by putting ourselves in proximity to these gifts to receive them in faith, where the victory won at the cross is delivered directly to us today.

Listen to the homily below.