Recent Sermons by Rev. Mark J.T. Caggiano
Acts 1:6-14; John 17:1-11 [W]hy do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Jesus had been lifted up into heaven and then a cloud took him out of sight. Two men in white appeared and told the disciples that…
May 7, 2023 Acts 7:55-60; John 14:1-7 Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. I have had a few people ask about our post-Easter roster of scripture readings. In general, the comments are about why we are spending so much time…
April 30, 2023 Acts 2:42-47; John 10:1-10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. That is the goal. That is the purpose. To have life and to have it abundantly. Now that we have gotten that out of the way, what exactly does it mean? You may have…
April 23, 2023 Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Luke 24:13-35 Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified. Peter is speaking to a crowd soon after the great moment of Pentecost, when fire descended from the heavens and the disciples were able to converse in many languages. Peter…
April 16, 2023 Acts 2:14a, 22-32; John 20:19-31 But [Thomas] said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Thomas is the apostle known for his disbelief, “Doubting Thomas” being a common reference for him. How did…
April 2, 2023 Isaiah 50:4-9a; Matthew 21:1-11 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Hosanna, which means “pray, save us.” We pray to God and ask that we might be saved. That we might…
March 19, 2023 1 Samuel 16:7-13, John 9:1-7 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Who sinned? The man, who was born blind? Or his parents, whose sin was to be passed along to their son? Jesus rejects that line of…
March 12, 2023 Exodus 17:1-7; John 4:31-38 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” This is a common Biblical metaphor. You reap what you have sown. That is a more accusatory version of the metaphor, however.…
February 26, 2023 Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Matthew 4:1-11 In the Book of Genesis, the first man and woman are offered paradise with one condition; that they not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And yet they are tempted to do so by the serpent. God cautioned that the man and woman would die if they ate from the…
February 19, 2023 Exodus 24:12-18; Matthew 17:1-9 And [Jesus] was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Today is Transfiguration Sunday. It recalls the transfiguration of both Moses and Jesus. What does it mean to be transfigured? One becomes enshrouded in light, with the face and body and even clothing shining brightly. This…