The Adventures of Mo. Lauren and Fr. Kenny

Hello Friends!

In this week’s excerpt from John (17:1-11), Jesus prays for us.  This isn’t unusual, the unusual part is that He does it right in front of the disciples, within their earshot.  Jesus prays for us, and with us!  Great right?

Take a listen:

John 17:1-11, Sermon, Easter 7, Year A, May 28, 2017

Thanks for stopping by!

Rev. Lauren

Hello Friends,

This week’s reading follows directly from last week’s which is amazing since usually we jump around.  It is helpful for a preacher to flesh out a concept when there are a few weeks of continuous readings, people just need to come and listen every week (ha!).

Anyway, Jesus continues to comfort his disciples and promises a new Advocate (paraclete in Greek).  Take a listen:

John 14:15-21, Sermon, Easter 6, Year A, May 21, 2017

Thanks for stopping by!

Rev. Lauren

Hello Friends!

A few weeks back (I know, late posting), Fr. Kenny and I went to Clergy Conference, our first one in Massachusetts.  The conference is held every year at the Ocean Edge Resort in Brewster, MA, and it is a lovely place, even though the weather in April isn’t so great.

The theme of the conference was “Preach Better, for God’s Sake!”  We focused on improving our preaching skills as well as preaching more on the Old Testament, the section of the Bible that we tend to forget about.  Over all it was a great few days, we learned a lot, but also had free time to network and relax.  Here are some pictures!

Fr. Kenny loves Werther’s

Learning about preaching the Old Testament

One some free time, we walked to the beach!

Who knew that Kenny’s outfit used to be considered beach wear?

Great beach weather

No, no, Kenny, its raining…

For a little while we could see the water from the main mansion, this must be a great place in the summer!

Ocean view

Thanks for stopping by!

~Rev. Lauren

Hello Friends,

In John’s portion today (John 14:1-14) Jesus is preparing the disciples for His departure.  Jesus tells that about how they can continue the mission once He is gone and even do GREATER deeds.  How is that possible?  Well, it is all about the afterlife, not life after our death, rather life after Jesus’ death.  Take a listen:

John 14:1-14, Easter 5, Year A, May 14, 2017

Thanks for stopping by!

Rev. Lauren

PS-Here are links to the articles I quote and the IMDb for the movie I reference:

Karoline Lewis: “Saying Goodbye”

Elisabeth Johnson: “Commentary on John 14:1-14”

“The Invention of Lying”

Hello Friends!

It was the 4 Sunday of Easter which is know as Good Shepherd Sunday.  On this day we always here a story involving Jesus and sheep. One thing with this excerpt is that Jesus never is called a shepherd, and it is taken completely out of context.  Yes, I know, I am always hammering away on context, but context is very important!  Nothing happens in a vacuum, even the Bible.  So, take a listen, if you please:

Text: John 10:1-10, Easter 4, Year A, May 7, 2017

Thanks for stopping by!

Rev. Lauren

Hello Friends!

This week we jump into Luke and read the story of Cleopas and friends walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  There is so much in this excerpt that it is often hard to pick one point to focus on.  These followers of Christ are walking and talking and feeling disappointed, sad, angry, and many other feelings.  Jesus then comes and let’s them feel all those feelings, which is something we often forget.  We tend to like to think that because we follow Jesus we have to be happy clappy all the time, well, we don’t:

Luke 25:13-35, Easter 3, Year A, April 30, 2017

A note: we had 3, yes 3, baptisms Sunday, so there is a lot of extra background noise, and I LOVE IT!  If you don’t have noisy kids in church, your church is on the way out, so embrace it!

Thanks for stopping by,

Rev. Lauren

Hello Friends!

This week we hear a story from John about so called “Doubting” Thomas.  I think Thomas gets a bad rep.  Doubt is essential to faith, not the opposite, we all need to question things sometimes.  Also, we baptized twins at the service, and Thomas was called “the Twin,” coincidence?

Text: John 20:19-31

Sermon, Easter 2, Year A, April 23, 2017

We are off to clergy conference today, and I promise some fun pictures with Fr. Kenny!

~Rev. Lauren

Hello Friends!

Happy Easter!  We have travelled through Lent and made it to Easter, but don’t treat it like it is the end of something.  It is only the beginning!  The resurrection on Easter is the beginning of our mission in the world.  Resurrection is change, change is good and inevitable, even it is is a bit scary.  Take a listen:

Matthew 28:1-10, Sermon, Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017

Thanks for stopping by!

Rev. Lauren

Hello Friends!

Sorry for the late post, I have been preparing for Holy Week (it is next week, can you believe it?), and the week has kind of run away from me.  I love Holy Week, the services are so different and quiet and somber, just great.  I am really excited to go through Holy Week and Easter at my new parish.

Anyway, the story from April 2nd was the resurrection of Lazarus, brother to Martha and Mary of Bethany.  Take a listen:

John 11:1-45, Sermon, Lent 5, Year A, April 2, 2017

Thanks for stopping by!

Rev. Lauren

Hello Friends!

This past Sunday was Lent 4, and we heard the story about how Jesus made the man born blind, see (John 9:1-41).  It was also Laetare Sunday, aka Rejoice Sunday, aka Mothering Sunday, aka Respite Sunday.  Laetare means “to rejoice” and this Sunday is meant as a little respite for pilgrims during Lent.  Traditionally, we would change from purple vestments to rose (let’s just call it pink, because it is pink), in order to brighten things up.  At St. Anne’s we do not have rose colored vestments, but Fr. Kenny does!

Eat your heart out Molly Ringwald….

The only other day to wear rose is on the 3rd Sunday of Advent (Laudaute Sunday), that is where the pictures of Kenny come from.

Anyway, here is the sermon for this week.  Where does illness come from the disciples ask?  (HINT: not sin or God, that’s for sure.)

John 9:1-41, Sermon, Lent 4, Year A, March 26, 2017

Thanks for stopping by!

-Rev. Lauren