Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

How do we follow Jesus’ example when our culture, laws and customs make that difficult? The Sadducees offer a legalistic point of view, with arguments about the law, but Jesus asks us to go deeper and look at God’s big picture. Recognizing that we all belong to God, and the implications of that, is messy, and it forces us to wrestle.

Luke 20:27-38

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”

Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Rev. Brandon Nonnemaker, Ed.D.

On All Saints’ Day, we are invited to see as God sees—to recognize the web of love that binds us to the saints, to one another, and to all creation. Remembering last week's creation-centered Eucharist at Linwood, this sermon explores how the communion of saints mirrors the living, interconnected world beneath our feet. To be a saint is to live as one who is seen, to see with love, and to let that love flow through us for the life of the world.

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

Greek cab driver Kostas helps put everything into perspective. Whether we're grasping for control and superiority, or opining how tragedy could befall us, we need to remember that we are not the center of the narrative, and that we've got to keep our soul balanced.

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Rev. Brandon Nonnemaker, Ed.D.

This sermon explores what it means to live a life of embodied faith. Jacob, Paul, and the widow reveal that faith is not an abstract belief but a lived, physical practice of showing up—again and again—even when it hurts. It invites the listener to see their own weary, wondrous body as sacred ground where God continues to dwell.

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

When we say that our lives are our practice, we affirm that each moment offers us an opportunity to practice gratitude. Rather than seeing our spiritual practice only as a way to fix a problem or achieve a desired result, we learn from Jesus how our entire lives can be transformed. In this way, we are truly made whole.

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Rev. Brandon Nonnemaker, Ed.D.

In a world that often feels chaotic and uncertain, Habakkuk, Jesus, and Paul teach us what it means to live faithfully. Drawing on the Hebrew concept of emunah, the Greek pistis, and Howard Thurman’s call "to center down,” this sermon explores how faith is steadiness in the midst of life’s storms. Through small acts of love and trust, even the tiniest seed of faith can move what seems immovable.

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

When Lazarus the Beggar and a rich man both die, the rich man remains stuck looking at the world through his old paradigm--one that placed Lazarus on the other side of the line regarding his worth as a human being. What does it look like to challenge the way we categorize ourselves and others? How can we truly heed the Gospel's call to transformation in a world that constantly calls us to division?

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Rev. Brandon Nonnemaker, Ed.D.

This sermon invites us to see grief not as something to avoid but as a doorway into God’s own heartbreak for the world. Through Jeremiah’s lament, Jesus’ startling parable, and Paul’s call to expansive prayer, we are reminded that emptiness makes room for compassion, generosity, and solidarity. When our hearts are broken open, we discover not despair but the balm of God’s healing love flowing through us for the sake of all creation.

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.