Sermons from St. John’s Episcopal Church

Born Blind. Fr. David Houk. March 15, 2026.

John 9:1-41. Jesus heals a man born blind and everybody misses the point. The only way to see what God is up to is to admit that you, too, are blind.

The Woman at The Well In the Middle of Things. Fr Louis Harris. March 8, 2026.

From the propers this week, Father Harris speaks to those of us stuck in the "uncomfortable middle"—whether of Lent, or of a life that feels unfinished and messy.
Drawing on the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, he reminds us that Christ does not wait for us to be "good enough" or "cleaned up" to meet us. Just as Jesus saw the woman’s five failed marriages and her present lies, He sees our half-hearted disciplines and our deepest anxieties. Whether you are playing Lent on "Hard Mode" or have forgotten it’s Lent entirely, the message is the same: Take heart. The God of the universe meets us in our lowest conditions to offer living water that finally satisfies.

Born again. Fr. David Houk. March 1, 2026.

John 3:1-17. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to be “born from above” to see the kingdom of God.

Journey Through The Wilderness. Fr Louis Harris. February 22, 2026.

From the propers this week, Father Harris examines the jarring transition from Jesus’ baptism to his isolation in the desert. If the Son of God was led into the wilderness, we should expect no less: life after baptism does not get easier.
Through the lens of the Desert Fathers and the season of Lent, Father Harris breaks down the three core temptations we all face: appetite, security, and power. He challenges us to stop trying to "muscle through" our anxieties or manufacture our own safety. Instead, we are invited to enter our interior wilderness, face our attachments, and practice the hardest spiritual discipline of all: waiting on God.

Portrait mode. Fr. David Houk. February 15, 2026.

Matthew 17:1-9. In Lent we are invited up the mountain with Jesus for a 40 day season of focus.

On Being Spiritual. Fr Harris. February 9, 2026.

From the propers this week, Fr Harris tackles a common saying: "I'm spiritual but not religious." He explains how this often points to a reaction against empty rituals, where people go to church but their hearts and minds are somewhere else. Meditating on the wisdom of the Prophet Isaiah and Jesus, the sermon challenges this divide. True faith is both spiritual and religious. It means connecting our inner life with God to outward actions of justice and kindness, like feeding the hungry and helping the oppressed. This is how we become the "light of the world" we are called to be.

The Beatitudes. Fr. David Houk. February 1, 2026.

Matthew 5:1-12. On the Sunday of St. John’s Annual Parish Meeting, Fr. Houk asks the qualitative question, “Are we a Beatitudes Church?”

A kingdom of the heart. Fr. David Houk. January 25, 2026.

Isaiah 9:1-4. Matthew 4:12-23. Jesus’s kingdom is for everyone, a matter of the heart. The Kingdom of God has nothing to do with "Christian Nationalism."

Repentance made easier. Fr. David Houk. January 11, 2025.

Matthew 3:13-17. Why is Jesus getting baptized? What does he have to repent of? Maybe he’s trying to reassure us that there is nothing we can do to keep him from loving us.

What It All Means. Fr. Harris. December 28, 2025.

From the propers this week, Father Harris confronts our modern "crisis of meaning," diagnosing it instead as a crisis of forgetting. We chase illusions, survey the rubble of our choices, and wonder what it all means, all while neglecting the foundational, radical claim of our faith: "The Word became flesh." God’s mind and will are not hidden. They have been revealed in Jesus Christ. At Christmas, we are called to remember. Our purpose is not a philosophical puzzle but a transformative call: to have our own lives infused by that same Word. This means being remade by His light, life, and truth. The journey begins again; as infants, we behold the infant Christ.