Sermons from St. John’s Episcopal Church

The monuments we build. Fr. David Houk. August 3, 2025.

Luke 12:13-21. Jesus’s parable of the rich fool challenges us to reflect on what life is supposed to be about.

God does not want you to pray better. Fr. David Houk. July 27, 2025.

Luke 11:1-13. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he didn’t tell them to pray better. Rather, he challenged them to think better of God.

Five fun facts about John the Baptist. Fr. David Houk. June 29, 2025.

Isaiah 40:1–5, Acts 13:14b–26, John 1:19–28. On St. John’s 79th birthday as a parish, Fr. Houk preaches on why it is great to be a church named after John the Baptist.

The sound of sheer silence. Fr. David Houk. June 22, 2025.

1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a. The most important part of the story of Elijah at Mt. Horeb seems to be a secret.

A Pentecostal church. Fr. David Houk. June 8, 2025.

Acts 2:1-21. On Pentecost, the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. But what that means is the opposite of what many think of when they think of “speaking in tongues.”

Keep It Simple. Fr. Louis Harris. May 25, 2025.

From the propers this week, Fr. Harris reflects on the way our culture prizes the grand and dramatic, while the Gospel calls us to attend to the small, the quiet, and the steady. In Acts, Saint Paul receives not a vision of angels but a dream of an ordinary man. The New Life is not lived in fireworks, but in attentiveness and imitation. Bread and wine, prayer, and fellowship are the essential dimensions of Christian life. God is not absent from the big moments, but He is most often found in the plain details of daily life.

One job. Fr. David Houk. May 18, 2025.

John 13:31-35. At the last supper, Jesus gives his disciples his one commandment.

How to Live Well. Fr. Louis Harris. May 11, 2025.

From the propers this week, Fr. Harris reflects on how Easter’s quieting invites us to examine our ideals. We live in a culture that glorifies achievement, efficiency, and productivity. These are not the virtues the Gospel celebrates. Instead, Scripture honors humility, charity, and beauty. In Acts, a simple woman named Dorcas is raised from the dead because her acts of kindness bore witness to God. We are called not to chase greatness, but to create beauty and offer love, wherever we are. In the small and faithful, God's glory is revealed. The resurrection transforms not only death, but also what it means to live well.

Luck. Fr. David Houk. May 4, 2025.

John 21:1-19. Faith requires an outlook that God is good, Christ is alive, and that his risen presence is active in your life.

These wounds, too? Fr. Louis Harris. April 27, 2025.

From the propers this week, Fr. Harris observes how we repeatedly forget and rediscover truths, especially Easter's radical message. Though we confess Christ's resurrection, we often live as if nothing changed. Yet this event transforms reality: the crucified Jesus rose with His wounds, revealing God's plan to redeem all suffering. Easter means death becomes birth, brokenness becomes glory. Our pain, both inflicted and endured, will be made whole. The Apostles didn't preach superiority but forgiveness, inviting all into this hope. We bring our wounds to the Altar, trusting God to make all things new. The Resurrection isn't just history. It is God's promise to heal creation.