On Pentecost Sunday, diocesan seminarian Matthew Sanaker preaches his final sermon at Grace Church before his ordination to the diaconate.

“The gifts of the Spirit may manifest in different ways for different people. Sometimes it feels like a sudden rush of inspiration, like a mighty wind, and our hearts are set ablaze with holy fire.”

What does it mean to live as people deeply connected to God, to one another, and to generations past and future? In this sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Fr. Steve Moore reflects on the Haudenosaunee teaching of seven generations, Paul’s words in Athens that “in God we live and move and have our being,” and Jesus’ commandment to love. This is a sermon about connection, discipleship, and the difficult, transformative work of love in action.

On the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday), Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe invites us to reclaim a deeper truth: we are already known, loved, and delighted in by God. In a world that constantly tells us we are “not enough,” she reminds us that the voice of Jesus calls us something different—beloved.

Through the lens of the Baptismal Covenant, this sermon challenges us to let go of our need to be right, to resist fear, and to live boldly as people of love, mercy, and justice. What would it mean to trust the Good Shepherd—not just in theory, but in the reality of our daily lives?

In this powerful Easter-season sermon, our Rector, Fr. Steve Moore, reflects on the Road to Emmaus and the posture of discipleship in a divided world. Rather than lining up for battle, Christians are called to walk alongside one another—and with Christ—seeking peace, truth, and transformation. In a time marked by conflict and confusion, this sermon challenges us to rediscover our calling as people of peace whose hearts are set on fire by Scripture and the breaking of the bread.

On Palm Sunday, we enter the paradox of Holy Week — the celebration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the path that leads to the cross. In this sermon, our diocesan seminarian, Mr. Matthew Sanaker, reflects on the choice between the way of Christ and the way of Barabbas, the call to discipleship, and what it means to die to ourselves in order to live in Christ. Palm Sunday reminds us that resurrection cannot come without the cross, and that following Jesus means giving our lives in service to God and to others.

In this powerful sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Dr. Marian Thompson reflects on the story of Lazarus and the moments in our lives when it feels like God is late, silent, or absent. Through personal story and the Gospel of John, she reminds us that resurrection is not just something that happens someday — it is something God is still doing right now. Jesus still calls people out of tombs of grief, rejection, and fear, and the Church is called not only to welcome people, but to help unbind them and set them free.

In this sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, our Rector, Fr. Steve Moore, reflects on the Gospel story of Jesus healing the man born blind and what it means for us to truly see. Drawing on poetry, current events, and reflections on peace and conflict, this sermon invites us to consider how our vision is often limited by our own perspective and experience. Lent becomes a time not just for giving things up, but for learning to see more clearly — to see the world, one another, and ourselves as God sees us.

In this sermon for the Third Sunday of Lent, our Rector, Fr. Steve Moore, reflects on the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Using the childhood game Pass the Parcel as a metaphor, he invites us to consider how often we “pass along” the gifts of faith without truly opening them.

This Gospel passage challenges us to look deeper—beyond the surface of a familiar story—and recognize how Christ breaks through social barriers, personal fears, and cultural assumptions to offer us the gift of living water. As followers of Christ, we are called not only to receive that gift but to live from it, trusting that God’s grace sustains us even in uncertain times.

In this week’s sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent, Mr. Matthew Sanaker, our diocesan seminarian, reflects on Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus and the meaning of being “born from above.” Exploring baptism as transformation—not performance—he invites us to consider what it truly means to live as people renewed by water and Spirit. Christian identity, he reminds us, is not ethnic or national, but rooted in Christ and lived out in compassion, community, and lifelong conversion.

In this week’s sermon, our Rector, Fr. Steve Moore, reflects on temptation, identity, and the illusion of moral neutrality. Drawing on the story of Jesus in the wilderness, he explores how good intentions can still lead us astray when we lose sight of our core values. Through baptism and community, we are reminded that true freedom is not about power for ourselves—but about choosing the good together.

On Ash Wednesday, Mother Christine Day shares with us the sobering words from scripture: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” But what do ashes, fasting, and repentance truly mean? This sermon reflects on the ancient roots of Ash Wednesday and invites us to see Lent not as a temporary spiritual diet, but as an opportunity for lasting transformation—a turning of our whole lives toward God.

In this week’s sermon, Mother Christine Day reflects on the Transfiguration and challenges us to stop compartmentalizing our faith. Instead of boxing our spirituality into polite or private spaces, we are invited to listen to Jesus, come down the mountain, and live out our baptismal promises in the real world. What might change if we stopped separating the sacred from the everyday—and trusted that following Christ means engaging fully with our world?

What if God isn’t watching us for failure, but delighting in who we already are? In this sermon from Grace Church Syracuse, we reflect on Jesus’ words, “You are the light of the world” and “You are the salt of the earth,” as an affirmation of our essential goodness and blessedness. Rather than a list of demands, this message invites us to recognize how God sees us—and how living into that truth can transform our lives and our community.

What if the Beatitudes aren’t poetic ideals, but a way of life that quietly challenges everything our world values? In this sermon from Grace Church Syracuse, we hear the Beatitudes through the First Nations Bible and reflect on Jesus’ radical call to humility, mercy, peacemaking, and justice. In a culture that often celebrates power and comfort, this message invites us to listen for the deeper music of the Gospel—and to consider what it means to live differently, even when the world doesn’t understand.

In this sermon from Fr. Steve Moore, we reflect on what it means to live truthfully in a world shaped by half-truths and division. Drawing on Scripture, personal witness, and voices from history, we are challenged to examine how faith calls us to be different—to trust God’s work among us, even when the path forward seems uncertain.

In this sermon from Fr. Steve Moore, we reflect on what it means to follow Jesus as the Lamb of God in a divided world. Drawing on Scripture, the witness of the church, and the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are challenged to move beyond words alone and live deeply into the values of love, justice, and discipleship.