Sermon Preached by Fr. Allen at St. Michael the Archangel Anglican Church in Matthews, NC for Palm Sunday, March 24, 2024. “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.     Between our entrance rite where we read and participated in Matthew 21:1-11 and our Gospel Reading of our LORD’s Passion (27:1-54), we have quite literally covered all of Holy Week from Jesus’ Triumphal Entry to His Tragic Exit, from the Galilean reception of Jesus as the promised King to Jerusalem’s rejection of Him as that King. And all along t ..read more

Sermon Preached by Fr. Allen at St. Michael the Archangel Anglican Church in Matthews, NC on February 11, 2024. “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.     In today’s Gospel, we watch Jesus enter into the final stages of His mission to make man into His image – by setting out to become what His people had become. And, in our Epistle we are told that we know His mission was a success when His people are empowered to beco ..read more

Sermon preached December 24 by Fr Allen at St Michael the Archangel Anglican Church, Matthews, North Carolina for The Fourth Sunday in Advent “O LORD, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.     Today, the power we are talking about is the power John the Baptizer was getting people ready for – the power we need if we are ever to run the race that set before us (cf.Heb.12:1), and as I was going over this material I couldn’t help but to start sing the old song: “There’s pow’r, pow’r, wonder ..read more

Sermon preached on December 17 by Fr Allen at St Michael the Archangel Anglican Church, Matthews, North Carolina “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.     As it’s now the Third Week of Advent, the time is nearly nigh at hand to receive the gift of the Christ (along with a few other gifts from under our trees). I know my boys are counting it down: 8 more sleeps till Christmas, 8 more sleeps until they can see what is in their gifts – gifts that the ..read more

Sermon Preached on December 10 by Fr Allen at St Michael the Archangel Anglican Church, Matthews, North Carolina for the Second Sunday in Advent. “That we through comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.     Last week we discussed how Advent is preparing us to receive all that Jesus offers in His coming: His being 1, the perfect human fulfilling man’s vocation as Prophet, Priest, and King; 2, the fulfillment of God’s Scriptural-promises guaranteeing our hope; 3, the high priest and chief Bishop of ..read more

Sermon preached on the First Sunday in Advent at St. Michael the Archangel Anglican Church in Matthews, NC, December 3, 2023. “Behold, thy King cometh.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen     In a way, I would like to say, “Happy New Year” as we start a new, liturgical Calendar-year this morning with the Season of Advent, and likewise I would like everyone to stay alert to the events and themes our Prayer Book chooses to emphasize over the next couple of weeks. For they will be crucial for being rightly prepared for Jesus’ “coming” (the liter ..read more

Sermon preached at St. Michael the Archangel Anglican Church on the Sunday next before Advent. “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.     Liturgically speaking, this week we bring another year to a close, and like the great company who came unto Jesus in our Gospel Reading (Jhn.6:5-14), we admit that Jesus has given and revealed more to us than we could ever hope to finish (We have had a full year, and we have taken in as much as we can take in). We acknowledge how even after we’v ..read more

Sermon preached Thanksgiving Day 2023 at St. Michael the Archangel Anglican Church “O Praise the Lord, for it is a good thing to sing praises unto our God; yea, a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.      History is an amazing thing when it is not being silenced or shamed, and this is true of Thanksgiving celebrations as much as anything else. Despite hardships, revolution, inflation, division, depression, and two world wars, our nation has been at her best when her citizens rightly remembe ..read more

Sermon preached at St. Michael the Archangel Anglican Church in Matthews, NC, on the 24th Sunday after Trinity, November 19, 2023. “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.      Over the past couple of weeks, we have observed how Jesus calls all of His followers to live lives of forgiveness and faithfulness – forgiving others they way they expect God to forgive them and faithfully rendering unto God all due service. Today, we come to a third characteristic: thanksgiving. Thanksgi ..read more

Sermon Preached on the Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity, November 12, 2023, at St. Michael the Archangel Anglican Church on the Gospel Lesson: Matthew xxii. 15ff   “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.     Today’s Gospel Reading comes right on the heels of what we discussed three Sundays ago when we looked at Jesus’ teachings during Holy Week (Trinity 20). We see that after Jesus lambasted the chief priests and pharisees with the three parables ..read more