Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

Worshiping God, living in community, reaching out to the world.

Tag: The Way of Love

The bulletin insert for June 29, 2025

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Traveling the Way of Love: Pray

“Traveling the Way of Love” Season 2 offers video stories of the ways people across The Episcopal Church participate in the seven Way of Love practices. Produced by the Office of Communication in partnership with Evangelism colleagues, it includes study guides to help congregations or small groups engage the stories and strengthen one another’s discipleship. Each week, we’ll share information about an episode, along with study questions suitable for congregational, small group, or personal reflection. You can find each episode and its discussion guide at iam.ec/TWOL2.

Episode 6: Pray

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’

Luke 11:1

Jesus teaches us to come before God with humble hearts, boldly offering our thanksgivings and concerns to God, or simply listening for God’s voice in our lives and in the world. Whether in thought, word, or deed, individually or corporately, when we pray, we invite and dwell in God’s loving presence.

1. In this episode, host Chris Sikkema visits Holy Apostles, a congregation founded by Episcopalian Oneidas from New York, who settled in Wisconsin on Menominee and Ho-Chunk land in 1822. The first community initially first gathered beneath the trees to worship, a history reflected in Judy Cornelius’ description of prayer as “holy quiet.” Whether during high mass or under trees, prayer allows us to connect with something of God, transcendent beyond ourselves. Where do you experience “holy quiet”? How does God meet you there?

2. Consider the connection between your own prayer practices and the outward and visible signs that accompany them. For instance, like Jennifer Webster, do you find comfort in the scent of incense or the act of burning tobacco as you send your prayers to the divine? What are some of your unique prayer traditions?

3. The Oneida hymns are an important part of Holy Apostles’ prayer life—both communally and individually. Are there songs or styles of music that you find helpful for your prayer life?

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds. Small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between use the resources that Sermons That Work provides.

Sermons That Work podcast

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

June 27, 2025
The bulletin insert for June 22, 2025

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Traveling the Way of Love: Learn

“Traveling the Way of Love” Season 2 offers video stories of the ways people across The Episcopal Church participate in the seven Way of Love practices. Produced by the Office of Communication in partnership with Evangelism colleagues, it includes study guides to help congregations or small groups engage the stories and strengthen one another’s discipleship. Each week, we’ll share information about an episode, along with study questions suitable for congregational, small group, or personal reflection. You can find each episode and its discussion guide at iam.ec/TWOL2.

Episode 6: Learn

Those love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and will come to them and make our home with them.

John 14:23

By reading and reflecting on Scripture, especially the life and teachings of Jesus, we draw near to God, and God’s word dwells in us. When we open our minds and hearts to Scripture, we learn to see God’s story and God’s activity in everyday life.

1. In this episode, host Chris Sikkema visits a group of youth in the Convocation of the Episcopal Church in Europe that includes Aija Rios and Bishop Mark Edington. Bishop Edington remarks on the reality that there is no social reward for being a Christian in Europe. Yet, the youth of the Convocation continue to show up for each other, forming community, praying, and studying Scripture together. What does their witness stir in you? How are you inspired or encouraged by their dedication?

2. While chatting with Chris, Aija shares about a weekly gathering at her home parish called “Wednesdays Within the Walls,” which includes Taizé music, a meal, and reading Scripture together, followed by a conversation about the Scripture. From her story, it is clear that people of all ages and walks of life are a part of this weekly community and that all voices are listened to, and that this opportunity to reflect on Scripture within a large group has impacted her life. How could you–or your community of faith–be more intentional about hosting time for reading and reflecting on Scripture apart from Sunday mornings and across demographics such as age and stage of life? What might that look like?

3. In this episode, Chris Sikkema states that it is very hard to be a Christian alone. Perhaps this is because we are not meant to do it alone. From the beginning, the Christian life has been one rooted in community. In our baptismal covenant, we even promise to “continue in the apostles’ teaching, the fellowship, and the breaking of the bread.” This includes how we approach studying and reflecting on Scripture. Take a moment and think back on when your mind and heart have been opened to Scripture in the midst of a Bible study or community reflection. How did you learn to see God’s story and God’s activity in everyday life from that experience?

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds. Small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between use the resources that Sermons That Work provides.

Sermons That Work podcast

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

June 20, 2025
The bulletin insert for June 15, 2025

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Traveling the Way of Love: Rest

“Traveling the Way of Love” Season 2 offers video stories of the ways people across The Episcopal Church participate in the seven Way of Love practices. Produced by the Office of Communication in partnership with Evangelism colleagues, it includes study guides to help congregations or small groups engage the stories and strengthen one another’s discipleship. Each week, we’ll share information about an episode, along with study questions suitable for congregational, small group, or personal reflection. You can find each episode and its discussion guide at iam.ec/TWOL2.

Episode 5: Rest

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’”

John 13:3-9

From the beginning of creation, God has established the sacred pattern of going and returning, labor and rest. Especially today, God invites us to dedicate time for restoration and wholeness – within our bodies, minds, and souls, and within our communities and institutions. By resting we place our trust in God, the primary actor who brings all things to their fullness.

1. In this episode, host Chris Sikkema visits with Bishop Audrey Scanlan as they hike a small portion of the Appalachian Trail. Bishop Scanlan recounts her experience of learning how to humbly receive hospitality along the trail during longer hikes. She shares how when we stop doing and start receiving, we can rest in God’s presence and love differently. Take a moment and consider—is there a place where you need to stop doing to receive instead? What steps do you need to take to lean into that practice of rest?

2. Host Sikkema comments that when we take time to stop and disconnect from our devices and to-do lists, we are more likely to see where God is present around us. He notes that “stopping is an act of faith.” What do you think of this statement? What does it bring up for you?

3. The spiritual practice of rest, in its various forms, holds a transformative power. For Bishop Scanlan, it manifests in long solo hikes, where she carries everything she needs for survival on her back, and nothing needs to be accomplished beyond putting one foot in front of the other. In this space, she can release the tyranny of the urgent, allowing her to notice the shape and symmetry of wildflowers and the presence of God all around. What rest practice could you adopt to experience this transformative power? If you don’t have one, can you imagine what one might be?

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds. Small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between use the resources that Sermons That Work provides.

Sermons That Work podcast

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

June 13, 2025
The bulletin insert for June 8, 2025

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Traveling the Way of Love: Bless

“Traveling the Way of Love” Season 2 offers video stories of the ways people across The Episcopal Church participate in the seven Way of Love practices. Produced by the Office of Communication in partnership with Evangelism colleagues, it includes study guides to help congregations or small groups engage the stories and strengthen one another’s discipleship. Each week, we’ll share information about an episode, along with study questions suitable for congregational, small group, or personal reflection. You can find each episode and its discussion guide at iam.ec/TWOL2.

Episode 4: Bless

Freely you have received; freely give.

Matthew 10:8

Jesus called his disciples to give, forgive, teach, and heal in his name. We are empowered by the Spirit to bless everyone we meet, practicing generosity and compassion and proclaiming the Good News of God in Christ with hopeful words and selfless actions. We can share our stories of blessing and invite others to the Way of Love.

1. In this episode, host Chris Sikkema visits the Episcopal Farm Workers Ministry in Dunn, North Carolina. The ministry is a joint project of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina and the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina that works with agricultural workers (farmworkers, meat processing plant workers, and workers from nurseries, packing houses, and poultry, swine, or livestock farms) and immigrant families in rural Eastern North Carolina. When asked about the needs of this community, Lucia Mondragón points out that she has learned that this community needs not just food but also affection. When you think about donating to a traditional outreach ministry such as a food pantry or soup kitchen, what would it look like for you to give the blessing of affection in addition to the sustenance of food? How does that challenge or resonate with your idea of “bless”?

2. As Chris reflected, one of the enduring images of the Christian life is that of individuals moving along the spokes of a wheel. We find that as we draw closer to the center—that is, to God—we, by necessity, grow closer to other people. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and as Chris says, it happens in all sorts of groups and communities. Take a few moments to reflect on the ways that you and/or your faith community are practicing “bless” currently. Are they drawing you and your community closer to God and others? If not, how might your practice need to grow or morph?

3. “When they come, they bring their problems, and we need to hear them.” – Lucia Mondragón. Often, in our attempts to do the most good in the shortest amount of time, our practice of “bless” is stacked with to-do lists and busyness. But do we make time for listening? Do we make time to value the one story someone needs to share over the 10 things on our agenda? Do we value hearing as much as we value doing? If not, what might need to shift in our practice or understanding of “bless”?

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds. Small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between use the resources that Sermons That Work provides.

Sermons That Work podcast

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

June 6, 2025
The bulletin insert for June 1, 2025

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Traveling the Way of Love: Turn

“Traveling the Way of Love” Season 2 offers video stories of the ways people across The Episcopal Church participate in the seven Way of Love practices. Produced by the Office of Communication in partnership with Evangelism colleagues, it includes study guides to help congregations or small groups engage the stories and strengthen one another’s discipleship. Each week, we’ll share information about an episode, along with study questions suitable for congregational, small group, or personal reflection. You can find each episode and its discussion guide at iam.ec/TWOL2.

Episode 3: Turn

As Jesus was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

Mark 2:14

Like the disciples, we are called by Jesus to follow the Way of Love. With God’s help, we can turn from the powers of sin, hatred, fear, injustice, and oppression toward the way of truth, love, hope, justice, and freedom. In turning, we reorient our lives to Jesus Christ, falling in love again and again.

1. In this episode, host Chris Sikkema visits the Rev. Rita Powell and Alden Fossett at Harvard University. Together, they discuss what it means to practice “pausing” in a society that often demands exhaustion as a mark of worthiness. Where in your life could you press pause as part of a spiritual practice of “turn”?

2. When we choose to turn and pause, we have the opportunity to listen to people and places that often are overlooked or exploited. Rita and Alden shared stories of leading their communities to pause and listen to both the natural world and the stories of enslaved people. Whose stories and experiences are overlooked in your context? What would it take to practice listening deeply to those stories and experiences?

3. As the host says, when we can make something right, we are called to do so. The Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard hosts a series of meals out on the sidewalk as a way of making right previous church practices that excluded people from entering our doors as full members of our communities. By hosting a meal on the street, The Episcopal Chaplaincy community is turning from a tradition of oppression and gatekeeping toward a way of being that is open, just, and free for all. As you think about your community of faith and personal practice of turning, what action steps can you take to make something right? What outward and visible sign can you signal that reflects a commitment to turning toward Jesus and his way of love?

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds. Small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between use the resources that Sermons That Work provides.

Sermons That Work podcast

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

May 30, 2025
The bulletin insert for May 18, 2025

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Traveling the Way of Love: Worship

“Traveling the Way of Love” Season 2 offers video stories of the ways people across The Episcopal Church participate in the seven Way of Love practices. Produced by the Office of Communication in partnership with Evangelism colleagues, it includes study guides to help congregations or small groups engage the stories and strengthen one another’s discipleship. Each week, we’ll share information about an episode, along with study questions suitable for congregational, small group, or personal reflection. You can find each episode and its discussion guide at iam.ec/TWOL2.

Episode 1: Worship

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.

Luke 24:30-31

When we worship, we gather with others before God. We hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, give thanks, confess, and offer the brokenness of the world to God. As we break bread, our eyes are opened to the presence of Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are made one body, the body of Christ sent forth to live the Way of Love.

1. In this episode, host Chris Sikkema visits Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas, and chats with the Rev. Ryan Hawthorne about what worship means to her. Hawthorne emphasizes that worship is not just a communal practice, but a deeply personal one. She invites individuals to find the worship practices that resonate with their soul, which might include worshipping within a church community. What worship practices deeply touch your soul?

2. The call to gather and worship within the Christian tradition, as understood through the Episcopal lens, is a call to “the collective.” It is a call to come together across generations and all sorts of messy human experiences to pray, offer praise and thanksgiving, proclaim the Gospel, and promote justice, peace, and love. What voices are missing from your worship experience? How could it be a more “collective” experience?

3. Palmer’s former senior warden, Dr. Danna Kurtin, spoke about the importance of curiosity when it comes to practicing worship on the Way of Love. Being curious about our neighbors, other traditions, and the ways God is moving in the world through changing culture are just some of the things that can influence our worship experience. Where might the Holy Spirit be asking you – as an individual or as a faith community – to be curious and to stretch in your practice of worship?

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds. Small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between use the resources that Sermons That Work provides.

Sermons That Work podcast

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

May 16, 2025
The bulletin insert for October 6, 2024

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Explore the Way of Love – Rest

The scriptures tell us that we should love others as we love ourselves. There gives us an underlying message that we are allowed to love ourselves. The Way of Love recognizes that one way to love ourselves and to maintain ourselves as useful instruments of God is through the practice of rest.

As Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew,

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Part of the work of a Christian is to take time to put the work aside and be restored. After God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them, God rested. In doing so, God created a sacred pattern of work and rest. Making dedicated time – to allow our minds to unwind, for our souls to be comforted and healed, for our bodies to be rejuvenated – ensures we can continue in this divine stream.

Rest is a gift. We are allowed to take rest.

Rest gives rhythm to our lives. Just as it is the end of one endeavor, so it is the beginning of another. There is no greater reward for those whose labor never ceases than for those who do what they can and rest to come back refreshed to do the work another day.

Rest is not only a blessing to us but a blessing to God. We demonstrate our faith that God is the primary actor, maker of heaven and earth. And as children of God, we are encouraged to trust that all of creation is held in God’s hand.

Are you willing to submit to the practices that will restore your body, mind, and soul? Will you join with others to encourage one another to observe the regular practice of rest?

Learn more about the Way of Love at episcopalchurch.org/wayoflove. You can find suggestions on getting started and going deeper with Turning at iam.ec/ewol.

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

October 4, 2024
The bulletin insert for September 29, 2024
This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Explore the Way of Love – Go

As we discover the Way of Love and the practices through which we can follow Jesus more closely, we realize that Jesus did not stay in one place very often.

The pursuit of Jesus can often mean moving out of our circles of comfort and going to other places:
- Geographically
- Culturally
- Economically
- Spiritually
Because if there is one thing Jesus did, it is that he went – out of his home, out of his town, out of his community – to do these things:
- Engage with other cultures and people.
- Listen and dignify their stories, no matter their culture or station in life.
Jesus was a listener and witness to these people:
- Outcasts and sinners
- Drinkers and tax collectors
- Strangers and foreigners
- The rich and the poor
He uplifted women who were considered unequal to men. Jesus dignified people of other faiths or no faith at all. He showed them the values of the Kingdom of God, through these actions:
- Teaching.
- Healing.
- Listening.
- Meeting them where they were.
- Putting love into action.
The Scriptures teach us that it is also our mission to go out into the world.
- As the writer of John’s Gospel quotes Jesus, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
- As the first letter of John tells us, “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”
Are you ready to make the commitment to go beyond your boundaries? To listen and talk? To love and serve? To use your gifts in the struggle for dignity and justice for your neighbor and for people who are outside your comfort zone?

Are you ready to do these things:
- Challenge yourself to forge new friendships?
- Open yourself up to new perspectives?
- Build bridges where once there were walls?
The Way of Love challenges us to Go.

As the writer of Hebrews tells us: “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” We are called to give freely of our resources, our stories and experiences, our time and our attention. And we are called to invite others into this Way of Love. We bless ourselves in the process.

Learn more about the Way of Love at episcopalchurch.org/wayoflove. You can find suggestions on getting started and going deeper with Turning at iam.ec/ewol.

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
September 27, 2024
The bulletin insert for September 22, 2024

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Explore the Way of Love – Bless

The Christian tradition calls us not just to believe. We are also to bless the world with the Good News that we have learned.

As the writer of Mark’s Gospel tells us, Jesus said, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” When we incorporate the practice of Blessing others into our lives, we are putting our love into action by becoming the Good News for others.

As part of the Way of Love, Blessing gives us a way to follow the example of Jesus. Just as Jesus was a leader and a teacher, he also was a son, a friend, a servant. Jesus understood the need to know and be known by those in his community and beyond. He understood that being seen, invited, and welcomed are ways of sharing blessing.

Likewise, we are called to know and be known, in the name of love. We are called to see, invite, and welcome as living examples of Good News. The apostles were called to give and teach and heal. We are called to give the gifts we have to bless, as God has given so much to us. To seek, name, and celebrate the presence of God’s love in our lives and the lives of others is part of being good news.

We are called to work together as we share this love. This way we are not alone in our work. We act together as the Body of Christ, being his hands and feet in this world. We bring the Good News to life for people here and now.

Being part of a worshiping and serving community is part of the Good News. As the writer of Hebrews tells us: “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” We are called to give freely of our resources, our stories and experiences, our time and our attention. And we are called to invite others into this Way of Love. We blessed ourselves in the process. Others will be blessed in the process.

This is how the world will come to know who we are and what we believe. Through the way we bless them.

Will you commit to the practice of blessing others? Are there others you know who are blessing others, who you can join with to multiply those blessings?

Learn more about the Way of Love at episcopalchurch.org/wayoflove. You can find suggestions on getting started and going deeper with Turning at iam.ec/ewol.

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

September 20, 2024
The bulletin insert for September 15, 2024

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Explore the Way of Love – Worship

Throughout the Scriptures, the people of God are called to worship.

As the Psalmist writes, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.” Just as God wants to enter into our lives and meet us where we are, so God desires for us to enter into God’s space together and be present there.

Worship is an important part of the Way of Love, the practice that followers of Jesus have traditionally followed. Worship brings us out of our own space to walk on sacred ground. Worship brings us out of our loneliness into communion with fellow worshippers, as we become one Body of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Worship reminds us who we are, in light of the God who creates, saves, and sustains us.

In worship, we can bring all of our selves before God, as a kind of offering. We can bring our hopes, our dreams, our joys and sorrows, our thanks and our praise. We can boldly proclaim ourselves to be who we are, and give public voice to what we believe, without reservation.

By coming to the table together, we have the opportunity to break bread together, and in doing so, share a common experience to which all are welcome.

Gathering together challenges us to leave our loneliness behind, and risk relationship with God and with those on our journey who also gather to seek God’s presence. As we join in worship together, we are experiencing the presence and glory and beauty of showing up boldly before God and sharing in the communal life of the multitude of followers of Jesus who have gathered here before us.

And we are one body.

Are you ready to make a commitment to regularly gather to worship?

Learn more about the Way of Love at episcopalchurch.org/wayoflove. You can find suggestions on getting started and going deeper with Turning at iam.ec/ewol.

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

September 13, 2024

Participants in the pageant on Sunday, January 4, 2025, should be present by 9:30 am.

2nd Sunday in Lent (Year A), March 1, 2026. Services at 8:00 am (no music) and 10:30 (music). Christian education for children and adults at 9:15 am.