Sermon preached by the Rev. Michael Anderson Bullock [Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12] With this Second Sunday of Advent, we move quickly and directly into the heart of this complex season.  Enter center stage: John the Baptist.  In my own Advent explorations and experiences, I have found John the Baptist to be the face of Advent; and in this second week of Advent, we meet him today in our Gospel lesson.   Matthew wastes no time with fancy introductions, no acc

Sermon preached by the Rev. Michael Anderson Bullock [Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew  24:36-44] “Be Prepared.”  I never was a Boy Scout, and truth to tell my Cub Scout career ended pretty much after I learned how to tie a necktie, which was a required skill in pursuit of earning an accomplishment badge of some sort.  Nonetheless, the Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared” is a good reminder of how one might face life with all its “changes and chances” (as the Prayer Book puts

Sermon preached by the Rev. Michael Anderson Bullock [Jeremiah 23:1-6; Colossians 1;11-20; Luke  23:33-43] On this last Sunday of the liturgical year, worshipping Christians the world over mark this day as “Christ the King”.  In point of fact, this day’s celebration comes on the 100th anniversary of Pope Pius XI’s encyclical, through which this feast day was created.  Intended to crown the  jubilee year  of 1925, the purpose of this new feast was to honor the kingship – that

Sermon preached by the Rev. Michael Anderson Bullock [Malachi 4:1-2a; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke  21:5-19] To say that we live in uncertain times smacks of sarcasm run amuck.  The state of our nation and the events in the world – both politically and naturally made – have created such a charged atmosphere that any spark that is the result of ordinary life has the capacity to create an inordinately disproportionate explosion.  We are all so emotionally raw and exhausted that

Sermon preached by the Rev. Michael Anderson Bullock [Job 19:23-27a; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17; Luke 20:27-38] In my first parish experience as a priest, I remember the priest I worked for telling me about an interesting pastoral experience he had.  That experience came to mind as I thought about the question portrayed in today’s gospel: the one the Sadducees asked Jesus about the woman who had married (in succession) seven brothers, all of whom died.  The issue presented