Sermons from Christ Church in Short Hills

January 19, 2025 | The Rev. Paul Keene | Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Our various gifts are tools given to us by God to make sense of the mess that is life. To do that, all we need is—as Mary says—to do what Jesus tells us. (1 Cor. 12.1-11 & John 2.1-11)

January 12, 2025 | The Rev. Bowie Snodgrass | The Baptism of Our Lord

At Jesus’ baptism, God spoke to him as “you.” Through baptism, we become part of a familiar and loving relationship with God. Prayer is our conversation with God, whom we call “you.”  (Isaiah 43:1-7; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22)
 

January 5, 2025 | The Rev. Paul Keene | The Second Sunday after Christmas

On this twelfth day of Christmas we reflect on the three wisemen who bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh: what does it mean for the greatest gift giver to receive gifts? What does it mean for us to bring him gifts? (Matthew 2:1-12)

December 24, 2024 | The Rev. Bowie Snodgrass | Christmas Eve

Christmas is when we open our hearts to unexpected guests who arrive at our door and celebrate the birth of a tiny human who is our great God, Savior, Messiah, and the Lord! (Titus 2:11-14 & Luke 2:1-20)

December 15, 2024 | The Rev. Bowie Snodgrass | The Third Sunday of Advent

John the Baptist calls on the crowd to care, share, and be fair! We are called to do this too in our personal and professional life. These foundational practices transform us individually and collectively into people who bear good fruit in a world with so much need. (Luke 3:7-18) 

December 8, 2024 | The Rev. Paul Keene | The Second Sunday of Advent

“Prepare the way of the Lord,” cries John the Baptist. How are we, like John, preparing the way for Christ to come into our lives? (Luke 3:1-6) 

December 1, 2024 | The Rev. Bowie Snodgrass | The First Sunday of Advent

Trust the process of Advent. Let it be a period of prayer, preparation, and a time to reflect on priorities. You don’t have to create the magic or miracle of Christmas – Christ is coming and we will be changed.

November 24, 2024 | The Rev. Bowie Snodgrass | Christ the King

Thanksgiving, ThankServing, Ingathering, and the Feast of Christ the King are an amazing confluence of interrelated reminders that we follow Jesus, who taught us to serve and help our neighbors who are hungry or strangers.

November 17, 2024 - The Rev. Paul Keene - The Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus seems to say "The end is nigh," but what are we to do with that!? The writer of Hebrews tells us: come together and provoke one another to love and good deeds. “Do not be alarmed,” Jesus says. (1 Samuel 1.4-20; Hebrews 10.11-14, 19-25; Mark 13.1-8) 

November 10, 2024 | The Rev. Paul Keene | The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Following the Election and Diocesan Convention, we look back on 150 years of the Diocese of Newark as we enter the next 150 years meditating on the example of the devout and faithful widow in Mark 12:38-44.