Sermon Archives September 30, 2018 – January 22, 2017

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
9/30/18
​Jesus – the Truth Teller
The Rev. D. Rebecca Dinovo addresses squarely one of the hottest topics of the day, outlining six concrete principles Jesus gave to guide us through our challenging times and seek the truth that will “…set us, ALL OF US, every one of us,
free.”
Read it.

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
9/23/18
​Be Ambitious!
Parsing the disciples’ personal ambitions regarding their pecking order before Jesus the Rev’d. Mark Hargreaves discusses humility and how to turn ambition to the good:
“I invite you to aim high. Be ambitious. Strive for life’s highest calling: To be a follower of Jesus
Christ.”
Read it.

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – Rally Sunday
9/16/18
​All Aboard Battleship St. James!
What do you want your parish to be? On this Rally Sunday the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves reflects on the words of St. James’ epistle:  “What good is it if you say you have faith but do not have works?”
Using the metaphor of a well-run battleship where each
person has a part to play, he led us to pray that “…with the help of God, I now dedicate myself to the task of being all things that I want my parish to be.”
​Read it.

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
9/9/18
​Neither Jew nor Gentile
Tackling Jesus’s testy exchange with the woman from Tyre (Mark 7:24), the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves asks we see with  “….confidence that in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, slave nor free, Republican or Democrat. We are all one in Christ
Jesus.”
Read it.

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
9/2/18
​The Ashram Cat
Where is the focus of your heart? The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo asks us that question, and posits that  “we can stop focusing on our ashram cats and
start living in the knowledge that when our hearts shine with love and integrity, we are beautiful and successful in God’s eyes and our lives have ultimate
meaning and purpose.”
Read it. 

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
8/26/18
​Make Your Choice!
Joshua exhorted his followers to “Choose this day whom you will serve.”
The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves asks us now to examine our own lives at St. James and make choices that are both important and urgent.
Read it. 

​

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
8/19/18
​Spiritual Hunger
It’s hard to eat if you’re already full.
Similarly, if you fill your heart and soul with debris there’s little room for the Holy Spirit.
In this sermon today the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves speaks to St. Paul’s teaching, noting “If we provide the spiritual hunger, God provides the spiritual food. We feast on Jesus the
Living Bread, which is the true food of eternity.”
Read it.

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
8/12/18
​Baptism’s new life
On this baptism Sunday the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves uses St. Paul’s epistle reading to outline “….three characteristics of the new life we have in Christ. Three characteristics that are to be practiced in our homes and in our church. Being angry, but not sinning, being forgiving, and being kind.”
He prays “May God by
his Spirit enable us to act according to His will.”
Read it. 

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
8/5/18
​Spiritual Hunger
The day after Jesus fed the 5000 he definitely had some questions to answer.
Addressing those questions the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves asks “How many of us are spiritually hungry? How many of us want to go deeper into a relationship with God?”
Fr.  Mark give us two concrete
suggestions.
Read it. 

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
​7/29/18
​God Will Provide
How did Jesus feed 5,000 or more on the mountainside?
The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo explores how faith in the abundance of God’s love could do it for them and can do it now for you, assuring us that “Faith in a God who provides is the key to abundant
living.”
Read it.

The Feast of St. James the Greater
7/22/18
​Buen Camino!
On this Feast Day of St. James the Greater, our patron saint, the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo takes us from the famous pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, where St. James is buried, to our own pilgrimages through life.
Weaving in Psalm 23, she assures us that “The end of our pilgrimage is so much better than our best
imaginings.” 
Read it.

Eight Sunday after Pentecost
​7/15/18
​Fairy Tale Lives
Much of the time our lives aren’t as rosy as they seem on Facebook or Instagram.
In this sermon the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo explores the narratives of those lives and how we deal with them, noting “as we remain rooted in God and God’s will, we may not go where we thought we would go. We may not do what we thought we
would do, but we will end up where we need to be.”
Read it.

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
7/8/18
​St. Paul To Visit St. James!
Yes, that’s “fake news”. But what if it were true? 
​What would he find?
In the final sermon in his series on St. Paul’s 2nd letter to the Church in Corinth, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves hopes he’d find “a people with treasure within…a people on the
move.”
Read it. 

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
7/1/18
​July 4th Blessings
On this weekend when we celebrate July 4th the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo reflects on all with which we have been blessed and asks “May this holiday create in us not only pride in who we are and what we have done as a nation, but a renewed will to strive for that same freedom and justice and mercy for all, for all God’s
children throughout our world.”
Read it.

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
6/24/18
​A People of the Promise
Not all the promises we receive can be trusted or kept.
But what about St. Paul’s promises to the people of Corinth, or the promises God in Jesus has made to us?
The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves describes these as “…not just a lifetime guarantee of being in God’s presence, [but] an after-lifetime guarantee of living
with God. Our God is a god of promise, and as we invite him to dwell in our hearts by his spirit, we become a people of the promise.”
Read it

​Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
6/17/18
​The Urge That Drives Us Forward
Continuing his survey of St. Paul’s 2nd letter to the church in Corinth, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves explains St. Paul’s urge to drive forward despite interference from some who were called the “super-apostles”.
For St. Paul, that urge to drive on was Christ’s love. Father Mark’s “prayer for St. James is
that we as a church community feel that urge. It’s when you get that urge that you’re driven forward, that you live the Christian life not drifting, but with vigor, being pushed forward, living a life of service, seeing the need to tell others of the good news that we find in Christ Jesus.”
Read it

Second Sunday after Pentecost
6/3/18
Cracked Pots and “But-Not” Christians
Leading off a series of Sundays examining St. Paul’s 2nd letter to the Church in Corinth, the Rev’d. Mark Hargreaves dives into “how we understand ourselves, our sense of worth and our self-image”, and describes how St. Paul thinks of each of us being “a clay jar with treasure
within.”
Read it.
​

​Trinity Sunday
​5/27/18
Adopted by God
Tackling the Trinity, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves urges us to think of our triune God as a family, and that it’s “our privilege to be drawn into that family. What an amazing thought, that we too can be adopted as God’s
children.”
​Read it.
​

Pentecost
​5/20/18
Not up to a challenge?
Think again. The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo shows us that by the Holy Spirit gifted to us in Pentecost “God is present and ready to fill and empower and energize you: whatever challenges, ministry, trials or tasks you face: you are up to the challenge because the Spirit of God is with you.”
Read it.​

​The Feast of the Ascension
​5/13/18
​Mind the
Gap!
Exploring the awkward gap between the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves notes “There’s always a gap, but God is in the gaps, too. We might feel his absence, but the presence of Jesus is always with us by His Spirit.”
Read it.​

Sixth Sunday of Easter
​​5/6/18
Friending God
In her visit to St. James, the assisting bishop of San Diego The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori examines the nature of friendship and how we experience that from God, from Jesus, and from each other, ultimately asking “May we walk in beauty as friends to
all.”
​Read it.

Fifth Sunday of Easter
​4/29/18
Fishing with Jesus
When Jesus showed up on the beach he proved to be the best of fishing guides, not just at catching fish but even cooking the disciples dinner.
The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves points out that Jesus is ready come into your life too, if you listen, if
you are “ready to hear the voice that which so often gets lost in life’s busyness and we should be prepared to respond.”
​Read it.​

Fourth Sunday of Easter
4/22/18
​Listening to fear
Neither sheep nor humans behave well when they listen to the voices of fear. Speaking about the Good Shepherd the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo talks us through some scenarios and asks us to listen to the “voice [that] will lead you into peace on the path of love, even in the valley of the shadow of death. That voice will lead you to a place where goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life.”
​Read it. ​
​

Third Sunday of Easter
​4/15/18
“Touch Me”
Jesus asked his astonished disciples to touch him.
The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves assures us that “the God made known in Jesus still reaches out to touch the hearts of his people…the resurrection hope we celebrate at Easter is not simply the celebration of
an ancient story. It’s the celebration of a present reality and a future hope.”
​Read it.
​

Second Sunday of Easter
4/8/18
Got Stress?
Do you find yourself under too much stress? Want to get rid of it?
The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo states “we’re called to be at peace because it benefits the people around us; those in our home, in our church, in our community, and our workplaces. In fact, cultivating peace within ourselves is essential work for the world. This world needs us to cultivate peace within ourselves.” Find out more about this Peace from God.
​Read it. ​

​Easter 9 & 11 am
​4/1/18
Enter the Tomb
In his sermon this morning the Rev’d. Mark Hargreaves posits that the rock at Jesus’ tomb wasn’t rolled away for Jesus to leave, rather God rolled it away so we could look in.
He asks us to “….see that empty tomb as a place of wonder and challenge…a
place where new life begins for us. A door has cracked open. And we’re invited to step through into a whole new realm of experience, a whole new way of understanding the world. Nothing will ever be the same again.”
Read it.​

Easter Sunrise service
​4/1/18
Easters Forever
In her homily this morning the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo asks us to realize that the resurrection isn’t just an event of the past, rather it’s “happening right now and will continue to happen into the future…God never runs out of Easters.
Never.”
​Read it.​

Good Friday
​​3/30/18
Good Friday
At noon this day we read St. John’s Passion Gospel, interspersed with meditations from the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo.
Listen now to that service as it was conducted. While it may be difficult at times to hear those not on microphone, you can read along with
it all here.
Read it.​

Maundy Thursday
​3/29/18
​Love One Another
Maundy Thursday is when we receive from Jesus the new mandate at the very center of our faith.
Here the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo explains that “This is what we affirm every time we eat the bread and drink the cup of wine of Holy
Communion together – we give thanks for the salvation God has brought us. As we leave, it’s our turn to show love to others.”
​Read it.

Healing & Reconciliation
​3/27/18
The Scandal of Forgiveness
Holy Tuesday’s service of Healing and Reconciliation provided the setting for the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves to speak to us on the “scandal of forgiveness”, and for us to learn that “To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover the prisoner
was you.”
​Read it.
​
​

Palm Sunday
​3/25/18
The Ego’s Path to Humility
Recognizing how much we let our egos define us, the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo points us instead to the journey of the cross, allowing that “The church has to be a refuge where people can be themselves…Where it’s not only okay to admit our feelings and brokenness, but to embrace that
sharing, because humility is the path of Jesus, and for his followers…is the way to healing, to forgiveness, grace and love.”
​Read it.

Lent 5
​3/18/18
Looking and Seeing
Looking and seeing can be quite different. What do you see when you “survey the wondrous cross”?
In his sermon the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves sees nothing less than “The beginning of a new covenant, the winning of our forgiveness and a sign of God’s
great love.”
​Read it. 

​Lent 4
​​3/11/18
From Death to Life
Continuing our journey to Easter, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves explores the subject of God’s grace, and how we Christians move from death to life through that grace.
The message is: “Come, rest, and be seated, receive the gift I have to offer
you.”
​Read it.
​

Lent 3
​3/4/18
That Bossy Moses
You can’t get by Lent without checking in with the 10 Commandments. The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo gives us a way to do that, declaring
“God loves you and seeks a deep relationship with you. Don’t settle for anything
less.”
​Read it.
​

Lent 2
​2/25/18
Your “sliding door” moments
Following Jesus isn’t easy. Each of us get the opportunity, moments in our lives when we can make decisions that can change our lives forever.
This Lent the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves asks us to consider our decisions: “Let’s not be a superficial people or
a superficial church, but…pursue the riches and the depth of the life that Jesus can bring.”
​Read it​

Lent 1
2/18/18
Your Divine GPS
As we enter the season of Lent, the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo introduces us to the concept of metanoia, a Greek word that means “quite literally to change one’s direction and to turn around…This is like a call from your divine GPS that you are going the wrong direction, and that if you want to get where you’re
headed, you do have to turn around.” Are you getting this call? Here’s some advice on how to deal with it.
​Read it.

Ash Wednesday
​2/14/18
Heart Surgery
For Lent this year the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves puts forth the audacious concept that we all take up heart surgery.
Lest you think yourself unqualified, he proceeds to give us some key advice on how to have some successful
outcomes.
​Read it 
​

The Last Sunday after the Feast of Epiphany
​2/11/18
A Life Without Chocolate?
No, that’s not our goal. As we approach Lent the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves uses Transfiguration Sunday to lead us into a space where we might “take on” rather than “let go”, and that in so doing, “…one great day, we will see God in all his glory, face to
face.”
​Read it.
​
​
​

​The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord
​2/4/18
What’s enough?
Preaching on the “Song of Simeon” the Rev. Mark Hargreaves suggests that “When we come into the light of Christ, we dare to examine the sin that lurks inside us that we do such a good job of covering up.”
He asks “How much of God
do we need to see and experience before we can find the peace that Simeon found? What counts as fulfillment for us?”
​Read it.
​​

 ​Fourth Sunday after the Feast of the Epiphany
​1/28/18
Speaking Truth in Love
​Following on the heels of our annual meeting last week, and in anticipation of the discussions  we may be having regarding our goals and plans for the future, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves asks “May we here at St. James be a community that gets the balance right, that always finds a way to
speak for truth in love.”
​Read it.  
​

​Third Sunday after the Feast of the Epiphany
​1/21/18
Tailgating Jesus
How closely do you follow Jesus? Throughout history following Jesus hasn’t been easy. To some it’s even meant death.
The Rev. D. Rebecca Dinovo now asks us “What is God calling you to? Whatever it is…it will be worth it.
“
​​​Read it.

​Second Sunday after the Feast of the Epiphany
​1/14/18
A dependable light that changes lives.
Speaking in a time that Rowan Williams has called “a dark night for intelligence”, the Rev. Laurel Mathewson tell us of her ministry to new Americans from the Congo and the Sudan at St. Luke’s North Park, and the many blessings she
has received from that ministry.
She offers that “Christians embody dependable relationship, especially to those who feel abandoned or don’t know who or where they are…”  She invites us into “the same rich and challenging and joy-filled journey.”
​Read it. 
​

Feast of the Epiphany
​1/07/18
Where’s your journey heading this year?
​The three wise men followed a star with attentiveness, humility, and a sense of purpose.
The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves suggests that “we need to work hard at engaging with those who are different to us, if we’re to follow
Jesus’s example, the example he set whilst even lying in the manger gathering around him, an unlikely, unusual bunch of worshipers.”
Pointing to good progress at St. James he listed a number of great examples of ways to get involved.
Read
it.
​
​

​First Sunday After Christmas
​12/31/17
We Are Jean Valjean
As Christ has come among us, “tabernacled” with us, the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo draws parallels to Les Miserables and how with God’s grace our souls have been bought and given to God.
She allows that “As we begin a new year, tonight at
midnight we’re offered another opportunity to live into that invitation of grace”.
Read it.
​

Christmas Day
​12/25/17
Christmas Jumble
Put these verbs in the right order: Find, Watch, Praise, Go, Tell, Hear. Congratulations, you’re now the shepherd of the day ready for the birth of Christ.
Talking about that amazing event The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves tells us “the ones who found Jesus….a
gang of social misfits and outcasts…They were the ones to whom was entrusted the good news that God had come amongst his people.
God can still be found today by unlikely people in unlikely circumstances.” He’s yours now.
​Read it. 
​

The Feast of the Holy Incarnation
​12/24/17 10 pm

The Feast of the Holy Incarnation
​12/24/17 5 pm
​Christ: All Wrapped Up
Christ is God’s gift to us. The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves wonders why then do so many leave him wrapped up all year, just to come out at Christmastime.
How many presents go unopened under your Christmas tree? Doesn’t make
sense, does it?
So, open your present!
​Read it.
​
​

Fourth Sunday of Advent
​12/24/17
Doing the Impossible
Mary was called to give birth to Jesus. Impossible? She thought so, at first. But God had other plans.
The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo now asks “To what impossible things is God calling you?…When she was called, Mary’s decision was clear, she
answered: ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’
What will your answer be?”
​Read it. 
​

Third Sunday of Advent
12/17/17
Revolution of the Heart
What kind of revolutions grace your life? What change has God been nagging you to make?  
In a deeply personal reflection on our Advent reading “Mary’s Song” the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo offers to us that “today is a good day to
recommit to it – start by simply saying, ‘Yes God’ to beginning, enduring, or completing the change God has for you.”
​Read it.
​​

Second Sunday of Advent
​12/10/17
Active Waiting
The waiting of Advent isn’t twiddling your thumbs wasting time, it’s an active waiting, full of preparing for the coming of the Lord, or as the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves puts it:
“In our Advent reflection, we wait and see, and think about what sort of persons we ought to
be.”
​Read it. 
​

First Sunday of Advent
12/03/17
Just​ ​a Little Apocalypse
​On the first Sunday in Advent, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves tackles some unsettling messages from scripture, but assures us “The Advent hope is that one glorious day, everything will be put right because God does notice, and the wrongs that we see in this world will be righted, and justice will be
restored.”
​Read it.

The Feast of Christ the King
​11/26/17
Your King
​Who does your King look like, and what do you do when you see him? On the celebration of Christ the King Sunday, the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo points out that “…the King we claim to follow says we will see Him in those we least
expect.”
​Read it. 
​

Thanksgiving Day
​11/23/17
​Knowing Who to Thank for What
​Experiencing his second American Thanksgiving, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves reaches back to St. Paul to help us get the most out of this tradition and holiday, but ultimately gives Cicero the last word: “A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but it is the parent of all other
virtues…”
​Read it.
​

Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
​11/19/17
​Got Time?
Never have the time to get to what you want, to get to what’s important?
As Advent approaches, our readings today each deal with the subject of time in different ways.
Join us as Rev’d Mark Hargreaves
explores the concept of past, present, and future, and observes: “You can make more money, but you can never make more time.”
​Read
it.
​

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
​11/12/17
​La Jolla’s Sin?
On this Remembrance Sunday in the UK, coincidental with our Veterans Day, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves uses today’s Deuteronomy reading to examine how God always remembers us, but how we always seem to forget God, positing that “La Jolla is not a place of obvious outward sin, but it might be said that it’s a place where God is largely forgotten….pushed out of the picture.” But that’s not the last word.
​Read it.​

The Feast of All Saints’ Day
​11/5/17
Beyond Evil
​​​Celebrating All Saints, and at the very time when unspeakable evil was being perpetrated on worshippers in Texas, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves examines the readings for the day and takes us with St. John to “A world that’s already in existence and which no evil can penetrate.” He asks us to “remember that the
evil in the world we know, which taints the world we know, is not the last word.”
​Read it.
​

​Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
​10/29/17
Love Thy Neighbor
How hard can that be? The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo dives into this greatest of commandments with some real life examples, and allows that “We are always, every day, being offered moments of decision – moments to love God and our neighbors or
not.”
​Read it.
​

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
​10/22/17
Concluding our sermon series on the book of Exodus,
Moses is told by God he may only see His back.
The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo explains that we can only see where God has been, or in retrospect, but we can still be assured that “Our God is a God that is with us, is with you in the most difficult of
times.”
​Read it. 
​

​Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost
10/15/17
The Golden Calf
Growing impatient for Moses’ return, the Israelites created their golden calf to stand in for God. Exploring deeper into our understanding of God, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves urges us to accept a “…God who is untamed, mysterious, and full of surprises,” and assures us that “We, as
Christians worship a personal, living God, a God who can be known….”
​Read it.

​Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
​10/08/17
The Ten Commandments
​Drawing from the Exodus, St. Paul, and the Psalms, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves guides us to an understanding of the ten commandments and offers that “We’re called to observe the ten commandments not to get right with God, but because that’s how our maker thinks we’ll have a good and flourishing
life.
​Read it.

Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
Blessing of the Animals
​10/1/17
​What if being fun and having time to play was a spiritual discipline?    At the 10 a.m. service the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo gathers the children about her for some fun with
animals.
Listen in, and feel the wonder!

Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
​10/1/17
​7:30 a.m.
Who is the next St. Francis?
Preaching at the early service before an avalanche of animals descended on the church, the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo tells us about the man that became St. Francis, and wonders aloud where the next St. Francis may be?  St. Francis famously
said “If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.”  She continues: “Maybe that anyone is you. Francis would likely say that anyone is already you–no matter your age, life situation, or position- God can work through you in tremendous and powerful ways the moment you set your eyes on the cross of Christ in faith.”
​Read
it.
​

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
​9/24/17
Got Enough?
What is enough for you? From the complaining Israelites in Exodus, or the psalmists’ pleas, or the workers wanting more for their grape harvesting, the Bible seems full of people never satisfied with what God has given them.   
Is
that true for you too? This day the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves asks we “commit ourselves afresh to the generous God, who spared nothing in His pursuit of us.”
​Read it.
​

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost 
9/17/17
Freedom for what?
On Rally Sunday, the beginning of the church’s program year,  the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves picks on both Exodus and St. Paul to lead us into a discussion of freedom and what that may mean to us at St. James: “The key question about freedom isn’t freedom from
whatever. It’s not freedom from. It’s freedom to. What are we freed to do?” He encouraged us to “See where you might be able to make a contribution” to the many outreach ministries of the church.
​Read it.
​

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
​9/10/17
Are You Ready?
Loins girded? Sandals on? Staff in hand? Continuing in the book of Exodus, we’re now at Pesach, the Pass-over, and the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo asks us to think of those times in our lives when we have  been “passed over”, saved by God,
spared.
She urges us to use those times as a personal call to action, and like so many who have responded to the overwhelming humanitarian needs following Hurricane Harvey, to “renew our commitment to doing the work God has given us to do for as long as God gives us to time to live and breathe on this
earth.”
​Read it.

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
​9/3/17
God Remembers You
​God used a burning bush to get Moses’ attention. The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves asks us now what does God need to do to get yours? “What are we in danger of missing? How did God appear to us yesterday? How might God appear to us today? Are we alert to God’s attempt to attract our attention?”
​Read it.
​

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
​8/27/17 
Who Are You Anyway?
Jesus asks “Who do you say that I am?” But what if he asked you who you were? Diving into the first of a series of readings from Exodus, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves want us to know that “In Christ Jesus we don’t have to hide our faults and failures…We are redeemed. We are set free.”
​Read it.

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
​8/20/17
​One of them
​Have you ever kept your distance from one of “them?”  Have you ever found yourself to be one of “them?” Returning to St. James from vacation, the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo addresses the sin of racism in light of the events in Charlottesville, VA and ask us now to “do the work necessary to bring the walls erected between
us down that have helped to maintain the racism that exists in our culture.”
Read it. 
​
​
​

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
​8/13/17
Water Walking
Want to try this down at Wind ‘n Sea ? The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves takes us to a storm tossed boat on the shores of Sea of Galilee to examine two elements of St. Peter’s life, obedience and courage, and prays that “…God in his grace give us the ability, like Peter, to live out a
life of faith.”
​Read it.
​

The Feast of the Transfiguration
​8/6/17
Listen to Him!
No, Jesus is neither a  poached egg, nor the devil.
On the Feast of the Transfiguration the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves unpacks the mystery of this extraordinary event, and leaves us with the thought that “God gives us the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
​Read it.
​

Eight Sunday after Pentecost
​7/30/17
What’s the one thing you want?
That’s the question God asked Solomon, and what the
​ Rev’d Mark Hargreaves now asks us.
The answer he posits is that we “come to know in Christ Jesus the wonderful limitless love of the God who made us, the God who is the
source of all love.”
​Read it.
​

​Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
St. James Day
​7/23/17
​10:00 a.m.
In the second of two St. James Day sermons, the Rev’d Canon Hugh Shilson-Thomas, visiting us with his wonderful Selwyn College Choir of Cambridge, England, hits many of the same themes by suggesting “what better time than a patronal festival…to recommit ourselves to that partnership in living out the Gospel here in La Jolla”.
​Read
it.

​Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
St. James Day
​7/23/17
​7:30 a.m.
In the first of two St. James Day sermons, the recently returned Rev’d Mark Hargreaves takes the measure of our own “son of thunder”, and sees us increasingly ready  “to be more focused in what we can do as a church, to serve not just our own parish community, but those outside of our parish family.” 
Read
it.

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
​7/16/17
​“Gardeners for God”
Surveying Jesus’ parable on the sowing of seeds the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo asks what kind of sower are you? What kind of soil are you? What kind of seeds do you sow?  Where do you sow them?
She then challenges you to “roll up your
sleeves, put on your hat, get your hands dirty: and let’s go be gardeners for God!”
​Read it. 

​Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
​7/9/17
Decisions, decisions!
How well do you listen to God in the decisions you make?   How burdensome is your yoke?
The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo shares some of her decision making lessons and their consequences, and assures us that “no matter what we do or
decide, God will be there on the other side to lead, love, and redeem us.”
Read it.
​

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
​7/2/17
Cup of Cool Water
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine how we might be able to make a difference in someone’s life.
This Sunday the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo shares her personal experiences, and asks us: “From the stranger on the street, to the hungry child across
the globe, to your best friend in the world: be the hands of Christ to others, embrace your own God-given ministry, and share a cup of cool water.”
​Read it.

Third Sunday after Pentecost
​6/25/17
Peace or the Sword?
Speaking to today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 10, the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo discusses how the sword of which Jesus speaks can help “You and I…work towards lasting transformation with the hope and goal of peace, because indeed, Jesus is the way to true
peace.”
​Read it.
​

Second Sunday after Pentecost
6/18/17
Joy and Laughter

In the Old Testament, Sarah laughed when she was told she would bear a son. Laughter and joy are inextricable parts of the Christian faith, and on this baptism Sunday the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves talks about how
a life of faith for the newly baptized is “setting them on a path that leads to unending joy; a joy that can’t be found anywhere else.”
Read it.

Trinity Sunday – 10:00 a.m.
6/11/17
Farewell to Steve Townsend
The Rev’d Blayney Colemore returns to the pulpit he occupied when Steven Townsend began his ministry, to praise and thank Steve for his 25 wonderful years with us, and to thank God for the blessings of his music in our
lives.
Read it.

Trinity Sunday – 7:30 a.m.
6/11/17
“Beware: Quicksand”
It’s not easy to wrap your head around the Trinity, but on this Trinity Sunday the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves give us his best shot:
“Let us dare to sit in silence before God, to be humbled by His majesty, and yet be
able to speak of His glory. “
Read it.

The Feast of Pentecost
6/4/17
Unity in Diversity
Celebrating the feast of Pentecost, the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo describes how we can be a diverse body of Christ, yet still unified in the Holy Spirit, whose fruits are “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control.”
She adds “And so, just to be really clear, this list…does not include hatred, violence, power, or control of others.”
Read it.

The Feast of the Ascension
5/28/17
The Ascension
Jesus rises up in a cloud and vanishes…what’s a disciple to make of this astonishing event?
The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves tries to make sense of it, saying that “The Ascension…calls us to broaden our understanding of our
lives. It invites us to consider our destiny, our future, our hopes and where lies our true home.”
Read it.

Easter 6
5/21/17
Holy Paraclete!
Yes, it’s the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Comforter that Jesus leaves us.
As the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo tell us “God doesn’t leave us high and dry, God already has something in mind and has prepared the way for us. God’s plans
are even better than our plans.”
Read it.

Easter 5
5/14/17
In his final visit to St. James the Rt. Rev. James Mathes, speaking from his heart to a world full of troubled hearts, walks us up to and around Jesus’ “house of many dwelling places”, and urges us to “Come join with Jesus in restoring each other, ourselves in a broken
world.“
Read it.

Easter
4
5/7/17
Keying off St. Peter’s First Epistle and holding in tension both Jesus’ wounds and the joy of Easter, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves asks us “to live honestly with our own wounds, neither holding onto them and being defined by them, nor by pretending that they’re not there”.
Read it.

Easter 3
4/30/17
Finding Emmaus
Jesus appeared to the two disciples and walked with them for a while on the road to Emmaus. As each of us takes up our own Easter journey, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves assures us that “…we need each other and we need to travel together if we’re
to find that full, rich, and deep understanding of what living the resurrection life is all about.”
Read it.

Easter 2
4/23/17
Got
Stress?
Swap it out with peace, the peace of the Lord. In her sermon the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo gives us actionable ways to find that peace which Jesus gave to his very stressed out disciples, and assures us that same peace can be ours.
Read it.  

Easter
4/16/17
An Easter Invitation
On a beautiful Easter morning, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves explores the theme of “emptiness” .  He takes us to the door of the empty tomb where he leaves us with an invitation to explore, to “…step inside. See if it leads, as it did for Mary, to an encounter with the risen Lord
Jesus.”
Read it.

Good Friday
4/14/17
Ex cruce – Out of the Cross
Can there be a more excruciating death than that of Jesus?
The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves walks us to the cross and tells us “When everything is admitted and nothing is concealed, fast upon that stripping can come forgiveness
and acceptance, the coming of grace which comes with the cry for mercy.”
Read it.

Maundy Thursday
4/13/17
What in the world is He doing?
On the road to the cross Thursday evening, the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo assures that the “…promise is for all of us, whatever you may be going through in your life right now. Lay hold to the promise that Jesus offers you tonight…’You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’”
Read it.

Holy Tuesday: Service of Healing and Reconciliation
4/11/17
Your Ministry of Reconciliation
In a new Easter week service, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves returns to the subject of reconciliation noting that “We are bound together by something much deeper than class, or color, or
political affiliation. We are Christ’s body. We are the people for whom he died. Together, we share his resurrection life. We have a ministry of reconciliation, which means that we’re called to break down any barriers that might divide us.”
Read it.

Palm Sunday
4/9/17
Crucify Him!
How can the celebration of Palm Sunday turn so quickly into the Passion of Good Friday? How well does Jesus match your expectations of a Messiah? The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo posits that “the challenge for us today is to remain
humble and faithful enough to wait and see what God has in mind….To remember that God has a bigger dream than we do, a greater plan than we can see right now.”
Read it.

Lent 5
4/2/17
Do you feel fully alive?
Leading into Holy Week the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves asks us to think about the big questions in our lives, and take comfort from God’s words to the prophet Ezekiel:  “I will put my spirit within you and you shall
live.”
Read it.

Lent 4
3/26/17
Spiritual Blindness
Have you ever asked God to prove himself?
The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo suggests we may be overlooking him “right in front of us”, and prays: “Lord we are blind in so many ways; give us eyes to see
you and to recognize your presence and your work and truth in your many unexpected ways.”
Read it.

Lent 3
3/19/17
How does Jesus look at you?
Exploring Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves takes away three points:  1. Jesus took the initiative, 2. Jesus looked past the imperfections and saw the best, and 3. the water he offers is meant “to flow out to those
around us”. He also offers a great tip on how to pray on it. You can reread John’s gospel printed in the Sunday bulletin right on our home page.
Read it.

Lent 2
3/12/17
Would you get into Blondin’s wheelbarrow?
On the 2nd Sunday in Lent the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves uses the famous encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus to dive into the Trinity as the revelation of God’s love, and prays that “God give us the
courage to step out in faith, and to be born into that wonderful new life that only He can bring.”
Read it.

Lent 1
3/5/17
The Temptation of Christ
Taking us into the forty days of Lent, the Rev.’d D. Rebecca Dinovo reminds us “You are more messed up than you think you are. And you are more loved than you think you are…every saint has a past and every sinner a
future….”
Read it.

Ash Wednesday
3/1/17
Whose ashes are these?
With Ash Wednesday the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo asks “what exactly are we getting ourselves into”? Her answer: nothing less than
“…fessing up to the reality of what it means to be human.”
Read it.

Last Sunday after Epiphany
2/26/17
What does God look like? 
 Rev’d Mark Hargreaves posits that “Our thinking about God might not end with the person of Jesus, but that’s where it should start. Jesus shows us what God is like. In Christ Jesus we come face to face with
God.”
Read it

Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany
2/19/17
 Ferocious Love!
Working through Jesus’ difficult words from his Sermon on the Mount, the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo gives us practical, actionable advice on how to love your enemies in a win-win scenario that doesn’t involve “passive resignation,” being a
“doormat,” or “losing.”  Indeed, Jesus was “in it to win it.” 
Read it.
Then go out, give it a try, and report back!

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
2/12/17
To Jesus, it’s not enough that we do no murder, and are able to co-exist. Jesus expects more. Jesus expects actual reconciliation. Or, as the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves puts it just in time for St. Valentine’s Day, “Keeping the law isn’t hard work, it’s ‘heart’
work.”
Read it.

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
2/5/17
Salt of the earth? Light of the world?
In these troubling times of polarity and clashes of vision, how do we really, really listen to each other?
That’s the question The Rev’d Canon Allisyn Thomas poses. Hint: Christ has the
answer.
Read it. 

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
1/29/17
God’s foolishness?
In what many may see as an upside down world, the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves reaches into “The Beatitudes” to examine God’s “upside down kingdom.”
Is this all so much foolishness? You
decide.
Read it.

Third Sunday after the Epiphany
1/22/17
Where have you experienced God manifest in your world?
For the Rev’d  D. Rebecca Dinovo it was during a terrifying car accident that “brought my family and these three strangers together in an unexpected but beautiful way.”  She urges us now, “Do not be afraid.  Follow Jesus.  Seek God’s purpose. God’s  light shines – we can be the loving arms and hands of Christ in this time and place.“
Read
it.