The Good News isn’t just for Sundays.
Sunday, May 31, 2026
May 31, 2026 - Truth and Mystery
The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves dives into the Trinity “…with great humility, recognizing that the truth and the mystery of God is always beyond us…The Trinity is at heart an expression of the deep unfaltering and life-giving love between the Father, the Son and the Spirit.”
Sunday, May 24, 2026
May 24, 2026 - Let It Flow
The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves reaches into his book of metaphors to challenge us with the Holy Spirit on this Day of Pentecost:
“We're called to be rivers of God's living water, not reservoirs. We don't hold onto it. We let the spirit flow out of us.”
Sunday, May 17, 2026
May 17, 2026 - Letting Go
The disciples weren’t ready for Jesus to leave them on that Ascension Day. They kept looking for him where he used to be. But the Rev. Abby VanderBrug explains that instead, “The living Christ is where new life is…and the promise of the gospel is that God will never let go of us.”
Sunday, May 10, 2026
May 10, 2026 - Resident Aliens
The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook visits St. James with the message that in many ways we are all “resident aliens” with much work to do: “Living the kind of life that recognizes that every person has inherent dignity and value, and every relationship is a sign of God's love.”
Sunday, May 3, 2026
May 3, 2026 - Heart Knowledge
The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves gets his chance to preach on John 14 on a Sunday instead of at a funeral. This lets us dive deeply into the concept of faith and doubt, what we can know, what we cannot know, and how to live with that: “We could say that there are some things that we know with our head, and some things that we know in our heart. Both can be true…we can train ourselves to develop a ‘heart knowledge’ of Jesus.”
Sunday, April 26, 2026
April 26, 2026 - An Authentic Story
The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves loves to preach on the many Easter Resurrection stories because they seem so authentic, and they can speak to us: “…the key is that we are quiet, that we listen, that we hear the voice of the risen Jesus and respond to that call.”
Sunday, April 19, 2026
April 19, 2026 - Stay With Me, Jesus
The Emmaus Road that Cleopas and friend trod was a sad journey for them. But they asked the stranger they met to stay with them the night, and in so doing met the risen Christ. The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves offers us a prayer to use when we’re out on our own sad Emmaus roads: “Stay with me, Jesus.”
Sunday, April 12, 2026
April 12, 2026 - Honest Thomas
The Rev. Abby VanderBrug thinks Thomas has been given a bad rap with the Doubting moniker: “You didn't believe what everyone else was saying and you had the courage to say so out loud in a room full of people who disagreed with you. Now that takes courage.”
Sunday, April 5, 2026
April 5, 2026 - Who We Are
Mary at the tomb thought Jesus was the gardener. The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves explains how we recognize others can define who we are as well: “May we be given the grace to identify Jesus for who he truly is, so that we can come to know who we truly are.”
Friday, April 3, 2026
April 3, 2026 - The Cross
The Rev. Abby VanderBrug examines the cross as a symbol of both sorrow and love. “It is the sign of God's very heart, the victory that refuses violence, the sacrifice that restores the world.”
Thursday, April 2, 2026
April 2, 2026 - Hope for a Broken World
The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves uses the centuries old Japanese art of kintsugi to examine what the “broken” body of Jesus can tell us today: “Let us see that brokenness is not the final word, and that living into our failings allows for brokenness to be restored, to come back more beautiful.”
Sunday, March 29, 2026
March 29, 2026 - Strange Kingdom
As he entered Jerusalem, Jesus didn't look or act like your ordinary king, and as the passion narrative plays out, the Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves frames it as "...a ridiculous love story."
Sunday, March 22, 2026
March 22, 2026 - A Time for Honesty
The Rev. Abby VanderBrug takes us into Lazarus' tomb to describe the burial clothes with which he's been bound, asking us whether we've bound ourselves in our own metaphorical burial clothes, and what that has done for us. She notes Lent is a time for honesty: "It's a time when we look at ourselves and we tell it like it is, and when we tell God things like they are."
Sunday, March 15, 2026
March 15, 2026 - Looking, Seeing, and Recognizing
Our readings today are full of folks who can look, see but can’t recognize what they are seeing, and then there’s one in particular who can’t see but eventually does recognize. The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves allows that “…It's hard for all of us to look and see and recognize in ourselves how we really are.”
Sunday, March 8, 2026
March 8, 2026 - Living Water
The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves visits the well in Samaria to get into the head of the Samaritan woman. He offers: "We're not to be reservoirs of God's love. We're to be streams, streams that flow out from us, streams of living water that flow out through us to those around us."
Sunday, March 1, 2026
March 1, 2026 - Recognizably Religious?
The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves examines how both Abraham and Nicodemus came to faith. Noting that "...Faith is always a gift. It's a miracle..." he asks this Lent that we examine the big question of how faith is manifested in our lives?
Sunday, February 22, 2026
February 22, 2026 - God's Free Gift
As we enter Lent, the Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves urges us to accept God's unconditional gift of forgiveness: "God's gift is still free and still available to all. And if we receive that gift, we're able to be completely honest with God and ourselves about the reality of our sins and failing."
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
February 18, 2026 - Heart Surgery?
As we enter Lent, rather than giving up something, the Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves offer ways we might take up something: "Let's all find a spiritual practice that renews our heart."
Sunday, February 15, 2026
February 15, 2026 - Perfect Clarity
Peter, James, and John needed a transfiguration event to see Jesus for who he truly was. But the Rev. Abby VanderBrug posits that "...though we walk through the world blindly most days, sometimes we are lucky enough to see these moments of perfect clarity: the story that's beneath the story, the reality that's beyond reality, the truth that encompasses all truth."
Sunday, February 8, 2026
February 8, 2026 - Salt of the Earth
In our gospel reading Jesus calls us "salt of the earth". The Rev. Dr Mark Hargreaves explores what Jesus meant by that: "Like salt, we're to get out of the saltshaker, make a difference...it's a question that each of us faces. How are we going to be the salt of the earth?"
Sunday, February 1, 2026
February 1, 2026 - What is enough?
After waiting a long time for the Messiah, Simeon saw Jesus in the temple and departed. That was enough for him. The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves asks us "What would we have to experience or know or discover to find the peace and the fulfillment that Simeon found that day in the temple?"
Sunday, January 25, 2026
January 25, 2026 - Walk Without Fear
The Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves connects the prophet Isaiah, Psalm 27, and various gospel passages to emphasize that Jesus is the great light of which the prophet spoke, and that "...the light beckons us to walk without fear into the world, building God's alternative kingdom."
Sunday, January 18, 2026
January 18, 2026 - Young Angel
On this Outreach Sunday, Elizabeth (Beth) Beall, the Executive Director of Tijuana's Vida Joven Foundation, tells the story of a young boy named Angel to demonstrate how "...God's light and healing are still on the move, flowing through you."
Sunday, January 11, 2026
January 11, 2026 - An Invitation
On this baptism Sunday the Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves lays out the essence of baptism: "What we see in the baptism of Jesus is a glimpse into the nature of God...It's a glimpse into the divine, and it's also an invitation."
Sunday, January 4, 2026
January 4, 2026 - What do we see?
The Rev. Abby VanderBrug asks us to look again at that scene in the barn, offering that "We can be the ones whose eyes are opened to this miracle and all that has been given to us."