The Rev. Jay Lawlor on "the urgency of God's reign" for 1 Lent 2018
The Rev. Jay Lawlor preaching at St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Indianapolis, IN - 1 Lent 2018
The Rev. Jay Lawlor preached that Mark’s gospel is about the urgency of getting to the work of God’s reign in a sermon at St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Indy.
Jesus had no time to waste in taking action to heal, to bring liberation from oppression, to replace hate with love, and to replace violence with peace.”
INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US, February 20, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Rev. Jay Lawlor was guest preacher and celebrant at St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Indianapolis for the First Sunday in Lent 2018. "Mark’s gospel is about the urgency of getting to the work of God’s reign," said the Rev. Jay Lawlor in beginning his sermon to the people of St. Alban's. He continued with the theme of the urgency for Christians to "put right all that is wrong in our world."— The Rev. Jay Lawlor
The Rev. Lawlor touched on the three scenes in Mark's Lectionary narrative for 1 Lent being "Jesus’ baptism (Mark 1:9-11), his temptation (Mark 1:12-13), and his inaugural preaching (Mark 1:14-15)." He offered both historical and theological context for the three episodes. The Rev. Jay Lawlor stated how they help point toward "Jesus’ ministry would be about going to difficult places and confront those things that are wrong in this world."
In response to the school shootings in Parkland, Florida, the Rev. Jay Lawlor asked in his sermon "How do we need to act differently in the face of another senseless act of gun violence which took seventeen innocent lives?" He then stated how "We know the Way of Jesus is love, not hate. We know the way of Jesus is peace, not violence. We know the Way of Jesus is life, not death."
Then the Rev. Jay Lawlor concluded his sermon by drawing back to his opening theme as he stated "Mark’s gospel is about the urgency of getting to the work of God’s reign. Jesus had no time to waste in taking action to heal, to bring liberation from oppression, to replace hate with love, and to replace violence with peace. In this moment, during this season of Lent, we need that same sense of urgency."
A video recording and transcript of the sermon are available at https://www.therevjaylawlor.com/the-urgency-of-gods-reign-sermon-for-1-lent-feb-18-2018/
The video of the sermon is also available on the St. Alban's YouTube page.
The Rev. Jay Lawlor
The Rev. Jay Lawlor
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