Spiritual Journeys: Weekly Messages from St. Peter's Episcopal Church

St. Peter's Episcopal Church

Welcome to "Spiritual Journeys: Weekly Messages from St. Peter's Episcopal Church." Each episode delves into inspiring sermons that offer guidance, hope, and a deeper connection to the divine. Join us as we embark on a journey of spiritual growth, discovering insights that nourish the soul and illuminate the path of faith. Whether you're seeking solace, inspiration, or a deeper understanding of spirituality, "Spiritual Journeys" provides a sacred space for reflection and enlightenment. Tune in and let the transformative power of these sermons enrich your spiritual life.

  1. Tegan Inns’ Faith Journey at St. Peter’s

    4d ago

    Tegan Inns’ Faith Journey at St. Peter’s

    Graduating senior Tegan Inns reflects on growing up at St. Peter’s from infancy, first experiencing faith through church community and activities like Easter egg hunts, Advent candle-making, children’s sermons, and praying nightly with her sister. As an acolyte, she began paying closer attention to services and saw Mother Paige’s teachings as life lessons, while youth group discussions with Madeline, Joseph, and Gabriel helped her form her own understanding of faith. Tegan describes faith as something that grows in daily moments and became especially meaningful amid high school stress and disappointment. She shares how unexpectedly committing to the University of Washington ultimately felt guided and comforting, shifting her faith from routine to trust in God’s presence in good and bad times. She thanks St. Peter’s, its leaders, choir, and her parents, and closes with Scripture affirming Jesus’ continuing presence.00:00 Growing Up at St Peter's00:23 Childhood Faith and Traditions01:20 Serving as an Acolyte01:49 Youth Group and Personal Belief02:26 Faith Through High School Stress02:39 Finding My Path to UW03:22 Gratitude to the Community03:50 Carrying Faith Forward04:01 Scripture Farewell

    4 min
  2. Memorial Day Homily: Greater Love, Sacrifice, and Bearing Lasting Fruit

    May 28

    Memorial Day Homily: Greater Love, Sacrifice, and Bearing Lasting Fruit

    Deacon Pete delivers a Memorial Day homily that contrasts the holiday’s cultural start-of-summer tone with the church’s solemn remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, honoring veterans present and especially fallen service members and their families. Centering on John 15—“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”—he explains that Jesus speaks on the eve of his crucifixion, describing love that is concrete and costly, and he connects this to military service, loyalty to comrades, and the grief of Gold Star families and veterans living with physical injuries, moral injury, PTSD, and loss. He highlights Jesus’ call to “bear fruit that will last,” urging veterans to honor the fallen by living for freedom, peace, and justice and by keeping the baptismal covenant to strive for justice, peace, and respect for human dignity. He closes with a prayer for comfort, gratitude, and a future of peace.00:00 Opening Prayer00:14 Memorial Day Meaning01:24 Greater Love Verse01:41 Jesus Calls Us Friends02:37 Veteran Sacrifice03:32 Wounds and Grief04:12 Bear Fruit After Loss04:45 Living the Covenant05:36 Final Gospel Charge06:16 Closing Prayer

    7 min
  3. Pentecost Sunday: Peace, Wounds, and the Spirit That Sends Us

    May 27

    Pentecost Sunday: Peace, Wounds, and the Spirit That Sends Us

    Deacon Pete reflects on Pentecost as the celebration of God’s divine indwelling through the Holy Spirit, recalling an childhood conversation with Father Boyd about connecting with God in ourselves and others. He contrasts this with the disciples’ fear behind locked doors, noting that fear can be physical, emotional, or communal, and that resurrection does not deny suffering but enters and transforms it, echoing Richard Rohr’s idea that untransformed pain is transmitted. In John’s account, Jesus greets the disciples with “Peace be with you,” shows his wounds as proof that scars remain yet do not block resurrected life, breathes the Spirit as in Genesis, and commissions them for mission: being God’s hands and feet and embodying Christ’s peace. He emphasizes forgiveness—especially self-forgiveness—as freedom from guilt and shame, concluding that Eucharist gathers people behind locked doors and sends them out to do holy work and offer peace.00:00 Opening Prayer00:51 Pentecost Explained02:35 Locked Doors and Fear05:11 Peace and Scars07:15 Breath of the Spirit08:14 Sent on Mission09:11 The Challenge of Forgiveness10:30 Four Things Jesus Does11:38 Eucharist Sending Forth

    12 min
  4. The Ascension: The Love Stays with Us

    May 20

    The Ascension: The Love Stays with Us

    Bishop Susan preaches at St. Peter’s on the Ascension, describing the disciples’ in-between moment after 40 days of the risen Jesus teaching about new creation before ascending from the Mount of Olives. Drawing on trips to Israel, she portrays Jerusalem as holy yet conflicted, both today and in Jesus’ time, and imagines Jesus ascending with a clear view of the Temple, Golgotha, Roman power, and ordinary life. She explains the Ascension as completing Jesus’ earthly mission and offers two perspectives: looking up, Jesus ascends still marked by crucifixion, carrying wounded human humanity into God’s presence and interceding for us; looking down, the angels redirect disciples from staring upward to witnessing in widening circles. Christians are called to be Jesus’ hands and feet, living sacrificial love that seeks justice, peace, and dignity, returning to forgiveness and trying again amid division and fear.00:00 Welcome and Context00:14 Ascension Mystery01:30 Jerusalem Then and Now04:15 Mount of Olives View07:16 What Ascension Means07:59 View Up Wounded Healed10:04 View Down Our Mission12:31 Love as Witness13:39 Final Amen

    14 min
  5. Seeking the Unknown God: It's All About Love

    May 13

    Seeking the Unknown God: It's All About Love

    Mother Paige reflects on Paul in Athens using the Temple of the Unknown God to meet people where they are and proclaim that God is not far from us: “in Him we live and move and have our being.” She asks the congregation and those worshiping at home why they came—praise, community, peace, guidance, love, even donuts—and says that whatever we seek, the answer is love. Turning to Jesus’ farewell address on the night of the Last Supper, she recalls foot washing, Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial, and the mandatum novum: “Love one another as I have loved you.” This sacrificial, chosen love is how Christ abides with us, how we keep his commandments, and the message the world needs: “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.” 00:00 Opening Prayer 00:08 Paul in Athens 01:17 Why We Came 02:32 The Answer Is Love 02:49 Last Supper Night 04:16 New Commandment 05:29 Abiding in John 06:30 If Not Love 07:36 Love Is A Choice 08:14 Closing Charge

    9 min
  6. Lament and Hope in God’s Hands: Reflections on Psalm 31

    May 6

    Lament and Hope in God’s Hands: Reflections on Psalm 31

    Rev. Madeline reflects on discipleship and faith by lingering in Psalm 31, describing the Psalms as ancient prayers spanning the full range of human experience. She notes Psalm 31’s distinctive intertwining of lament and hope—pleas for rescue, fear under persecution, and tentative trust in God existing at once—and connects this pattern to Acts’ account of Stephen’s stoning and Luke’s crucifixion narrative. Centering on Psalm 31:5 (“Into your hands, I commend my spirit”), she highlights its echo in Stephen’s final words and Jesus’ last words on the cross, showing trust in God amid desperate circumstances. She names the Christian paradox of “already, but not yet,” where resurrection hope persists alongside ongoing suffering, and closes with Frederick Buechner’s reminder that God is with us in a beautiful and terrible world. 00:00 Opening Prayer 00:20 Following The Way 01:08 Why The Psalms Matter 02:04 Hearing Psalm 31 03:37 Lament And Hope Together 04:50 Stephen And The Cross 06:51 Already But Not Yet 08:52 Hanging Your Heart On God 10:01 Final Blessing

    11 min
  7. Instructed Eucharist on Good Shepherd Sunday: Walking Through the Liturgy

    May 1

    Instructed Eucharist on Good Shepherd Sunday: Walking Through the Liturgy

    Mother Paige leads an instructed Eucharist on the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday), offering three brief teaching addresses instead of a single sermon to help confirmation/reception candidates and the congregation understand the service’s history and theology. She explains liturgy as “the work of the people,” with God as the audience, then walks through the entrance rite (Easter acclamation, Collect for Purity, Gloria, Collect of the Day and the congregation’s “Amen”), the lectionary readings (including Acts in Easter), and Gospel customs. Using John 10 and the man born blind, she highlights belonging and the Good Shepherd’s call, connecting this to baptismal vows. She describes the creed’s fourth-century origins, the required themes and flexibility of the Prayers of the People, confession/absolution options, and the ancient Peace. She outlines the Eucharist’s four actions—take, bless, break, give—emphasizing thanksgiving, real presence, transformation, multilingual Lord’s Prayer, communion options, post-communion mission, and Easter dismissal. 00:00 What Is Instructed Eucharist 01:17 Easter Acclamation And Sacraments 02:56 Entrance Rite Explained 03:26 Collect Gloria And Amen 05:18 Scripture Readings And Gospel 07:07 Sermon Prayer And Purpose 08:44 Good Shepherd Belonging 12:50 Creed History And We Believe 16:04 Prayers Confession And Peace 20:16 Four Eucharist Actions 22:37 Real Presence And Lords Prayer 24:41 Communion Sending Forth

    27 min
  8. Good Shepherd Sunday: Belonging, the Creed, and the Peace

    Apr 29

    Good Shepherd Sunday: Belonging, the Creed, and the Peace

    Mother Paige opens with her sermon prayer—asking that God’s word be spoken and heard—and reflects on preaching with humility and trust in the Holy Spirit. On Good Shepherd Sunday she connects John 10 to the healing of the man born blind in John 9, describing how the expelled man is offered belonging as Jesus speaks of being the gate into beloved community where the shepherd calls sheep by name. She links this belonging to Acts’ devotion to apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayers, echoed in the baptismal covenant, as life in the Body of Christ and abundant life. She then explains the Nicene Creed as a communal “we” shaped by fourth-century Trinity debates after Constantine, allowing grace for doubt and ongoing questions. She outlines the Prayers of the People, confession and absolution (including private confession and seasonal omission), and the ancient practice of the Peace as reconciliation before communion. 00:00 Sermon Prayer 01:23 Breaking Open Scripture 01:49 Good Shepherd Context 03:33 Belonging and the Gate 04:40 Acts and Baptismal Vow 05:41 Why We Say the Creed 07:29 We Believe Together 08:55 Prayers of the People 10:17 Confession and Absolution 10:47 The Peace Is Ancient 12:20 Forgiveness Before Communion

    13 min
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About

Welcome to "Spiritual Journeys: Weekly Messages from St. Peter's Episcopal Church." Each episode delves into inspiring sermons that offer guidance, hope, and a deeper connection to the divine. Join us as we embark on a journey of spiritual growth, discovering insights that nourish the soul and illuminate the path of faith. Whether you're seeking solace, inspiration, or a deeper understanding of spirituality, "Spiritual Journeys" provides a sacred space for reflection and enlightenment. Tune in and let the transformative power of these sermons enrich your spiritual life.

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