Pentecost Season - Year C-- 2025

Indexed by Date. Sermons for Pentecost and the Season After Pentecost Year C

  • July 13, 2025 -- 5th After Pentecost 2025

    NO SERMON

  • July 20 2025 --6th After Pentecost 2025

    NO SERMON

  • July 27, 2025 -- 7th After Pentecost 2025

    NO SERMON

  • August 3, 2025 -- 8th After Pentecost 2025

    Short reflection posted on Facebook !

    Reflection for First Sunday in August. The churches do not have worship in July and August.

    Luke 12: 32-40

    Greetings in the name of the Christ who calls and equips us for service.

    First, let me introduce myself. I am the Rev Beth W Johnston, (please call me Beth) the new minister in the Collaborative ministry between River Philip Pastoral Charge and St. Andrew’s Wesley in Springhill. While I call PEI, home I have lived and worked in each of the three Maritime Provinces and have just returned from 6 years in Saskatchewan.

    During the time when there are no Sunday services it is my intention to post a short reflection on one or more of the passages suggested for use by “the lectionary.” This week’s gospel is from the 12th chapter of Luke’s gospel.

    This passage begins with the words, “Do not be afraid.” This is a common form of biblical address. A quick internet search tells me that this, or a similar phrase, appears approximately 144 times. As I recall it, this is most often God’s message to a people about to embark on a new venture. They have every reason to be afraid; they would be crazy not to be!

    You will remember that theangel speaks these words to Mary as a part of the message that she will have a son, and well, we know the rest of the story. Today’s words are addressed to disciples by the adult Jesus. They are words of assurance as they contemplate the road ahead of them.

    2025 is a year that gives us every reason to fear. Increasingly unpredictable tarriffs and fees from our, once favourite trading and most reliable, trading partner has left us in a limbo of economic uncertainty. Climate change is wreaking havoc with our once predictable growing seasons. This past week it was announced that we are not allowed to use the woods for recreation because of the extremely high fire index. Western Canadians know all too well the warnings about smoke from wild-fires, to say nothing of the requirement to be ready to evacuate their homes and communities at any time. Even though the fires were at some distance from me, I could frequently smell and taste the smoke in the air and exercising outside was not recommended and I stopped using the clothesline. Travel plans had to be made with an eye to the fire locations and a burning ban was in effect most of the summer.

    As I said, many biblical passages have, as part of their “call” the assurance that they have no need to fear. Of course, fear is a natural emotion but as people of faith it should not keep us from the faithful response or action. Why? The short answer is that we are not alone. God goes with us. And. The community is with us. In addition we have the “biblical tradition” on our side. God’s people have gone this way before and they have found strength, comfort and presence as they ventured into the unknown.

    Therefore we can go into the future knowing that God’s people have gone this way before and we are in good company.

    Looking forward to seeing you in worship come September. Beth

  • August 10, 2025 -- 9th After Pentecost 2025

    Luke 12: 32-40 Greetings in the name of the Christ who calls and equips us for service. First, let me introduce myself. I am the Rev Beth W Johnston, (please call me Beth) the new minister in the Collaborative ministry between River Philip Pastoral Charge and St. Andrew’s Wesley in Springhill. While I call PEI, home I have lived and worked in each of the three Maritime Provinces and have just returned from 6 years in Saskatchewan. During the time when there are no Sunday services it is my intention to post a short reflection on one or more of the passages suggested for use by “the lectionary.” This week’s gospel is from the 12th chapter of Luke’s gospel. This passage begins with the words, “Do not be afraid.” This is a common form of biblical address. A quick internet search tells me that this, or a similar phrase, appears approximately 144 times. As I recall it, this is most often God’s message to a people about to embark on a new venture. They have every reason to be afraid; they would be crazy not to be! You will remember that theangel speaks these words to Mary as a part of the message that she will have a son, and well, we know the rest of the story. Today’s words are addressed to disciples by the adult Jesus. They are words of assurance as they contemplate the road ahead of them. 2025 is a year that gives us every reason to fear. Increasingly unpredictable tariffs and fees from our, once favourite and most reliable, trading partner has left us in a limbo of economic uncertainty. Climate change is wreaking havoc with our once predictable growing seasons. This past week it was announced that we are not allowed to use the woods for recreation because of the extremely high fire index. Western Canadians know all too well the warnings about smoke from wild-fires, to say nothing of the requirement to be ready to evacuate their homes and communities at any time. Even though the fires were at some distance from me, I could frequently smell and taste the smoke in the air and exercising outside was not recommended and I stopped using the clothesline. Travel plans had to be made with an eye to the fire locations and a burning ban was in effect most of the summer. As I said, many biblical passages have, as part of their “call” the assurance that they have no need to fear. Of course, fear is a natural emotion but as people of faith it should not keep us from the faithful response or action. Why? The short answer is that we are not alone. God goes with us. And. The community is with us. In addition we have the “biblical tradition” on our side. God’s people have gone this way before and they have found strength, comfort and presence as they ventured into the unknown. Therefore we can go into the future knowing that God’s people have gone this way before and we are in good company. Looking forward to seeing you in worship come September. Beth

  • August 17, 2025 -- 10th After Pentecost 2025 This is my second post to replace the Sunday sermon during our Summer Closure. Luke 12: 49-56 Family Ties was a sitcom that ran from 1982 to 1989. Steven and Alyse Keaton are grown up hippies now taking up their “normal” responsibilities as productive members of American society with jobs, a mortgage, and 4 children. Possibly as a homage to their youthful values though, he works for Public Broadcasting which relies on donations and sponsorships instead of revenue from advertising cars, toothpaste the latest trends in fashion or whatever company is looking to sell something. Their oldest son, Alex P Keaton, (played by Canadian Michael J Fox) could not be more different than his parents. He does not share their values and their outlook. He is more Republican than his idols Richard Nixon and Ronald Regan who was President of the United States for most of the show’s run. Since it is a sitcom, the differences and used for humorous purposes. We all know though that such stark family differences can produce a great deal of friction and split families. We all know of, or have personally experienced, such splits. Some families do not tolerate differences of opinion and if one member disagrees with the “party line” that member may become, persona non-grata, and may not be welcome at family gatherings, weddings or funerals. In a way, Jesus deals with this in today’s passage. He tells his followers that following him will cause division. Indeed, that was the situation in which the gospel stories were finally written down. He was asserting that the changes that should be a result of being part of an alternative community will cause conflict. The early church appears to have been a communal existence; no one prospered while another lived in poverty and certainly no one prospered at the expense of the other. When they “spoke out”, churches used to focus on societal evils such as drinking, gambling, and Sunday shopping. These days the mainline churches have turned back to the scriptures and the stories of Jesus and slowly changed their social focus. For a number of years the mainline churches have aligned themselves with those who call the wealthy to account for their actions. We know the rich are becoming richer and the poor, poorer. We can see the corporate world tightening their budgets in order to increase shareholder profits which has led to an increase in job losses and employee exploitation. The phrase, “that’s business” seems to justify any kind of “efficiency” Many of us have investments; perhaps it is time to ask, “at whose expense have those companies profited.” These are uncomfortable questions with complex answers. I have had people tell me the church should stay out of politics and economics, but what it that is exactly what is causing the most suffering in the world today. How do we wrestle with the Gospel call to care for the poor and those cast to the margins? What kinds of conflict and division do these questions cause? The answers are complex but know that the church has been this way before and has discovered that they are not alone as they did so. Let us proclaim and live that Christ is lord, not Caesar; caring is our mission, not our own comfort. Amen.