Sunday, October 8, 2023 – Pentecost 19

Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:7-14; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46 The Rev. Drew Brislin As I was thinking about this morning’s Gospel reading and its agricultural aspects, I could not help but be drawn back to memories of some of my earliest school projects and science experiments that included plants. From watching celery soak up food dye, to […]

Sunday, September 17, 2023 – Pentecost 16

Genesis 50:15-21; Psalm 103:8-13; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35 The Rev. Drew Brislin   “And forgive us our debts,                              as we also have forgiven our debtors.                        And do not bring us to the time of trial,                               but rescue us from the evil one. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but […]

Sunday, August 20, 2023 – Pentecost 12

Isaiah 56:1,6-8; Psalm 67 Romans 11:1-2a,29-32; Matthew 15:21-28 The Rev. Drew Brislin I have mentioned before that one of mine and Allison’s favorite things to do here in Montgomery is to support our local neighborhood theater The Capri. Having run into some of you there, I know we are not alone in our affinity for […]

Sunday, July 30, 2023 – Pentecost 9

1 Kings 3:5-12; Psalm 119:129-136 Romans 8:26-39; Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 The Rev. Drew Brislin July can often be an especially taxing month for me emotionally. My father’s birthday is July 21st and so he would have turned seventy-five this year and then just a few days later, on July 27th I remember him on the anniversary of […]

Sunday, July 9, 2023 – Pentecost 6

Zechariah 9:9-12; Psalm 145:8-15; Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:16-19,25-30 The Rev. Drew Brislin This past week I was with Allison in her hometown of Maryville, TN. While out running errands one day we visited the local mall. It dawned on me that it has been years since I have visited an actual mall. In my youth like […]

Sunday, June 25, 2023 – Pentecost 4

Jeremiah 20:7-13; Psalm 69:7-10 (11-15), 16-18; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39 The Rev. Drew Brislin Preachers sometimes refer to this reading in jest as Jesus’ sermon on family dynamics. I’m glad today is not Father’s Day because trying to explain ‘whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me’ might have been a […]

Sunday, May 21, 2023 – Easter 7

Acts 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10,33-36; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11, John 17:1-11 The Rev. Drew Brislin After retiring from teaching for more than thirty years in the Dallas County School System, my dad and my stepmother decided like so many folks to retire to the beach. My dad spent many of those years teaching junior high band […]

Sunday, April 23, 2023 – Easter 3

Acts 2: 14a, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17 1 Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35 The Rev. Drew Brislin Earlier this week I had the pleasure of visiting with one of my seminary classmates and her family. We met in Tuscaloosa as she and her husband were in town with their daughter to visit the University of Alabama […]

Sunday, March 26, 2023 – Lent 5

Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130;  Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45 The Rev. Drew Brislin As I have been making my way through this Lenten season, I have had this question that has been continually popping up in my head. It is rooted in part in my Baptist roots, roots that often called me to proclaim Jesus as my […]

Sunday, March 12, 2023 – Lent 3

Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95  Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-42 The Rev. Drew Brislin As we continue in this season of Lent, this season of preparation, we continue to learn more deeply about who Jesus is not just in terms of relationships but also in relationship to what it is he is doing in the world to transform […]