Season 2025

Christmas Eve - Freeing the Nativity from the Snow Globe

In his sermon on the Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord, Father Casey challenges sentimentalized views of the nativity, reclaiming its historical, prophetic, and mystical depth. Through family tradition, scripture, and the insight of Christian mystics, it reveals Christmas as a call to humility, transformation, and making room for Christ to be born, not just in a story, but within each person’s heart.
Today's Readings: Isaiah 9:2-7 | Titus 3:4-7 | Luke 2:1-20
Sermon preached by The Rev. Casey Shobe on the Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord.  We invite you to view the full service HERE.  Learn more about our community by visiting www.transfiguration.net.

Advent 4 - God With Us Under Siege

Deacon Michael Sturdy, using historical sieges and Isaiah’s prophecy, explores Emmanuel as God’s saving presence. He argues that God saves not through power politics, but by being fully with humanity in suffering, life, death, resurrection, and ongoing presence through the church and sacraments.
Today's Readings: Isaiah 7:10-16 | Romans 1:1-7 | Matthew 1:18-25
Sermon preached by The Rev. Michael Sturdy on the Fourth Sunday of Advent.  We invite you to view the full service HERE.  Learn more about our community by visiting www.transfiguration.net.

Advent 3 - Hope Between Two Advents

Mother Maddie Hill reflects on John the Baptist’s doubt, suffering, and faith while imprisoned. It explores the tension of living between Christ’s first and second advents, calling believers to hopeful, sacrificial living. Through service and love, Christians make God’s kingdom more visible while waiting for its fulfillment.
Today's Readings: Isaiah 35:1-10 | James 5:7-10 | Matthew 11:2-11
Sermon preached by The Rev. Maddie Hill on the Third Sunday of Advent.  We invite you to view the full service HERE.  Learn more about our community by visiting www.transfiguration.net.

Advent Reading of the Gospel of Matthew

Scripture was written as much with the intent to be heard as read. Please get comfortable, relax, and hear Matthew's account of the Gospel of Christ. Feel free to follow along with us as members of the congregation at Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration read from the NRVS version of the Bible.
A video version of this reading is available on YouTube: Click Here
If you wish to jump ahead to any chapter of Matthew's Gospel, the time marks are as follows:
00:00:00 - Opening Prayers
00:01:10 - Chapter 1
00:05:30 - Chapter 2
00:09:40 - Chapter 3
00:12:35 - Chapter 4
00:16:40 - Chapter 5
00:25:30 - Chapter 6
00:30:50 - Chapter 7
00:35:15 - Chapter 8
00:40:10 - Chapter 9
00:46:15 - Chapter 10
00:52:10 - Chapter 11
00:56:50 - Chapter 12
01:04:30 - Chapter 13
01:13:10 - Chapter 14
01:17:45 - Chapter 15
01:24:20 - Chapter 16
01:29:25 - Chapter 17
01:34:25 - Chapter 18
01:40:05 - Chapter 19
01:44:50 - Chapter 20
01:49:30 - Chapter 21
01:56:30 - Chapter 22
02:01:30 - Chapter 23
02:07:20 - Chapter 24
02:14:35 - Chapter 25
02:21:20 - Chapter 26
02:32:20 - Chapter 27
02:40:45 - Chapter 28
02:44:25 - Closing Prayer & Blessing
Visit our website: www.transfiguration.net

Advent 2 - Refining Fire: Advent’s Call to Prepare the Heart

Mother Rebecca reflects on our Advent encounter with John the Baptist and the anxiety surrounding divine judgment. Drawing on Scripture and theologian Barbara Brown Taylor, they explore God’s fire as purifying rather than destructive. They invite listeners to welcome this refining fire, repent, confront inner darkness, and prepare joyfully for Christ’s coming.
Today's Readings:  Isaiah 11:1-10 | Romans 15:4-13 | Matthew 3:1-12
Sermon preached by The Rev. Rebecca Tankersley on the Second Sunday of Advent.  We invite you to view the full service HERE.  Learn more about our community by visiting www.transfiguration.net.

Advent 1 - Living the Future: Advent, Prophets, and the Lord Who Reigns

Father Casey describes Advent as a season that honestly confronts the world’s brokenness. Through Isaiah’s prophetic vision, believers glimpse God’s peaceful future. Christians, born into the new creation through their baptism, must live as “time travelers,” embodying Christ’s kingdom now rather than treating Jesus as “Lord-elect.” Faith means living future hope in present reality.
Today's Readings: Isaiah 2:1-5 | Romans 13:11-14 | Matthew 24:36-44
Sermon preached by The Rev. Casey Shobe on the First Sunday of Advent.  We invite you to view the full service HERE.  Learn more about our community by visiting www.transfiguration.net.

Final Sunday Before Advent - Three Crosses, One King

Pastor JoNell explores Christ’s crucifixion as the gateway to divine kingship and grace. Through the imagery of three crosses, Luke’s narrative, and the two thieves, the speaker reveals God’s radical remembrance and mercy. The feast of Christ the King prepares believers for Advent, calling them to become a three-cross community of forgiveness.
Today's Readings: Jeremiah 23:1-6 | Colossians 1:11-20 | Luke 23:33-43
Sermon preached by The Rev. JoNell Lindh on The Final Sunday Before Advent also known as Christ the King.  We invite you to view the full service HERE.  Learn more about our community by visiting www.transfiguration.net.

Second Sunday Before Advent - What Endures When Greatness Falls

Father Casey's sermon reflects on Jesus’ warning from the Mount of Olives that even the most impressive human achievements and empires eventually fall. Christians are urged to resist today’s obsession with spectacle, see through the eyes of faith, and anchor themselves in Christ’s unshakable kingdom, which alone endures when all else crumbles.
Today's Readings: Malachi 4:1-2a | 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 | Luke 21:5-19
Sermon preached by The Rev. Casey Shobe on The Second Sunday Before Advent.  We invite you to view the full service HERE.  Learn more about our community by visiting www.transfiguration.net.

Third Sunday Before Advent - Whose Wife Will She Be?

Mother Rebecca explores Jesus’ debate with the Sadducees over resurrection, focusing on their callous use of a hypothetical woman to challenge faith. It contrasts human logic with divine mystery, urging compassion, equality, and trust in God’s faithfulness. Resurrection, Mother Rebecca explains, reveals not our understanding but God’s unyielding commitment to life and justice.
Today's Readings: Job 19:23-27a | 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 | Luke 20:27-38
Sermon preached by The Rev. Rebecca Tankersley on The Third Sunday Before Advent.  We invite you to view the full service HERE.  Learn more about our community by visiting www.transfiguration.net.

All Souls’ Day - Hope That Defeats Death

Bishop Wolfe, in this sermon given at the All Souls’ Requiem, reflects on the pervasive presence of death in life and society, acknowledging grief, fear, and despair. Yet it powerfully affirms Christian hope in the resurrection—through Christ’s victory, death is conquered. The preacher urges faith, comfort, and encouragement: even at the bottom of life’s well, the ground beneath is solid.
Readings: Wisdom 3:1-9 | I Thessalonians 4:13-18 | John 5:24-27
Sermon preached by The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe at All Souls' Day Requiem.  Learn more about our community by visiting www.transfiguration.net.