October 1
the Rev. John Frederick
February 19
the Rev. John Frederick
January 22
the Rev. John Frederick
January 15
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
January 8
the Rev. John Frederick
The Life of Abraham: Genesis 12-22
The LIfe of Abraham
On Sunday, January 29th, we return to the book of Genesis for our new sermon series, The Life of Abraham: Genesis 12-22. Last winter we considered our beginnings in Genesis 1-11, finding that though life originates in glory, things descend swiftly into sin and chaos. This winter we turn to God’s mission to reclaim his corrupted creation. It’s a project that takes form through the family of a man from Mesopotamia, Abraham.
Themes of calling, mission, and faith emerge in Abraham’s life and become the fabric of the rest of Scripture. In Abraham’s calling, we can hear God’s call to us. By Abraham’s example, we meet the way of faith. Most importantly, through Abraham we are pointed to Jesus. Abraham’s seed, through whom God’s blessings pour forth to all the world, is Jesus Christ (Gal 3:16; Rom 4:17). Therefore, through Abraham God begins applying the balm of salvation to a wicked and weary world: by faith, not perfection, we can be reconciled to God.
Calling, mission, faith—and promises that come true only in Jesus— these are the themes of Abraham’s life. And they must become the fabric of ours.
SERMON NOTES FOR SMALL GROUPS
January 29, 2023: Abraham and The Call of God
February 5, 2023: Abraham and The Mission of God
February 12, 2023: Abraham and The Steps of Faith
February 26, 2023: Abraham and The Reassurance of Faith
March 5, 2023: A Good and Hard Covenant
March 12, 2023: The Cost of Compromise
March 19, 2023: God Gets the Last Laugh
March 26, 2023: God Tests Abraham to Prove He Provides
LENT BREAK
February 19, 2023: Giving Up Ourselves for Lent
Series Sermons
Sunday, March 26, 2023
The Rev. Sam Ferguson
March 19, 2023
the Rev. John Frederick
March 12, 2023
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
MARCH 5, 2023
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
FEBRUARY 26, 2023
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
FEBRUARY 12, 2023
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
FEBRUARY 5, 2023
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
January 29, 2023
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
The Servant King & The King's Servants: A Study in Mark 1 -10
Sermon Series Guidebook
At a deep level the Gospel of Mark is all about seeing—seeing who we are, seeing who Jesus is, seeing what God’s kingdom is really like. This persistent theme of seeing but not perceiving highlights a daunting fact about our human condition: spiritual blindness.
To the spiritually blind, Mark seems to be suggesting the following posture to his readers, which I commend to you:
First, learn from Blind Bartimaeus. To Jesus’ question, “What do you want me to do for you,” he replies, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight” (10:51). Not insignificantly, this is the last miracle Jesus performs in Mark. It screams to the reader, “Pray that you too may recover your sight!”
Second, note well the theme of childlikeness in the middle of Mark: “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (10:15; 9:36-37; 42; 10:13-16). With the wide and innocent eyes of a child, look to Jesus with humility.
Finally, there is the crucial lesson from the centurion at the cross. “Seeing that in this way Jesus breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’” (15:39). Other than the opening line of Mark, this is the only time a human uses this divine title for Jesus. It’s no accident. You cannot truly see Jesus unless you are looking at him from the foot of the cross. The Cross of Christ brings all things into proper focus.
As you read the following passages from Mark’s Gospel and follow along in this series, do so from beneath the cross. Lay your expectations, assumptions and ambitions at the Lord’s feet. Humbly acknowledge that you need a Savior whose way is different and deeper than your own—a King whose rule over your life begins with service, even laying down his life for yours (10:45).
We hope you’ll use the guide alongside a friend, with your family, or in your small group, to grow as a disciple of Jesus this fall—or perhaps to answer His call for the first time!
Sunday, December 11, 2022: The King’s Servant-Leaders
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2022: THE KING’S INVITATION
the Rev. Steve Cannizzaro
Sunday, November 27, 2022: The King’s Transfiguration
the Rev. John Frederick
Sunday, November 20, 2022: The King’s People’s Pain
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
Sunday, November 13, 2022: The King’s Pain
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2022: THE KING’S LAW
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
Sunday, October 30, 2022: The King’s chosen People
the Rev. Sam Ferguson
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2022: THE KING’S PROVISION
the Rev. John Frederick
Sunday, October 16, 2022: The King’s Opposition
Rev. Isaiah Brooms
Sunday, October 9, 2022: The King’s Parables
Rev. Sam Ferguson
Sunday, September 18, 2022: The King’s Preparation
Rev. Sam Ferguson
Sunday, September 25, 2022: The King’s Proclamation
Rev. Sam Ferguson
Sunday, October 2, 2022: The King’s Power
Rev. Sam Ferguson
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2022: THE KING’S PARABLES
Rev. Sam Ferguson
2 Peter
Sunday, July 31, 2022: John Frederick on Removing Fragments of the Former Heart of Stone
John Frederick
Sunday, August 7, 2022: John Frederick on Hearts that Follow the Word in a World that Tells the Heart to Follow Itself
John Frederick
Sunday, August 14, 2022: Isaiah Brooms on No Reconciliation Without a Reckoning
Isaiah Brooms
Sunday, August 21, 2022: Graedon Zorzi on Which Freedom?
Graedon Zorzi
Sunday, August 28, 2022: John frederick on the end of the world as we know it
John Frederick
Holy Week 2022
Palm Sunday
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Easter Sunday
In The Beginning: A Study on Genesis 1-11
Sermon Series Guidebook
From the grandeur of our creation to the tragedy of our fall, Genesis 1-11 reveals our beginnings for the sake of explaining our present—who we are, why we exist, why life is the way it is—, not merely to satisfy curiosity, but to awaken us to the voice of our Maker, who from time immemorial calls us His own. The events of the garden, Cain’s slaying of Abel, the flood, and Babel’s tower, are true in the deepest sense. They not only happened, but are patterns that reply every day and in every heart; God’s people take rather than trust, turn inward rather than upward. Mercifully, these early chapters of the Bible also introduce us to the antidote to our sin, which is the grace of God. As he relied on God for his beginning, so too does man rely on God for his redeeming—Genesis 1-11, therefore, ultimately points us to the Last Adam, Jesus Christ.
We’ve designed a guidebook to help us go deeper during the series. It follows the sermon each week and includes questions, guides for prayer, ways to respond, and resources to go deeper. Hardcopies of the guidebook will be available at all of our services beginning on Sunday, 1/30, so be sure to pick one up while supplies last.
We hope you’ll use the guide alongside a friend, with your family, or in your small group, to grow as a disciple of Jesus this fall—or perhaps to answer His call for the first time!
The Rev. Sam Ferguson | Genesis 11:1-9
The Rev. Sam Ferguson | Genesis 6:1-8:22
The Rev. Sam Ferguson | Genesis 4:8-16
The Rev. Sam Ferguson | Genesis 4:1-7
The Rev. Sam Ferguson | Genesis 3:8-24
The Rev. Sam Ferguson | Genesis 2:25-3:8
The Rev. Sam Ferguson | Genesis 2:1-3, 7-9
The Rev. Sam Ferguson | Genesis 2:18-25
The Rev. Sam Fegurson | Genesis 1:26-28; 2:4-17
The Rev. Sam Ferguson | Gen 1:1-31
Advent and Christmastide 2021
Dec. 26th - Christmas Sunday Service
Dec. 24th - 10pm Christmas Eve Service
Dec. 24th - 8pm Christmas Eve Service
Dec. 24th - 6pm Chrismtas Eve Service
Dec. 24th - 4pm Christmas Eve Family Service
Dec. 19th - 11am Lessons & Carols
Dec. 19th - 9am Lessons and Carols
Dec. 12th - The Peaceful Presence of God Soothes the Anxieties of Man
Dec. 5th - The Lord is Coming. Are you Getting Ready?
Dec. 5th - 9am Service (Handel’s Messiah)
Dec. 5th - Messiah Meditation
The Everyday Disciple
Sermon Series Guidebook
What are the marks of a disciple of Jesus? This fall we’ll consider ten marks essential to discipleship in our sermon series, The Everyday Disciple: Following Jesus One Step at a Time. By studying Jesus’ first followers, a vision of discipleship emerges that is both alluring and daunting. But our goal isn’t overnight perfection. Rather, we’ll encourage each other to take just one more step each day towards the call of our Lord, “Follow me.”
We’ve designed a guidebook to help us go deeper during the series. It follows the sermon each week and includes questions, guides for prayer, ways to respond, and resources to go deeper. Hardcopies of the guidebook will be available at all of our services beginning on Sunday, 9/12, so be sure to pick one up while supplies last.
You may also download a printable PDF of the guidebook here.
We hope you’ll use the guide alongside a friend, with your family, or in your small group, to grow as a disciple of Jesus this fall—or perhaps to answer His call for the first time!
Mere Sexuality
Three-Part Mini Sermon Series: July 11-25
Our walk through 1 Peter arrives at the topic of men and women in 1 Peter 3:1-7. The Apostle’s teaching there is built upon God’s Word not just about marriage, but also God’s deep and eternal design for sexuality, human fulfillment, and gender. Church leadership feels these topics are so important that we’ll pause our current sermon series for a three part mini-series this July, Mere Sexuality: God’s Design for Marriage, Fulfillment, & Gender, devoting sermons to the biblical view of marriage (7/11), sex and human fulfillment (7/18), and gender (7/25). These messages touch on the sensitive topics of same sex attraction, gay marriage, singleness, transgenderism and gender dysphoria. We want parishioners to be aware of this as some material may be sensitive for younger children or friends you may invite to church. As always, we aim on Sunday mornings to open the Word of God in faithfulness. And we also follow our Lord’s example, desiring not only clarity in truth, but a spirit of compassion in how we love.
JULY 25, 2021
JULY 18, 2021
July 11, 2021
Sermons from I Peter 1-2
AUGUST 29, 2021
AUGUST 22, 2021
CLICK HERE for the audio message “The Glory of Sharing in Christ’s Sufferings.”
AUGUST 15, 2021
CLICK HERE for the audio message “Shepherding God’s Flock.”
AUGUST 8, 2021
CLICK HERE for the audio message “The City of God in Exile.”
August 1, 2021
CLICK HERE for the audio message “Keeping the End in Mind.”
July 4, 2021
JUNE 27, 2021
JUNE 20, 2021
June 13, 2021
JUNE 6, 2021
May 30, 2021
May 16, 2021
May 9, 2021
May 2, 2021
April 25, 2021
Holy Week
APRIL 4 • EASTER SUNDAY
APRIL 2 • GOOD FRIDAY
APRIL 1 • MAUNDY THURSDAY
March 28 • Palm Sunday
Reading: John 12:12-15
Pastor: The Rev. Graedon Zorzi
Thy Very Heart: My Heart Healed by His
March 21
March 14
March 7
February 28
FEBRUARY 21
FebRUARY 14
February 7
January 31
Advent and Christmastide
January 24, 2021
Pastor: Steve Cannizzaro
January 17, 2021
Pastor: Skip Ryan
Reading: Luke 9:28-37 and Exodus 3:1-6
January 10, 2021
Pastor: Steve Cannizzaro
Reading: 1 Thess. 1:1-10
THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS AT THE TEMPLE
January 3, 2021
Pastor: Steve Cannizzaro
Readings: Luke 2:22-38
A 2020 Wrap Up: James, Knees, and Noah
December 27, 2020
Pastor: Dean Miller
Readings: James 5:7-20
THE KINDNESS OF GOD APPEARING
December 24, 2020
Pastor: Sam Ferguson
Readings: Luke 2:8-20
IN PRAISE OF MARY
December 20, 2020
Pastor: Skip Ryan
Readings: Luke 1:26-38
Christ’s Coming and Our Ambition
December 13, 2020
Pastor: Sam Ferguson
Readings: John 3:22-30 and Isaiah 9:1-7
The Coming King
November 29, 2020
Pastor: Steve Cannizzaro
Readings: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 and Mark 13:24-37
See also:
The Reign of Christ the King (click here)
November 22, 2020, Christ the King Sunday
Pastor: Skip Ryan
Text: 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
Together in Christ Amid Divisive Times
September 13
Together in Christ amid Divisive Times
Eph. 4:1–6; John 17:1–23
Here we introduce the tensions and divisiveness of this moment, consider how it impacts the church, and ask what unity looks like and why it is important at a time such as this. Click here to read the sermon.
Part I. The Nature of the Christ-Community
What is Christian community and how is it different from other communities we may be part of?
September 20
A Deeper Community
Eph. 1:1–23; Acts 2:36–37
What community finally determines who you are, what you’re here for, and where you are headed? Which web of relationships exacts the greatest influence upon you? Click here to read the sermon.
September 27
A Diverse Community
Eph. 2:11–22; Gen. 12:1–9
Our world is desperately trying to create an inclusive community; how does the Christian Community make possible a richer and real diversity?
Part II. The Habits of the Christ Community
How does the Christian community think and engage uniquely? What are its habits of understanding and acting with the world around it?
October 4
A Thinking Community
Eph 4:17–24; Prov. 1:1–5; 4:7; 15:22; 18:13; 20:5; 21:2; 23:12; 25:2; 27:27
Our culture does not teach us to think and understand issues well. Christians know that even our “minds are darkened,” so how do we as a community in Christ think and understand important matters with the mind of Christ?
October 11
A Doing Community
Eph. 2:1–10; 2 Cor. 5:16–21
As we understand issues around us in the light of Christ, when and how do we engage them?
Part III. The Love of the Christ-Community
How does our community uniquely love, both each other and the world around us?
October 18
A Praying Community
Ezek. 3, Zech. 7, Isa. 50, Luke 9 & 19, 1 Sam. 12
We are called to be people of truth and love. How do we live well during polarized times? In what ways do we seek what is ‘easy’ over what God calls us to?
October 25
A Loving Community Part 1: A Humble Love
Matt. 11:25-30; Eph. 4:1-7
Our witness loses integrity if we don’t love one another, so what is the unique energy and manner of how the community loves one another?
November 1
A Loving Community Part 2: A Building Up Love
Eph. 4:7-16; John 13:31-35
Our witness loses integrity if we don’t love one another, so what is the unique energy and manner of how the community loves one another?
November 8
An Outwardly Loving Community
Eph. 5:1–21; Matt. 5:13–16
Our posture toward the world is bittersweet in that we lament and warn, while also laying down our lives in service; what does this Christ-like love of the world look like?
Introduction
Dear Church Family,
2020 has been a tough year! A pandemic, race and justice issues, upended social norms, protests and riots, and virtual everything, have made the past six months unexpected to say the least. Thrown into the mix will soon be a presidential election. In the Washington Metro region, the mood can feel tense, tired and a bit divisive.
How should Christians understand and engage a moment like this? We must renew our vision and commitment to the church, the heart of God’s mission for us and the world, for two reasons.
First, when a spirit of division moves about in a nation, it tends to sow seeds of division within the church. The vibrancy and witness of the church, however, issues from her members’ unity and bonds of love. The quality of our life together is part of the witness of the Gospel of Hope that we hold out to a weary world. This fall, for the sake of the world, let’s ponder Paul’s admonition to the Ephesians: “be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3).
Second, you and I need the church. We are not ourselves by ourselves. Webs of relationships shape how we see and understand the world and our role in it. As Christians we are called to be shaped and to understand the world through Christ. In God’s economy of salvation, this shaping and transforming happens within a community of believers nourished by the Holy Spirit. Let’s live into, therefore, this truth: “though many, we are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Rom. 12:5).
Our fall sermon series, Together in Christ amid Divisive Times, aims at renewing our vision and commitment to this community created by Christ. Drawing heavily from the Letter to the Ephesians, we will consider these three aspects of the church: its nature, habits, and love. My prayer for us in these months is not only for a deepened unity around our life in Christ (Eph. 4:3), but a fulfillment of Ephesians 3:10, “that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”
In Christ's Love,
Sam Ferguson, Rector
Labor Day Sermon
Parables and Psalms
August 30
August 23
August 16, 2020
August 9, 2020
August 2, 2020
July 26, 2020
July 19, 2020
July 12, 2020
July 5, 2020
June 28, 2020
June 21, 2020
June 14, 2020
June 7, 2020
May 31, 2020
The Lord and His Prayer: Realizing the Kingdom through Prayer
May 24 • Deliver Us from Evil
May 18 • Forgive Us, as We Forgive
May 10 • Give Us This Day Our Bread
May 3, 2020 • Let His Kingdom Come
April 26, 2020 • Our Father, Hallowed Be Thy Name
Introduction
Some associate The Lord’s Prayer with rote religious tradition. How far from its original intent! Jesus taught this prayer as the path into the burning center of God’s Kingdom. Coming in the middle of Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5–7), The Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9–13) is how disciples engage and enjoy their new life in God and live into His missional purposes here on earth. In praying these words, doctrine becomes life, teaching flows into kingdom.
Over the next five weeks, in our series The Lord and His Prayer: Realizing the Kingdom through Prayer, we will study this prayer, what it means, how we pray and live it, and why it matters for us today.
Three goals excite me as we launch this series. The first has to do with experience: I want God and the realities of God’s Kingdom to become more real to our hearts through this prayer. Through Jesus we become God’s children (John 1:12–13), but it is through prayer, by the working of the Holy Spirit, that we experience our sonship.
The second is about reorientation and engagement: I want us to become reoriented to what God is doing in the world, and increasingly to be His instruments in accomplishing it. Praying “Thy will be done” thrust us into the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom here on earth, reorienting us to see events, happenings, and spiritual things from God’s perspective.
The third is all about rest: Jesus words just prior to The Lord’s Prayer are, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt 6:8). And His words soon after read, “Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For … your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (Matt 6:31–32). Praying this prayer is our rest.
Schedule
Our Father, Hallowed Be Thy Name (April 26)
Let His Kingdom Come (May 3)
Give Us This Day Our Bread (May 10)
Forgive Us, as We Forgive (May 17)
Deliver Us from Evil (May 24)
Holy Week 2020
Palm Sunday
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Easter Sunday
Jonah and the Whale
Credo: Truths That Shape a Christian Life
+ About Our Series
FROM THE RECTOR (Jan. 19, 2020)
Like vines climbing a latticework, our lives are supported and shaped by a few deep truths we cling to. It may be the wisdom of our parents, ideas of a beloved teacher, or the values of a popular ideology we hold to. More common today, we may simply believe in ourselves. Whether we realize it or not, we all live by a creed—some assortment of beliefs that shape the quality and direction of our lives.
Christians face squarely this dynamic between belief (faith) and life. From their earliest days they knew following Jesus meant reshaping life around a new creed. One enduring example of this is the ancient Apostles’ Creed, a succinct articulation of the truest truths according to Jesus Christ. Still recited worldwide, the Creed boldly begins, Credo in Deum (I believe in God).
In our sermon series over the next six weeks, Credo: Truths That Shape a Christian Life, we consider some essential doctrines (truths) of the faith as expressed in the Apostles' Creed (and Nicene Creed, CLICK HERE) by looking at how they arise from Scripture. Whether hearing these truths for the first or thousandth time, please join me these next weeks in asking two questions: What creed am I currently living by? What might life look like if I wholeheartedly believed the truest truths of Christianity?
I Believe in…
- The Doctrine of God (Jan. 19)
- The Doctrine of the Son (Jan. 26)
- The Doctrine of Humanity (Feb. 2)
- The Doctrine of the Cross (Feb. 9)
- The Doctrine of Final Things (Feb. 16)
- The Doctrine of the Spirit and the Church (Feb. 23)
+ On the Doctrine of Humanity (Introduction)
FROM THE RECTOR (Feb. 2, 2020)
What is man that you are mindful of him?" -Ps. 8:4
Inscribed across the ancient Greek portico of Apollo’s Temple at Delphi, a timeless maxim reads, "Know thyself." Long before the insights of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, we humans knew we were a knot in need of untangling. And for good reason! Answering who we are is important not only for meeting the woman or man in the mirror, it’s essential for knowing how we should act, interact, hope, love and ultimately find fulfillment.
As we continue our sermon series, Credo: Truths That Shape a Christian Life, we take up the Doctrine of Humanity, asking with Psalm 8, “What is man…?” Christianity requires a biblical view of being human. Scripture opens with God making humanity in His image (Gen 1:26–27) and for our redemption, as the Creed attests, our Lord “came down from heaven … and was made man” (Nicene Creed). Christianity sets forth a story that begins with man’s grandeur, plunges into his misery, then points to his future glory—all under the watchful eye of our Creator. Careful reflection upon the biblical view of humanity has never been more important in this age of confusion.
The modern Western self finds herself stripped of a creator, dislocated from any story with eternal purpose and meaning, and burdened with an unbearable weight of self-actualization. “Know thyself” has morphed into “create thyself.” Issues as far-ranging as justice, sexuality, gender, fulfillment, and hope are now held, not in the wise hands of God, but feeble fingers of man. The Church invites wandering Homo sapiens back home, where the question is not "Who am I?" but "Whose am I?" May The Falls Church Anglican be a place where the Doctrine of Humanity is reclaimed, rearticulated, and esteemed as the good news it is.
Feb. 23, 2020
Feb. 16, 2020
Feb. 9, 2020
Feb. 2, 2020
Jan. 26, 2020
Jan. 19, 2020