Eighth Sunday after Pentecost | Gospel & Homily - July 19, 2026 (10:30 AM)

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost | Gospel & Homily - July 19, 2026 (10:30 AM) “When Life Is Blown Apart” St. Philip’s Episcopal Church Jackson, Mississippi Preacher: The Reverend Marie Smith Gospeler: The Reverend Les Hegwood Drawing upon Isaiah’s words to a people wounded by exile and Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the weeds, the sermon explores how God meets us amid trauma, confusion, and shattered lives. Trauma may disrupt the stories through which we understand ourselves, but God remains present and helps us reconstruct those stories through grace. The parable warns against hurried judgment and destructive attempts to separate good from evil, reminding us that divine justice belongs to God. Our calling is to participate in restorative justice: forgiving when possible, helping repair what has been broken, and working for the restoration even of those who have caused harm. Like ashes returned to fertile soil, the wounded and broken places of our lives can become sources of new growth and powerful testimony to God’s redeeming grace. The Collect of the Day Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Readings: Isaiah 44:6-8 Psalm 86:11-17 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 Click this link to view or print the readings: https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_... Please consider making an online offering or pledge payment: https://www.stphilipsjackson.com/stew...   @StPhilipsJackson #Episcopal #AllAreWelcome #TellingOurStory #Homily Content reprinted and streamed with permission under ONE LICENSE# A-734647. All rights reserved. Royalty Free Music: https://www.bensound.com Artist: Theatre Of Delays License code: L6QK7IALCI5R5ZUY