Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

Christ has risen, Alleluia! Now comes the hard part. The disciples are left in confusion. When Jesus returns the disciples struggle to recognize him. Christ has been raised from the dead, but we do not receive a quick fix to our daily struggles. How do we take Christ's message and see the world through different eyes? How do we navigate life now?

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Reading:

John 20:19-31

Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

The resurrection of Christ marks a time of celebration and joy, a welcome rebirth, but overly relying on familiar customs lets us bypass the deep soul work that the resurrection of Christ calls for. How can we, as Fr. Brandon said during the Great Vigil, "set the world aglow?" When our life is our practice, how do we fan the flames and become the resurrection of Christ? How do we become all fire?

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Rev. Brandon Nonnemaker, Ed.D.

"Returning to the Fire" invites us into the mystery at the heart of the Easter Vigil, where light emerges not by avoiding darkness but by entering it. Tracing the journey through soil, water, and breath, this sermon centers on the fire that has always marked God’s presence—guiding, refining, and rekindling life where hope feels lost. In a world of uncertainty, it calls us to become participants in that living flame, carrying resurrection not just as belief, but as practice.

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

So much in our modern world is obsessed with personal desires and power, and a spirit of greed and ambition saturates all aspects of our lives. Good Friday challenges us to become aware of the deep power of Jesus Christ: that in self-emptying and compassion, we are healed together and brought into wholeness.

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Reading:
John 18:1-19:42

Musical Reflection:
Were you there?
James Marshall, bass
Spiritual, arr. Harry T. Burleigh

Music by permission under www.OneLicense.net (license number A-701954)

Rev. Brandon Nonnemaker, Ed.D.

This sermon reflects on the disorienting tenderness of Jesus’ final night with his disciples, where love takes the unexpected shape of kneeling to wash feet. In a moment that confuses and unsettles, Jesus invites his followers—not to understand everything—but to trust and receive a love that feels both intimate and undeserved. “Love to the End” calls us to be transformed by that love, so that we might embody it for one another, even when we do not yet fully understand it.

Reading
John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

In John 12:20-36, Jesus says "unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains but a single grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit." We have learned to come to church and look to God for comfort, and to feel good. But God asks us to be transformed. What habits, ways of seeing and thinking and being have we been called to let die so that we can be transformed to bear fruit?

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Reading

- John 12: 20-36

Rev. Brandon Nonnemaker, Ed.D.

This Lent we’ve been on an exploration of elements: moving from soil and water to breath—the Spirit that animates all life. Through visions of dry bones in Ezekiel and the raising of Lazarus in John, we are invited to consider where life has gone still and how God’s breath restores what feels lost or beyond hope. As we approach Holy Week, this sermon calls us to become people through whom God’s living-giving Spirit flows into the world.

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Readings

• Ezekiel 37:1-14
• John 11:1-45

Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

When Jesus gave sight to a man who was born blind, the community couldn’t accept it. It was inconceivable. It conflicted with their world view. Jesus shows us that we see the world not as it is, but as we are. What miracles and opportunities do our rigid world views and expectations blind us to? How can our vision break open so that we see through God's eyes?

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Readings

• 1 Samuel 16:1-13
• John 9:1-41