Evelyn Higginbotham

We are called by Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to love one another as He loves us. He asks us to engage in an active relationship with Him in order to make the world a better place. Are we willing to sacrifice our own wants and desires, to take His hand and trust that He will lead us to green pastures?

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

Rev. Brandon Nonnemaker, Ed.D.

In the wake of awe-filled moments when God feels near, we often return to ordinary routines wondering what comes next. This sermon explores the disciples’ post-resurrection confusion and Jesus’ quiet recommissioning—an invitation to live out faith not just in the extraordinary, but in daily acts of love and service. Discipleship, we discover, means casting the net again and again, trusting that Christ meets us there.

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

This sermon was originally delivered on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025. We recorded Rev. Brandon Nonnemaker, Ed.D., on 4/29/2025 to add them to this podcast series.

Easter doesn’t restore order—it upends it. This sermon celebrates the holy disruption of resurrection, where death is defeated, power is reversed, and grace runs wild. In a world shaped by control and conformity, we are invited to live as dis-orderly people of love, proclaiming that everything has changed—because Christ is risen.

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

This sermon was originally delivered on Saturday, April 19, 2025 for Easter Vigil. We recorded Rev. Brandon Nonnemaker, Ed.D., on 4/29/2025 to add them to this podcast series.

At the Great Vigil of Easter, we stand not in full light, but on the threshold—between darkness and dawn, between death and new life. The first Easter did not come wrapped in triumph but in trembling, as faithful women carried spices and sorrow to a tomb already empty. This sermon names the sacred truth that resurrection meets us not in perfection, but in our dis-ease—and promises that even here, even now, love has the final word.

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

Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

When it comes to religious life, St. Thomas often gets viewed through a suspicious lens. We often view doubt as a weakness or moral failing, but what if doubt is viewed through the lens of wonder and curiosity? How can doubt actually be a sign of deepening faith, as we engage with the Spirit in our lives and seek to grow?

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

Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin
Beneath the sparkle and the dye, beneath all that catches our eye, there flows a Deep Easter, a truth that new life is always present. How can we find hope in times of uncertainty, as we recognize how fragile and resilient life is? Thank goodness we have a full fifty days to celebrate Easter, because we need all the time we can get to become saturated with the promise of God’s life-giving presence.
For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

In the Crucifixion, God takes all of human experience and pain onto God's Self, entering into the deepest crevices of death to heal the pain of our lives. By reflecting on God's all-embracing love, we see that we have no reason at all to fear death.

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

Rev. Dr. Cynthia Park

So much around Holy Week involves symbols, metaphors, and very specific "labor". All that silver doesn't polish itself, and flowers don't just jump into pots! Eight hundred service leaflets have to be composed, edited, printed. Choral music work for Easter begins shortly after the final verse of Silent Night on Christmas Eve. It can be easy to go through the Triduum with a checklist, marking off "things done" and still "left undone" as the days go on. Which is why it is so important to take the time to sit with the questions. Pilate's questions to Jesus "What is 'truth'?" and "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus' question to Simon in the Garden "Could you not stay awake and pray with me for even an hour?" And Jesus' question to God "Why?!? Why have you forsaken me?!?" Some believers emphasize the importance of knowing the "right answers." We tend to emphasize the importance of sitting with "the hard questions." Tonight, we sit with Jesus' question to his disciples in the upper room "Do you understand what I have done for you?"

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