Setting up a personal website is a troubling business. I am not speaking about the trouble of rummaging through thirty years of hard and soft files of miscellanea, much of it occasional in purpose and often only half-finished. No, the trouble is deeper: what is a Christian minister, make that a Christian of any stripe, doing exalting himself on the worldwide web? Well, here are my excuses.
Author: Stephen Noll
GAFCON AND ACC-17: A Response to Andrew Atherstone
At the end of April (2019) two church bodies met, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC-17) in Hong Kong and the Gafcon Primates in Sydney. The Gafcon Primates published a Communiqué of their meeting. The ACC does not normally produce a …
EASTER OCTAVE, DAY EIGHT: The Half-Empty Tomb
I preached this sermon on Easter Wednesday 1990 at Trinity School for Ministry. I wonder how many of you have read Anne Tyler’s book, or seen the movie, titled The Accidental Tourist. The eccentric hero of the book, Macon Leary, …
EASTER OCTAVE, DAY SEVEN: The Prodigal Terrorist Enters Paradise
I preached this sermon on Good Friday 2017 at my home parish in Pennsylvania. Since it speaks of an event subsequent to Jesus’ death, it seems appropriate to consider it for Holy Saturday. In Holy Week we are invited to …
EASTER OCTAVE, DAY SIX (Good Friday): “Was Ever Grief Like Mine?”
Today’s meditation for Good Friday comes from three poems by the Anglican poet George Herbert (1593-1633): “The Agony,” “The Sacrifice,” and “Love.” These three themes sum up the words and work of our Lord on the Cross that first Good …
EASTER OCTAVE, DAY FIVE (Maundy Thursday): “Father, Forgive Them”
The prayer of forgiveness continues to rescue sinners and make pilgrims down the ages because it proceeds from the throne of the Lamb that was slain, who ever lives to make intercession for us (Revelation 7:6; Hebrews 7:25).
EASTER OCTAVE, DAY FOUR: “My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?”
Jesus’ “Why?” directed to the Father confronts the imminent undoing of the Incarnation. As He approaches the door of death, He foresees His soul separated from His Body.
EASTER OCTAVE, DAY THREE: “Woman, Behold Your Son!”
Yes, the third word - “Woman, behold, your son!” … “Behold, your mother!” is indeed a mundane word. From the Cross, Jesus provided for his mother’s future needs. But in a final sense, it is a supra-mundane, a heavenly word.
EASTER OCTAVE, DAY TWO: “Finished”
“Finished!” I preached this meditation on Good Friday 1973 in my first parish. We are told that just before Jesus died, he uttered a loud cry. The Gospels are not in total agreement as to what this last cry was, …
EASTER OCTAVE, DAY ONE: Palm Sunday
I want you to imagine two men, one standing on the top of the city wall, a Pharisee, a follower of the Scriptures and God’s Law. Another man stands below him beside the gate. He is a Jewish tax collector, …
EASTER OCTAVE: Meditations for Holy Week and Easter
Dear Online Friends, I gave up “contending” for Lent, but it struck me as appropriate during Holy Week not to take up the sword but to “enter with joy upon the meditation of those mighty acts by which you have …