Sermon Notes

Part Two: The Herald

WELCOME Good morning!  Welcome to this service of worship for a Sunday that sees us draw toward the end of our sojourn through the shorter of the two yearly periods in the Christian calendar sometimes referred to as “ordinary” time.  Last Sunday—having over the course of six prior Sundays pondered what The Apostle’s Creed has to say in answer to the question “Who is Jesus Christ?”—we began a journey that will attempt to answer that question in a different way.  To be precise: based on a handful of texts from Matthew’s Gospel, we are trying to ponder how we—had we been his contemporaries 2000 years ago—would have made sense (or failed to make sense) of the man Jesus.  Last week the suggestion was made that he would, first and foremost, have been regarded as “a prophet”.  This week we’ll try to push that insight further and regard him as a prophet whose core mission made him “a herald”.  If correct, that designation will also turn out to have some unavoidable implications for the lives we lead as his followers!  Stay tuned!  And as always: welcome to Trinity United.