Resist Burnout; Persist In What’s Right

Nov. 13, 2022

Seminarian Brandon Nonnemaker points out that we can fall into idleness for many reasons, throwing our hands in the air and walking away from God’s work. But in today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, we’re urged to resist and challenge such behavior. We must not simply consume time, but instead actively seek ways to join in God’s work. Don’t get tired of doing what’s right. Never stop loving and lifting up those around you.

See 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

The Spirit Puts Sainthood Within Our Reach

Nov. 6, 2022

It’s easy to view saints as people who possessed a special holiness beyond our reach. Or to hear the Beatitudes from today’s Gospel and feel discouraged and helpless to achieve the levels of goodness they call for. But Rev. Rachel Rickenbaker reveals that the Beatitudes point not at us, but to Jesus, the only one who has accomplished all of these things. We, with all the saints, inherit the eternal kingdom because of what Christ has done.

See Luke 6:20-31

Where Is God When Bad Things Happen?

Oct. 30, 2022

In today’s reading, Habakkuk calls out to God for relief from current hardships, as we do today. If God is all-powerful and all-loving, how do we explain the presence of pain and evil in our world? And what if it simply can’t be explained? By learning to live without every explanation, we learn to live more fully in the world as it is. Our actions, attitudes, and presence do not need to depend on having all those answers now. God tells Habakkuk: the answers will come. Wait for them.

See Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

God Doesn’t Need Our Photoshopped Selves

Oct. 23, 2022

We all might side with the humble tax collector over the self-righteous Pharisee in today’s Gospel reading. However, as Mary Lynn Rynkiewicz points out, it’s not easy for us to do what the tax collector did: to be real with God about who we are. We want God and other people to notice how good we are. But God doesn’t need the Photoshopped version of our lives. Being humble and vulnerable before God allows us to turn toward God and begin to make things right.

See Luke 18:9-14

The Law That Frees Us

Oct. 16, 2022

Rev. Dorota Wright-Pruski notes that the word “covenant” makes us think of Old Testament laws that seem to make no sense in our modern world. But today’s readings talk not about specific laws, but the “new covenant”, a timeless framework written on our hearts. Instead of restricting us, this covenant frees us to live a life that is free and full, beautiful and God-centered.

See Jeremiah 31:27-34 and Psalm 119:97-104

Where God’s Grace Leads, Good Works Follow

Oct. 9, 2022

What can we take from the actions of the one of 10 lepers who returned to praise God and thank Jesus after being healed? As seminarian Brandon Nonnemaker reveals, God’s grace (in Jesus) came first, and good works (the healing) followed. The leper seems poised to repeat that pattern, as Jesus sends him forth. Stewardship is seeing God’s grace in the world and rejoicing in a way that shapes our response.

See Luke 17:11-19

How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song?

Oct. 2, 2022

In today’s readings, the people of Judea cry out from exile in Babylon. Instead of turning their backs on God, they face God, holding up their pain and saying, “Be here with us. Hold this with us.” How should we share our pain with God? By any means necessary, with whatever voice we have, with honesty and the support of our church community. No matter how messy, complicated, or broken our lives, we will never be too much for God.

See Lamentations 1:1-6 and Psalm 137

I Hear You, and I See You

Sept. 25, 2022

It’s easy for us to view the parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus as simply an indictment of those with wealth and privilege. But, as Rev. Dorota Wright-Pruski notes, in a broader sense the story and its lessons apply to all of us who assign the status of “other” to those around us, viewing our own needs and ideas as more important than theirs. Who are the Lazaruses in our lives?

See Luke 16: 19-31

Would You Leave the 99 to Seek the Lost?

Sept. 11, 2022

Seminarian Brandon Nonnemaker looks at the parable of the lost sheep through the lens of not only those who are lost, but also those of us who face the shepherd’s decision. In a society that marginalizes the sinners, the broken, and the lost, are we like the Pharisees who join in the exclusion, or like Jesus who seeks the lost and welcomes them to the table?

See Luke 15: 1-10

Was Jesus Just Messin’ With Us?

Sept. 4, 2022

Why does Jesus tell listeners to hate their families in today’s Gospel reading? Rev. John Baker notes that fast-paced change in our world makes it important for us to dream and imagine, to open our minds to new possibilities. With parables, analogies and assertions that shook people out of their comfort zones, Jesus sought to open minds in this way. He challenges us to consider what’s more important than love of God, love of neighbor, and awareness of God’s presence in our lives.

See Luke 14: 25-33

Welcome, Stranger

August 28, 2022

Today’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrews notes that God is present when strangers eat together. However, Rev. Dorota Wright-Pruski reminds us that these relationships depend not on food, but on hospitality. Relationships deepen when strangers treat each other as honored guests. To embrace this practice, we can start small by greeting strangers we encounter, or by stretching our comfort zone to spend time with people who are different from us.

See Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Pancakes or waffles? Love or life?

April 17, 2022 / Easter Sunday

In a special Easter Sunday message, Rev. Dorota Wright-Pruski gets the kids playing a game about tough choices — like the choice Jesus made to sacrifice his life for the sake of love. And thanks to God’s miraculous rule change, the result wasn’t the disappearance of life, but of death.

A Year in the Life of St. Andrew’s: 2021

January 30, 2022

Presented at the St. Andrew’s Parish Annual Meeting, this video looks back on the challenges and celebrations of our parish during a year of dramatic change.

The Scripture Is Alive With What We Bring to It

December 25, 2021

John’s Gospel prologue invites us back to the beginning of creation; the Word that spoke the world into being continues to speak. As Seminarian Brandon Nonnemaker notes, every week we tell and hear stories of God’s relationship with God’s creation. As we bring ourselves to scripture again and again, we can be encouraged and inspired. It is Good News that “God pitched a tent among us, in a lowly stable.”

See John 1:1-14.

Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem

— C.V. Stanford

Sung by the combined choirs of:

• The Falls Church, Episcopal
• St. Andrew’s, Arlington
• St. Andrew’s, Burke
• St. Mary’s, Arlington, and
• The Church of the Epiphany, Oak Park, CA

Jay Wilcox, conductor

Aaron Goen, organist

A Year in the Life of St. Andrew’s: 2020

Jan. 31, 2021

Presented at the St. Andrew’s Parish Annual Meeting, this video looks back on the challenges and celebrations of our parish during a difficult year. Permission to reprint, podcast, and / or stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license # M-400520. All rights reserved.

Christmas Greetings from St. Andrew’s

Dec. 25, 2020

Families from St. Andrew’s share their holiday greetings virtually in a heartwarming montage of photos and videos.

Permission to reprint, podcast, and / or stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #M-400520. All rights reserved.

Silent Night

Dec. 24, 2020

Families from St. Andrew’s lend their voices to a virtual ensemble performance of “Silent Night.”

Speaking in Tongues: The Pentecost

May 31, 2020

In this reading of Acts 2: 1-21, members of St. Andrew’s contribute their talents in terms of foreign languages and artwork.

“Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether”

May 31, 2020

A combined choral presentation featuring the choirs of Holy Cross in Dunn Loring, VA; St. Andrew’s in Arlington, VA; and St. Andrew’s in Burke, VA.

Permission to reprint, podcast, and / or stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #M-400520. All rights reserved.