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Category: Sermons

Abraham, Father of Faith

I will begin a series of narrative sermons on Biblical heroes, male and female. I will seek to tell their whole stories, not just an […]

Jesus the Boy, the Baptized, the Beloved

Have you ever lost your child in a crowd? Ever gotten lost? When I was in my first seminary year in N.Y. City, my parents […]

A Meditation on John 6

The story of the feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels, hence its importance to the church. I […]

How Far is it to Bethlehem

How far is it to Bethlehem? When Mary and Joseph took for Bethlehem from Nazareth it was a three day journey on foot. Mary […]

Come to the Party

I must say, Luke’s version of this parable is easier to preach than Matthew’s version. I In Luke’s version a man, not […]

The Celtic Christian Way

This summer I traveled to the island of Iona. It was I think my seventh trip there. You have to want to go […]

A Tale of Two Cathedrals

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age […]

Jonah, God’s Little Comedy

I call the book of Jonah, “God’s little comedy.” It pokes fun at our human foibles, and it has a happy ending. Frederick Buechner says […]

Babel and Pentecost

These two stories, Babel and Pentecost, cause us to ponder the unity that is disobedience and the unity that is the gift of God, the […]

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Welcome to the Study!

Rev. Dr. H. Stephen Shoemaker has spent more than four decades ministering to God’s people- all of them. You’re welcome here, in this growing archive of sermons that span decades of his work pastoring, preaching, teaching, learning and loving the word of God.

Dr. Shoemaker is currently the Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Statesville, N.C.

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Posts

Our Needs are Holy to God: the Need to Love and Be Loved
Our Needs are Holy to God: The Need for Security
Babel and Pentecost….Today!
That All Shall Be Saved
The City on a Hill and American Exceptionalism
A Preacher Turns in Bed at Night Over the Matter of Sacrifice
Living in the Meantime
Prayer in the Pandemic
Herod, Peter, Rhoda and the Church at Prayer
Wintry and Summery Spirituality: A Spirituality for All Seasons of the Heart
Thomas Our Twin
Peace in the Storm
When Easter Dawns, April 2020
Holding On and Letting Go
Baptism as a Living Symbol of the Christian Life: Dying and Rising
Comfort in the Storm
The Common Weeping and Coronavirus
Baptism: A Living Symbol of the Christian Life- New Birth and New Creation, March 2020
Baptism: A Living Symbol of the Christian Life- Anointing, Holy Spirit and Calling, March 2020
Baptism: A Living Symbol of the Christian Life- Belonging to A Family of Faith, The Body of Christ, March 2020
Baptism: Living Symbol of the Christian Life- Turning and Washing, March 2020
Baptism: Living Symbol of the Christian Life- Following Jesus and Being the Beloved, March 2020
Christian Anti-Semitism and Anti-Judaism
How Else but Through a Broken Heart? Ash Wednesday, 2020
Transfiguration: Jesus’, Ours, The World’s. Feb.2020
In Praise of Praise; or, What did They Sing as They Went Out? Feb.2020
Salt and Light: Being Different for Jesus’ Sake and the Kingdom’s Feb.2020
Following Jesus, Now! Jan.2020
Joys and Sorrows; A Cello Sermon, Jan.2020
Naming and Being Named, Jan.2020
How to Begin a New Year and a New Decade 1/20
Christmas in a Time of Terror 12/19
Peace, Goodwill to All 12/19
It All Begins With a Woman and a Child
When Peace Blooms, When the Kingdom Comes 12/19
The Way of Peace 12/19
Living God’s Dream of Peace 12/19
Home Economics, Church-Style 11/19
The Secret of Living 11/19
Living with Loose Ends 11/19
The Jeremiah Real-Estate Faith Test 11/19
Politics as an Approximation of the Kingdom of God and Politics as Baal 10/19
A Topsy-Turvy Tale on Prayer and True Spirituality 10/19
The Rascally Manager 10/19
Jesus Saves and God the Savior 9/19
Members of One Another in the Body of Christ 9/19
Salvation as Blessing: 14,000 Things to be Happy About 9/19
God and the Human Creature 9/19
God and the World Religions 8/19
God and Prayer 8/19
God and the Bible
God and the Cross 8/19
God and the Poor 7/19
God and Morality: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion 7/19
God-Language: The Color of Water; Or, Language that is Reverent, Emancipatory and Inclusive. 7/19
God and Nation 7/19
The Shepherd, the Flock, the Voice, the Arms 5/19
The Care of the Earth as a Form of the Love of God and Neighbor 5/19
The Continuous Conversion 5/19
Easter Appearances in John 4/19
To Seek and To Save the Lost 4/19
A Certain Man Had Two Sons 3/19
The Great Feast 3/19
Room at the Table: The Rich Man and Lazarus- 3/19
The Better Part 3/19
Dr. Shoemaker’s latest book
A Man Went Down From Jerusalem 2/19
Mystery, Faith, and Miracles 2/19
Elder Disciples: Simeon, Anna and Us 1/19
What Turned a Respectable Congregation into a Lynch Mob? 1/19
We Have a Kind and Generous God. And so…? 1/19
The Way of Compassion 1/19
Being a Prophetic Community in Statesville 1/19
Seed, Soil and Spirituality
One
The Bible, Homosexuality and Us
The Struggle for Truth in America 8/18
Welcome One Another 8/18
The Honda and the Bar Mitzvah 8/18
What About the Book of Revelation? 8/19
What We Wear To Church 7/18
What About Mary Magdalene? 7/18
We Have This Ministry 5/18
A Word To Our Graduating Students
God Is So One and So Threesome
The Love Commands of Christ
Credo- I Believe
When Plans Change
The Gospel to the Uttermost
Take Up Your Cross
Esther
Shake off the Dust
Ruth
Jesus the Stranger
Sell and Give
David
Consider the Lilies
The Jolting Generosity of God
The King’s Priests vs. the Prophet of God
To Risk Something Big for Something Good
Learn of Me
Let Your Light Shine
Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up: The Historical Jesus for Today
Jubilation!
The Worshipping Church
Jesus in the imperative: Follow Me
The Saving of Liberal Christianity
Retelling the Biblical Story: Joseph
Has God Given President Trump the Authority to “Take Out” Kim Jong Un?
A Sermon on the Occasion of an Inauguration: the Year the American Presidency, as We Have Known It, Died
Christian Faith and the Care of the Earth: The Witness of Wendell Berry (Revised 2019)
Four Friends, Faith that is Seen, and a Contested Miracle
Feast of the Kingdom
Abraham, Father of Faith
Jesus the Boy, the Baptized, the Beloved
A Meditation on John 6
How Far is it to Bethlehem
Come to the Party
The Celtic Christian Way
A Tale of Two Cathedrals
Jonah, God’s Little Comedy
Babel and Pentecost

Welcome to the Study!

For nearly 50 years, the Rev. Dr. H. Stephen Shoemaker has been ministering to the people of God- all of them.
Here you will find an ever expanding archive of Dr. Shoemaker’s lifelong desire to preach, teach, and love all Holy Scriptures.
Dr. Shoemaker is currently the interim minister of Grace Baptist Church in Statesville NC, and professor of World Religions at Johnson C. Smith University.

Search for: