Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430 I endeavor to keep all Shibboleths, and forms and terms of read more

Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430 I endeavor to keep all Shibboleths, and forms and terms of distinction out of sight, as we keep knives and razors out of the way of children; and if my hearers had not some other means of information, I think they would not know from me that there are such creatures as Arminians and Calvinists in the world. But we [would] talk a good deal about Christ.

Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century Most people feel unworthy of forgiveness. They have a read more

Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century Most people feel unworthy of forgiveness. They have a tremendous sense of unworthiness, even if outwardly they are antagonistic toward God and the Gospel.

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is read more

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

Commemoration of Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, spiritual writer, 1893 Wherever souls are being tried and ripened, in read more

Commemoration of Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, spiritual writer, 1893 Wherever souls are being tried and ripened, in whatever commonplace and homely way, there God is hewing out the pillars for his temple.

Commemoration of Wilfrid, Abbot of Ripon, Bishop of York, Missionary, 709 Commemoration of Elizabeth Fry, Prison Reformer, 1845 read more

Commemoration of Wilfrid, Abbot of Ripon, Bishop of York, Missionary, 709 Commemoration of Elizabeth Fry, Prison Reformer, 1845 Life provides all kinds of astonishingly effective anodynes and narcotics, all of which are nothing but misused gifts of God. But there in hell--that is, beyond a fixed boundary set by God--all the securities and safeguards disappear into thin air. What here is only a tiny flame of secret self-reproach that flickers up occasionally and is quickly smothered, there becomes a scorching fire. What here is no more than a slight ticking sound in our conscience suddenly becomes the trumpet tone of judgment which can no longer be ignored. Lazarus is permitted to see what he believed, but the rich man is compelled to see what he did not believe.

Commemoration of Wilson Carlile, Priest, Founder of the Church Army, 1942 There is no longer any room in the read more

Commemoration of Wilson Carlile, Priest, Founder of the Church Army, 1942 There is no longer any room in the world for a merely external form of Christianity, based upon custom. The world is entering upon a period of catastrophe and crisis when we are being forced to take sides, and in which a higher and more intense spiritual life will be demanded of Christians.

Commemoration of John Donne, Priest, Poet, 1631 When all is done, the hell of hells, the torment of torments, read more

Commemoration of John Donne, Priest, Poet, 1631 When all is done, the hell of hells, the torment of torments, is the everlasting absence of God, and the everlasting impossibility of returning to his presence; sayes the Apostle, it is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Yet there was a case, in which David found an ease, to fall into the hands of God, to scape the hands of men: When God's hand is bent to strike, it is a fearefull thing, to fall into the hands of the living God; but to fall out of the hands of the living God, is a horror beyond our expression, beyond our imagination.

We have no cause to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; but the Gospel of Christ may justly be read more

We have no cause to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; but the Gospel of Christ may justly be ashamed of us.

Commemoration of Scholastica, Abbess of Plombariola, c.543 As the great test of medical practice is that it heals the read more

Commemoration of Scholastica, Abbess of Plombariola, c.543 As the great test of medical practice is that it heals the patient, so the great test of preaching is that it converts and builds up the hearers.