Whether you call them homilies, sermons, or talks, there’s a lot you can learn from the spiritual leaders in our community. While in a perfect world, you’d have time to listen to everyone, that simply isn’t possible for most with limited time to spare. To help, we’ve surfaced and summarized the teachings from the audio sermons of some of the most influential priests and pastors from around town and in the Christian sphere.

You can skip to a specific section by clicking the links below.

Jump to:

• Fr. Mike Schmitz
• Buckhead Church
• Cathedral of Christ the King
• Passion City Church
• Trinity Anglican Church
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Fr. Mike Schmitz

In this homily for Divine Mercy Sunday, Fr. Mike Schmitz addresses the common fear that spiritual fervor—especially for those who have just entered the Church or made a recent confession—will eventually grow cold. He argues that we are not helpless against this cooling of love. The solution, he suggests, is not to dwell on our first or most recent confession, but to focus on our next confession. He proposes that regular confession, ideally every two to four weeks, is the essential exercise the soul needs to stay spiritually vibrant and connected to God’s mercy.

Fr. Mike outlines several reasons why this practice is vital, beginning with the need for an honest inventory. He compares our spiritual lives to forgotten digital subscriptions or unmonitored screen time; we often don’t realize how much we are drifting because we haven’t stopped to look. By performing a regular examination of conscience or a consciousness examen at the end of each day, we move beyond the simple sins of childhood and begin to see where we are truly saying no to God in our adult lives.

Furthermore, he describes confession as a profound exercise of faith and an act of surrender. Faith is not a feeling, but a posture of trust and an action. By stepping into the confessional, even when we don’t feel faithful, we are actively trusting that Jesus can transform our hearts. This surrender gives God access to our past, present, and future, placing every part of our lives under His dominion. He emphasizes that surrender in the Christian sense is not giving up, but rather giving access to the Lord.

Finally, Fr. Mike explains that confession glorifies God because it gives Jesus what He won through His passion: the victory over sin. When we bring our worst failures to Him, we allow His sacrifice to reach its fulfillment in us. He concludes by warning that the enemy’s greatest weapon is not sin itself, but discouragement—the attempt to keep us from returning to God. By resolving to always seek the next confession, we ensure that our love remains a blazing fire of mercy rather than growing cold.

Listen to the full version here.

Buckhead Church

This sermon explores the concept of the “Me-Church” and how the focus of modern Christianity can often shift toward individual comfort and preference rather than the mission of Jesus. The speaker argues that when the church becomes primarily about meeting the needs of its members, it loses the revolutionary spirit that characterized the early followers of Christ. This inward focus can lead to a consumer-driven faith that prioritizes personal satisfaction over sacrificial service and community outreach.

A central theme of the message is the distinction between a movement and a monument. The early church was a movement defined by its agility and its commitment to spreading the message of grace, regardless of the cost. However, over time, organizations tend to drift toward becoming monuments that preserve traditions and protect the status quo. The speaker challenges the audience to consider whether their participation in church is contributing to a living movement or merely maintaining an institution that has lost its primary purpose.

The discussion also delves into the tension between law and grace, illustrating how religious systems often lean toward rules and exclusion. By highlighting the way Jesus interacted with those on the margins of society, the sermon emphasizes that the church should be a place where everyone feels they can belong before they are expected to believe or behave in a certain way. This shift in perspective requires a willingness to embrace messiness and uncertainty in favor of demonstrating the unconditional love that Jesus modeled throughout his ministry.

Finally, the message concludes with a call to action for believers to evaluate their own hearts and motivations. It encourages individuals to move beyond a self-centered approach to faith and instead embrace the “one another” commands found in the New Testament. By focusing on loving, serving, and encouraging others, the church can reclaim its identity as a light in the world. The ultimate goal is to create a community that reflects the selfless nature of Christ, drawing others toward the message of the gospel through authentic and practical demonstrations of grace.

Listen to the full version here.

Cathedral of Christ The King

In this homily for Divine Mercy Sunday at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Deacon Bruce Goodwin explores the historical and spiritual significance of the Feast of Divine Mercy. He explains that the feast was established by the Vatican following the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish mystic who received prophetic messages from Jesus in the 1930s. Deacon Bruce emphasizes that these revelations do not change the Gospel but serve as a timely reminder of God’s unfathomable mercy, especially for a modern world marked by “unprecedented evil” and technological complexities.

Drawing on the insights of St. John Paul II, the Deacon highlights that while modern technology brings many blessings, it also amplifies the reach of sin. However, he reassures the congregation with the scriptural promise that where sin increases, grace abounds all the more. He suggests that now is a time of “extraordinary mercy,” where God is eager to pour out great graces upon humanity to counter the darkness of the current age. This era of mercy is presented as a gift to be actively received and then shared with others through sacrificial love.

The homily connects the theme of mercy to the day’s liturgical readings, noting how the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles grew through communal life and acts of sharing. In the Gospel, the risen Lord institutes the Sacrament of Reconciliation, breathing the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and giving them the power to forgive sins. Deacon Bruce points to “doubting Thomas” as a central figure, illustrating how Jesus met Thomas’s skepticism with personal, visible mercy, leading to the famous profession of faith, “My Lord and my God.”

To conclude, Deacon Bruce offers practical steps for living out this devotion, which he summarizes as the “ABCs of Divine Mercy”: Ask for mercy, Be merciful to others in deed, word, and prayer, and Completely trust in Jesus. He encourages the faithful to grow in dynamic faith by reading the Bible daily, committing to personal prayer, and frequently participating in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist. By putting love into action through corporal and spiritual works of mercy, believers become living signs of the risen Lord in the world.

Listen to the full version here.

Passion City Church

 In this sermon, Louie Giglio explores the spiritual transition from the “profession of faith” to the “possession of faith.” Using the book of Joshua as a foundation, he explains that while making a profession of faith is the essential first step, God intends for believers to move beyond that starting point and actually take hold of everything that is theirs in Christ. He points to the moment the Israelites entered the Promised Land and the manna—the miracle survival food they had relied on for forty years—suddenly stopped. This cessation marked the end of a “room service” season of survival and the beginning of a new chapter where they would thrive on the actual produce of the land.

Giglio emphasizes that moving from surviving to thriving often involves a shift from what is easy to what is “way better but way harder.” In the wilderness, the Israelites simply gathered manna off the ground each morning, but in the Promised Land, they had to till the soil, plant seeds, and wait for the harvest. He challenges the congregation to consider if they have settled for a “sound bite” spiritual diet—relying on quick daily verses or short social media clips—rather than putting in the effort to deeply “eat” and digest the Word of God. He suggests that while technology offers convenience, it can also shorten attention spans and keep believers in a transactional relationship with God rather than a deep, experiential one.

To illustrate the difference between having information and having an experience, Giglio shares a humorous personal story about staying in a hotel where he unknowingly spent his first night in only a small fraction of the space he was actually provided. He realized the next morning that his key card opened a massive, abundant suite filled with amenities he had missed because he stopped at the first door. He compares this to Christians who live in a “12 by 12” spiritual existence, unaware that a relationship with Jesus offers a “suite of abundance” that goes far beyond basic survival.

The sermon concludes with a memorable analogy involving Krispy Kreme donuts, which Giglio calls “The Gospel According to Krispy Kreme.” He notes that while people might know the history or facts about the company, the founder, Vernon Rudolph, didn’t just want people to have information; he wanted them to experience the “hot and ready” reality of the product. Similarly, Giglio argues that it is possible to know that God is powerful or that He loves you while still living overwhelmed by anxiety or feeling unloved. He invites everyone to step across the “Jordan River” into a life of abundance where they no longer just know facts about Jesus, but truly savor and experience Him as the Bread of Life.

Listen to the full version here.

Trinity Anglican Church

In this sermon, Kris McDaniel explores the theme of “Living Hope” based on 1 Peter 1, emphasizing that the resurrection of Jesus provides a sturdy foundation for faith even in the midst of disorientation and trial. He acknowledges that life often feels like a pressure cooker, but argues that the Easter season is about learning to move toward life when everything around us feels confusing or suggests death. McDaniel highlights that Peter was not writing as a theorist, but as someone facing imminent persecution under Nero, making his words on hope deeply practical and hard-earned.

A primary focus of the message is the concept of new birth as a birthright for those who belong to Jesus. Using the metaphor of a bonsai tree that survives even after being cut and kept in the dark, McDaniel illustrates how God brings life where it seems impossible. He encourages the congregation to trust that new beginnings are possible in any situation, as long as one remains rooted in God’s good garden of community and spiritual practice.

McDaniel also discusses the inheritance promised to believers, which he describes using the biblical terms imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. This future is not a promise of a suffering-free life, but rather a secure telos or end goal that allows one to face today’s darkness with courage. He suggests that God is preserving this future for us, which frees believers from the exhausting task of trying to preserve it themselves, allowing them to focus on living authentically in the present.

The sermon concludes with a call to embrace a faith that believes before it sees, much like the doubting Thomas or the Roman official who had to trust Jesus’ word before seeing his son healed. McDaniel posits that suffering acts as a furnace that reveals and purifies our character, helping us shed what is perishable. Ultimately, he invites the audience to consider who they are becoming through their trials, urging them to place the weight of their lives on God’s character rather than on external, temporal outcomes.

Listen to the full version here.

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