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.

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Jump to:

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

In this homily, Fr. Mike Schmitz addresses the profound confusion and sadness the apostles must have felt during the Ascension, reflecting on how it was an incredibly painful goodbye. He notes that while the scene might seem baffling, Jesus explicitly states in the Gospels that He should leave so that the Holy Spirit can come. Fr. Mike points out that while the apostles had already received the Holy Spirit at various points before this, Jesus desired something greater for them: they needed to receive the absolute fullness of the Spirit, which required a shift in their relationship with Him.

To explain why this departure was necessary, Fr. Mike draws a psychological parallel using the insights of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, who observed that an individual truly becomes an adult only after the death—sometimes symbolic—of their father. As long as a parent stands between a child and the unknown, the child can always rely on them for answers instead of navigating the world independently. He shares a story about a young man whose father was the only sibling to truly become like his own grandfather because he learned to love independently. Fr. Mike suggests that Jesus’s physical absence serves a similar purpose, forcing the disciples to step out from behind His shadow and into the unknown.

Consequently, the Ascension is a call for the disciples—and all believers—to cultivate a mature faith. For three years, the apostles relied entirely on Jesus to solve every problem and answer every question, but His departure pushed them to grow spiritually. Jesus wants His followers to not just be told what to do, but to look at the world, recognize the needs of others, and act with strength and trust just as He did. By leaving, Jesus allows believers to transition from dependent children into mature, adult children of God who can actively live and love like Him in the world.

Ultimately, Fr. Mike concludes that the Ascension is not just about human spiritual growth, but about the fulfillment of Jesus’s divine mission and glory. Through the Incarnation, Jesus brought His divinity down to join our humanity, but through the Ascension, our humanity is definitively lifted up into the Trinity. This “necessary goodbye” allows Christ to be properly exalted and to reign as the Lord of heaven and earth. In closing, Fr. Mike reassures the faithful that Jesus has not truly abandoned us; rather, He has simply gone ahead to prepare a place so that we may eventually follow where He has led.

Listen to the full version here.

Cathedral of Christ The King

Monsignor Frank McNamee opens his homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension with a lighthearted joke about a husband and wife giving each other the silent treatment, which ultimately leads to a misunderstanding and a missed flight. He transitions from this story to the core meaning of the Ascension, emphasizing that while Jesus has gone where we hope to follow, He has left each of us with a direct, active mandate. Monsignor McNamee breaks this mandate down into three distinct movements from the Gospel: the command to “go,” the directive to “make disciples,” and the universal scope of reaching “all nations.”

Focusing on the first word, “go,” Monsignor McNamee explains that it demands a deliberate movement away from complacency and what is comfortable. For the apostles, this meant physically leaving Galilee, their homes, and their routines, but for modern believers, it requires an internal spiritual shift. Following Christ means constantly being in motion, letting go of personal fears, attachments, and areas of sin, and allowing God to work within us before we can effectively reach out to others. He reminds the congregation that the apostles were chosen despite being imperfect, showing that the mission does not depend on our human perfection, but on our willingness to be sent by Christ’s authority.

The second movement of the Gospel is the explicit command to “make disciples,” which Monsignor McNamee distinguishes from merely making converts, winning arguments, or gathering passive followers. A disciple is someone who actively learns, follows, and is entirely transformed by a relationship with the Master. Because we cannot give what we do not already possess, believers must first look inward and ensure they are deeply formed as disciples themselves. He counsels the faithful to let go of spiritual anxiety, noting that making disciples is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit; humans are simply instruments who plant and water seeds, while God provides the growth.

Finally, the homily addresses the universal scope of the mission: “all nations.” This phrase shattered the exclusive cultural boundaries of the early disciples, showing that the Gospel is intended for everyone, without exception. Monsignor McNamee emphasizes that this universality demands humility, calling believers to approach different backgrounds with respect and charity rather than judgment or a sense of superiority. He challenges the parish to realize that their immediate “mission field” consists of the people they encounter daily—their own families, friends, and co-workers. Ultimately, the Ascension is not about Christ’s absence, but about a new way of His presence, reassuring us that we are never alone because He remains with us until the end of the age.

Listen to the full version here.

Passion City Church

In his sermon at Passion City Church, “The Lost Art of Encouragement,” Pastor Jon Tyson addresses a modern culture increasingly burdened by depression, anxiety, anger, and fear, noting how this societal exhaustion has caused many believers to “lose heart.” Structuring his message around the biblical word paraclesis—meaning to call alongside to comfort or exhort—Tyson rejects cheap substitutes like flattery, general affirmations, or toxic positivity, which often tolerate poor effort or bypass honest reality. Instead, he presents true biblical encouragement as a vital congregational duty required to combat the deceitfulness of sin and build up an environment capable of sustaining the church’s global mission.

To demonstrate how genuine encouragement accelerates the church, Tyson introduces the biblical leader Barnabas as a primary mentor, detailing five distinct ways he uplifted others. First, Barnabas actively leveraged his rare resources for the sake of the early community, selling his ancestral land to financially support vulnerable believers during a critical moment of systemic strain. Second, he purposefully used his social capital and influence to advocate for Saul of Tarsus when the rest of the Jerusalem church reacted with fear and self-preservation, absorbing institutional risk to empower an outsider who would ultimately write much of the New Testament.

Continuing with Barnabas’s life, Tyson highlights the capacity to look past personal cultural preferences and theological paradigms to recognize and celebrate the true work of God in others. When sent to investigate the unconventional, pagan-influenced church in Antioch, Barnabas chose to bless the spiritual fruit he saw rather than impose rigid categories, eventually leaving the revival to diligently seek out Saul and create a destiny-releasing environment where the future apostle could thrive. Finally, Barnabas championed restorative grace over absolute efficiency by offering a second chance to John Mark after a painful operational failure, a patient investment that eventually allowed the young leader to mature and author the Gospel of Mark.

Tyson concludes the sermon by calling the congregation to become highly skilled practitioners of specific, well-timed, and generous daily encouragement. He challenges believers to intentionally catch people doing things right, celebrate progress over perfection by focusing on the “gain” rather than the “gap,” and step out to boldly face personal intimidating circumstances, reminding them that Christ’s empowering spirit resides within them to break through despair and fear.

Listen to the full version here.

Trinity Anglican Church

In this conclusion to a series on the book of First Peter, Pastor Kris McDaniel addresses a text written during a time of mounting persecution and deep uncertainty for the early church. He emphasizes that when facing trouble, human instinct usually drives people to protect themselves, fight back, or retreat. However, the biblical text commands believers to instead choose humility, which McDaniel defines not as becoming a doormat or hiding, but as actively trusting God with the ultimate outcomes of our lives rather than forcing our own security.

McDaniel acknowledges that choosing the lower path of humility naturally stirs up internal anxiety, leading into the sermon’s second major focus: casting those anxieties onto God. Highlighting the Greek root of the word “cast,” he explains it as a vivid, almost violent action—to “chuck” or “heave” our worries away. He shares his personal, lifelong struggle with anxiety to illustrate that experiencing fear does not change a believer’s identity as a child of God. Furthermore, he comforts the congregation by pointing out that they are never alone or unprayed for, referencing Jesus’s deep care and intercession for His followers.

The third movement of the sermon stresses the spiritual discipline of staying awake and alert rather than drifting into autopilot. Using the metaphor of autonomous Waymo vehicles navigating local streets, McDaniel warns against living a spiritually programmed, detached existence. To combat this numbness, he introduces the church’s strategic vision for a shared “communal rule of life” designed to help members maturely navigate intense relational and political differences over the coming years. He also challenges individuals to tend to their personal well-being across spiritual, physical, intellectual, relational, and emotional dimensions.

Finally, McDaniel reminds the congregation that spiritual resistance and suffering are inevitable realities for Christians, but they do not have the final say. Citing C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, he cautions against being distracted by cartoonish or dismissed ideas of evil, emphasizing that real spiritual opposition is meant to put believers to sleep. He concludes with the encouraging promise at the end of First Peter: after a season of suffering, God Himself will ultimately restore, support, strengthen, and establish those who stand steadfast in their faith.

Listen to the full version here.

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