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 his homily “Blind Spots: Anger”, Fr. Mike Schmitz addresses the subtle, “acceptable” vices that often go ignored in our spiritual lives, specifically focusing on the chronic disposition of anger. Drawing from psychological studies on mindset and attitude, he notes how our internal posture shapes our response to external challenges. While some sins like gossip are actions we commit, anger often manifests as an invisible, underlying attitude that quietly suffocates our joy and impacts those around us.

Highlighting the distinction between temporary negative emotions and an angry disposition, Fr. Mike references the Book of Sirach: “Anger and wrath are hateful things, yet the sinner holds them tight.” He explains that while proper anger can spur us to necessary action, many people fall into holding on tight to a chronic frustration with everyday circumstances. This type of anger usually stems from a resistance to reality—an underlying friction caused when life, traffic, or other people refuse to go according to our personal plans or desires.

To combat this “blind spot,” Fr. Mike introduces the spiritual remedies of acceptance and patience, drawing heavily on the teachings of theologian Fr. Romano Guardini. Acceptance is not passive resignation, but rather the necessary starting point of acknowledging reality as it is—with all its flaws, chores, and inconveniences—so we can respond faithfully instead of reacting in outrage. Coupled with acceptance, patience reflects God’s own enduring love and posture toward the world, allowing us to bear with daily friction rather than demanding a reality tailored to our wishes.

Ultimately, Fr. Mike challenges believers—especially “church people” who may harbor a sour attitude—to remember the immense mercy and forgiveness they have received from God. Quoting Fr. Guardini’s insight that “He who does not love life has no patience with it,” Fr. Mike encourages Christians to shift their posture from clinging to anger to continually saying “yes” to life in all its messiness, leaning into God’s providence with cheerfulness and grace.

Listen to the full version here.

Buckhead Church

Joel Thomas opens the message by examining how easily our internal perspective shapes our external reality. He highlights that while external circumstances constantly capture our attention and energy, it is actually the condition of our internal thoughts and hidden narratives that wield the greatest power over our choices, relationships, and emotional well-being. What we experience around us is undeniably important, but changing what happens inside our minds holds the unique potential to transform how we respond to everything else in our lives.

The central challenge of the sermon addresses the deeply ingrained assumptions and personal narratives we carry about ourselves, God, and the people around us. Thomas explains that some of the beliefs we hold most fiercely—whether about our worth, our past failures, or the motives of others—may feel entirely true based on past experiences, yet fail to reflect reality. When we accept false or unexamined narratives as absolute truth, we unknowingly participate in “mind games” that breed anxiety, unnecessary conflict, and spiritual stagnation.

Turning to biblical principles, Thomas emphasizes the crucial need for self-examination and spiritual alignment. He guides listeners toward identifying the specific lies or cognitive distortions that dictate their behavior, encouraging them to bring those hidden thoughts into the light of God’s truth. Rather than passively allowing automatic thoughts to guide our decisions, believers are called to renew their minds intentionally by measuring their internal self-talk against Scripture and the character of God.

Ultimately, Thomas presents spiritual growth not as an outward performance, but as an internal transformation centered on clarity and truth. By learning to recognize the difference between what feels true emotionally and what is true spiritually, individuals can break free from self-limiting mindsets and emotional traps. He closes with a compelling call to action: invite God to transform your inner thought life, clear away internal blind spots, and begin viewing yourself, others, and your circumstances through a grounded, grace-filled lens.

Listen to the full version here.

Cathedral of Christ The King

In his homily for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Msgr. Frank McNamee centers his message on the central Christian call to forgiveness and reconciliation. Reflecting on the Gospel passage where Peter asks Jesus if forgiving seven times is enough, Msgr. McNamee emphasizes Christ’s response—that we must forgive “seventy-seven times.” He connects this teaching to the broader themes of scripture from recent weeks, noting that Christ continuously calls believers to address conflict, seek peace, and heal broken relationships rather than avoiding uncomfortable conversations.

Msgr. McNamee highlights that avoiding interpersonal conflict rarely makes problems disappear; instead, small misunderstandings often fester into resentment, bitterness, and permanent division. To overcome this, he challenges everyone in the congregation to identify one specific person in their life with whom they need to reconcile. Recognizing that immediate face-to-face contact isn’t always possible or prudent, he suggests beginning through intentional prayer, asking God for the desire and grace to forgive even when human emotions make it feel impossible.

Drawing on the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Msgr. McNamee reminds the faithful that the mercy they receive from God must become the mercy they extend to others. The servant in the parable failed because he experienced immense forgiveness from his master but allowed it to leave him unchanged, continuing to harbor harshness toward others. Msgr. McNamee warns that believers risk the same mistake whenever they participate in Mass, go to Confession, or pray the Lord’s Prayer while secretly clinging to anger, resentment, or ill will toward neighbors.

To practice genuine forgiveness, Msgr. McNamee outlines practical steps: acknowledging the wound honestly before God, distinguishing forgiveness from forgetting, praying for those who have hurt us, and establishing appropriate boundaries where safety or restitution is necessary. He carefully distinguishes forgiveness—an internal movement of the heart that brings freedom—from full reconciliation, which requires the cooperation of both parties. Ultimately, he encourages Christians to bring their struggles with forgiveness to the Eucharist, placing their hurts at the foot of the Cross to become active practitioners of God’s transformative mercy.

Listen to the full version here.

Passion City Church

Louie Giglio preaches from Ephesians 1:15–23 to establish a guiding vision centered on Paul’s continual prayer for the church at Ephesus. He underscores that Paul, writing while imprisoned in Rome, was not offering a one-time petition but an ongoing request for God to bestow the “spirit of wisdom and revelation.” Distinguishing between mere mental information and spiritual revelation, Giglio illustrates how facts alone inform, but divine revelation transforms. The ultimate purpose of seeking wisdom and revelation is not personal intellectual inflation, but to know Christ more intimately and deeply.

Drawing a contrast between analyzing a topographical map and standing before the breathtaking reality of Mount Rainier, Giglio emphasizes that while solid biblical doctrine and academic study are crucial, they cannot replace experiencing the living presence of God. Referencing Jesus’ letter to the Ephesian church in Revelation 2, he warns against preserving correct doctrine and hard work while losing one’s primary devotion and passion for Christ. When spiritual sight is restored, it ignites the believer’s spiritual imagination, shifting their worldview from passive religious obligation to a living, expectant faith.

Giglio details the three specific spiritual truths Paul prays for believers to understand once the “eyes of their heart” are enlightened. First, believers must grasp the “hope to which He has called you,” recognizing that they are invited into a glorious, secure future with Christ that reframes present hardships. Second, they are called to know “the riches of His glorious inheritance,” stepping away from a spiritual pauper mentality into the confidence and abundance of being co-heirs with Christ. Third, he highlights God’s “incomparably great power,” pointing to the same resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him far above all earthly and spiritual authorities.

In conclusion, Giglio challenges the congregation to personally adopt this Scriptural prayer for the remaining months of the year, trusting God to actively transform their lives. He reminds believers that they are not powerless against spiritual enemies or life’s uncertainties because Christ rules supreme over all things for the benefit of the Church. By daily asking God for wisdom, revelation, and spiritual clarity, Christians can walk in freedom, living out the fullness of their identity in Christ rather than settling for spiritual exhaustion.

Listen to the full version here.

Trinity Anglican Church

In his sermon on Matthew 18:21–35, Pastor Kris McDaniel addresses Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness, beginning with Peter’s question about how many times one should forgive a sinning brother or sister. McDaniel clarifies that biblical forgiveness is fundamentally a legal act of canceling an unpayable debt rather than excusing wrong actions or immediately restoring complete trust. True forgiveness recognizes that a broken individual lacks the capacity to make another whole, offering freedom from the crushing burden of carrying another’s injustice.

McDaniel unpacks the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant to highlight the vast contrast between the infinite mercy of God and human self-justification. The master in the parable represents God, who graciously cancels an astronomically unpayable debt when the servant begs for mercy. This divine impulse to pardon serves as the foundation for Christian life, demonstrating that believers cannot earn or achieve righteousness on their own merits but must rely entirely on God’s overwhelming grace.

The sermon shifts focus to human relationships by examining the servant’s refusal to pardon a fellow servant who owed a comparatively small debt of a hundred days’ wages. McDaniel points out that people often hold onto intermediate offenses—such as harsh words, broken commitments, or personal slights—because they expect flawed people to compensate for their pain. Holding grudges traps believers in emotional bondage and relational conflict, whereas remembering God’s forgiveness liberates them to release others from smaller debts.

Ultimately, McDaniel urges the congregation to cultivate an active practice of forgiveness by continually turning to Christ rather than looking to broken people for healing. Recognizing that one is secure and valued in God reduces personal defensiveness and frees believers to seek peace. While acknowledging that severe trauma may require time and process before full release is possible, he invites listeners to extend mercy, confess their own shortcomings, and step into the relational freedom made available through Jesus.

Listen to the full version here.

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