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

Fr. Mike Schmitz opens his homily by framing entitlement as an “invisible vice” and an acceptable sin that functions as a major blind spot in our lives. He illustrates this through a personal story about a missionary who felt she “deserved” a bike over someone else, as well as the Gospel parable of the workers in the vineyard. Whether stemming from privilege, a belief that one is special, or even from past personal suffering, entitlement relies on the mistaken idea that our circumstances give us a special claim to more.

Expanding on this concept, Fr. Mike explains that entitlement ultimately distorts our relationship with God and others. By citing historical examples like the Vanderbilt and Rockefeller legacies, along with modern psychological studies, he highlights how dwelling on unfairness fosters a perpetual sense of being owed. He emphasizes that the word “deserve” has no place in the vocabulary of a Christian, because everything we receive from God is pure, unearned grace.

To overcome this subtle vice, Fr. Mike proposes two key remedies: responsibility and gratitude. Rather than focusing on what we think we are owed, responsibility prompts us to ask, “What has been entrusted to me?” He reminds the congregation that even our daily work, duties, and burdens are gifts and opportunities to serve rather than hardships to complain about.

Finally, Fr. Mike concludes with a powerful story of a grieving mother who, upon losing her son, immediately chose to thank God for the 17 years she was given with him rather than falling into resentment. True Christian living requires shifting away from an attitude of entitlement to one of deep thanksgiving. By recognizing that God owes us nothing, we are freed to receive His grace as a gift and respond to life’s duties with genuine gratitude.

Listen to the full version here.

Buckhead Church

In this message, Joel Thomas explores how human reactions in moments of frustration or conflict are often less about what is happening around us and more about what is happening within us. He begins by examining the automatic, knee-jerk behaviors people exhibit when pushed or challenged—pointing out that our external circumstances rarely create our emotional output, but rather expose what was already stored inside our hearts and minds.

Thomas shifts the focus toward the internal “mind games” that shape our daily choices and relationship dynamics. He argues that unchecked thoughts, unexamined offenses, and reactive patterns trap us in unhealthy loops of blame and defensiveness. Rather than letting external triggers dictate our demeanor, he encourages listeners to step back, examine the hidden motivations behind their feelings, and take personal responsibility for their internal posture.

Drawing from biblical wisdom and practical self-reflection, Thomas emphasizes the spiritual power of pause and emotional maturity. He outlines how intentional self-awareness allows individuals to move from habitual, stress-driven reactions to thoughtful, Christ-like responses. By bringing subconscious patterns into the light, believers gain the clarity needed to handle conflict, relational tension, and everyday pressures with grace instead of impulsive anger.

Ultimately, Thomas calls the audience to invite God into their thought processes so they can reshape how they respond to difficult situations. He concludes with an encouraging challenge: real personal growth and peace do not come from attempting to control or change other people, but from permitting God to transform our minds so that our outward actions align with wisdom, love, and discernment.

Listen to the full version here.

Cathedral of Christ The King

Fr. Jacob opens his homily by pointing out that Jesus’s parables are intentionally shocking and unconventional. In the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a landowner—a comparison between a place and a person that feels counterintuitive. Fr. Jacob explains that this framing highlights a fundamental truth: heaven cannot be properly understood as a mere location or destination, but only within the context of a personal relationship. To know heaven is to know the “landowner” (God) like a close friend, learning His heart, desires, and character.

He proceeds to unpack the allegory of the landowner inviting workers into the vineyard at various times throughout the day. The vineyard represents heaven and the work of building God’s kingdom on earth through our daily choices. Connecting this to the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah (“Seek the Lord while he may be found”), Fr. Jacob highlights the urgency of responding to God’s invitation. God continuously reaches out to seek us, but we must choose whether to accept the call to labor alongside Him or reject it while He is near.

However, Fr. Jacob points out the tragic irony within the Gospel: those who worked the entire day were ultimately the ones who failed to know the landowner’s true nature. When latecomers who worked only one hour received the same full daily wage, the early workers became resentful, accusing the landowner of being unfair. They operated out of a worldly “scarcity mentality,” assuming that if someone else received generosity, their own value or effort was somehow diminished. Fr. Jacob cautions that Christians can easily fall into this same trap—measuring their devotion against others and questioning God’s fairness when their expectations aren’t met.

In conclusion, Fr. Jacob reminds the congregation that God’s ways transcend human economics and scarcity; in the Kingdom of Heaven, there is only infinite surplus and abundance. God does not love us on a comparative scale, but loves each person fully. Therefore, the central question at the end of our lives will not be whether we logged enough hours of spiritual labor, but whether we truly came to know the landowner. Rather than waiting for the end of life, we are invited today to enter the vineyard, transform our minds, and build a lasting friendship with the God who awaits us.

Listen to the full version here.

Passion City Church

In his sermon “No Longer Me: I am ABLE in Christ,” Louie Giglio addresses the common Christian tendency to define oneself solely as “just a sinner saved by grace.” He explains that while this phrase acknowledges our past, leaving it as our primary identity keeps believers stuck in an “I can’t” mindset, struggling to live out the holy calling God gives us. Giglio emphasizes that coming to faith in Christ does not merely grant us a ticket to heaven; it fundamentally redefines our identity and joins us positionally to Jesus.

Drawing from 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Ephesians 4:22–24, Giglio highlights that anyone in Christ is a brand-new creation where the old self has passed away. Rather than forcing our old selves to follow new rules, believers are called to renew the attitude of their minds and put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. This shift in perspective transforms our understanding of identity from a passive status to an active, spiritual reality where we are seated in heavenly places alongside Christ.

Addressing the various negative and limiting labels people carry—whether from personal failure, shame, addiction, or human conditions—Giglio introduces the foundational label God places over every believer: ABLE. Contextualizing Philippians 4:13 (“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”), he asserts that believers are not defined by their earthly circumstances or limitations. Through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christians have the capacity to break old habits, overcome generational patterns, extend and receive love, and step into everything God calls them to be.

Giglio concludes by encouraging the congregation to let this new identity in Christ become their “second nature.” Illustrating this with a story of riding around a banked racetrack at high speeds with a professional NASCAR driver who navigated the situation effortlessly, he urges believers to make “I am able in Christ” their immediate default reaction to life’s challenges. Ultimately, because Christ is able and lives within us, we can shed our old baggage, replace feelings of inadequacy with divine strength, and confidently walk out our God-given potential.

Listen to the full version here.

Trinity Anglican Church

Justin Giboney’s sermon, preached at Trinity Anglican Church on September 20, 2026, centers on 2 Corinthians 5:16–20 and the call for Christians to act as Christ’s ambassadors. Giboney illustrates this through the transformation of the Apostle Paul, who evolved from a zealous Pharisee acting against God’s people into a humble, dedicated messenger of reconciliation. The core message entrusted to every believer is to implore the world to “be reconciled to God,” placing this ultimate spiritual calling above all secondary cultural, social, or personal agendas.

Emphasizing that ambassadorship dictates both our words and our demeanor, Giboney explains that believers do not represent themselves on their own terms. True witness requires a continuous process of sanctification and rigorous self-examination to align one’s character, speech, and tone with God’s standard rather than self-righteous assumptions. He warns against the hypocrisy of proclaiming God’s love while simultaneously disparaging marginalized groups or denying the dignity of human life, reminding the congregation that alignment between actions and words is crucial to avoid driving non-believers away.

Giboney addresses the cultural pressure to adopt partisan identities and wage ideological warfare, defining it as a form of “identity idolatry” that promises a false, flesh-centered salvation. Drawing on the biblical example of the prophet Micaiah—who refused to tell King Ahab what he wanted to hear despite 400 false prophets doing so—Giboney challenges believers, particularly professional-class Christians, to overcome cowardice and social ambition. He cautions against prioritizing the applause of elite institutions or political tribes over standing uncompromised on biblical truth.

In conclusion, Giboney points to the extraordinary grace shown by the families of the Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting victims, who chose to extend forgiveness to Dylan Roof as a testimony of their ambassadorship. Their ability to elevate redemption over bitterness serves as a model for how Christians ought to respond when facing worldly hatred and hostility. Ultimately, the sermon calls on the church to decide whether it is more interested in punishing adversaries or seeking their redemption through the transformative power of Christ.

Listen to the full version here.

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