The Preaching Moment
The Preaching Moment Podcast shares the weekly sermons of The Rev. Suzanne Weidner-Smith, Rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Alvin, Texas—a church where faith is lived out in real, tangible ways.
At Grace, worship doesn’t end at the church doors. Each week, hundreds of families are served through a drive-through food distribution; homebound seniors receive not just groceries but also companionship; and neighbors experiencing homelessness are welcomed with hot meals, clean clothes, and dignity. What began as meeting physical hunger has grown into something deeper: a ministry of presence, relationship, and hope.
Mother Suzanne’s preaching is shaped by this reality. Drawing from scripture, story, and her years as a hospice chaplain, she speaks to a faith that meets people where they are—in uncertainty, in struggle, and in everyday life. Her sermons are grounded, compassionate, and rooted in the belief that the Gospel is not just something we hear, but something we live.
These are sermons from a community becoming a sanctuary—where compassion is practiced, stories are honored, and the good news of Jesus is made real, week after week.
Episodes
207 episodes
Pilgrimage of the Heart: Finding God in the Everyday - Ed Carrette's Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter - May 10, 2026
SummaryIn this Mother's Day sermon, Grace Community Missioner Ed Carrette draws on the image of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage to remind us that the spiritual life cannot be rushed. Drawing from Jesus' promise, "I will not leave you...
Chosen and Precious: Living Stones in Faith - Mother Nan Doerr's Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter - May 3, 2026
SummaryMother Nan Doerr draws on the letters of Peter and the Gospel of John to remind believers that even when rejected by the world, they are chosen and precious in God's sight. Just as the early followers of the Way were cast out of...
Pots, Dr. Pepper, and God's Abundant Grace - The Fourth Sunday of Easter - April 26, 2026
SummaryMother Suzanne draws on the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd to remind her congregation that Christ came not to offer a half-hearted, mediocre existence, but a life that is overflowing and abundant. Through the moving story o...
Emmaus and the Everyday Divine - The Third Sunday of Easter - April 19, 2026
SummaryIn this Easter season sermon, Mother Suzanne walks us through the road to Emmaus, reminding us that the risen Christ shows up quietly and humbly in the small, ordinary moments of our lives — often without us even realizing it. J...
Beyond Locked Doors: Embracing Christ's Invitation - The Rev. Canon Perry Mullins Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter, April 12, 2026
SummaryThe Rev. Canon Perry Mullins explores how fear of disappointment often keeps us from hoping, using the story of Thomas and the disciples after Christ's resurrection to show that Jesus enters our locked rooms of fear and gri...
The First to Tell — Mary Magdalene and the Risen Lord - April 5, 2026
SummaryMother Suzanne celebrates Easter by highlighting Mary Magdalene as the first apostle who stayed at the empty tomb when others fled, recognizing Jesus when he called her by name. She connects Mary's faithful witness to three...
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Blinded by the Light - March 15, 2026 - Community Missioner Ed Carrette Homilist
SummaryOn the fourth Sunday in Lent, Grace Community Missioner Ed Carrette explores the theme of spiritual awakening through Biblical stories of people "seeing the light," from the blind man healed by Jesus to Paul's conversion ex...
Come and See - March 8, 2026 - Mrs. Ginger Wolfe, IONA Seminary Postulant, Homilist
SummaryOn the third Sunday in Lent, IONA Postulant Ginger Wolfe explores the striking contrast between Nicodemus in John 3 and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, highlighting how Jesus was tough with the educated, respecte...
The Second Sunday in Lent - March 1, 2026 - The Right Reverend C. Andrew Doyle, Episcopal Diocese of Texas
SummaryIn this Second Sunday of Lent sermon, Bishop Andy Doyle challenges the congregation to embrace the discomfort of true discipleship, using Nicodemus's nighttime visit to Jesus as an example of cautious faith. He emphasizes t...
The First Sunday in Lent - February 22, 2026
SummaryMother Suzanne explores how Jesus deliberately entered the Judean wilderness for 40 days of testing, following in the footsteps of Moses and Israel's 40-year journey. She encourages the congregation to embrace their own wil...
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Ash Wednesday - February 18, 2026
SummaryMother Suzanne explains that Lent is not about punishment or self-denial for its own sake, but rather a season of preparation that helps us move closer to God by removing the distractions and masks that prevent us from seei...
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Last Sunday after the Epiphany - Transfiguration Sunday - February 15, 2026
SummaryMother Suzanne explores the Transfiguration as a pivotal moment where Jesus, accompanied by Moses and Elijah, is transformed on a mountain before his disciples Peter, James, and John. She emphasizes that rather than trying ...
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Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany - Scout Sunday - February 8, 2026
SummaryOn Scout Sunday, Mother Suzanne uses the beloved children's song "This Little Light of Mine" to illustrate Jesus's teaching about being salt and light from the Sermon on the Mount. She emphasizes that God works through simp...
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple - February 1, 2026
SummaryGrace's Community Missioner, Ed Carrette, preaches on the Presentation of Jesus, emphasizing that God is the "God of time" who continues to enter human history unexpectedly, just as Simeon and Anna encountered the divine in...
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Third Sunday after the Epiphany - January 25, 2026
SummaryMother Suzanne reflects on Matthew 4 and how Jesus called ordinary fishermen to follow Him immediately, leaving everything behind to become "fishers of people." She emphasizes that God calls everyone—not just those in ordai...
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Second Sunday after The Epiphany - January 18, 2026
SummaryIn this Epiphany sermon based on John 1:29-42, Suzanne explores how John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." She shares a personal story about encountering pain at her son'...
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The First Sunday after the Epiphany – The Baptism of our Lord - January 11, 2026
SummaryMother Suzanne reflects on the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, which commemorates Jesus' baptism and our own initiation into Christ's body through water and the Holy Spirit. On this significant day Marking her seventh ann...
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The Feast of the Epiphany and Baptism - January 4, 2026
SummaryMother Suzanne reflects on the Feast of Epiphany and the journey of the Magi, who were outsiders and stargazers who followed a star to worship the newborn King of the Jews. She draws parallels between the Magi's pilgrimage ...
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First Sunday after Christmas Day - December 28, 2025 - Mrs. Ginger Wolfe, IONA Seminary Postulant, Homilist
SummaryMrs. Ginger Wolfe celebrates the incarnation, emphasizing how God chose to take on flesh and enter our dark world to show us how much He values creation and wants to be part of it. Through Jesus becoming flesh, we receive n...
Christmas Eve - December 24, 2025
SummaryMother Suzanne preaches that God's greatest surprise came not through worldly power like Caesar Augustus, but through the humble birth of baby Jesus announced first to lowly shepherds. She emphasizes that God works in unexp...
The Fourth Sunday of Advent - December 21, 2025
SummaryMother Suzanne explores Matthew's brief two-verse account of Jesus' birth, focusing on Joseph's perspective as the earthly father who, like Noah, demonstrated righteousness through silent obedience to God's plan. Despite th...
The Second Sunday of Advent - December 7, 2025
SummaryMother Suzanne reflects on the second Sunday of Advent and the candle of peace, acknowledging how difficult it can be to slow down during this busy season. She focuses on John the Baptist's call to "bear fruits worthy of re...
The First Sunday of Advent - November 30, 2025
SummaryMother Suzanne welcomes the congregation into the Advent season, explaining how this four-week period serves as a time of hopeful waiting and preparation for Christ's coming, rather than rushing straight into Christmas. She...
The Last Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King Sunday - November 23, 2025
SummaryOn Christ the King Sunday, Mother Suzanne preached about how Grace Church tells an "alternative story" of second chances and redemption, just like Jesus offered to the criminal on the cross. She emphasized that the church t...
The Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost - November 16, 2025
SummaryMother Suzanne teaches that when faced with apocalyptic passages describing wars, earthquakes, and persecutions, we shouldn't focus on doomsday preparation but rather see them as invitations to live with faith and hope in t...
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