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
220 episodes
Even the Crumbs - Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost - August 16, 2026
SummaryMother Suzanne draws on the story of the persistent Canaanite woman in Matthew's Gospel to remind us that prayer matters and that God hears the cries of those who refuse to give up. Like this bold mother who pressed throu...
.jpg)
When the Stormy Waters Come - Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, August 9, 2026
SummaryIn this sermon, Mother Suzanne reflects on the story of Peter walking on water, drawing a powerful parallel between Peter's sinking and our own moments of desperation and doubt. Just as Jesus reached out his hand to Peter w...
.jpg)
You Give Them Something to Eat - Community Missioner Ed Carrette's Homily for Call To Feed The Hungry Sunday, 10th Sunday after Pentecost
SummaryCommunity Missioner Ed Carrette draws on the Feeding of the Five Thousand in Matthew 14 to remind Grace Episcopal Church that Christ's compassion is never merely a feeling — it always becomes action. Through the stories of ...
It Refuses to Stay Put - Community Missioner Ed Carrette's Homily for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
SummaryCommunity Missioner Ed Carrette draws on Jesus' parables of the mustard seed and yeast to remind us that the Kingdom of Heaven often begins in the most quiet, unassuming places — yet refuses to stay contained. Just as a tin...
.jpg)
God's Still Working On Me: Amazing Grace in an Imperfect World - Mother Nan Doerr's Sermon for the Eighth Sunday After Pentecost
SummaryMother Nan Doerr draws on the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares to reveal that God's kingdom operates by a grace far deeper than human judgment can fathom. She explores the parable on three levels — the world, the church...
.jpg)
Fling the Seeds of the Kingdom - Community Missioner Ed Carrette's Homily for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
SummaryCommunity Missioner Ed Carrette draws on the Parable of the Sower to invite us not only to cultivate receptive hearts but to sow the word of God freely and fearlessly wherever we go. Grounded in the assurance of Romans 8:1 ...
.jpg)
Be Still And Know That You Are Loved: Identity, Rest, and Reconciliation - Mother Nan Doerr's Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
SummaryMother Nan Doerr draws on Matthew's invitation — "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest" — to remind us that Jesus calls us into partnership with him, sharing the weight of whatever bur...
.jpg)
A Cup Of Cold Water - Ed Carrette's Homily for the Fifth Sunday After Pentecost - June 28, 2026
SummaryGrace Community Missioner Ed Carrette reflects on Matthew 10 and the powerful simplicity of discipleship, centered on Jesus' words: "Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a discipl...
You Can't Run From God: Jonah, Jeremiah, and Us - Mother Nan Doerr's Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost - June 21, 2026
SummaryMother Nan Doerr draws on the reluctant prophets of Scripture — particularly Jeremiah — and the sending of the disciples in Matthew to remind us that God never promises an easy road, only a faithful companion for the journey. Ev...
Bending Crooked Paths Straight - Ed Carrette's Homily for the Third Sunday After Pentecost - May 14, 2026
SummaryCommunity Missioner Ed Carrette challenges the common notion that blessing equals good fortune or material comfort, offering instead a richer, gospel-rooted understanding: blessing is God's faithful presence with us, in both the...
Faith, Healing, and New Life: From the Fringe to the Family of God - Mother Nan Doerr's Sermon for the Second Sunday After Pentecost, June 7, 2026
SummaryMother Nan Doerr reflects on three condensed stories from Matthew's Gospel, exploring how Jesus reaches out to sinners, the sick, and the outcast with mercy and compassion. Through the calling of Matthew, the healing of Jairus' ...
.jpg)
Pursuing Love: A Trinity Sunday Sermon - May 31, 2026
SummaryOn Trinity Sunday, Mother Suzanne leads her congregation through an exploration of one of the Christian faith's most central and mysterious doctrines — the Trinity. Drawing on images like St. Patrick's shamrock and the co...
They Dared to Inhale: God’s Breath and the Birth of the Church - Sermon for Pentcost Sunday, May 24, 2026
SummaryOn the Day of Pentecost, Mother Suzanne invites her congregation to celebrate the birthday of the church — the moment when the Holy Spirit transformed a small, frightened group of 120 disciples into a fearless, Spirit-filled bod...
.jpg)
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...
.jpg)
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...
.jpg)
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...
.jpg)
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 ...
.jpg)