The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor  © 2025, Dr. Tamilio “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” These are the words that God spoke from the heavens when Jesus emerged from the Jordan River when he was baptized by his second cousin John the Baptist.  This event marks the […]

The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor © 2025, Dr. Tamilio Wise Men from the East, the Magi — they followed a star that led them to a manger in Bethlehem.  They came to pay honor to the Christ child: the one who was born King of kings and Lord of lords.  It is a […]

The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III  Christmas Eve Sermon/Message Christmas Eve has a feeling like no other night: an aura of intense expectation envelopes everything.  It isn’t just the anticipation of children expecting brightly wrapped packages that will fill the space beneath the tree, or stockings bursting at the seams that will be hung by […]

The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor  © 2024, Dr. Tamilio I hate being sick.  My wife always tells me to never use the word “hate.”  Sorry.  I completely and absolutely and thoroughly despise being sick. I cannot remember the last time I was this sick.  (I’m still stuffed up if you haven’t noticed.)  I […]

The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor  © 2024, Dr. Tamilio Many of the circles that I move within — both pastoral and academic, both theological and philosophical — these circles believe that in order for us to all get along, we need to find a least common denominator religion: in other words, we need […]

The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor © 2024, Dr. Tamilio After I gave Patty all the pieces for today’s worship service and sat down to begin writing these words, I realized something.  The Gospel Lesson that is listed in the bulletin is the one for today.  Makes sense.  Why would we read one for […]

The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor  © 2024, Dr. Tamilio A man is driving his car along a road.  He comes upon another man who is holding a sign that reads “The End Is Near!” The driver ignores him and thinks to himself, “Crazy, religious fanatic!”  He ignores the man and keeps driving…straight off […]

The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor © 2024, Dr. Tamilio Behind the street where I grew up was a big wooded area.  The woods, as we called it.  This is where we would play.  This is where we would explore.  This is where we played war.  We’d go deep into the woods with our […]

© 2024, Dr. Tamilio Have you ever heard the song, “It’s Hard to Be Humble”?  Mack Davis sang it.  As one source said, this 1980 hit by Davis was “a humorous ode to his own perfection and ego.”[1]  There’s nothing like writing an ode to your perfection.  Here are some of the lyrics: Oh Lord, […]

© 2024, Dr. Tamilio Jesus was crucified for sedition, for being a traitor against the state.  The Jewish leaders saw him as a threat to the religious power they held, so they convinced Pilate that he was going to lead a political rebellion.  After all, his followers referred to him as a “king.”  When Jesus […]