Matt O'Reilly, PhD

Pastor | Author | Public Theologian

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What Mr. Tumnus Can Teach Us About Advent

Dec 19, 2014
3 min

What Mr. Tumnus Can Teach Us About Advent

After stumbling into the snowy wood of Narnia through the doors of a magical wardrobe, the first person Lucy met in that mysterious new country was a faun named Mr. Tumnus. Her presence startled him as much as his did her, so much so that he dropped the brown-paper parcels he was carrying. Knowing nothing of this strange new land, Lucy observed that, “What with the parcels and the snow it looked just as if he had been doing his Christmas shopping.” Lucy would soon learn, howe

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Christmas and Communion (or Incarnation and Eucharist)

Dec 8, 2014
2 min

Christmas and Communion (or Incarnation and Eucharist)

My Advent series of sermons this year focuses on the significance of the Eucharist. In preparing for this series, I’ve spent some time looking at the Eucharistic writings of the Church Fathers. One theme that emerges with regularity is the connection between the Incarnation and the Sacrament. I included this illustrative quote from Justin Martyr in yesterday’s sermon: We do not receive these gifts as ordinary food or ordinary drink. But as Jesus Christ our Savior who was made

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Dec 4, 2014
1 min

New Podcast: His Presence, Our Salvation #Advent #UMC @StMarkMobile

http://www.podbean.com/media/player/audio/postId/5393909/url/http%253A%252F%252Fstmarkumc.podbean.com%252Fe%252Fhis-presence-our-salvation-matthew-118-25-11302014-rev-matt-oreilly%252F/initByJs/1/auto/1 Advent is about Christ’s coming. And his coming is about the promise of his presence with us. But Christ is not present with us in exactly the same way as he was to his first followers. None of us have ever had an experience like that of the disciples, who were granted to look

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3 Reasons for Reading Backwards with Richard Hays (@Baylor_Press)

Dec 2, 2014
4 min

3 Reasons for Reading Backwards with Richard Hays (@Baylor_Press)

After attending part of the review panel for Richard Hays’ new short book, Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Baylor, 2014), I knew I had to get a copy and read it. So I did, and took the long plane ride from California as an opportunity to dig in to this treasure trove of accessible and robust biblical scholarship on the Gospels. Hays is currently the Dean of Duke Divinity School and is well known for his work on the interplay between Old

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The Promise of Peace: Christmas in the Wake of Tragedy

Dec 21, 2012
1 min

The Promise of Peace: Christmas in the Wake of Tragedy

When I began preparing my sermon for last Sunday on the topic of Christmas and the promise of peace, I didn’t know I would deliver it only days after what was undoubtedly one of the most wicked and satanic acts of evil to occur in my lifetime. Like many pastors, I felt the weighty responsibility to step into the pulpit and lead the people of God in reflecting biblically on the tragedy that took place on December 14 in Newtown, Connecticut. Little sense can be made of such eve

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Advent and the Reality of the Kingdom

Dec 12, 2012
4 min

Advent and the Reality of the Kingdom

I’m preaching a series of four sermons on Luke 1-2 this Advent that focus on four promises that are kept in the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. This past Sunday’s sermon was on “The Promise of a King”. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of h

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Good News for All People

Jan 23, 2012
2 min

Good News for All People

Our Christmas celebrations have come to an end once again. Nevertheless, the many truths of Christmas endure all year long. One of those truths is always stunning to me. In fact, it may be nothing short of miraculous. What is this enduring truth? It is simply this: the good news of Christmas is good news for all people. No matter who you are, where you’ve been, or what you’ve done. The good news of the Savior’s birth is for you. Consider the story of the shepherds in Luke’s a

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The Advent of Joy

Dec 21, 2011
3 min

The Advent of Joy

Have you ever been to that place? You know the one, the place where you are willing to do what you know you have to do but you are not excited about it. You know the task at hand, but you are not eager to face the challenges. So, you approach it with hesitation, timidity, and perhaps a little fear. You want to be joyful, because you know it’s the right thing to do, but all too often, the right thing is the hard thing. I bet you’ve been there before. Mary of Nazareth certainly

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Are you ready?

Dec 20, 2011
2 min

Are you ready?

Advent is a season of preparation. As we celebrate the coming of Christ as the child of Mary, we also prepare ourselves for the day when he will come again. So, the Advent season is not merely about waiting passively for something to happen to us; it is an active preparation for the coming of God in Christ. This invites the question: what are we doing to prepare ourselves to receive the Christ? We can find some help with this question in the familiar story of Mary. You rememb

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Hope Is with Us

Dec 7, 2011
2 min

Hope Is with Us

I love Christmas! I love it for so many different reasons. I love singing my favorite Christmas carols in church every Sunday. I love all the special gatherings and events, the decorations, the meals, the giving, and everything else that goes with Christmas. I look forward to Christmas months before it ever arrives, and I’ll bet some of you do, too. I especially love Christmas because it marks a special season in the church year. That season is Advent, which is observed in ch

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Advent Evangelism

Dec 6, 2011
1 min

Advent Evangelism

First, the shepherds didn’t mess with the message. They are said to have made known that which was said to them. They are courriers for the message, not the authors of the message. Likewise, when we engage in the ministry of evangelism, we are courriers of the message. We are not responsible for altering the gospel; we must simply share what we have heard. Indeed, if we were to alter the good news, it would no longer be the good news; it would be some other news. Like those s

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