Stuart Higginbotham, Brandon Nonnemaker and Meg McPeek talk creativity, new beginnings, playlists, simmer pots, candles, poems and dreams, magic and who is that outside the window? Oh, he's on the phone, it's fine.

This bonus episode was recorded on Jan. 5, 2026 in Stuart's office.

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Rev. Brandon Nonnemaker, Ed.D.

This sermon reflects on John the Baptist’s witness at the Jordan as a moment of divine light emerging amid instability and change. Drawing on Scripture, art, and the embodied experience of life rooted in place, it explores how God’s presence appears not through force, but through gift, circulation, and belonging. In a world undergoing profound transition, the sermon invites listeners to recognize the Light of the World among us, calling us into a new way of living shaped by love.

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

John 1:29-42

John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

Against a backdrop of Roman imperial ambition, John the Baptist wrestled with the idea of baptizing Jesus; the one that he was preparing people to receive. While the emperor and dominant power structures sought to impose, grasp for power and self-glorify, Jesus asked John to let him share in our hopes, fears, sins and salvation of even the lowliest of us. When John the Baptist consented, he chose to relate to the world in a different way. Following Jesus sometimes puts you at odds with the power structure and prevailing popular sentiment. How do we handle when being a Christian makes us fundamentally weird? How do we consent?

For episode transcripts and more about Grace Episcopal Church, visit online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gracechurchgainesville.org⁠/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”