Sermon preached by The Rev. Richard Lampert
Lent 2

Sermon preached by The Rev. Richard Lampert
Lent 2

Lk.13.31-35 ( Mt. 23.37-39)

ON THE ROAD AGAIN TOWARD JERUSALEM,
REBUILDING THE CITY OF GOD IN OUR HEARTS

Today’s Gospel re-presents basic fundamental Lenten themes: Journeying toward Jerusalem; The Way of the Cross; God’s Holy Spirit leading us/driving us, or in the words of The Collect, “….. to bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word….. .” Many of us here are taking the Lenten Course, Christ’s Life: Our Life. It’s a fabulous book written by the late Bishop John B. Coburn, in which the author continually connects, paints images of, our lives with Christ’s life, and then repeatedly asks the question, how are you doing in your walk this Lent with Christ? The chapter for next Wednesday, “His Journey Toward Jerusalem”, is one of the best. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 28 February 2010’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The First Sunday in Lent

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The First Sunday in Lent

“Son,” ordered a father, “Don’t swim in that canal.”
“OK, Dad,” he answered. But he came home carrying a wet bathing suit that evening.
“Where have you been?” demanded the father.
“Swimming in the canal,” answered the boy.
“Didn’t I tell you not to swim there?” asked the father.
“Yes, sir,” answered the boy.
“Why did you?” he asked.
“Well, Dad,” he explained, “I had my bathing suit with me and I couldn’t resist the temptation.”
“Why did you take your bathing suit with you?” he questioned.
“So I’d be prepared to swim, in case I was tempted.”

This fanciful story is told by H. King Oehmig in Synthesis for the First Sunday in Lent. We have only 36 days of Lent to go. For those of you who have given up something for Lent, have you found yourself tempted? I’ve given up chocolate, and every Lent I find that what I give up I especially crave during that time. Linda keeps chocolates in a candy jar in our living room and I find myself looking over there at the jar every time I pass through! I haven’t succumbed, by the way. But I don’t carry chocolates around with me just in case I want one and decide to yield to temptation!

This past week once again a national figure has made a confession for all the world to hear. Tiger Woods exposed his soul to his family, friends, and fans, acknowledging that he has let everyone down in the way he yielded to temptation. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 21 February 2010’ »

The Pelican, Volume 14, Number 08 - March 2010 (1,915 KB)

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The Last Sunday after the Epiphany

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The Last Sunday after the Epiphany

I have rediscovered a passion that I had as a child. The last few years we have taken vacations in the summer where we have been close to mountains, and I have taken that opportunity to do some rather long hikes that included climbing to the tops of mountains. I’m not talking about technical climbs, where you need ropes. All I needed were good shoes with plenty of tread and poles to help save my knees.

Last summer we spent some time in Colorado where I climbed to the top of Mt. Pagosa, which is along the Continental Divide. Linda doesn’t share my passion for climbing, so while I’m climbing alone, she stays on level ground and reads, or shops! When I got to the top of the mountain I walked for several miles along the ridge of the Continental Divide, most of the time with no other human being around. The vistas were indescribably beautiful.

When I’m out there in the beauty of creation, walking for miles, hour upon hour, it’s incredibly peaceful, and I always find myself doing a lot of thinking and praying. And I want you to know that even when there’s not another soul around, you’re always with me. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 14 February 2010 by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson’ »

Sunday, January 17, at 7:00 p.m., Balint Karosi, distinguished concert organist, recording artist, and Minister of Music for the First Lutheran Church of Boston, will perform at the Church of the Redeemer as the opening artist for the January 18 American Guild of Organists Region IV Mid-Winter Conference. Suggested ticket donation is $20 the day of the performance, and $12 if purchased in advance by calling the Redeemer Parish Office at 941.955.4263, M-F/9-5.

The opening convocation of the Conference on Monday, January 18, will be Solemn Morning Prayer at 9:00 a.m., with special guest organist John Fenstermaker, Director of Music at Trinity-by-the-Cove of Naples, Florida, and conductor Dr. Daniel T. Moe. Fenstermaker is the former Organist and Choirmaster at San Francisco’s famed Grace Cathedral. The public is warmly invited; goodwill offerings gratefully accepted.

Both visiting organists will perform on Redeemer’s Nichols and Simpson Pipe Organ.

Sermon preached by The Rev. Richard Lampert
Date of the 2010 Annual Parish Meeting

GOD ALWAYS CALLS YOU AND ME AND THE CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER TO LIVE IN HIM, SO THAT HE CAN LIVE IN US!

Every week in the Eucharistic Prayer’s [ BCP,pgs.336, 363] we say these words “…that we may be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with him, that he may dwell in us and we in him.” To put it another way: God calls us all to live our lives in the Life of His Son. Christ wants us to discover our own unique spirits within His Spirit. The Holy Spirit drives/drags our lives into Christ’s life.

Similarly, today’s lesson’s talk about calling, uniting and going forth! Jeremiah is formed, known, consecrated and led forth by God even as a youth! The Psalmist seeks and finds strength in The Lord ever since he’s been in his mother’s womb! Paul learns that everything, all our different gifts and spirits (even God’s) must be rooted in love. And when Jesus proclaims that “The Spirit of The Lord is upon me” He declares that God’s love has no limits nor boundaries. As Fr. Fred reminded us last week, and today’s Gospel does so again, you and I and this Church of The Redeemer are all called to live in this Spirit and in this Love, both within God’s church and also outside in the world all around us. So, like the Prophets, the Psalmist, St. Paul and Our Lord, we are called to live into The Spirit of Christ, to discover our own spirits, to live into and write our own stories and then to weave them into the fabric of The Living Christ.

On this Annual Parish Meeting Day, I want to say four things: Continue reading ‘Sermon - 31 January 2010’ »