Sermon preached by the Rev. Richard Lampert
The 21st Sunday after Pentecost

Eph. 4 & I Cor. 12 / Stewardship Dinner Sunday

EQUIPPING HIS PEOPLE FOR MINISTRY AND THE BUILDING UP THE BODY OF CHRIST

“And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the
saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ …”
Eph. 4.11-12 &“And concerning spiritual gifts, …There are varieties
of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are varieties of service, but the same
Lord; there are varieties of working, but it is the same God …..To each
is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”I Cor.12.1, 4-7

Forty five years of living and working in bilingual, multi-class/cultural churches and communities in the Northeast, Midwest, Florida and Mexico convinces me that the Bible and St. Paul got this right: (1) God gifts His people in many different ways, but always for the equipping of the saints, works of ministry and the shared building up of the Body of Christ! (2) There are many gifts, yet One Spirit; varieties of service, but One Lord; different forms of working, but always One God. These gifts are never given just for ourselves, but always for the manifestation of “the common good!” God wants us to celebrate our fundamental agreements and then honor and accept our differences! Continue reading ‘Sermon - 25 October 2009’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The 19th Sunday after Pentecost

Today is a very special day for the Church of the Redeemer. Today we are privileged to honor and thank Fr. Ferdinand Saunders. We honor him and give thanks for his ministry of 50 years as a priest in Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We honor him and give thanks for his priestly ministry among us for 19 ½ years. Fr. Saunders was called by Fr. Iker, who is now Bishop Iker, to be the priest in charge of Pastoral Care. And Fr. Saunders was coming here after his retirement! His first day at the Redeemer was the 1st of April 1990, and his time in that position ends officially the end of this month. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 11 October 2009’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The 18th Sunday after Pentecost

One of the best movies of all time is It’s a Wonderful Life, starring Jimmy Stewart. Jimmy Stewart plays the part of the head of a Savings in Loan that is about to go under. Over the years it has helped many of the people of his community in building their businesses and in other ways as well, but the economy has fallen on hard times, people can’t pay back their loans, and the Savings and Loan to which Stewart has devoted his life is about to fail. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 4 October 2009’ »

Sermon preached by the Rev’d Fredrick A. Robinson
The 16th Sunday after Pentecost

It would be an interesting exercise some day for us to go through our buildings and count all of the crosses of various kinds. They’re everywhere, especially here in the church. There is the large Redeemer cross above the altar. Most of the crosses do not have a corpus, that is, the body of Jesus, on them; although here by the pulpit there is a crucifix—a cross with the figure of the dying Christ on the cross, reminding preacher and congregation that we are to preach Christ crucified. The cross by the lectern is called a Christus Rex, Christ our High Priest, clothed in Eucharistic vestments, reigning from the tree. There is a crucifix also on the beam above the chancel steps, facing the choir and ministers. A cross goes before us in processions, and many Christians wear crosses around their necks. The cross is the single most accepted symbol for Christians throughout Christendom. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 20 September 2009’ »

Sermon preached by the Rev’d Richard Lampert
The 14th Sunday after Pentecost

James 1.17-27

BE YE HEARERS AND DOERS OF THE WORD

Forty three years ago when I was first in seminary at The Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Mass. the biggest and loudest of all the ongoing debates [one of many] was whether one was supposed to be primarily A Hearer or A Doer of God’s Word. These two sides played out to their extreme with “The Liturgical Prayer Gang”[perhaps the hearers] on one side and “The Social Action/Missionary Clan”[they thought the doers] on the other. The entire community was pretty much split over the issue and there were tense battles and standoffs between the two rival groups.

In Biblical terms, of course this is the old struggle between Martha and Mary. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 6 September 2009’ »

Sermon preached by the Rev’d Fredrick A. Robinson
The 13th Sunday after Pentecost

Remember all of the hullabaloo about putting a new bridge over the bay? That tempest is over and we now have that beautiful bridge that has become a distinguishing structure for Sarasota. Drive over it, day or night, and there are people enjoying it by walking, running, or cycling. In this place where we don’t have mountains to climb, at least we have the bridge—Mt. Sarasota! Continue reading ‘Sermon - 30 August 2009’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The 11th Sunday after Pentecost

One day two travelers took adjoining seats on an airplane. One was an Episcopal priest, the other a fundamentalist Christian. After take-off, the flight attendant came taking drink orders. The priest, as bright as his clerical collar, said, “Oh, I’d like a gin and tonic.” Immediately his horrified seat-mate frowned and blurted out, “Well, since I’m a real Christian, I’ll have ginger ale.” Continue reading ‘Sermon - 16 August 2009’ »

Sermon preached by the Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The 10th Sunday after Pentecost

One of the few specific memories I have of my elementary school days is the first day back after summer vacation. I used to dread that day, because I knew the teacher was going to ask us to write about what we did over summer vacation, and I hated writing. It was almost as if the vacation wasn’t worth it if you had to come back and write about it! I could never think of what to say!

Aren’t the ironies of life funny sometimes? In the 27 years I have been a priest, I imagine that more often than not, when I have gotten back from vacation I have written my sermon around what I did on my summer vacation.

And what a vacation I have had! Continue reading ‘Sermon - 9 August 2009’ »

Sermon preached by the Rev. Richard Lampert
The 7th Sunday after Pentecost

A GREAT PRIVILEGE AND RESPONSIBILITY Mk.6.30-44 07/19/’09

Sometimes it hits me right between the eyes what a great blessing, privilege and responsibility it is to be a priest! I don’t think about this every day, although I probably should. In the ministry, you are invited and welcomed into peoples lives in good and in devastatingly tragic times and you share with them in these most intense and significant moments. People look to you for strength and comfort and wisdom and they want to rely on your judgment. Some will say that the priesthood is not now what it used to be nor does the minister today have entrée into families and lives as in the days of old. Not so! Continue reading ‘Sermon - 19 July 2009’ »

Sermon preached by the Rev. Richard Lampert
The 6th Sunday after Pentecost

WE ARE CALLED, EQUIPPED, COMMISSIONED and SENT! Mk 6.7-13 07/12/’09

We all know the saying, “Be careful what you pray for……..!” Now I’ll add another, “Be careful what you think of, He might be listening!”During Thursday’s staff meeting when we were going over the bulletins and the lessons for today I thought, Wow, this Sunday’s Gospel is great! I could really get into that. Friday morning, The Rev. Dennis McMannis called me very apologetically saying that he was sick in bed with the flu and would not be able to come this Sunday. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 12 July 2009’ »