In preparing for this sermon this week I ran across another version of today’s gospel reading. See if you recognize it:

If thy brother shall trespass against thee, first think to thyself fervently on the trespass until a fire of anger and righteousness is kindled in your heart, then go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: vent thee thy anger upon him, lay thee thy knuckles not too hard on his nose, if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained victory over thy brother, and caused him to concede. Then he or thee leave the corrupted church for a congregation that will never offend thee.

But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, tell two or three witnesses every word that it may be established with them what a jerk thy brother is. Thus they might also vent anger and distain upon your brother.
Then thou and thy group of witnesses may leave that corrupted church for a more perfect place. Continue reading ‘Sermon – Sunday 4 September, 2011/The Rev. Richard C. Marsden’ »

Thank God for Peter! He is such a source of hope for you and me, and not in the way that we might expect. Peter—the leader of the disciples, the rock upon which Jesus would build his Church, the chief of the apostles, the one to whom the keys to the kingdom of heaven were given, St. Peter—this Peter is such a source of hope for you and me. I am so thankful that Peter didn’t get everything right the first time, or the second time, or the third time! He didn’t make just little mistakes; he made gigantic mistakes! Continue reading ‘Sermon – Sunday 28 August, 2011/The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson’ »

Gandhi said that he did not think Jesus was uniquely divine. I guess that is not unexpected, after all, Gandhi was Hindu and believed that all humanity was divine or at least had divine sparks within. H.G. Wells said that Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history. Nietzsche said, “Jesus died too soon. If he had lived to my age he would have repudiated his own doctrine.” In Islam Jesus is seen to be a good and godly man–a prophet in a long line of prophets. Ben Franklin extolled the character of Jesus, but in regard to his divinity he declared himself a skeptic. Even Albert Einstein had a high view of Jesus and referred to him as the luminous man of Nazareth. But Einstein would not commit to the idea of a personal God. In light of what Einstein could see of the universe, that there was a God made sense, but he did not think Jesus was divine.
In 2002 George Gallop did a survey to get a sense of how modern Americans answer the question Jesus posed to his disciples 2,000 years ago: “Who do you say that I am?”
Eight in 10 Americans held the belief that Jesus Christ is God or the Son of God. When we examine Gallup data in greater detail, we discover that about half of this group holds the orthodox position — that Jesus was in fact God living among men — while most of the remainder believe that Jesus was divine only in the sense that he was a man who was uniquely called by God to reveal God’s purpose in the world. Continue reading ‘Sermon – Sunday 21 August, 2011/The Rev. Lance Wallace’ »

When you go on vacation you have a chance to step back and look at things more objectively. I always find that to be the case when I go on vacation, and I always return with new and fresh ideas. One idea whose time has come, I believe, is that it’s time to set up some guidelines, some rules, about whom we should allow to worship here. First of all, I think we should only allow people who are truly interested in their faith and are willing to commit to being here every Sunday, unless for good cause prohibited. Second, only people who are tithers, or at least who are committed to working toward a tithe. I suppose we should also have a guideline having to do with a dress code: men, it’s time we wear coat and tie; and women, let’s go back to covering your heads, shoulders, and knees. Ushers will have the added duty of enforcing the dress code. We will also let you know how you are to vote if you want to worship here.

If you are horrified by this new idea I have had, good. Continue reading ‘Sermon – Sunday 14 August, 2011/The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson’ »

Jesus asked Peter, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” What is doubt and why do we doubt? Doubt, we are told in dictionaries is the lack of certainty of what was once perceived as truth. What makes us doubt? Frankly, lots of things can make us doubt. As Christians, unexpected situations happen, something with our jobs, something with our health, something with our families, and we begin to doubt the goodness or promises of God. Or perhaps people we know and trust say things and we begin to doubt what we have always believed. Frankly, it is easy to figure out why people doubt. But what about the other side of the coin, what helps us to grow in faith? What helps us stand firm in our faith? What can we do when we are, like Peter, suddenly attacked with doubt and fear? Continue reading ‘Sermon – Sunday 7 August, 2011/The Rev. Lance Wallace’ »

WOUNDED IN STRUGGLE, BUT CHANGED AND STRENGTHENED IN HOPE

I never knew any man or woman worth their salt anywhere, who didn’t live through and face many struggles in life. Many times we have all wanted to quit, but amidst it all with God’s love, help from others and/or our faith, we have kept on going! In the end, with luck, we’ve emerged changed yet even stronger from the experiences. One inescapable truth is that there is no life anywhere without its struggles and more often than not the real key to any emergence and survival is our hope. I’ve known and seen many persons broken in the battles of their lives, but I have seen many of them survive and then emerge even stronger in the end. Thus, I’ve experienced and learned that it is not only the battle which defeats us, but often too our own inability or unwillingness to struggle which gradually yet steadily depletes our Spirits and then immobilizes us all. Continue reading ‘Sermon – Sunday 31 July, 2011/The Rev. Richard Lampert’ »

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

What it is worth? How much will you give for it? Well, it all depends on what we are talking about right? A gallon of milk or a gallon of gasoline is worth between 3 and 4 dollars. A nice dinner for two may be worth $60 or $200 depending on what one eats and where it is. A new Buick Regal lists for $27K. An Infinity M35 starts at $46K, and one can get into a Mercedes Benz S-Class for $91K. Are they worth it? What about Audi R8 that lists for $168K? Is it worth it; or the Rolls Royce Ghost for a quarter million and the Bentley for a bit over that? Are they worth it? Obviously to some they are. To a fewer number even the Maybachs are worth spending a half to a full million on. Some people are not interested in spending money on cars. They would rather have real estate. The average size home in the U.S. this year is about 21 hundred square feet. The cost for an average size home in Sarasota varies quite a bit. Prices range from 180K over 2 million for a home of about 21 hundred square feet; as our real estate professionals would say, “Location, location, location.” Well, is it worth it?
Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. This merchant is one who knows for what he is looking. He knows the fakes, he knows quality. One day he finds a good pearl. Not just a good pearl though. This pearl is an outstanding pearl. It is the best pearl he has ever seen. It is better than even he could imagine a pearl to be. So what does he do? He sells all that he has to buy it. He sells all the other pearls he has. He sells all his other jewels. He sells his store. He sells his donkey. He sells liquidates all his stocks. He empties his savings account. He even sells his house. He has sold everything he owns. But now he has just enough cash to buy the pearl, this one magnificent pearl. So he buys it. Continue reading ‘Sermon – Sunday 24 July, 2011/The Rev. Lance Wallace’ »

Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43

Fr. Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal and says to the first man he meets: Do you want to go to heaven?
The man said: I do, father.
The priest said: Then stand over there against the wall.
The the priest asked the second man: Do you want to go to heaven?
Certainly, father, was the man’s reply.
Then stand over there against the wall, said the priest.
Then Fr. Murphy walked up to O’Toole and said: Do you want to go to heaven?
O’Toole said: No, I don’t, father.
The priest said: I don’t believe this. You mean to tell me that when you die you don’t want to go to heaven? Continue reading ‘Sermon – Sunday 17 July, 2011/The Rev. Richard C. Marsden’ »

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood…” these are the opening lines from Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken. It has to do with choosing and decision making. According to some psychologists, a person makes several thousand choices or decisions a day. The reading from Old Testament story with Jacob and Esau has to do with choices, in particular the choice that Esau makes. To paraphrase from an Indiana Jones movie, “Esau, you have NOT chosen wisely!” The passage in Romans has to do with choices, our choices, whether we choose to live according to the Spirit or to the flesh. And the Gospel has choices as a theme as well.
Now some would say the parable in Matthew 13 is really not about choices, but more about simply telling what happens when God’s word is spoken. And that is true if one looks at the parable from the perspective of the one sowing the seeds. But that is not the perspective I would like to look at this parable. Continue reading ‘Sermon – Sunday 10 July, 2011/The Rev. Lance Wallace’ »

I want to start off this morning with a little history quiz:

In 1754, what colonel of Virginia Militia surrendered Fort Necessity in Pennsylvania to the French? (George Washington.)

In 1775 what Virginian, appointed by the Continental Congress, took command of the continental army at Cambridge, MA? (George Washington.)

In 1863, this famous civil war battle culminated in a famously failed charge of confederate forces under the command of General George Picket. (Gettysburg.)

For sports fans, in 1962 this man became the first African-American to be inducted into the national baseball hall of fame. (Jackie Robinson.)

All these events happened on this very day, 3 July.

You did very well. You remember where we have been.

Where are you from? It is a simple question really. How many times have you been asked that by an acquaintance, or a friend?

Where are you from? It is actually a very significant question, a question that will reveal you to another, gives them a sense of who you are, what has shaped you and formed you.

How you answer that allows another to understand you better; it builds relationships, allows for greater intimacy of conversation. Or not!

When we first came to Florida and people would ask me: Where’re you from, I would say Connecticut because that is where I spent most of my early childhood. And immediately I would be classed as a Yankee which had a whole catalog of qualities and characteristics attached to it by polite southern folk.

Or to the less polite, I was a Yankee with an adjective preceding that would imply that either my origin or destiny was related to the infernal regions where the devil and Bill Sherman presided.

So I learned. When good southern folk ask me: Where are you from, I say Connecticut but southern Connecticut, and it seems to make a difference!

When I was a child there was a series on TV – whose name I cannot now remember – about a man who awoke one day and could not remember where he was from. He had amnesia. He was rootless and thus identity-less. He didn’t know who he was and how he fit in, and the show went on weekly with him trying discover his roots, who he was. Continue reading ‘Sermon preached Sunday July 3, 2011/The Rev. Richard C. Marsden’ »