Category: Sermon

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God of The Living: A Sermon At Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Maitland, Florida

Good Shepherd Episcopal
Maitland, Florida

It has been one of my joys as a retired priest to serve as a supply priest, and especially to see the dedication and giftedness of the next generation of clergy as they boldly begin in parish ministry. It reminds me of my younger days! 

Fr. Cameron MacMillan is the Rector of Good Shepherd in Maitland, Florida and is bringing grace, healing, and vision to this parish. Many spoke to me of how grateful they are for his ministry and leadership.

I am deeply grateful for the gift of preaching and celebrating the Eucharist today.  I find my message becoming more focused on the essentials!  Hope this brings comfort to you. 

With you on the Journey, 

Rob+

 

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Increase Our Faith: The Gift Already Within You! A Sermon At Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Orlando, FL.

Have you ever cried out, Lord, Increase my faith?  WHAT AM I ASKING FOR? Faith is confidence grounded in reality, not a wild, desperate leap.

Jesus agrees we need faith. However, he does not support our assumption that a greater quantity of faith will help us. The disciples do not need more faith. They need to be reminded about what faith is and assured they have all they need to do what Jesus has enjoined them to do.  It only takes the size of a mustard seed.

Maybe the mistake the disciples make isn’t so much in asking for more faith, but in thinking they don’t have enough, in thinking God’s gift to them was somehow insufficient. 

Jesus is saying to them and to us:  Faith. It’s Already Within You. Engage it! 

In this sermon I focus on two ways our faith can be engaged:

1. God Confidence and 2. Personal Agency. 

In short, the biblical meaning of faith is confidence in God, or as we say, “God-confidence.” Basic to everything here is the idea that Christian belief is really about knowing who and what to trust. In Christ, what you can rely on are his person, his life, death and Resurrection, and the available resources of God and God’s Kingdom. 

With deepest gratitude to Fr. David Bumstead, Rector of Emmanuel.

With you on the Journey, my dear friends, 

Rob+ 

 

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Sermon July 7: The Reign of God Has Come Near To You

Emmanuel Episcopal Church- Orlando, Florida

It was an honor to preach at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Orlando today for Fr. David Bumstead, their wonderful Rector and my friend. 

My theme for the sermon was taken from The Gospel lesson for Proper 9, on the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20. 

….cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

We’re talking about a partnership where God’s grace and your well-directed efforts by grace collide to live in the Kingdom now. It is all about Aliveness.

Above all, it is about waking up to the always available Presence of the crucified and risen Christ, alive and at large throughout the world, Who invites us to be his followers wherever we are.

P.S. Music theme in closing: Fanfare for King of Glory. RCL+

So grateful to Fr. Bumstead for this opportunity. 

With you on the Journey, 

Rob+

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An Encounter With The Risen Lord: God Confidence

I enjoyed being supply priest for Fr. Tom Phillips this past Sunday, 2nd Sunday of Easter, at Church of the Incarnation, located at Canterbury Retreat Center, the Diocese of Central Fl. Tom has a strong commitment to preaching and teaching, and this engaging faith community definitely engages and animates the preaching task! Had fun with this one. Hope you will listen, and that you find a word from the Risen Lord! 

With you on the Journey of Flourishing Life in Christ, 

Rob+

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“We Have Heard The Fact, Let Us Seek The Mystery”

I had the gift of preaching yesterday at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Orlando on behalf of their fine Rector, Fr. David Bumsted+. Deeply grateful for his ministry.

The Parable of the Prodigal Sons, also called The Parable of the Father’s Love, offers tantalizing opportunities to connect the parable to our daily lives, to our families, and to our experience of God.

The challenge of this parable is to keep listening, to listen to it again, and to be open to the possibility it may say something new to us. Stepping into a parable — even a much-beloved parable — is like stepping into a river; you cannot step into the same river twice, as Heraclitus of Ephesus reminds us.

One of the hardest things we face in life and the spiritual journey is to stop being the prodigal son without turning into the elder brother. It Is a challenge we all must face.

The Good News Jesus reveals in the parable centers on the extravagant love of a father who culturally humiliates himself to show mercy to both of his lost sons who share the tragic flaw of having no idea who their father is. It is an invitation to the joy of being home with God.

As St. Augustine said: “We have heard the fact, let us seek the mystery.”

With you on the Journey to a more Flourishing Life,

Rob+

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Ash Wednesday Meditation: We Are Beloved Dust And Spirit


Remember: “You Are Dust and To Dust You Shall Return” Genesis 3:19

Keep death before your eyes – Saint Benedict, The Rules: Chapter 4:47

On the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, we are invited to have our foreheads crossed with ashes as a reminder that we are creatures of dust. We are fragile, fallible, fallen human beings. Therefore, from the moment we emerge from our mother’s womb, we begin the process of dying.

The finality of death is meant to challenge us to decision, the decision to be fully present here now, following Jesus, and so beginning eternal life. For eternity rightly understood is not the perpetuation of time, on and on. In contrast, eternity is the overcoming of time by the now that does not pass away.  Eternity is in session. 

As Trevor Hudson writes: “We are God’s beloved, and nothing—not even death—can separate us from God’s love through Jesus Christ. Our dust is charged with God’s own life-sustaining and death-defeating breath. We are beloved dust.”

I invite you to receive Lent as a gift. It is an extended time apart for the purpose of being with God and giving God our full and undivided attention. As Emilie Griffin puts it, “a generous commitment to our friendship with God.” The emphasis is on the words extended and generous friendship.

This homily was given on Ash Wednesday 2017. And so I offer this pastoral and spiritual direction again, for my own life and for others.

*Look for a new podcast soon. In addition, I will be posting new sermons that I will be preaching on two Lenten Sundays this month in different parishes.

With you on the Journey – Seeking a Flourishing Life,

Rob+

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So We Do Not Lose Heart: For Ucola

It is never easy to preach and share at the funeral of a good friend and former parishioner. At the same time, it is in some ways a gift from the heart to honor someone whose life was so radiant with God’s grace and love. I had many requests for my homily and so I share it in thanksgiving to God for the joy and love, and radiant life she shared with all of us. Special thanks to Fr. Stu Shelby who graciously honored Ucola’s request for me to serve at her funeral.

We live in the shelter of each other, 

Rob+

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To Be Beloved: Mere Spirituality

Stepping aside to move forward has given me time to return to reading and study of essential books and spiritual guides that have shaped my lifetime and vocation. In this podcast I reflect on the work of Fr. Henri Nouwen and his central theme of “Being The Beloved.” `

Raymond Carver, just before he died, as one of the finest writers of our time, wrote a fragment of a poem titled Last Fragment .

I have shared this in several sermons and retreats across the years, including as part of my teaching the 2017 Clergy Conference of the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe, Northern Ireland, for Bishop Ken Good.

I want to share with you, as part of this podcast, an audio excerpt from a previous sermon I preached.

And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth.”

The spiritual journey is at its core the discovery of our belovedness as the essence of who we truly are.

We are not what we do. We are not what we have. We are not what others say about us. We do not need to hurry or hustle. We do not need to worry. We can trust Jesus our friend and the voice that tells us who we are: Beloved of God.

Faith is the courage to accept your acceptance and your prior belovedness, to be the beloved of God.

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

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Advent 3 Sermon: Joy Changes Everything

It was a great joy to preach this sermon at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Orlando today. I am deeply grateful to Fr. David Bumstead, Rector, for his kind invitation.  May this “Joy Sunday” message bring you flourishing hope and encouragement.

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

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An Advent Sermon: Waking Up To The Coming Christ

Dear Friends, I have added a “Sermon Page” to my blog. I will be posting previous sermons and those I preach in the future from time to time. I hope they might be helpful for your journey and flourishing. 

First Sunday of Advent 2016  Fr. Rob Lord+

On The First Sunday of Advent, I sought to remind us that in the midst of this busy season, God gives us an invitation to wake up to the reality of our lives, the reality of His daily coming to us, and waiting for the appearance of Christ now and at His final coming.

During Advent we learn:

1. To stay awake to our hearts.

2. To stay awake and present to those we love.

3. To stay awake to the coming of Christ every day and at his final Advent when he comes again.

As St. Augustine said: “You are closer to me than I am to myself.” This is why Advent is a contemplative season that calls us to wait in silence on God’s loving embrace in Jesus Christ. May you have a meaningful and wonderful Advent.

With you on The Journey,

Rob+

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