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Proper 11 C What is the One Thing Necessary?

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  Proper 11 C What is the One Thing Necessary? July 20, 1986 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell As Christians, what must be our primary concern -- our number one priority? Put simply; we are called to discern and serve the will and purpose of Jesus Christ. At baptism we ask the candidates, “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” And we pray, “That God’s Holy Spirit will give us an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, and a spirit to know and to love the Lord ,” in the final analysis, how could anyone claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ if they don’t know what He taught and how He lived? In today’s Gospel lesson about Mary and Martha, Our Lord gently reminds us to give our relationship with Him a high priority. Jesus gently reminds Martha that only one thing is necessary…. To serve the Lord. I could have titled this sermon, “First Things First.” In fact, I titled it, “What is the One Thing Necessary.” Now, before...
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Proper 10 C Good Neighbors

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  Proper 10 C Good Neighbors July 10, 2016 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell As scripture guides us through the season of Pentecost, we are all learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us how important it is to look for the true worth of another human being. To be honest it’s what I personally admire most about the man Jesus. He met all sorts of people. Some mired down in their destructive way of life, some mired down in self-righteousness. No matter how people presented themselves, Jesus had an uncanny ability to see their God given potential. Then through His persistent, patient love, He coaxed, kidded, and inspired men and women to see in themselves what He saw, then offered His encouragement to live up to it. Isn’t that what every parent, teacher, friend, and leader would want to emulate?  The other thing I love and admire about Jesus was His confidence in people’s hunger for wholeness, and their personal integrity that they would ...
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Proper 9 C Go as You Are

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  Proper 9 C Go as You Are July 8, 2007 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell In today’s Gospel Our Lord sends out 35 teams to every town and city that He intended to visit himself. His instructions to this group are short, and neat. They are to be themselves. They are to simply let God happen through them to others. To enter people’s lives and “let God happen” on behalf of anyone willing to show them hospitality….and who are willing to listen.  Go, go as you are. Just……go! Greet everyone with God’s shalom. Be yourselves and see what happens. Jesus must be kidding…. Right? If this plan to make people aware of the positive difference God’s love makes in people’s lives…. if this low-budget mission sounds naively idealistic, it’s because it is! We all know that if you hope to have any success with evangelism, you have to start with a mission statement. This of course will mean committee meetings, setting a budget, recruiting, and training personal and then establishing a support system to ...
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Proper 8 C We’re It!

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  Proper 8 C We’re It! June 28, 1998 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell It is presumed by our presence in, at this worship service today, that we have found God’s word in scripture, the sacraments and in the fellowship of the church, to be of value to our lives. If that is true then we could also presume that the faith journey that we know and enjoy would also be of value to other people as well. This simple logic explains our purpose statement in our Sunday bulletin; “Our purpose is to know Christ and to make Him known.”  If we are not His disciples then where else would we think to look to find people committed to being extensions of the incarnation…. To work, pray and give so that the cause of Christ may extend eventually to the ends of the earth and beyond? In our Catechism (on page 855 of the Book of Common Prayer) it asks: Q. Who are the ministers of the Church? A. The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priest, and deacons. Q. What is the ministry of the laity? A....
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