Ernest F. Campbell Selected Sermons

  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 ...

  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....

  Proper 7 C I Love to Tell the Story June 24, 2007 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell The Gospel story today is taken from Luke 8:26-39 and tells the story of the healing of the man possessed with demons.  No matter how the demoniac’s problem would be diagnosed with today’s understanding of the human mind, we must accept that his “demons” were very real to him. And that he had a powerful lot of them. From the Gospel – “ Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion;” for many demons had entered him .”  A legion in the Roman army was 6,000 men. Can you imagine what havoc 6,000 warriors in the heat of a bloody battle could unleash? Peterson in “The Message” describes the man’s demons as a “mob.” I thought of the news pictures of the riots in Watts; pictures of mindless mayhem.  We are told that this demon-tormented man was physically strong; strong enough to snap the fetters they used on him, to protect themselves. Again, from the Gospel – “He was kept under gu...

  Trinity Sunday C All Cried Glory May 25, 1986 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell A third-year music major has just finished playing a beautiful piano solo by Chopin. He then leaves the stage to take a seat in the back of the auditorium. A button is pressed and the same piano now repeats the solo with the exact interpretations played by the artist now listening to his own recital. What I am describing is a recent demonstration of the modern equipment of the player-piano through the wonder of the computer chip. When interviewed, the young pianist said that when he heard the sounds of his own music, and could see the empty piano bench, he giggled out loud for the sheer amazing joy of it. In the future, for those of us who may own one of these computerized player-pianos, we can enjoy the worlds greatest artists right in our own living rooms, on our own pianos. At our last clergy bible study, anticipating Trinity Sunday, I stated that there needs to be at least one Sunday when we ponder the ...