St. James on the Lake
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Meet the Priest
    • Leadership
    • History
    • FAQs
    • Fr. Randy's Institution 2017
  • Ministry
    • Worship Ministries
    • Parish Ministries
  • Outreach
  • Activities
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
  • The Messenger
    • Archived Messengers
  • Calendars
  • Melton's More & More

Be Kind

8/2/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Posted by St. Andrew's Orthodox Church in Lockhart, Texas. Brutally scandalous...such is the Christian God as revealed most fully in Jesus Christ!
0 Comments

SERMON EXCERPT:

2/11/2018

0 Comments

 
Living in the present moment is tricky because there really isn’t a present moment in time. The present is merely a description of what happens when the future become the past. The passage of time is imperceptibly fast. To be attuned to the present moment then, is to be present to the actual passage of time, not the static nature of time, which doesn’t exist. We can’t say, “Stop world and let me get off for a minute or two, so I can be still in the present moment.” Can’t happen—you’ll never be in the present—not in this life. Life is meant to be lived & experienced in a moving process called time, designed to be interpreted, enjoyed, suffered, loved, reconciled, healed, and to glorify God. But time only stops for us when our life stops.
0 Comments

Lenten Rule of Life

2/5/2018

0 Comments

 
Consider adding these things to your Rule of Life in Lent:
  • Attend worship more regularly
  • Give up a bad habit and replace it with a good habit
  • Read a chapter a day from one of the gospels
  • Pray daily one of the family devotions from the BCP (p.137-140)
  • Call friends who aren't present at church to see how they're doing
  • Speak words of kindness and encouragement, not criticism and judgment
  • Try on a new ministry with a heart to “give” and not just “receive”
  • Focus on developing a heart of GRATITUDE rather than complaint
  • Ask someone how you might pray for God to bless them…and/or consider asking about starting a new group reunion prayer group
  • Be a prayer champion for a particular person and/or pray daily for our parish members and friends using a copy of the list to be provided in the parish hall.
  • Invite and offer to bring someone to worship or a church event
  • Ask the Holy Spirit to let grace & love characterize your life….maybe consider signing up for an upcoming Cursillo weekend.
  • In ALL things, give thanks to the Lord, and focus on the good and positive! Remember, our thoughts determine our behavior.
0 Comments

What is Lent?

1/30/2018

0 Comments

 
​Lent is the most penitential season of holiness in the Church Year, preparing us spiritually for the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection 40 days later. Christians are expected to set aside time for increased personal devotion, prayer, fasting, Bible reading, meditative reflection, self-examination of our conscience, confessing and repenting of our sins, and receiving forgiveness from the Lord. Focusing on Jesus’ crucifixion helps make us aware of the gift of salvation that is too often taken for granted. This is a time when we fast on certain days to give more careful attention to our spiritual nature. We may also abstain from certain rich foods as a means of simplifying our diets, taking better care of our bodies which are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and identifying with those who don't have enough to eat. Fasting is primarily an act of worship acknowledging that God’s throne rules our heart by giving priority to feeding our souls over indulging our appetites. Lent slows us down so we can listen to God. All Sundays are resurrection feast days. So even in Lent, Sundays are not technically counted among the 40 days of self-denial between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, yet they retain a penitential character to remind the Body of Christ gathered that repentance and grace are the keys to living in the Kingdom of God.
0 Comments

The Difficulty of Preaching Christmas!

12/16/2017

0 Comments

 
Preachers talk when we get together, and most that I know admit that Christmas and Easter sermons are among the most difficult preaching challenges of the year. Odd, isn’t it? The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is such a simple but profoundly complex reality. It’s anything but the trivial sentimentality we too often assign to it. I wonder a lot about why…..

Has the beautiful Christmas story become so familiar that we’ve lost any real sense of what its mystery really means to us? Has the amazement at what makes Christmas truly amazing escaped us, and been replaced with superficial amazement of culturally self-manufactured excitement? Has it become nothing more than an annual food fest of gathered family units, with joyful gift giving, overindulgent parties, and acts of kindness done in the “spirit” of Christmas, without any comprehension of what that spirit is really all about?

Is it no more than a magical time that takes place once a year but wears off within a few days, when we return back to our “normal” lives, having enjoyed what we either considered a “good” Christmas or a “bad” Christmas, depending on our level of happiness or depression? How many ways has the script of Christmas been rewritten to conform to our preferences? The alternative stories are certainly not evil, but neither are they real. Yet they serve to promote good feelings, and that’s what Christmas is supposed to be all about, right? How is Christmas more than that? Or is it? We’re usually too distracted to really have much care or awareness about the incomprehensible. It’s just easier to focus on the simple pleasures of a different narrative.

History is re-written all the time, and always has been. I naively expected to study an objective discipline when I became a history major as an undergrad...amazed and shocked when I found that there are all kinds of varieties and perspectives of history. If we can just focus on the WHAT questions, we get a pretty uniform answer, but when we delve into the WHY, we have a lot more diversity. It can become very subjective then, with lots of levels of interpretive “truth”. And yet, the WHY is essential.

The WHY is the most important question in most cases, as it gets to the depth of the superficial WHAT, and leads us to the whole point of the enterprise we're studying, practicing, believing, worshiping or living. But the WHY cannot be pure speculation or else it's just another perspective among many. It has to have merit based on truth by a clear understanding the author, poet, philosopher, religion or morality, which usually requires spending much more time analyzing the WHAT.

Anyone can rewrite the WHAT with a whole slew of WHY's and be doing no more than guessing what the real “truth” is, of the WHAT. But when one truly observes the WHAT while pursuing the true WHY, without any preconceived notions (if that’s even possible), it at least has the potential to teach and enlighten us as well as reveal truth at the deepest level

For instance, the WHAT of Christmas is a joyful thing to celebrate (however it’s done), but the WHY of Christmas is perhaps the most profound consideration ever beheld, experienced or contemplated by the world…and in many cases, ignored and rejected. Does any of that make sense to anyone?

In a couple of weeks, I’ll preach about something so incredible that one can only fall to one’s knees in adoration if you believe what the Church proclaims. The angel says to the shepherds in the field, "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” That’s the WHAT of Christmas. I pray that by the time the gospel is read at the Christ Mass, I will have some compelling words regarding the WHY of Christmas, that will “give flesh,” so to speak, to the biblical narrative…. For unto us a Savior is born, Jesus Christ the Lord.

Have a Blessed Advent and a joyous Christmas!
​Fr. Randy+
0 Comments

My Institution

12/1/2017

1 Comment

 
What a powerful and Spirit-filled worship we had Wednesday night at my institution as rector...definitely one of the highlights of my 34 years of ministry. Great singing, great sermon, great participation, great fellowship and a packed house!
I don't know where to begin in terms of thanking people who have made this happen from those who participated in the liturgy, the bishop and clergy colleagues who came, those who made the presentations, my son who preached a magnificent sermon, so many friends who traveled an hour or more to get here, and those closer by from the community at large who made this a priority in their busy calendars, to those who set up for the reception and provided the amazing meal and who did all the behind-the-scenes work. What a blessing you all are! I am so super blessed by our Lord to be the rector of this parish and to have so many outstanding friends both within and outside this parish.
And it was the Spirit-filled people gathered who made this event so special and holy. I was deeply moved beyond words. Y'all all rock! My introversion really kicked in after I got home as I was totally exhausted from interacting with so many old and new friends. But it was all glorious!
Picture
Wednesday night a parishioner gave me tickets to Thursday's Dallas Cowboy game! What a gracious gift! I had never been to the new Cowboy stadium. So we headed to the game after we dropped Jonathan off at the airport.
I just don't have the words...thanks to all y'all for being who you are, and reflecting The presence of Christ so clearly in your lives for me
Picture
1 Comment

    Author

    I’m a 4th generation Texan, born and raised in Dallas, except for the first 9 years of my life. I grew up as an Army brat until my dad retired and we moved back home to Dallas when I was in the 4th grade. I lived in Asuncion, Paraguay as a pre-schooler and was fluent in Spanish and Guarani when we returned to the States. But alas, you lose it if you don’t use it.
     
    I graduated from Bryan Adams high school in Dallas and East Texas State University (now Texas A&M-Commerce). I received my M.Div. from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin. I am married to the love of my life, Karen and am the father of 3 grown sons, 3 daughter-in-laws-, Grampy to 3 beautiful grandchildren.

    Archives

    September 2018
    August 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017

    Categories

    All
    1963
    Christmas
    Church
    Dallas
    Gonzales
    History
    Home
    Judgement
    Kennedy
    Lent
    Prayer
    School Shooting
    Sermon
    St. James On The Lake

    RSS Feed

We Would Love to Have You Visit Soon!

Click here to go to our Facebook Page

Sunday Service

Wednesday Service

9:00 AM
Noon

Telephone

903-498-8080

Email

Parish E-Mail
Picture

Looking Up

Reaching Out

Gathering In

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Meet the Priest
    • Leadership
    • History
    • FAQs
    • Fr. Randy's Institution 2017
  • Ministry
    • Worship Ministries
    • Parish Ministries
  • Outreach
  • Activities
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
  • The Messenger
    • Archived Messengers
  • Calendars
  • Melton's More & More