St. Boniface Church - trial run audio sermon

St. Boniface Church on Siesta Key in Sarasota FL is working towards having audios of sermons on its website.

My 8:00 a.m. sermon was recorded last Sunday and is attached to the website for a trial run.

http://www.bonifacechurch.org  will take you to the website.  Then click on Worship.  Go to the bottom of the page top hear the sermon.  The sound quality is a bit quirky at the beginning.

The sermon is based on the parable of the workers in the vineyard  (Matthew 20:1-16)

I was surprised to hear how “English” I sound.  I also thought that my voice sounded a bit “parsonical”, and that was not good.

And of course it’s hard to perceive from either a written text or an audio only version the sense of engagement with the congregation which brings preaching to life (or kills it!)

It’s also a bit hard to discern the two places when I was speaking tongue in cheek (here they are in the text form)

1.     And, truth to tell, life has been very unfair to me.  If I had gotten only that which I’d deserved I most certainly would not have been living this comfortable retirement life in Sarasota.  I don’t deserve this.  It’s all been a gift

2.      Let’s take another look at the story.  Let’s imagine ourselves not as the workers, but as the landowner. Let’s imagine that we have been richly blessed in any number of ways. Blessed with education, Blessed with holy friendships. Blessed with food and shelter.  Above all blessed with something we never deserved or earned: blessed with the mercy of  God.  Oh, life has been so unfair to us. God has been so unfair to us.  It’s so unfair that we have received such blessings. (It’s hard to preach with my tongue in my cheek!).

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