Contributors
  • Robert Leroe

    Contributing sermons since Jan 1, 2000
Robert's church

South Congregational Church, Peabody MA
Peabody, Massachusetts 01960
978-531-1964

About Robert
  • Education: B.A., B.D., M.A., D.Min, graduate of the US Army Command & General Staff College, C.P.E.
  • Experience: 26 years of active military service as a US Army Chaplain (Lieutenant Colonel), to include service in Germany, Korea, Hungary (NATO Operation Joint Endeavor), and Saudi Arabia (Desert Storm), then 17 years as Pastor of Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus MA, Interim Minister at First Parish Congregational, Wakefield MA
  • Comment to those looking at my sermons: The discipline of preparing a manuscript (rather than an outline) is important because our message is important. The act of preaching is too important to speak extemporaneously. We can and do add things that "come to us" while preaching, but we come fully prepared. My final copy is that which I prepare after having preached, adding thoughts that I added in the pulpit. I then email my sermons to my mailing list, even to those who were present Sunday (for reinforcement), extending my ministry.
  • Sermon or series that made a difference: I’ve always conducted sermon series, which I think gave my congregation a structure and focus.
  • Family: Wife--Laura
  • What my spouse (really) thinks of my sermons: She's been listening to them for 50 years and has been extremely gracious (and long-suffering)
  • Best advice given to me about preaching: Be substantive but avoid professional, theological terms (unless you explain/define them). A sermon is to both inform and inspire, and must include exposition and application, in the same fashion as Paul’s epistles. The worst style of preaching is the one you use the most.
  • Books that have had an impact: Reversed Thunder & Answering God by Eugene Peterson Today’s Gospel by Walter Chantry The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis How Should We Then Live by Francis Schaeffer From Fear to Faith by D.Martyn Lloyd-Jones The Search for Compassion by Andrew Purves Evangelicals on the Cantebury Trail by Robert Webber Our Father Abraham by Marvin Wilson The God Who Loves You, by Peter Kreeft Decision-Making & the Will of God, by Garry Friessen Gilead by Marilyn Robinson The Crucifixion by Fleming Rutledge
  • Hobbies: Guitar, Kayaking
  • If I could Preach one more time, I would say...: God is in control of everything--we can rest in the safety of His hand and trust His sovereign purpose. We may not know what tomorrow may hold, but we can know the One who holds tomorrow.
  • What I want on my tombstone: pro deo et patria
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Newest Sermons

  • Nurturing Your Next Pastor

    Contributed on Mar 25, 2024
     | 1,075 views

    Shortly before welcoming a new minister, a seasoned minister and friend of the congregation might come and help prepare the church for this new chapter in their history, explaining the role of ministry and how to care for their pastor.

    It will be exciting to welcome your new Pastor! How you view pastoral ministry has been influenced by all the ministers you’ve known. We see ministry through the lens of past experiences, good and bad. Hopefully we see ministry through the teachings of Scripture. My aim is to offer some advice ...read more

  • The General And The Servant Girl

    Contributed on Mar 23, 2024
     | 584 views

    We’re told that “Cleanliness is next to Godliness;” a bit of an overstatement, but it got generations of kids to wash their hands before dinner.

    We’re told that “Cleanliness is next to Godliness;” a bit of an overstatement, but it got generations of kids to wash their hands before dinner. By the way, this saying is from John Wesley, not the Bible. “Wash me and I will be whiter than snow,” king David prayed (Ps 51:7). Spiritual ...read more

  • Angels On Duty

    Contributed on Feb 4, 2024
     | 840 views

    With all the books, TV shows and movies featuring angels, and how they’re depicted in art, you’d think we knew a lot about them. Actually, we have a lot to unlearn from popular culture.

    Billy Graham relayed an incident at New Hebrides, an island group in the South Pacific: One night, the headquarters of missionary John Paton was surrounded by a hostile indigenous tribe intent on violence. Paton and his wife prayed for deliverance. When daylight came, the would-be attackers were ...read more

  • What Prayer Isn't

    Contributed on Dec 11, 2023
     | 950 views

    Even though we pray, we may wonder at times: “Why do I pray? What does it accomplish?” Along the way, we may pick up some misperceptions. I want to talk about what prayer isn’t.

    The widow of the parable was pretty frustrated. In the Army, if soldiers feel they’ve been treated unfairly, they have several options: They can use their chain-of-command, see the Chaplain, contact Equal Opportunity, call the Inspector General’s office, or even write their Senator. We have the ...read more

  • "we're All One Family"

    Contributed on Nov 15, 2023
     | 751 views

    Prejudice is a social evil present in every culture of our fallen world. It is holding negative attitudes towards others based on generalizations and stereotypes, resulting in discrimination. It is forming conclusions without consulting the facts.

    The Apostle Paul affirms the unity and diversity of all nations in Acts 17. He was addressing Greeks who regarded themselves as superior race. Race matters only to racists; the rest of us care about character. It is distressing how people have twisted this passage to justify segregation. In ...read more

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Newest Sermon Series

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Newest Sermon Illustrations

  • The Impossible

    Contributed on May 14, 2013
     | 5,035 views

    Madeline L’Engle writes, "If Mary had the courage to take the impossible into her body, can we not have the ...read more

  • Tabernacle Faith

    Contributed on Apr 7, 2013
    based on 2 ratings
     | 3,047 views

    TABERNACLE FAITH Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes about the feast of Tabernacles: "Sitting in the booth underneath its canopy of leaves, I often think of my ancestors and their wanderings across Europe in search of safety; and I begin to understand how faith was their only home. Their existence was ...read more

  • Pastor Mark Driscoll States: "The Only Thing ...

    Contributed on Apr 3, 2013
    based on 1 rating
     | 3,381 views

    Pastor Mark Driscoll states: "The only thing that gets me out of bed on Monday morning is the picture in the Book of Revelation of King ...read more

  • We Are Like What We Worship

    Contributed on Jan 29, 2013
    based on 3 ratings
     | 2,913 views

    WE ARE LIKE WHAT WE WORSHIP N.T. Wright observes, we "become like what we worship; we take on the character of our object of worship. Those who worship money become, eventually, human calculating machines. Those who worship sex become obsessed with their own attractiveness or prowess. Those ...read more

  • The God-Alphabet

    Contributed on Jan 7, 2013
    based on 1 rating
     | 3,138 views

    THE GOD-ALPHABET J. Vernon McGee observed: "From an alphabet you make words, and Jesus Christ is called the 'Word of God' -- the full revelation and intelligent ...read more