Graybeards

We tend to re-write the Christmas story to better agree with the Creche on the mantle piece portraying Mary as a mature woman and the shepherds as graybeards of the church. That's just wrong. Mary and the shepherds would have been children, for only a child can receive such a message. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for our sermon, "Graybeards" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.





Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Wheelhouse

"We're all in the same boat together", we used to say, and we were wiser than we knew, for we all ARE in the same boat together. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for our sermon, "The Wheelhouse", by clicking HERE for audio, or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Hot Shoes

Suppose we were all on a cruise ship. We all have interior cabins, so we can't see outside. The ship is very luxurious, containing everything we could need.Everybody is having a high old time at the buffet, when some few get a glimpse outside. Immediately, they see that they are on a boat, supported by the great sea, and they also note that they, and everyone else on the boat, are on a journey directed by an unseen hand in the wheelhouse. Suppose that those few, who have been granted this glimpse of the reality behind their existence, try to explain what they have seen to the other passengers. The most likely response will be, "Oh...I don't think about those things. It's not important to me, anyway. Try the shrimp."

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon from John 1:6-8, 19-28, "Hot Shoes" by clicking HERE for audio, or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Satyagraha

Mahatma Gandhi taught us that the truth has power to make itself manifest. He coined the word "Satyagraha", loosely translated as "force of truth" or "insistence of truth" to express this vital principle. So it is with those who believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We similarly believe that this truth has power to manifest itself though the forces of the world are arrayed against it. This year, Year B in the Revised Common Lectionary, we take up the Gospel of Mark. Mark has no Advent stories, no birth narratives, no Wise Men, Stars, or Santa Claus. Just the simple statement, "The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God". In its earliest form, Mark didn't even have an account of the resurrection. What are we to understand about a Gospel with no Christmas and no Easter, but only the simple statement, "The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God"? Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon from Mark 1:1-8, "Satyagraha" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text. Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

To Be Announced

We saw a lot of interest in predictions of the end of the world this year. Didn't happen, but there was a lot of interest. Speculation about the end of the world seems to be endlessly fascinating to some folks, but I think it's an unnecessary distraction. Jesus was quite clear that even he did not know, so I take those who think they are smarter than Jesus with a grain of salt. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for our sermon, To Be Announced by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for a printed version.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Vitamin C

If all babies are born children of God, and all the inmates of our prisons started out as babies, what goes wrong between bassinet and mug shot? Why do some of God's children turn out so bad? Is naming them children of Satan the best we can do? What the heck does that mean, anyway? Join us for this week's sermon, Vitamin C, by clicking HERE for audio, or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Active Voice

Whatever you may think about the Occupy Wall Street protests, they are confronting actively what they see as an economic system which has been twisted to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. You may think they are right or wrong, but this sort of protest is exactly what Jesus was involved in at the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple had blessed the powers that be, even when the powers that be were acting contrary to Torah. That's not uncommon. the church, rightly or wrongly, often is used to bless the status quo. Come join us on this last Sunday before Christ the King for our sermon from Matthew 25:14-30, "Active Voice" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Great Buckeye

Moses, the leader of the people, has died, denied entrance into the Promised Land, and his successor, Joshua, has lead the people in his place. Joshua brings all the people together and tells them, "This is the time, church. You got to choose whether to fish or cut bait. Who will you serve?"

Seems awfully intolerant of Joshua. Today, the people at the Chapel of St. Starbuck, when discussing their understanding of their relationship with God, often reach for the compromise "It's all basically the same". If it really was all basically the same, why couldn't we reach a compromise in which all the names of all the gods are just alternate names for the God of Scripture? Then everybody could be happy.

Or, is there something radically different about the God of Scripture? Join the congregations of Community Presbyterian and the Chapel of St. Starbuck as we decide whether to fish or cut bait in this week's sermon, "The Great Buckeye" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Folding the Pope's Vestments

After successfully debating with the Pharisees, the Sadducees and a lawyer, Jesus turns to His disciples and the crowd and says something that shocks many contemporary Christians. “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it;" I think many contemporary Protestants think about Jesus as abolishing Jewish law, and here He is saying the exact opposite. What He was addressing is the tendency we all have to involve ourselves with the busy-ness of church to avoid the hard work of a Christian. Join the Congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon from Micah 3:5-12 and Matthew 23:1-2, "Folding the Pope's Vestments" by clicking HERE for audio, or HERE for a text version.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Green Peas

What do you think about God's Commandments? I don't mean the Ten Commandments. I mean all 613 of them. What? You didn't know? Are these orders from hq on what to do to earn God's love, or something else? And what DID Moses do that was so bad he couldn't enter the Promised Land? Our sermon this week is "Green Peas" from Deuteronomy 34:1-12 and Matthew 22:34-46. Click HERE for the audio version, or HERE for the printed text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Coin

Sometimes, the question you hear is only masking the real question which is being asked. In today's passage from Matthew 22:15-22, Jesus is confronted in the Temple by some disciples of Pharisee teachers and some Herodians and asked a simple question, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor?" The answer depends on what law you mean, and the actual makeup of the coin used to pay the tax. Join the congregations of the Chapel of St. Starbuck and Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon, "The Coin" by clicking HERE, or get a printed copy from HERE.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

A Negotiable God

I hear a lot of talk at the Chapel of St. Starbuck about the "wrathful" Old Testament God and the "loving" New Testament God. When I point out that there is only one God, the point is readily conceded, but I'm then told that God tried being wrathful, and when that didn't work, He tried being loving.

I think what is going on here is an attempt to color Jesus as a more flexible, loving, forgiving, comfortable, open-to-negotiation version of God. Jesus is all of God we can perceive, but He is not in competition with His Father.

Join the congregations of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY and the Chapel of St. Starbuck while we follow a trail of mystery in the words of the people in Exodus 32:1-14. Why do they say "These are your gods" when there is only one calf? And why is Jesus so inflexible in His Parable in Matthew 22:1-14?

Click HERE for a text version. or HERE for the audio.

Sour Grapes

Accepting God's gift of free grace is not nearly so satisfying to many of us as the idea that we won it from somebody else. Over the centuries, misguided people have used the Gospel passage for today, Matthew 21:33-46 and others like it to support horrible offenses against the Jewish people. If we would count ourselves among the people of God, we need to read Scripture for what it says, not what we would like it to say. That takes courage. Join us in a conversation I had with a young man in 1968 as we explore Matthew 21:33-46 and Isaiah 5:1-7 in this week's sermon, "Sour Grapes" by clicking HERE for the audio or HERE for a pdf.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Birds and the Bees

The best laid plans of men and angels....This week's sermon, from Exodus 17:1-7 and Matthew 21:23-32 is titled "The Birds and the Bees". It was a hard sermon to prepare. I actually wrote the entire thing twice. Right up to church time, I was altering it. In fact, I ad libbed part, and changed the written sermon AFTER church. The one thing I didn't do was to push the "record" button.

When I saw what I had done, I comforted myself by noting that this is fourth Sunday, and on fourth Sunday, I have the service at King's Daughters' and Sons' Home. "I'll record it then", I comforted myself.

Nuff' said...I didn't do it then, either, so this week's sermon is only available (for now) in written form, HERE.

UPDATE: If you can put up with audio recorded in my man cave, with the A/C going in the background, It's now available by clicking HERE.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Righty Tighty

Some parts of the media have so successfully linked illegal immigration and the budget deficit that you could well come away from the debate believing that the one is the cause of the other. Among certain portions of our population, that impression reaches the level of certainty. In the same way most people will think "whale" when you say "Jonah", the mention of budget deficits brings up the immigration debate in the minds of many. It becomes "what everybody knows" and is accepted as uncritically as the notion that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. The text, however, makes no mention of a whale.

In the debate about our societal responsibility toward those in the dawn of life, the children; those in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those in the shadows of life, the convicted, the sick, the hopeless, we're often encouraged to believe that "God helps those who help themselves". Thus, the down-and-outs of our society have no one to blame, and we have no responsibility toward them. That's also not in the Bible. It's one of Aesop's Fables, but it's become "what everybody knows".

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky for our sermon from Jonah 33:10-4:11 and Matthew 20:1-16 titled Righty Tighty by clicking HERE or download a pdf from HERE.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

No Sermon today

Sorry, but I had this day off to recover from my daughter's WEDDING!!!

Mah Nishtana

Protestants tend to see church as something you "go to", and religion as something you "do", usually on Sunday. Sometime in the past century, we turned religious matters over to the professionals, and, as a result, biblical illiteracy is now a frightening reality. "Most Christians", George Gallup says, "don't know what they believe or why."

Jews, on the other hand, tend to see religion as a story one lives out, and religion as primarily a family affair. That's reflected in the text for today describing the first Passover and in Jewish Pesach practice down to today.

We might well, with the youngest child at the Seder, ask "Mah Nishtana?" "What's different?" Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY and the Chapel of St. Starbuck for this week's sermon from Exodus 12:1-14, "Mah Nishtana" by clicking HERE, or download a pdf copy by clicking HERE.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Inevitable God

We asked two weeks ago if we thought that we had the power to surprise God -- that is, does God move with us into an uncertain future in which we might do something surprising to him, or does God know how the story ends? In other words, are our lives a book that God is reading with us or a book which God has read?

My feeling is that God has the answers and knows how it will play out. We have a part to play in the creation of a loving God. All of it, from the oppression of Pharaoh to Jesus' prediction of his own death plays out as it must, as it always has, as it always will be. Knowing this, we can turn our attention from "What must I do to be saved" to "What must I do to faithfully play my part in God's great creation." To do so turns our attention from "what's in it for me?" to "What can I do for God and others?" That is the beginning of the kingdom.

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon from Exodus 3 and Matthew 16 titled "Inevitable God" by clicking HERE, or read the sermon online by clicking HERE.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

God Within

Sixty years ago I was taught about the "Gotcha God" the God way up there in heaven who watched over everything I did so as to assure that I'd be punished for everything, including those things I got away with because my parents were distracted and didn't notice them. The Gotcha God is God Without -- an external force that just judges.

This week, the Chapel of St. Starbuck received a visit from the Hon. Jeremiah Bainworthy, a candidate for the US Congress, and a believer in dominion theology -- the understanding that Christians are called to a task of world domination. Join the congregation of the Chapel of St. Starbuck and Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon from Romans 12:1-8 and Matthew 16:13-20, "God Within" by clicking HERE.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Boo!

One of the congregants at the Chapel of St. Starbuck asked me last Tuesday if I thought of myself as a spiritual creature having a physical experience or a physical being seeking spiritual experiences. That's a heck of a question! If the real "me" is a spiritual being, a spark of God if you like, I would approach my time on earth differently than if I thought of myself as a hunk of meat trying to have a spiritual experience. What do you think? Join the congregations of the Chapel of St. Starbuck and Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte while we examine if it is possible to slip up behind God and surprise him in our sermon, "Boo!" from Genesis 45:1-15 and Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 by clicking on the title above.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Unlikely People

You don't have to ride around the sun very many times to realize that the world is filled with an awful lot of unlikely people. Even our churches contain folks you wouldn't think of as fulfilling God's promise. It has ever been so...as far back as the Patriarchs, anyway. Those who think that God works only through the nice people really need to read this week's text, Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28. Join the joint congregations of the Chapel of St. Starbuck and Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for a celebration of the remodeling at the Chapel of St. Starbuck by some pretty unlikely people in our sermon from Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 and Matthew 14:22-33 titled "Unlikely People" by clicking on the title above.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Popcorn

Unfortunately, the recorder failed to record the first half of the service. Fortunately, I had a second service today. Unfortunately, it was at a nursing home with radically different acoustics. Fortunately, the recorder worked properly. Unfortunately, you'll be able to tell where the transition is. Fortunately, it won't make any difference because you love me anyway.

We talked today about how we constantly create messes that we can't clean up, so how is it that God's creation continues in so lovely a fashion, despite our constant bungling? We examine the question through Paul's (and Calvin's) notion of the elect of God. We played out the election of the children of the kingdom within our sanctuary, marking the elect with helium balloons. What kind of disruption would you experience if you went through life with a helium balloon? WOULD you do that, or would you turn from it? Join the Congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky for this week's sermon from Romans 8:26-39 and Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, titled "Popcorn" by clicking on the title above.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Oh, Really?

Have you ever thought that since we know so much about leptons, baryons and the large Magellanic Cloud, we might have confused what we know with the notion that we know everything? Yeah...me, too, even thought the Large Magellanic Cloud IS pretty neat. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY while we investigate the limits of what we know in this week's sermon from Genesis 28:10-19a and Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, titled "Oh, Really?" by clicking the title above.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Casey Anthony

Unless you've been living under a rock, you have expressed some opinion of the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial. Come join the congregations of the Chapel of St. Star Buck and Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY to see what Paul confesses in our Sermon from Romans 7:15-25a and Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 by clicking on the title above.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Pulling Over A Cop

William Jennings Bryant announced proudly to Clarence Darrow that he was "captain of his own ship". Darrow responded that he doubted that Bryant was a deckhand on a life raft. Getting pulled over is one of life's experiences that teaches us that our fate is not always in our own hands.

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky as we try to find out what the story of the birth of Jacob in Genesis 25:19-34 and the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-9,18-23 have in common with the Fayette County Sheriff's Department by clicking on the title, above, or HERE.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Words

The Companion to the Book of Common Worship reminds us that:

Unlike other festivals in the church’s liturgical calendar, Trinity Sunday centers on a doctrine of the church, rather than an event. It celebrates the unfathomable mystery of God’s being as Holy Trinity. It is a day of adoration and praise of the one, eternal, incomprehensible God.

Those words, "unfathomable" and "Trinity" and "one" and "eternal" and "incomprehensible" are big church words we sometimes throw around without much thought for their meaning. Such was the case this week when an earnest young man came to the Chapel of St. Starbuck to lecture the Archbishop on Creation. Strangely, the Sexton remained unimpressed.

Join the congregations of the Chapel of St. Starbuck, and Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky for our sermon from Genesis 1 titled "Words", by clicking on the title.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Something Peculiar

There are two Sundays I fear: the ones when UK plays at noon, and the one when the A/C fails and it's 92 degrees in the sanctuary. Thankfully, UK didn't play today.

Pentecost, sometimes called the birthday of the church, is the Christian celebration of the Jewish festival of Shavout. Just as Shavout celebrates the giving of the Law to the children of Israel, Pentecost celebrates the giving of the Holy Spirit to the church. Along with the gift of the Holy Spirit came gifts of the Spirit. While I was thinking about the gifts of the Spirit, we had a visit at the Chapel of St. Starbuck from the missionary atheist, a man who goes about spreading the good news that there is no good news. Talking with him gave me a new insight into Acts 2:1-21 and 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13. Join the congregations of the Chapel of St. Starbuck and Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's Pentecost sermon, "Something Peculiar" by clicking on the title above.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Distant Christianity

At Pentecost, the church celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church. Jesus has ascended into heaven, but He promised not to leave us orphans. That promise was made good at Pentecost.

But how do we 21st Century people understand the gift of the Holy Spirit? Isn't Pentecost all about speaking in tongues? Well, no. What it IS about is a present experience of God in our lives here and now. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky for our sermon from Acts 1:6-14 and 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11 by clicking on the Title, "Distant Christianity" above.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Counting the Omer

The time between Resurrection Sunday and Pentecost is called "Eastertide". It is an important part of the story which we are to pass on to the new generation. Today's sermon looks at the roots of this time in church history in ancient Jewish practice. Come learn about an omer of barley, an omer of wheat, Eastertide and the tradition of Counting the Omer by clicking on the title above or HERE.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

My Father's House

Jesus' words from John 14, "In my father's house are many mansions" appear in more funeral sermons than any other passage with the exception of the 23rd Psalm. They are words of great comfort, but do they also carry a meaning for here and now Christians, the church militant? Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte KY for this week's sermon from Acts 7:55-60 and John 14:1-14, MY FATHER'S HOUSE, by clicking on any of the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Extraordinary Claims

In America, we've made a promise with ourselves not to beat up on each other over religion. That's a good decision, I think. All one has to do is to look to countries in which that promise hasn't been made to see the costs of religious intolerance. But our faith has a degree of exclusivity built into it because of the claims made about and by Jesus. Logic would lead you to the conclusion that Jesus either was who He said He was, or He was ... well ... nuts. We who believe He was who He said He was don't like that alternative. Those who don't believe He was who He said He was, don't like to hear us boast of it. What does it mean, then, to follow Jesus? Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon from John 10:1-10, "Extraordinary Claims", by clicking on the title above, or any of the blue text here.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Power of the Powder

As a nation, we really believe in the power of gunpowder to resolve conflicts. From our entertainment choices to our private thoughts, we truly believe that since evil exists in the world, the only course is to oppose it violently. Then, somewhat hypocritically, after making the power of the powder our national mantra, we are surprised when some of our citizens reach the conclusion that violence is the answer to conflict in their own lives. We shouldn't be surprised.

But the deed is done. Osama bin Laden has been killed. Whether that was the right thing to do is for another time. I'm not smart enough to answer it in any event. The question we can approach on this Mother's Day is that of how is a Christian to relate to the use of violence to resolve conflict? Join the Congregations of the Chapel of St. Starbuck and Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for "The Power of the Powder", our sermon this week from Romans 12:17-21 and Luke 24:13-35.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Riggin the Wheel

It has been a long, dark trip through Lent as we contemplated the last week of Jesus' life, but now, He is Risen and we find ourselves in the season of Easter. So we should eat Brussels Sprouts and read Pascal! If you don't immediately see the connection between a 17th Century mathematician and Brussels Sprouts, join us for this weeks sermon, Riggin' The Wheel, from Acts 2:14a,22-32 and John 20:19-31 by clicking the title above, or any of the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Pastor's Dream

Today's sermon brings to a close the walk we took with the Disciples of Jesus as they entered Jerusalem through the east gate to face the forces of Rome entering through the west gate. What is the significance of these two entries -- military might, force and violence on the west side of the city, some guy on a donkey on the east side? These are our two life courses laid out before us. When we are frightened or angry about crime, we turn to the west gate. "Hanging's too good for them", we cry. "Fill the prisons so that we can feel safe in our homes", we shout with those at the west gate. But at the east gate is some guy on a donkey, and he has a different message. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for our sermon from Acts 10:34-43 and Matthew 28:1-10, The Pastor's Dream, by clicking on any of the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Three Little Pigs

What would you predict would happen to some rube from who-know-where in Galilee who came to Jerusalem in 30 A.D. and made a disturbance? Wouldn't you predict that he'd get beaten up by the Roman troops, or maybe disappear mysteriously and that would be the end of that?

That's not what happened at the East Gate of Jerusalem, sometime around 30 A.D. Just such a guy entered the East Gate just as Pontius Pilate entered the West Gate with the reinforcements for the Antonia Fort. The rube from Galilee somehow upset the chief priests, the scribes and the Romans, the three little pigs, so much that they hunkered down in their brick house and squealed "Not by the hair of my chiny-chin-chin". Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this Palm Sunday's sermon, "The Three Little Pigs" from Philippians 2:5-11 and Matthew 21:1-11 by clicking on any of the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Thursday

We've followed Jesus' steps in his last Week from Sunday to Thursday. On Maundy Thursday, there was a secret meal. Jesus went to enormous trouble to see to it that his entire community, even including Judas, was present to remember the Exodus. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon from Exodus 12:1-14 and Mark 14:12-25, titled Thursday, by clicking on any of the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Wednesday

It is the fourth Sunday in Lent, and so we take up the fourth Day of Holy Week -- Wednesday. The story of Wednesday is the story of failed discipleship. Mark tells us of Jesus' attempts to prepare His disciples for their part in the events of Holy Week, and also documents the disciples' utter failure to grasp that we cannot say "Jesus did it all". We are, rather, challenged by Jesus to follow him and to participate with him in His death and resurrection. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky for this week's Lenten sermon, "Wednesday" from Mark 14:1-11 and Romans 12:1-3 by clicking on any of the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Tuesday

We continue with our walk with the disciples through the last week of Jesus' life with a look at the events of Tuesday. The Jerusalem Times is reporting some demonstrators causing disturbance in Jerusalem and the Temple authorities and perhaps the Romans have noticed. It is getting very scary to be a follower of Jesus in Jerusalem because the things He is doing are directly confronting the Domination System that runs the place. What's a poor Christian to do? Click on the blue text to hear Tuesday, our sermon from Deuteronomy 6:4-10 and Mark 12:28-34.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Monday

This Sunday we continue in the steps of the disciples during Mark's account of the last week of Jesus' life. On Monday, Jesus did two odd things: he threw a hissy fit at a fig tree, and he caused a disturbance in church. Come join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church as we continue our examination of our sins for Lent in our sermon from Jeremiah 7:1-7,11 and Mark 11:12-19 called Monday by clicking on any of the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Sunday

This is the first Sunday in Lent, and Community Presbyterian has begun a walk with Jesus through His last week on earth, as recounted in the Gospel we know as Mark. The bulletin cover this Sunday was the photograph of a lone Chinese protester in 1989, his groceries in his hand, facing down a column of Chinese tanks. What has the one to do with the other? Find out in our Sermon from Zechariah 9:9-10 and Mark 11:1-11 as we join the disciples at the east gate of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, by clicking on any of the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Occult

"The Occult" used to mean Ouija boards and scary stuff at night. Now it apparently means werewolves and vampires that glitter in the sunlight instead of falling to pieces as a proper vampire is supposed to do. We hear a lot of concern about kids getting wound up in "The Occult", and a lot of concern about the Harry Potter stories. I'm not much bothered by Harry Potter. I think the books have excellent messages.

There *is* an occult, though. God's actions in His Creation are often occult -- hidden and ambiguous. Join the congregations of the Chapel of St. Starbuck's and Community Presbyterian church of Bellefonte for this week's sermon from Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9, The Occult, by clicking on any blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Dust, Water and Seed

Have you ever heard the term "Cafeteria Christian"? These are folks that take a bit of this and a bit of that and try to construct a relationship with God from their pickings. They are usually the ones who will assure you that all churches teach the same thing, so it doesn't matter which church you go to. The stopper for me was a remark by Huston Smith, "If you wish to produce water, better to dig one well 60 feet deep than ten wells 6 feet deep."

What if you chose your church with the same care as you chose your spouse? Or, to look at it from the other side, what if you chose your spouse by investigating whether he or she had a good youth program and a good sounding choir, and a devastatingly handsome preacher? Choosing a spouse means digging deeply into the relationship to determine if this person is "the one". Why should church membership be undertaken any more lightly? Come join the congregation of Community Presbyterian church of Bellefonte, Ky for this week's sermon, "Dust, Water and Seed" by clicking on the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Radical Apples

The unrest in the Middle East has sent my mind back forty years to the protests of the 60's and 70's. I was there, as a policeman. Protests arise when the people sense that the world in which they live is being unfaithful to its own ideals, and they hope to change the direction of culture, hopefully toward something better. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

Now, I'm pastor of a PROTESTant church, but the people I look out upon and love so dearly don't look like the young people I saw forty years ago. I can't picture them taking to the streets and waving flags. These are post-Enlightenment people -- people with an interest in a stable, predictable culture. How does the Word of God get heard in such a world?

Come join us for this week's sermon from Genesis 12:1-4a and Romans 4:1-5,13-17 I titled RADICAL APPLES by clicking on any of the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Trouble with God

Douglas Adams, in one of his hilarious books, remarked, "Who is this God person, anyway". Good question, that. English forces us into using nouns to talk about anything, and thus obscures the essential wisdom that God is not a thing, so the use of a noun as God's "name" misleads. When Moses inquired, he was told that God was Who I Will Be, or Who I AM. God is the way things are, and we would do well to pay attention when this God person tells us how to live well within His Creation. He knows more about it than we do. Come join the Congregation of Community Presbyterian of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon, The Trouble With God by clicking on the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Imagining a Convenient God

If I try to imagine God, the image I most often come up with is a grandfatherly sort, wearing white robes, and seated on a throne. However agreeable such an image is, that is not God. That is how I imagine God to be. It's an idol, and can cause real problems as we carry on our lives as Christians. The one, true God isn't limited by my imagination. God's name is "I am who I will be". God is the force that supports us all, limits and directs our lives, and it is God who grants the gift of faith. Sometimes we forget that, and start to think that faith is a human accomplishment, or that God grants faith to us because we are superior people. Stuff and nonsense.

Join the Congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte as we look into Paul's letter to his church at Corinth for some guidance about these matters in our sermon, "Imagining a Convenient God".

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

God's Eyeglasses

Our assumptions about "the way things are" are called our "myth". That's unfortunate, because modern people hear the word "myth" and think "fairy tale". Our myth, though, is a highly useful set of assumptions that tell us things like the height of a stairstep, or where the doorknob is located, and even what God wishes from us. The problem with assumptions is that they are like eyeglasses -- we look through them without being aware that they are coloring our perceptions of the world.

I've always thought that God is less interested in "grading our behavior" than He is with assuring that we see His creation and His presence within it clearly. From that perspective, perhaps the Beatitudes are the world as seen through God's Eyeglasses. Come join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky for this week's sermon from Micah and Matthew, called "God's Eyeglasses" by clicking on the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Disruption in the Cheap Seats

When my dad wrote prayers for church, they were full of "thees" and "thous" and he stuck "st" and "th" at the end of vowels, as if he thought God only understood Elizabethan English. I think it was his way of keeping God at a respectful distance. I don't know that this is the message of Matthew 4 at all when Matthew tells us of the call of the first four disciples. It looks to me as if God seeks us out way back in the cheap seats, where we actually live. Join the Congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky for this week's sermon, Disruption in the Cheap Seats by clicking any of the blue text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Come and See

In John's Gospel we get a story of two of John the Baptist's disciples meeting Jesus. When they ask where he is staying, Jesus answers, cryptically, "Come and See". Whatever they saw energized them. Would they see the same thing in a contemporary church? Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church by clicking on any blue text for this week's sermon from John 1, "Come and See".

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Meeting in the Water

The story of the baptism of Jesus by John is recounted in all three Synoptic Gospels and referred to in the Gospel of John. That sounds as if it is an important story, but what does it mean to say that Jesus was baptised? We think of baptism as a way to "wash away sins" or as a symbolic act of obedience, but we also are taught that Jesus was without sin, and was God Incarnate. Do either of these explanations help us to understand what it means to say that Jesus was baptised? What important lesson is contained in this pericope such that it appears in all the Gospels? Come join the joint congregations of the Chapel of St. Starbuck's and Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte Kentucky for our sermon this week from Matthew's Gospel, "Meeting in the Water" by clicking on any blue text.

Epiphany

January 6 marks Epiphany in the church calendar. It's the date we celebrate the arrival of the Three Kings -- the time when the world at large became aware of the birth of Jesus. Contrary to the nativity set on top of your TV, this did not happen on Christmas Eve, but probably two years later. We've mushed the two celebrations of Christmas and Epiphany together and robbed Epiphany of its dignity. We need to get over that and reclaim it.

So..what does the word "Epiphany" mean? We'll talk about that in today's sermon, from Matthew's account of the visit of the Magi. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church for this week's sermon, Epiphany, by clicking on any of the blue text HERE.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.