Dry Bones

Today is Pentecost, the celebration of the giving of the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that Jesus charged His disciples that it was to their advantage that He go so that the Advocate or Comforter or Paraclete would come and dwell with them.

That's a stretch for anyone. Why would it be to their advantage to trade a living Jesus for an Advocate that they cannot see? It's very hard to believe in things we can't see.

So, I prepared a nifty little sermon on trusting the testimony of the Holy Spirit and believing that the Holy Spirit will sustain and empower those called to the name Christian. I even asked how the congregation would feel if there was a Pentecost event right here, right now. You can read it by clicking HERE.

Service opened, I turned on the iPad for my sermon and found -- nothing. I had forgotten to load the sermon. I can't begin to describe the panic I felt as I looked out at a group of people who expected me to be clever, only to find my speech was gone. I was so shook I forgot to press "Play" on the recorder."

One of the passages I had made reference to was the story of Gideon in Judges 7.

2 The Lord said to Gideon, ‘The troops with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand. Israel would only take the credit away from me, saying, “My own hand has delivered me.” ³Now therefore proclaim this in the hearing of the troops, “Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.” ’ Thus Gideon sifted them out;^* twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.
4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, ‘The troops are still too many; take them down to the water and I will sift them out for you there. When I say, “This one shall go with you”, he shall go with you; and when I say, “This one shall not go with you”, he shall not go.’ ⁵So he brought the troops down to the water; and the Lord said to Gideon, ‘All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths,^* you shall put to the other side.’ ⁶The number of those that lapped was three hundred; but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water. ⁷Then the Lord said to Gideon, ‘With the three hundred that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all the others go to their homes.’

 I preach from manuscript and that manuscript has now been taken away. My clever words that I cleverly write every week were somewhere up there in the ether where I couldn't reach them. That manuscript is what I thought delivered me every Sunday, and here it's gone.

And so, I preached as it was given me, and it was fine. Tell me God doesn't have a sense of irony! Any other Sunday, this would have been a source of anxiety only. On Pentecost Sunday, I believe I have been schooled, church. I believe I have been schooled.

Deep Right Field

The Presbyterian Church of the United States confesses in the Westminster Confession:

By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others fore-ordained to everlasting death.

Congregants are not often asked to deal with these fundamental questions of systematic theology, but it is important to know what your church teaches. The Bible is the story of the chosen, but what does that actually mean? Join us for this week's sermon on the frightening, dreaded topic of predestination 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.

Under the Bus

Mothers seem to lavish love upon children from an inexhaustible store. It is a good model from which we can think about God's love. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for our Mother's Day sermon, Under the Bus by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

3B's

How do we measure the success of a contemporary church? Our Executive Presbyter, in discussing this problem suggested that the most common measurement was the 3 B's -- Buildings, Budgets and Butts. A church with a large budget, impressive buildings and lots of butts in the pews is counted as successful. Dr. Tozer, though, reminds us

"We may as well face it: the whole level of spirituality among us is low. We have measured ourselves by ourselves until the incentive to seek higher plateaus in the things of the Spirit is all but gone"

Those are pretty  upsetting words to think about, but perhaps that is why we should. Join us for our sermon, 3B's, by clicking HERE for audio and 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.