Uziah, Isaiah

This is the Sunday, I think, in which I make some people mad, so I hope you'll be along for the ride. The church teaches that each person has been called by God from before all time for a task or tasks. The tasks or tasks cannot be accomplished without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is granted precisely to permit each Christian to accomplish his or her task. What is your task, and how do you approach the relationship between God and you in the Time After Pentecost?

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, Uziah, Isaiah 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 Sky Is Not Falling

A recent report from the Pew Research Center has lead many Christians to fear that the end is in sight for Christianity. There is no better time than Pentecost to discuss this issue.

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, The Sky Is Not Falling 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.

God's Gardeners

This week, we killed Abu Sayyaf, a key ISIS figure. We have stepped into the same snare we have been stepping into since time out of mind.

The snare I’m speaking of is the dualistic view of God’s creation, so attractive to our sinful selves, in which we mentally divide the population of the world into “the good guys”, always identified with “us” and “the bad guys”, or “not us” then decide that it is the Divinely Ordained Task of the good guys to exterminate the bad guys. This view is so pervasive and so endlessly reflected and re-reflected in our consciousness that escaping from it is like trying to find your way out of a house of mirrors. 

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, God's Gardeners, 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. 

Who's On First?

It is well worth our time to think about how we conceive of the relationship between ourselves and God. Does God react to us, or do we react to God? In other words, Who's On First? My guess is that the most prevalent understanding is that God reacts to us, spreading His blessings on those who live fruitful, obedient lives, and scourging those who don't eternally. That's a pretty common understanding, but I'd like to offer an alternative: I'd like to suggest that God sends his rain upon the fields of the just and the unjust alike, and it is up to us to react to God's love. Jesus taught:

Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

If we abide in His love, why are there always seats for the family of the victim at executions? Why do we draw satisfaction from the suffering of others?

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, Who's On First? 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.

Let the Man Through!

Symbols and traditions. Traditions and symbols. They are important only so long as they help us by pointing to a truth. If they become important themselves, they will lead us astray.

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, Let the Man Through 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.