Grain of Life

All who call upon the name of the Lord look with horror at the events at Mother Emanuel Church. We search in vain for some explanation of what could have caused this young man to go so far against the grain of life. In our worst moments, we might even come to doubt that there is a grain to life, and that our Father is maintaining it.

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

It's Not What You Thought

First, a mea culpa. We had a technical failure this morning that had nothing to do with the pastor being too daft to push the "Record" button, so we have only text this week. My apologies. Now...on to more important matters.

If you mention the phrase "The Kingdom of God" to a group of people, I'm confident that the mental images appearing in each person's mind will be as divergent as are the people imagining them. Jesus teaches that the Kingdom is like a mustard seed which grows we know not how. Humility is a good place to begin in any worship experience. Maybe we could remind ourselves that our image of the Kingdom isn't the definitive one.

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, It's Not What You Thought by clicking 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 Regular Way

First, an apology. This has been a trying week, with two deaths in our family. I don't know if I had a frog in my throat or if the grieving process had affected me in some way, but as I prepared today's sermon for upload, I couldn't miss the fact that I sound angry. I'm not angry, and I beg your forbearance. I don't know where that came from.

That said, here's something to think about. We all carry around an idea of right and wrong which we honor in a phrase an old friend of mine often used, "The Regular Way". Anything he perceived as unusual was not the regular way. As an example, I'm fairly sure he would not view Bruce Jenner's transformation into Caitlyn Jenner to be "the regular way". 

The problem of the regular way is that it leads us away from the teachings of the church as often as not. We tend to honor God but worship the regular way -- the way we understand the way of righteousness to be. Dietrich Bonhoeffer declared that the primal sin of humanity consists in putting the knowledge of good and evil before the knowledge of God. We yearn for the regular way, the way of our own righteousness, as a child yearns for mother’s milk. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, The Regular Way, 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.