Squandering the Gospel

President Kennedy famously said, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country". You might say the same thing about our relationship with God. Is it based on "what's in it for me", or is it based in service? CLICK HERE or on the title to hear our worship service for February 15, 2009.

Oh...and I've now reached the age where I can't find the word I want in TWO languages. The Hebrew for "man of God" which escaped me was "ish elo'him"...not that it matters...but still...

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 World Whisperer

Mark tells us that Jesus could change lives just by a word. In today's text, Mark tells us that Jesus could heal illness with a mere touch. What kind of power is Mark showing us? To me, it sounds like the more familiar power of Cesar Milan over dogs on National Geographic's "The Dog Whisperer", but Jesus' power is over much more -- indeed, all of Creation. Click here to listen to this week's message.

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.

Bill of Responsibilities

We're proud of our Bill of Rights in this country, but the document I would have liked to have seen adopted by our Founding Fathers is a Bill of Responsibilities -- a list of the responsibilities we owe to our neighbors.

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 Pot Lid

Nobody picks up a hot pot lid then enters into a discussion about what to do with it. You drop it before you think about it. It's a reflex that doesn't even involve your brain -- it's located in your spinal chord. That's the kind of relationship with God which Christians seek -- God in our spinal chords.

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 Tao of Samuel

What would happen if we looked at the story of the call of Samuel through the lens of something really foreign to our usual way of thinking? Something like, say, Confucianism and Taoism?

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.

Ungomming the Gospels

We are blessed to have four, unique, accounts of the life of Jesus in the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Since each Gospel differs from the others, the early church looked at several "harmonizations". Ultimately, they were rejected. The church admitted only the four separate accounts into the canon. This Sunday, for year B in the Revised Common Lectionary, we'll begin to unravel the gommed up Gospel ball we have all created mentally so that we can hear Mark's account more clearly.

By the way, if you don't know what "gommed" means, you ain't from around 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.

Christ the King

Why do we do the wrong thing, even when doing the right thing is in our best interest? Why do we drive 75 on a 70 mile per hour highway when we know it is unsafe? What are the limits of what we can get away with? Does God's patience have a limit?

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.