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.