A Peace that Only Jesus Can Give
Scripture: Philippians 4:4-9 By chance, have you noticed God’s peace take hold of you in a most difficult time? If so, you are not alone. Today, our closing hymn is It is Well with My Soul, by Horatio Gates Spafford. Spafford was a lawyer and Presbyterian elder, whose tragic life experiences helped inspire this beautiful hymn. After the death of his son and loss of investments during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, a shipwreck with two steamships colliding took the…
Christ, Our Foundation and Cornerstone
Scripture: Matthew 21:33-36 The words of church father, Leo the Great refer to Christ in this way: “He endured previous sorrows even to the point of death. No one could be released from fetters of mortality unless He, in whom alone the nature of all people was innocent, should allow Himself to be killed by the hands of wicked men.” I concur with Leo’s words as they interpret this passage, the parable of the tenants, within the context of the…
The Lord is Our Provider (Part 2)
Scripture: Exodus 17:1-7 Last week we looked at the 16th chapter of Exodus. The Israelites were very hungry and frightened for their very lives as they thought they would die of starvation. They were challenged in their newly found freedom and though they were delivered out of slavery, they remembered the organization of Egypt and that they were fed while in captivity. Freedom became scary as food was scarce and they just did not know what to do next. To…
The Lord is Our Provider (Part 1)
Scripture: Exodus 16:1-15 One of the greatest challenges of the year in my role as a preacher is the task of preparing a sermon about stewardship. I hope those who occasionally do pulpit supply work are listening, as you need to hear what I say next. For those who know something about preaching, you can’t just come up with a topic and manipulate the scripture to support it. That’s something called eisegesis, or creating your own agenda. My job is…
Building a Diverse Redemptive Community
Scripture: Romans 14:1-12 21st century America is ripe for preaching from Paul’s epistle to the Romans as we can relate to the multicultural dynamics of church and society. The Christ community in Rome, in the form of many small communities similar to a house church today, was quite diverse. The major subgroups include Jews and Gentiles. In the earliest Christ communities, Jews would attend Temple on Saturday and meet for the Lord’s Supper on Sunday. Eventually they split from the…
Mandated Reporting
Scripture: Ezekiel 33:7-11 So sadly, evil is very real. While humans have nearly unlimited capacity to do good things, we can be very cruel too. Unspeakable harm has happened to children, the elderly, the disabled, and other vulnerable populations in homes, schools, churches, group homes, and among other organizations. One correction we are doing as a society is making mandated reporters. Many debate the role of clergy as mandated reporters. Some states do mandate clergy to report abuse while New…
Advanced Directives and the Cost of Discipleship
Scripture: Matthew 16:21-28 A now late Catholic deacon friend once shared with me his basic plans for he and his wife as they neared the end of their lives. They had their home. Just down the road was an assisted living facility when they couldn’t quite make it at home. Then, there was the hospital and nursing home when assisted living was not enough. After the hospital offered all it could they had the funeral home. After that, their gravesite.…
Taking the Keys to the Kingdom
Scripture: Matthew 16:13-20 When a nurse arrives for a shift, she or he needs to accept the keys. They know that their work may be very rewarding. They also know they may be greatly challenged. They also might assess what they are getting into before taking the keys. Our faith is like that. We know good things will come, we also know there is no guarantee it will be easy. Our passage for today’s lesson follows the miraculous scenes of…
A Stairway to Heaven?
by Cindy Fitzwater, a long-time member of the United Presbyterian Church who preaches from time to time. Scripture: John 1:43-51 I want to begin by telling you how I came to choose today’s topic — because sometimes an idea comes to us in a very ordinary way, or we learn that God speaks to us in places we never expect. And, if we pay attention, we might discover that God has been nudging us all along. This message started with…
250th Anniversary
by William Wallace Banker, a long-time member of the United Presbyterian Church who preaches from time to time. Scripture: Isaiah 51: 1-6 A few weeks ago we celebrated July 4th which is a national holiday. Why July 4th? July 4th, 1776 is when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. The United States is celebrating and commemorating its 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The 250th is called the Semi quincentennial. As we have heard…