Church News (Page 12)
Notes on “Everyone Who Belongs”
This is the conclusion of the Christian year. Our friends in the Jewish tradition end the High Holy Days with Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement. It is a time to look back on the previous year and to atone for or “clean up” (kippurim literally means cleansing) our wrongdoings from the past. As we approach the end of our Christian year with Reign of Christ Sunday (sometimes called Christ the King), we might consider where we place Christ…
Notes on “Not One Stone”
Our lectionary text this week is the penultimate in our Christian year. It’s interesting that we face an apocalyptic text when we will also do so the first Sunday in Advent. Is this something we should be actively worried about? Is this imminent? Should we be watching the skies for an asteroid or for the opening of the heavens? If we ask these questions, we may be echoing the disciples. When Jesus says the temple will fall, the disciples ask…
Notes on “Everything She Had”
Through our recent series on parables, there were several times when Jesus would teach the phrase we now hold familiar: the first shall be last and the last shall be first. The text this Sunday may offer a parallel illustration, and as a clergy person I find it kind of unsettling! The phrase that is translated here as “legal experts” could easily be applied to clergy, and I wonder if our legal professionals in the congregation share the same unease…
Notes on “The Rich Man & Lazarus”
This Sunday we conclude our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. To watch or listen to any/all of the services or sermons from this series, visit this page. This parable is likely another familiar story, and in this case the original audience may have guessed the same about each character as we do today. Very often those who are exceedingly wealthy in Jesus’ parables are…
How Your Pledge Supports Missions
As we are pledging to contribute to church funds, I thought that the congregation would like to know which organizations are supported by the church through the activities of the Missions & Social Concerns Committee. Our committee is a relatively small part of the church budget, but we provide funds for several important community groups as well as some missionary programs. Our social concerns are focused primarily on our local community where contributions can have a significant and immediate effect. …
All Saints Day
On Sunday November 7th we will spend time in worship to memorialize those dear ones who have died since All Saints Day one year ago. Please contact the church office and let us know the names of all those you would like to lift in worship that day.
Book Talk
Book Talk has successfully re-launched! Thirteen enthusiastic readers gathered in Fellowship Hall on October 6 to hear veteran presenter Mary Jane Lincoln talk about the entertaining book Running With Sherman, by Christopher McDougall. Next meeting: November 3, with Cindy Rushing commenting on the book Any Human Heart, by William Boyd. Cindy will also be recommending favorite titles from her own new book group. IMPORTANT NOTICE: Book Group will now begin meeting at a new start time: 2:00pm, which is a…
Notes on “The Widow & the Judge”
This Sunday we near the end of our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. I’m not sure about you, but the idea of praying continuously wears me out. Honestly, I feel like I have been! I feel especially like I’ve been praying for the end of this pandemic since it started, and it doesn’t look like it’s ended to me. I’ve been praying for our…
Notes on “The Laborers in the Vineyard”
This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. The focused parable is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. It must have been frustrating for those workers who worked the whole day in the heat of the sun to receive the same pay as those who only worked for one hour. It just doesn’t seem fair. I imagine the other groups…
Notes on “The Pharisee & the Tax Collector”
This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. What a moving parable this is! What an opportunity for us to feel good about ourselves and to comfort ourselves… well at least if we identify more with the tax collector (think IRS) rather than the Pharisee (think of the uber-religious person). Does that cause some discomfort? It does for me. I’m a religious…
Notes on “The Mustard Seed”
I remember when I was in middle school, I went to my school’s library and grabbed a few books from the shelves. Needless to say, they were all books about plants. I read about how plants use water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight to make sugar and oxygen in a process known as photosynthesis. I was so intrigued by all the diagrams of how everything works and even the chemical reactions themselves. The process of how plants utilize photosynthesis to create…