February 3, 2013

Scriptures for this Sunday include Jeremiah 1:4-10, which recounts the call of Jeremiah.  God put God’s words in the mouth of Jeremiah.  Jeremiah was then able to speak to his people in difficult times.  The New Testament lesson is from Luke 4:21-30.  Jesus is rejected in his hometown, and in the face of rejection, speaks with gentle authority.  The title for Sunday’s sermon is, "Search for Authenticity."

January 27, 2013

The texts for Sunday include 1 Corinthians 12:12-20, 25-27, where Paul talks about the church as being one body with many members.  The hand cannot separate from the foot.  The eye cannot claim to be more valuable than the ear.  Each member has a special function, and a rightful place in the whole.  We will also examine Luke 4:14-21 where Jesus speaks with a gentle authority.  Wherein lies "authority" within a church?  Perhaps final authority lies not in the voice or actions of any one individual, but rather in the silent integrity of the whole—the holy and quiet Spirit that lives among us.

January 13, 2013

This Sunday, we will focus on Disciples' History and Disciples' Future.  We will have hymns and readings by Alexander Campbell, and examine fond memories of Disciples; many of our congregants have a rich personal history with Disciples.  We will also begin to ask questions about our future and take a look at what is popularly known as "Emergent Christianity," or what some are calling, "Hyphenated Churches."

 

The church can be understood at two levels: (1) church as an institution and (2) church as the Body of Christ.  Prayerfully, the former reflects the latter, but this is not always the case.  Understanding the church as "universal," or "catholic" (as distinct from each particular manifestation of church) goes back a thousand years or so.  Sunday, we want to sharpen our discernment of the "Ideal," the "Holy Body of Christ," and ponder what it means to humbly reach for this archetypal model of perfection.

January 6, 2013

This Sunday, we celebrate Epiphany!