Morning Worship, 11/3/13: "Zacchaeus or the Crowd?"

"The conversion of Zacchaeus" is a time-honored reading of this parable: Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus, is changed forever when he does, and becomes a generous man. Such an interpretation, though, is based on a cursory reading of the story. What if this was a conversion story...but not the conversion story of Zacchaeus?



May God bless you!

Morning Worship, 10/27/13: "How do you pray?"

This week’s Scripture tells the story of a reversal of roles.  In Jesus’ day, tax collectors were not popular.  Imagine if you were responsible for paying your federal taxes to your neighbor, who set the rates and skimmed what he wanted off the top.  Would you like him?  Tax collectors were despised.  Pharisees, on the other hand, were adored and respected.  They kept the religious law, lived holy lives, and served as an example to their community of righteousness.  Yet, the Pharisee is set up as the villain and the tax collector is the hero of this story.  What does this role reversal teach us?



May the Lord be with you!

Morning Worship, 10/20/13

Rev. Claire Butler of the Presbytery of WV preaches on the parable of the unjust judge, challenging our notions of what it means to be missional.



May the Lord be with you!

Morning Worship, 9/29/13: "Hurting People Hurt People"

Hurting people hurt people.  And they do it over and over again until they learn the one way in which a hurting person can stop hurting people.  Forgive those who hurt you.  Even if you don’t want to.  Even if you have to say it out loud everyday for a year.  Forgive them.  Jesus says to do this even if they sin against you seven times in one day.



May the Lord be with you!

Morning Worship, 9/22/13: "On Doubt--Why Certainty Is Not Necessarily Sacred"

Somehow, over time people of faith have come to believe that certainty is sacred, as if they can be saved by the force of their assuredness, when in fact Jesus came and reminded us that God is a mystery to simple folks like us.  No clearer example of the mystery of God and Jesus' teachings exists than today's parable of the unjust manager.



May the Lord be with you!

Sermon from 9/15/13: "Vulnerability"

If you were to read this parable with your family one night before bed, you would probably interpret it to mean that God is the shepherd who never, ever leaves a single sheep behind.  God will always come for us.  You would be right.  But I ask you to also remember the deeper truth.  You have to be ready for God to find you.  You have to be willing to be found.  You have to believe you are good enough for God to love, or you will never ever experience the joy of that reunion.  

May the Lord be with you! 

Worship Recordings

My sincere apologies for not being able to post the audio of the past three worship services. On Aug 25, we were outdoors without a recording device. On Sept 1 & 8, our recording device in the church failed to record properly. We are working to correct the problem so that we can begin posting the service again as soon as possible! Thank you for your patience.

Peace,
Stephen