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Outlining a People

Christian Community Presbyterian Church Bowie, Maryland September 22, 2024 Outlining a People Exodus 20:1-5a, 7-10a, 12-17 (Video may be viewed at  https://youtu.be/H7cD6shs0xA ) I am an avid reader of comic strips. One of my favorites, alas not in the Washington Post, is “The Born Loser” In one strip the title character, Brutus Thornapple, is sitting in his chair reading the Bible. One of his nemeses, his wife’s mother, Mother Gargle, walks up and says, “Well, look who’s reading the Bible! Har-de-har-har!” “I’ll have you know, you old barracuda,” Brutus replies, “that I’ve followed the Ten Commandments all my life!” She walks away saying, “Too bad you never managed to catch up with them!”      We have heard of the Ten Commandments all our lives, but do we really “catch up with them”? Do we understand what they are and why God has given them?      The Law was part of the ongoing blessing with which God embraced the people of Israel. Remember that God singled out Abraham and Sarah and
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Seriously Seeking Something

Christian Community Presbyterian Church  Bowie, Maryland  April 28, 2024  Seriously Seeking Something Acts 8:26-40 [Video may be viewed at  https://youtu.be/mRoICo24omQ ] A fter briefly flirting with church attendance, one television sitcom character chalked up her experience as generally beneficial because “I finally learned what that guy in the end zone is talking about when he holds up the big sign that says ‘John 3:16’!            Long-time churchgoers know what ‘John 3:16’ is about. We are accustomed to religious words and symbols. It’s our operating system, to use a computer term. That’s why we are shocked to find out that church affiliation in the United States is approaching less than half the population. There are more people who have no clue what the end zone sign means than those who do. Some scholars of religion and society call our culture ‘post-Christian.’ Others call it ‘pre-Christian’ because our world is like the world of Peter, Paul, and the other apostles. The word “
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Charge to the Congregation on the Installation of the Rev. Dr. Kori Phillips McMurtry

Christian Community Presbyterian Church  Bowie, Maryland  October 29, 2023  Charge to the Congregation on the Installation of Dr. Kori Phillips McMurtry as Pastor   P resbyterians have spent a lot of time determining the qualifications for pastors. Yet we have not spent an equal amount of time describing the qualifications of congregations.  Father Victor Pax, my Roman Catholic colleague during my first pastorate, said that he had a lot of parishioners whom he saw three times during his ministry and every time he saw them he threw something at them: water at their baptisms, rice at their weddings, and dirt at their burials.  Often the average church member sees a pastor as the in-house religious professional. By that I mean that pastors are seen as surrogates: they are supposed to “do church” for everyone else. They are the designated students of scripture, proclaimers of the Word, prayer-makers for people and events, and blessers of rituals ecclesiastical and civic. The church which h
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Jesus the Storyteller: Parable of the Two Sons

Christian Community Presbyterian Church Bowie, Maryland October 8, 2023 Jesus the Storyteller: Parable of the Two Sons Matthew 21:23-32 [Video can be found at  https://youtu.be/1lZppmfr3Wo? si=R3d34fMITdAYJMZe ] A pastor visited a parishioner who lived by herself in the family home where she had been born 97 years earlier. They had a pleasant talk about things she had experienced in her near century of life: births and deaths, disappointments and celebrations, leavings and returnings. The conversation turned to the church and its history. Seeking a sense of the woman’s faith, the pastor asked if she ever thought about the hereafter. She replied, “I think about it all the time. Every time I go into a room I ask myself, ‘What am I here after?’” I see heads nodding. She’s not alone, is she? I can remember details of things that happened decades ago. But if you were to ask me what I had for dinner Friday night or what I did on Thursday, I would be hard pressed to tell you. You’ve been the
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Go Where? Do What?

Christian Community Presbyterian Church Bowie, Maryland June 18, 2023 Go Where? Do What? Matthew 10:1-9, 16-20 [Video may be viewed at  https://www.facebook.com/ChristianCommunityPresbyterianChurch/videos/924549221978937   Scripture and Sermon begin at 42:15] O ne of the top ten words of scripture is the end of Matthew’s gospel: Jesus’ Great Commission. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). His words are a clarion call to missionary activity. The congregation I last served included retired mission workers who had worked in India, Nepal, China, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Egypt, Iran, Sudan. Their wealth of faith and knowledge was a treasure trove.  Before the age of Zoom meetings, before audio reco
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Have We Forgotten How to Dare?

Colesville Presbyterian Church Silver Spring, Maryland April 23, 2023 Have We Forgotten How to Dare? Luke 24:18-35 ; 1 Peter 1:17-23 Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kauiv3byQk0 ;  (Scripture and Sermon start at 34:14) I n the 1980s (do any of you remember that far back?) there was a weekly syndicated newspaper column titled “Thanks a Million,” written by millionaire Percy Ross. He had decided to give away his money while he was still living. Each of Mr. Ross’ columns featured several requests and his responses. At one point he was receiving over 10,000 letters a week. Here’s one he received, postmarked Newark, New Jersey: “Dear Mister Percy Ross: You are so generous to help so many people. I am poor too but I get bye. I don't need money. I live under a bridge and it has a steam pipe under so I am warm in winter. There is a diner close bye and the dumster is always got food in that trukers don't eat. So I got every thing and don't need money. But I see you in the
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More Than a Name

More Than a Name Acts 2:14a, 22-32 Christian Community Presbyterian Church Bowie, Maryland April 16, 2023 D id you know that Presbyterian Christians have a tendency to keep their faith in our heads. Yes, most of us are more intellectual than emotional about our faith. When was the last time you saw a Presbyterian hot and bothered about Jesus Christ? Hot-and-botheredness usually has to do with someone moving the chancel furniture or changing the font on the bulletins.  If intellectual faith—head faith—and emotional faith—heart faith—were riding the playground seesaw most of us Presbyterians would be sitting on the end of the seesaw on the ground. Faith communities that are heavy into an emotional faith would weight the seesaw in the other direction. Head faith and heart faith need to be in a balanced tension where each aspect of faith—each rider on the seesaw—has an equal chance. When we come to church, we don’t leave our brains or our hearts at the door. God calls us to be complete p
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