October 27, 2024
Rev. Dr. Neil Thomas
Check Your Halos and Egos at the Door
Personal morality and religious convictions tend to work from a place where no one believes they are getting it wrong. Everyone is certain their cause is just, their motives are pure, and their character unimpeachable. Many religious people think they are loving their neighbor even if their neighbor has doubts about that, and most of us fancy ourselves table flippers while presiding over that themselves could use some upending.
If God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk
What if upon Jesus’ return his first question to us is: “I asked you to do one thing: love. So, what happened?” If God is love and if Jesus is the perfect expression of that love, and if we are supposed to follow that Jesus—how can we so often be love-impaired? For as long as human beings have been declaring devotion to a God of love, they have been gloriously screwing it up by being hateful in the process. The Bible doesn’t shy away from that, and neither should we. Join us as we explore some of the ways we fall short of the call to “love God, self, and neighbor” through the book and sermon series If God is Love, Don’t be a Jerk!
List of Services
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Unexpected Visit The two words, ecology and economy, relate to the same central concept. An oikos is a house, a dwelling-place: ecology is the science of what makes up a dwelling place, an environment, the way it works and holds together, the ‘logic’ of a material setting; and economy is the law that regulates behavior in an environment, the active ‘housekeeping’ that manages what is at hand. We cannot continue to pretend to ‘keep house’ for the human race if we refuse to pay any attention to where in the house the gas pipes and electricity wires are laid, which walls are supporting walls, or where the water is carried off by the guttering. We shall not be able adequately to deal with our crisis of ‘housekeeping’ without the sense of being a guest in the oikos of our world, the sense that ought to keep together the logic (governing principles) of the household, and the discipline of the household, ecology and economy.Unexpected Visit
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Home of Jairus Timing is everything. We cannot, and ought not, stay on the threshold forever. On the other hand, we have to be there long enough for our awakening to occur. Waiting in the sphere of uncertainty and confusion challenges even the heartiest of souls. Most often, it is difficult to ascertain just when the appropriate time comes to take that bold step toward departure and move on with our life.Home of Jairus
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The Powerful Faith of SinnersThe Powerful Faith of Sinners