Celebration of Life

Scripture: 1 John 2:28-3:3 In human history we accomplished so much.  We invented and mastered agriculture which has enabled us to thrive, we continue to make breakthroughs in combating illnesses, we put people on the moon, and someday we will likely put people on other planets.  It seems that with enough time, cooperation, and resources … [Read more…]

Pastor’s November Article

It has been my observation that over the past few years more and more people have begun to go along with the commercial push to start the “Christmas season” as early as November 1st.  The past few years I have noticed on social media that people making posts about putting their Christmas tree up in … [Read more…]

Da Bears

Scripture:  2 Kings 2:23-25 Rachel Held Evans was a well-known force in Christian literature.  From 2012 to her death in 2019, she managed to write four books that all managed to have quite an impact on a number of people.  Because the written word can long outlive the author, even though she passed away at … [Read more…]

RSVP

Scripture:  Matthew 22:1-14 Like most young children Graham Day was counting down the days until his birthday.  To celebrate turning eight he was having a birthday party neighborhood kids and classmates were all invited, the cake was made, and the boxes of pizza were delivered.   However, no one came.   To make it worse, this was … [Read more…]

Who Watches the Watchmen?

Matthew 21:33-46 Literature can be dangerous.  Words are already powerful, and when those words are expertly crafted to deliver a point they can cut deep.  When those cutting words are directed to critique or shame the powerful and comfortable there will often be consequences and retaliation.  This last week a lot of libraries marked and … [Read more…]

Pastor’s October 2020 Article

It used to be that Halloween was the one day a year that we got to dress up in elaborate costumes.  However, that has changed in recent years.   Dressing up in costumes is now a hobby in its own right.   It is called cosplay, and it is popular enough that national craft stores will often … [Read more…]

Grace First Initiative

Scripture:  Matthew 20:1-16 A number of years ago, I took a group of teenagers to Plainfield United Methodist Church to volunteer with a ministry they ran that provided food to homeless communities in downtown Indianapolis.   I ended up doing this a number of times over a year long period, and it really opened up my … [Read more…]

Mercy and Forgiveness

In 1990 a new show premiered on TV with the following opening, “In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate but importantly equal groups the police who investigate the crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.  These are their stories (dun-dun).”  This show was Law & Order, and it … [Read more…]

The Ninety-Nine

Scripture:  Matthew 18:10-14 One of my go-to hobbies is reading.   However, my hobby is reading a specific kind of book.  This will not be a surprise to many, but I specifically like to read Star Wars books.  There are a lot of them.  By the end of 2020 there will be seven new Star Wars … [Read more…]

This is the Way

Scripture:  Romans 12:9-21 It was 2006 and the house we were living in had a small back porch.   As spring turned into summer we were able to buy a bench on sale to put back there.  It came from Wal-Mart, so it was a piece of flat box furniture, which means it comes in a … [Read more…]