Sunday's Message - We’re Number Two

Here's the message I offered during the celebration service in the Presbyterian Church of Hopedale, Hopedale, Ohio on Sunday, August 30.

Matthew 16:21-28, Contemporary English Version

From then on, Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, “I must go to Jerusalem. There the nation’s leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make me suffer terribly. I will be killed, but three days later I will rise to life.”

Peter took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking like that. He said, “God would never let this happen to you, Lord!”

Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Satan, get away from me! You’re in my way because you think like everyone else and not like God.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples:

If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find it. What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What would you give to get back your soul?

The Son of Man will soon come in the glory of his Father and with his angels to reward all people for what they have done. I promise you that some of those standing here will not die before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.

We’re Number Two

Now I’ve got to admit, I’m a little bummed today. You see, typically, on this particular Sunday morning I expect to be fat and sassy. As a matter of fact, from every pore in my body, I should literally be oozing college football. Every year, I look forward to this last weekend in August, because it represents the dawning of about four months of fatness and sassiness. I guess you could say that, right along with my wife, my daughter and oysters, I love college football.

Of course, as it is with almost everything else, this year is different. And even though I recognize that the NFL will be kicking off in a couple of weeks, I really prefer the college game, outside of the ridiculous way they handle overtime, but I digress. I love college football. But you know, it’s not just the game. It’s the whole environment. Now understand, when I lived in Indianapolis, I had Colt season tickets and so I enjoy what you could call the professional ambiance. But let’s get real, there’s nothing like college football. Good night nurse, the enthusiasm is off the charts. And with all those students crammed into a stadium, man, you might see or hear almost anything, with the exception of this. You’re not going to hear anyone chant, “We’re Number Two.” I can guarantee, those words you’ll never hear, because nobody in those stands wants to admit verbally that their team is anything other than number one. As they say, in football winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.

But you know, although no real fan wants to accept second place, I think that’s exactly what Jesus is telling us to do in the passage I just read. In other words, in this little story, I believe Jesus told this disciples then and tells his disciples right now that we should probably be offering a chant we’ll never hear at a Mountaineer or Buckeye game, “We’re number two.” And I’ll tell you, that’s going to be our focus this morning. And as we consider what he was saying to them and is saying to us, we’re going to answer three questions: first, with respect to Jesus, exactly where are we suppose to be; second, how do we get there; and third, why is that important for us to do. Now, that’s our game plan this morning.

Of course, the first question, well, I’ve pretty much answered it, haven’t I? With respect to Jesus, exactly where are we suppose to be? We’re suppose to be somewhere behind him, right? I mean, dah. But it’s not just me saying it, just remember what Matthew wrote: “From then on, Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, ‘I must go to Jerusalem. There the nation’s leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make me suffer terribly. I will be killed, but three days later I will rise to life.’ Peter took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking like that. He said, ‘God would never let this happen to you, Lord!’ Jesus turned to Peter and said, ‘Satan, get away from me! You’re in my way because you think like everyone else and not like God.’” [Matthew 16:21-23, CEV] Now that’s what happened.

And I’ve got to tell you, I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out why Peter did what he did and Jesus said what he said. I mean, to this point in the Gospel, it’s been pretty much peaches and cream, right? Jesus has been performing miracles and he’s been healing the sick and he’s been casting out demons right and left. His lessons have authority and his parables were engaging and his one sermon, you know, the one on the mount, wasn’t even boring. Jesus was a star. And Peter was certainly his right hand man. Good night, this had just happened: “Then Jesus asked them, ‘But who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus told him: Simon, son of Jonah, you are blessed! You didn’t discover this on your own. It was shown to you by my Father in heaven. So I will call you Peter, which means “a rock.” On this rock I will build my church, and death itself will not have any power over it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth. But he will not allow anything that you don’t allow.” [Matthew 16:15-19, CEV] I’m telling you, both Jesus and Peter were riding high; therefore, it’s really not surprising that, when Peter heard Jesus shift from talking about how great the Kingdom of Heaven was going to be to how he was going to suffer and die, naturally he felt the need to offer some good PR advice, and that’s exactly what he did. Of course, in doing that, he was not only tempting Jesus to veer from his purpose, Peter was also forgetting his place as a disciple. You see, disciples of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, man, they don’t lead. And they don’t advise. And they don’t suggest. They simply follow, something that Peter had forgotten.

And you know, I think that’s something we forget ourselves from time to time. You see, sometimes I believe we think can take the Good News and make it better. I mean, what Jesus taught may be all well and good back in the day, but does that mean it can’t be improved? You see, we can make it more popular right now, by really hammering some commandments, while letting some others sort of slide. Just doing that will make it easier for folks to accept. And let’s get real, we all know that sacrifice doesn’t sell. For example, even though we’re running record deficits and the national debt is going up faster than any time in our history, who’s going to vote for a candidate who promises to raise our taxes and cut our services? I mean, dah. Now maybe raising and cutting them and you know who “they” are, now, that may be fine; but not us. You see, we like to be number one. But as it comes to Jesus, maybe we should be spending more time reading and praying and following than in making suggestions and offering advice and trying to lead. And so there you have it, question number one: with respect to Jesus, exactly where are we suppose to be? The answer: we’re number two, following him.

And you know, if that was the only question Jesus answered, I’m telling you, that would be nice to know information. But that’s not all he said. I mean, right after this little kerfuffle with Peter, this was what happened: “Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me.” [Matthew 16:24, CEV] Now that’s what he said, and I think that answers our second question: how do we get there? How do we get behind and start following Jesus? In other words, how can we put ourselves as number two.

And you know, if the stuff about how Jesus was going to suffer was bad, this business about how disciples are suppose to sacrifice, man, that’s even worse. In fact, for Jesus it all came down to three steps. One, it involves forgetting about ourselves: forgetting about what we want, what we have, what we think, and what we believe we deserve. It’s about putting all that “me,” “my” and “mine” stuff on the back burner. That’s one. And then, two, it means taking up our cross. And let me be clear about this cross business; in the first century, crosses represented a whole lot more than sassy kids, patterned baldness or having to wear a mask during a pandemic. For those disciples, a cross was the ultimate symbol of sacrifice, and I’m talking about life and death. And that’s exactly what we’re called to carry. And that leads to step number three, the following part, in other words, doing what Jesus did and being guided by what he taught. That’s how we get behind him.

And I’m going to be straight with you, doing that isn’t easy, but then why should it be. Remember, a little later in the story, when a guy asked how he might have eternal life and after he said he’d done everything the Law required, “Jesus replied, ‘If you want to be perfect, go sell everything you own! Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and be my follower.’ When the young man heard this, he was sad, because he was very rich.” [Matthew 19:21-22, CEV] Now that’s what I call turning from self. But of course, he wouldn’t say that to us, right? And as to following, what about this prophecy Jesus offered explaining how the Son of Man was going to judge the nations: “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘My father has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created. When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me.’” [Matthew 25:34-36, CEV] Now that’s some heavy lifting and following, right? But of course, he wouldn’t hold the United States to those standards, right? You see, in what he says to those disciples, I think he answers question number two: how do we get there? And I’m talking about how do we put ourselves behind Jesus?

And so with one and two answered, all we have left is question number three: Why is it important for us? Just listen to what Jesus said. “If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find it. What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What would you give to get back your soul? The Son of Man will soon come in the glory of his Father and with his angels to reward all people for what they have done.” [Matthew 16:25-27, CEV] Now that what he said.

And for those who heard him and those who still listen, well, I think there were two excellent reasons for following. I mean, on one hand, it determines what we do in the here and now. You see, if we’ve decided to do whatever it takes to save ourselves and the heck to everybody, man, we just may lose what’s most important. Of course, we may get a lot of stuff, you know, that kind of stuff that rust will eventually destroy and thieves break in and steal. In fact, we may get so much stuff we end up laying awake at night thinking about the bigger barns we’ll need to build in the future. Oh sure, stuff we’ll have. But understand the cost is high. I mean, to get all that stuff we may have to sacrifice a lot of our integrity and self-respect and self-esteem and frankly, some of our basic goodness and faith. But we’ll have plenty of stuff. You see, on one hand, the price may be pretty high in the short term.

On the other hand, though, it’s nothing like the price we may be paying in the future. I mean, remember that passage I just read about how Jesus praised those nations that fed the hungry and welcomed the strangers and cared for the sick. Well, he was just as harsh on those nations that didn’t. In fact, this was how the prophecy ended: “Then Jesus said, “Those people will be punished forever. But the ones who pleased God will have eternal life.” [Matthew 25:46, CEV] Now that’s what Jesus said. Of course, we also want to remember that, when talking about the rich young man I mentioned a little while ago, this was what happened: Jesus said to his disciples, “It’s terribly hard for rich people to get into the kingdom of heaven! In fact, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God’s kingdom.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly surprised and asked, “How can anyone ever be saved?” Jesus looked straight at them and said, “There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything.” [Matthew 19:23-26, CEV] You see, salvation is a gift, not a wage. Still, for my own peace of mind, I’d much rather be with the ones who can look at their lives and be confident of having eternal life than those whom Jesus said will be punished forever. And that’s really the answer to question number three, why is following Jesus important for us?


Now remember how I said that I was bummed this morning. Well, bummed isn’t as bad as crushed. You see, at 9:00 last evening, on ESPN, I watched Austin Peay play Central Arkansas in the Cramton Bowl. What do they say; any port in a storm? I think I’m still a little damp, but I did get my college football fix. And even though I can’t prove it, I seriously doubt that any of those 2,000 Governor or the Bear fans were chanting, “We’re number two,” even after Austin Peay scored on their play or Central Arkansas pulled it out at the end. Real fans just don’t do that. And yet that’s probably what we should be saying when we leave here this morning. You see, when you get right down to it, with respect to Jesus Christ, that’s exactly where we should be. And we can get there by shifting our focus from self to God and others. And we should probably do it because it’s going to make a difference in what we do right now and how we end up viewing our future. And now this we know. But we can save the chanting until we get home.

Cove's Celebration Service - Sunday, January 29, 2017

Below is the service I led at Cove Presbyterian Church on January 29, 2017. During the winter of 2017, I preached a series of sermons entitled "Spiritual Growth for Short People." As it relates to spiritual growth, have you ever felt “height challenged”? If you’ve ever felt somewhat short in the spirituality department, this sermon series is for you. For six Sundays, we discussed how we might grow in our faith and in our relationship with God. Specifically, we cover the following growth-related topics:
✙ Recognizing Our Limits ✙ Trusting the Lord ✙ Loving One Another ✙ Making an Impact ✙ Sharing the Message ✙ Bringing in the Harvest

As with all our services, worship is intended to be a free expression of our love for God and the joy we feel when we accept that love. Of course, there are many ways for us to express that love and joy. So that we can experience a greater sense of freedom and flexibility in our praise, the session decided to move away from a rigid order of worship, with the different elements printed in a very formal way, and to utilize the screen and the worship leader to guide us through the service. Below you’ll find some material that you may need to participate fully in our praise and reverence for God.

We started the service with the announcements. As the Bible entered, we sang "This is the Day that the Lord Has Made.”

Instrumental and vocal music are important to our worship. Songs give us the chance to praise God and to help focus our attention on the theme of the service. During the service, we have the opportunity to sing songs that reflect different musical styles. Since God has called into his church as individuals with a variety of tastes, this offers us the chance to display our sensitivity for our fellow worshipers and to grow in our knowledge of how we might praise God. Our first two songs were “All Creatures of Our God and King” and “As the Deer.”

Our prayers represent our communication with God. Of course, as Paul wrote, the Holy Spirit “...intercedes for us with groans too deep for words”; therefore, God already knows our needs. Still it’s important that we put them into words, as well as the regret we feel for our sins and our thanks for all God has done for us.

During the Our Congregational Prayer, we confessed our sins and hear the assurance that we're forgiven.  We also lifted our concerns and needs to God.  We closed this prayer with The Lord’s Prayer. Before we prayed, our bell choir performed. As we collected the offering, the choir sang “Lord, Your Church Are We.” 

God’s word is at the core of the worship service. It’s often reflected in the songs we sing and the prayers we pray. But it’s most clearly present when we read a passage from the Bible, and it’s applied to our daily living in the sermon.
This morning, we looked at 1 John 3:11-18: 

For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you.

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.

And the title of the sermon is “Spiritual Growth for Short People: Loving One Another,” and we’ll consider the third step if we want to grow in our relationship and our understanding of God.

Our service ended with the  postlude, “I Would Be True.”

Below is the podcast of the service.

Sunday's Sermon – Spiritual Growth for Short People: Loving One Another

During the winter of 2017, I preached a series of sermons entitled "Spiritual Growth for Short People." As it relates to spiritual growth, have you ever felt “height challenged”? If you’ve ever felt somewhat short in the spirituality department, this sermon series is for you. For six Sundays, we discussed how we might grow in our faith and in our relationship with God. Specifically, we cover the following growth-related topics: ✙ Recognizing Our Limits ✙ Trusting the Lord ✙ Loving One Another ✙ Making an Impact ✙ Sharing the Message ✙ Bringing in the Harvest Below is a copy of the message in this series sermon, "Loving One Another." During the message, we'll focus on 1 John 3:11-18:

For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.

Well, here we are again, and I hope y’all are ready to spend a little time talking about how we might grow spiritually, you know, how we might understand God a little better than we do right now and how our relationship with him might become a little stronger than it is right here. And since there’s no football on today and we don’t have anything going on after the service, you know like a congregational meeting or a dinner, we can spend as much time as we need to do it, right? Just kidding; I wouldn’t do that to y’all.

Anyway, in case you don’t know it, we’re in the middle of a sermon series we started a couple of weeks ago, and like I just said, it’s all focused on spiritual growth. Now, as you remember, during the first sermon, we talked about how recognizing our limits is really the first step, because when we do that, when we accept that we’re human, that leads to realistic expectations and a focused approach to growth and a faith that’s patient. Now that was the first week. And last week, we looked at the importance of trusting the Lord, you know, that faith is actually trust and how it starts with a decision and that when we decide to trust, we’re suddenly free to explore all kinds of possible ways we might grow. And so that’s where we’ve been.

And this morning, we going to consider another step that I believe is important if we’re serious about becoming the men and women God created us to be, and right now I’m talking about loving one another. And to get us sort of focused, we’re going to look at some verses from the first letter of John. It’s in your bulletin and on the screen. Hear God’s word as written by John. “For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”Now, I recognize that for most of us this seems pretty straight forward. I mean, outside of a few believers like a friend of mine who told me that the biggest problem in modern Christianity is that there’s too much talk of love, outside of guys like him, I think most of us believe that we’re suppose to love one another, especially since that’s what John said right here and Paul wrote to the Romans and Jesus told his disciples. “We should love one another.” To me, that seems pretty clear.

But I’ll tell you, what throws a little mud in the water is the fact that the Greeks had two different words which are translated “love” in the English New Testament. You see, the word φίλος can mean love. In fact, that’s the way it’s used in the word philosophy; that literally means “the love of knowledge” and in the name Philadelphia, the city of “brotherly love.” You see, when the Greeks used the word φίλος, they were talking about a feeling, an emotional kind of love. Put another way, using this word, you really need to like what you love.

But I’ll tell you, that’s not the Greek word used here, not in this verse nor when Paul wrote to the Romans nor when Jesus said, “you will love your neighbor as yourself.” None of them used φίλος. Instead they used the Greek word ἀγάπη. And to get a sense of what this kind of love involved, just listen to how Paul described it to the Corinthians. He wrote, “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Now that’s the kind of love Christians are called to show, you know, to God and to their neighbor and to one another. And I think that’s really important, because this kind of love isn’t a matter of the heart, instead it’s something that involves both the mind and the will. In other words, like we talked about with faith, love is a decision. We decide to love. And I’ll tell you, we can decide to love people that we just don’t like, because ἀγάπη love isn’t about our feelings, rather it’s about both our attitudes and our actions. I mean, we don’t have to be friends for me to be patient and kind with you, in other words, to treat you in a loving way. And while φίλος may affect certain relationships when it happens, ἀγάπη has got to shape our behavior, because let’s get real, you can’t act like an arrogant, self-centered jerk, if you’ve decided to love one another as Christ has loved you. Nobody has ever nor will ever fall into ἀγάπη, because this kind of love isn’t accidental. Man, it’s as intentional as it can be. And it’s this kind of love that we’re commanded to show, and I’ve got to tell you, that’s a good thing, at least for me, because there’s no way I’m going to be able to like everybody. Maybe I can fake it, but I wouldn’t be able to actually do it. But I sure can be loving to all people, even my enemies, you know, like Jesus told me to do. And I’ll tell you something else, I believe it’s this kind of love that leads to genuine spiritual growth and I’ll tell you how.

First, I believe our decision to love one another forces us to look away from the values of the world. And isn’t that exactly what John was getting at when he wrote, “Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another.” Man, the world wants us to look after ourselves, right? The world tells us that we’re number one and that we should be first and that, if everything works out, we should be the ones served; am I right? That’s what the world says we should want, and what we should seek. So it shouldn’t be surprise that the world is confused when we say things like, in God’s Kingdom the first will be last and the one who leads must be the servant of all. For the world that’s stupid, maybe a little dangerous. And that’s probably why the world gets frustrated when we decide to turn from ourselves, from what’s best for us so that we can address the needs of others and from what we believe so that can listen to those who are often ignored. For the world that’s a waste of time, to say nothing of kind of subversive. And I’ll tell you, our willingness to show love not just to ourselves and those like us but to all people, when that’s what people do, in other words, when we actually listen to Paul and stop conforming ourselves to the world, that world is going to hate us, because now we’re a threat to its fundamental values. In fact, it’s going to hate us just like it hated Jesus. You see, when we decide to love, we’re undermining all those assumptions that make it possible for us to ignore people who are on the outside and we’re undermining all those preconceptions that permit us to condemn and exclude folks who are different from us, and we’re undermining all those prejudices that allow us to hate men, women and children whom we don’t even know. Brothers and sisters, the world going to hate us, because the decision to love forces us to look away from it’s values, something that really has to happen if we what to grow spiritually. That’s one.

And second, when we decide to love others, it really makes us genuine, bonafide followers of Jesus Christ, because that’s exactly what he did for us. As John wrote, “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.” You see, when we decide to love others, especially those who really don’t deserve our love, we’re walking in the footsteps of the one who died on a cross because he loved all people, including the guys who drove the nails. And by following his example, we move pass any kind of shallow Christianity, you know what I’m talking about, the kind of discipleship that has the all the depth of a balloon, one that may be expressed with a lot of high-sounding, spiritual words on Sunday but one has almost no affect on Monday. I guess you could call it a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. I’ll tell you, these are the folks that don’t let Jesus Christ cramp their style. And even though I believe God loves them and so should we, they’re not exactly the kind of examples we’d want to follow, not if we want to grow. Instead, as we deny ourselves and take up our crosses and follow Christ, in other words, as we become more and more aware that the simple answer to the question, “What would Jesus do?”, is always “He would show love,” I believe both our understanding of him will expand and our relationship with him will deepen. And isn’t that what spiritual growth is all about? You see, I think that’s the second thing that’ll happen.

And third, as we decide over and over again to treat everyone in a loving way, frankly, I can’t see how our lives won’t change. As John wrote, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” You see, as we turn from the world’s values and turn toward the  world’s creator, I think we’re going to understand the difference between φίλος and ἀγάπη and to recognize that, even though both are important, we’ve been called to live love, not just to feel it. And we’re going understand just how shallow loving words can be and to recognize that what we say doesn’t mean a hill of beans unless we do something about it. It’s like James wrote, “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?” We’ve got to act. And finally, I think we’re going to understand that God has given us the tools, and I’m talking about the talents and the time and the money to take this action and to recognize the places where we, as individuals but more importantly as the church, can act. And as our lives become more loving, spiritually we’re going to grow.

And I’ll tell you, that’s going to happen as we decide to love one another. But remember, with this loving business, neither John nor Jesus was telling us that we have like everybody. And that’s a good thing, because that’s something that I don’t think any of us can do. But we can be loving, we can be kind and patient, we can be open and understanding to everyone. That we can do. And if we do, I believe we’ll be looking away from the values of the world and moving closer to Jesus Christ and changing how we live in relationship to him and others, all of which, I believe, will enable us to grow spiritually into the men and women we were created to be.

A Thought from the Word

A brief thought based on Isaiah 26:3 - The Lord gives perfect peace to those whose faith is firm.

Everything you always wanted to know about livestreaming your service but were afraid to ask!

The Training and Development Committee is sponsoring an educational event on Saturday September 19^th from 10 - noon at Stone Presbyterian Church in Elm Grove WV.  The name of the event is: “Everything you always wanted to know about livestreaming your service but were afraid to ask!”

The premise of this event is simple: Having a church presence on a social media platform is essential for the future life of the church.

If you want to livestream your service but don’t know how to get started, this event is for you.  If you are currently livestreaming your service and want to know what others are doing, this event is for you.  If you are livestreaming your service and everything is going perfectly, you are lying and this event is for you.

Presenters will be George Crawford, Jason Elliot and Robert Nagy.  It would help if we had an idea of how many people will be attending so please call the Presbytery office or Stone Church (304) 242-4610. We hope to see you on the 19^th!

#Pray4ppl God is waiting for your requests

Life Support Prayer Calendar

Call to Prayer: Jesus Doesn't Triage

Dear Prayer Team Member, Thank you for your prayers this week! Please continue to bring the work of PPL to God as Deborah begins to plan for the annual board meeting and we prepare the final prayer calendar for this year. (Look for a new call to prayer and prayer calendar coming your way the first week of September). In this week's scripture, Jesus speaks boldly and plainly to those who reject his word, calling them children of the "father of lies." He names their father the devil a "murderer from the beginning." There really is a cosmic battle for human life and that is why prayer is essential if we are to accomplish our mission to equip champions of human life.

John 9:1-7 (NIV) As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means "Sent"). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

August 23-29, 2020 1. Give thanks to God for his works of healing. Praise him for the knowledge that guides medical personnel and for tools such as hearing aids, eyeglasses, walkers, and wheelchairs that help the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk. Thank him for medicines that heal a host of diseases. ​ 2. Pray for God to heal those you know who are ill, who have physical limitations. Pray for God to restore the faith of elders and deacons so that they will routinely practice the ministry of prayer for those who are sick and include unborn babies and all those modern medicine cannot help.

May | Jun | Jul | Aug Prayer Calendar

PO Box 5239, Lancaster, PA 17606-5239 412-487-1990 Share Via: Check out PPL's website

Behind the Scenes Look at 2020's Summer Worship!

Behind the Scenes Look at 2020's Summer Worship!: Behind the Scenes: Summer Worship This summer presented one of the most unique and unexp...

The Lectionary Passages for Sunday, August 9, 2020 (13th Sunday after Pentecost)

The Lectionary Passages for Sunday, August 9, 2020 (13th Sunday after Pentecost): Below are NRSV translations of the lessons from the Old Testament  ( Exodus 3:1-15   or   Jeremiah 15:15-21 ),  the Psalms  ( Psalm 105:1-6,...

A Thought from the Word

A brief thought based on Psalm 119:165 - You give peace of mind to all who love your law. Nothing can make them fall.

A New Devotion - Never Assume

Here's a new devotion that I wrote. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

Matthew 27:11-23

Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so." But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?" But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?" For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him." Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" All of them said, "Let him be crucified!" Then he asked, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!"

Never Assume

When I was younger, a coach taught me that I should never assume. And the reason, well, it’s because, when you assume, it does something very unpleasant to both you and me. Of course, as a man of discretion, I won’t say what it will make both of us, but you can figure it out by separating the second “s” from the “u.” Actually, I think it’s pretty clever.

But regardless, I believe it offers some pretty good advice. In other words, it’s probably a bad idea to make a lot of assumptions, especially when they involve other people. You see, when we assume that we know how people will think and what they will do, I believe we’re setting ourselves up for some big disappointments. I mean, since thoughts and actions are shaped by the inner motivations and prejudices, it’s risky for me to assume that, when presented with a certain argument or set of facts, everybody will respond in a predictable. You see, just like Pilate missed the boat when we thought the Jewish crowd would choose Jesus over Barabbas, we might end up both surprised and frustrated when folks are moved by things that are either unknown or unpersuasive to us.

And for that reason, we should never sit back and assume that people will do what we expect them to do. Instead, we should do a little active engagement. I mean, if something is really important to us, I think we should carefully listen to how the other person is seeing the situation and consider his background and thoughts and opinions, before we begin banging our own drums. And once we understand the world around us a little better, we should make an argument that’s meaningful to the ones we want to persuade even if it wouldn’t move us at all. In other words, rather than assuming, we should listen and share, if we want to see the world change.