Sermons - Engineering My Faith

October 20, 2019October 20, 2019

God’s Justice

Preached on October 20, 2019, at First Presbyterian Church of Cuba. Based on Jeremiah 31:27-34 and Luke 18:1-8.

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July 7, 2019July 7, 2019

Preached on July 7, 2019. This is one entry in a sermon series (where the rest were preached by Rev. Lou Ellen Hartley) on stewardship. This sermon was based on Deuteronomy 5:6-21 and Luke 13:10-17. Old Testament reading by Rev. Robert Rogers.

Sermon 20190707 Download

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April 7, 2019April 7, 2019

The Voice of Hypocrisy

Preached on April 7, 2019. This is one entry in a Lenten sermon series (where the rest were preached by Rev. Lou Ellen Hartley) titled, “Whose Voice Do You Hear?” This sermon was based on John 12:1-8 and Psalm 126.

Sermon 20190407 Download

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January 24, 2019January 23, 2019

Divisions in the Church

This is a devotion on 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, prepared for the Campus Ministries Association meeting on 24 January 2019.

At the beginning, there was just a group of Jesus-followers, (almost) all of whom were Jews. Later, Paul and others spread the Gospel to Gentiles throughout the Mediterranean, and also to Europe, Asia, and Africa. The first big conflict was between Jews and Greeks, which Paul wrote about so eloquently in Galatians. In this passage, we hear that within the predominantly Gentile church in Corinth, there were disagreements over interpretations of the Gospel, possibly exacerbated by socioeconomic divisions.

That was far from the end of it. For two thousand years, we have been re-interpreting the Bible and re-encountering Christ through the Holy Spirit, and because we all have imperfect understanding, we’ve splintered. Some of the schisms over the years have been fundamental theological disputes; others were about money and power; others were cultural.

Paul reminds us here that we are all one in Christ. Among this group [CMA], we would probably have a hard time coming up with a statement of faith that we could all agree on. We come from different faith traditions, with different styles of worship and different understandings of how God works in the world. And yet, we all serve the same Lord, Jesus Christ. We are all bound by the same Great Commandment:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind…. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:37,39

We have all been given the same Great Commission:

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.
Matthew 28:19-20a

While we may never agree on some things, so long as we are guiding people to become disciples and pointing them towards the Truth that is in Christ, while loving God and loving our neighbors, we can work together to build God’s kingdom.