Words of Welcome

1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Patrick Henry issued the rallying cry of the American Revolution: “Give me liberty, or give me death.” In the early days of the Republic, many citizens embraced the message of liberty by moving into the frontier, which is where our Disciples movement got its start. In true democratic fashion, we rebelled against hierarchy and tossed away the creeds. Disciples took up the cause of religious freedom, not only from government but also from religious authorities. Liberty is great, but as Paul reminded the Corinthians on several occasions, not everything is beneficial.   This morning we again find Paul dealing with the dysfunctions that mark the Corinthian church. He takes up another issue that is dividing the congregation. While it might seem like the issue is food, the real issue is the socioeconomic differences that marked the congregation. These differences were expressed through a debate about whether it was permissible to eat meat that had be...

Galatians 5:1, 13-15 We’ve reached the midpoint of this seven-week sermon series.  My hope is that I can connect our founding visions with our present and future ministry. During my sabbatical I thought a lot about the links between past and present.  Although I believe that we need to keep focused on where God is leading us, I also believe that we can find clues to where God is leading in the past. To put it in biological terms, during my sabbatical I did a bit of research into the DNA of this congregation and my own spiritual heritage. My sense is that our spiritual DNA will help us find our place in the present and in the future.     Although I could have started with the creation story, I think that the best place to start in exploring our spiritual DNA is with the covenant that God made with Abraham and Sarah.  In that covenant God promised that through their descendants, the nations would be blessed.  This founding vision has been meditated t...

Galatians 5:1-6, 13-14 Did you have a great Fourth of July? Did you take in a parade or fireworks or maybe a picnic? However you spent the day, hopefully you thought about the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. While America isn’t perfect, we’ve been blessed with freedoms enjoyed by few others around the world. Although we don’t always live up to our ideals, the freedoms we enjoy have been enshrined in the words of the Declaration of Independence. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. It took a while for our nation to understand that these rights extended beyond white males, to include persons of color and women. It wasn’t that long ago that Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of a day when all Americans would enjoy the freedoms described in our nation’s founding document. We’ve moved closer to fulfilling...

I Corinthians 8:1-13 "Give me liberty or give me death." While this statement may sound extreme, this declaration by Patrick Henry has inspired generations of Americans to believe that death is preferable to living under tyranny. Patrick Henry had political freedom in mind, but is this the only kind of freedom there is in the world? When Paul says "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Cor. 3:17), he’s speaking to people living under Roman rule, and Rome was not a democracy. So freedom must be more than a political state of affairs. In a classic Peanuts comic strip Linus is holding a snowball and looking sheepishly into the sky, as Lucy walks by. She sees the snowball in his hand and says to him: "Life is full of choices! You may choose, if you wish, to throw that snowball at me. . . . You may also choose, if you so wish not to throw that snowball at me . . . Now, if you choose to throw that snowball at me, I wi...

John 8:31-36 Years ago I attended a national Disciples Seminarian’s conference. During one of the sessions, a Disciple seminarian from Harvard told us that there weren’t a lot of Disciples in New England. In fact, most people in that part of the country thought the Disciples must be some kind of exotic cult. It’s true, Jim Jones was a Disciple, but I’ve never thought of the Disciples as either exotic or cultic. Whatever I might think, it’s quite possible that there are a lot of people who don’t know who the Disciples are. That is as true in Michigan as it is in New England. In fact, it’s quite possible that there those here this morning, who aren’t sure what the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) stands for! Now, I’m not a lifelong Disciple. I’ve spent quite of bit of my life in other branches of the Christian community, but I’ve become a committed Disciple! And it’s not because the Disciples let you believe whatever you want. I’m a Disciple because of what thi...