By Rev. William Willimon, Pulpit Resource, First Quarter, 2009, page. 12 I have met a number of parents who have gotten the notion that, while parents should train their children in academic and vocational skills, they should not “impose” ethical or religious values upon their children. “We simply tell our children what we […]
2814) “Imposing” Church on Children? Read More »
(…continued) Now, to return to the question I asked earlier: ‘What are we doing here today?’ The rite of confirmation, as we know it, is not mentioned by Jesus, it is not commanded anywhere in the Bible, and it was intentionally ignored and discarded by Martin Luther. As I said, it was later
2804) Monkey Business (b) Read More »
From a confirmation sermon I gave several years ago. What did Martin Luther (1483-1546) have to say about confirmation? Confirmation is what we are here for today and our congregation traces its roots to Martin Luther. So what did Luther have to say about the Rite of Confirmation? Well, for the
2803) Monkey Business (a) Read More »
(…continued) Acts 2 tells the story of the day the church was born. From that day onward, the church as a movement and as a fellowship of believers has spread out around the world and down through the centuries. It is an amazing story. But what kind of story is this story
2771) A Forest Growing (b) Read More »
Captain Marco was an officer in the secret police of the former Soviet Union several decades ago. He was a cold-blooded, cruel man. Part of his job was to arrest and imprison Christians who were members of unregistered churches and did not follow the government rules for church membership. For propaganda purposes, the
2770) A Forest Growing (a) Read More »
(…continued; by Dorothy Fortenberry) I do not find religion to be comforting in the way that I think nonreligious people mean it. I do not believe that everything in my life will necessarily be all right and I do not believe that everything happens for a reason. I believe that whatever kind of
2767) Why This Hollywood Screenwriter Goes to Church (b) Read More »
Mark Galli, editor in chief of Christianity Today, gave this recommendation for the following essay: “I can wax eloquent on why commitment to a local church, especially weekly worship, is vital for life. But such an essay sounds more convincing coming from someone who, rightly or wrongly, we don’t expect to see in church—like this Hollywood
2766) Why This Hollywood Screenwriter Goes to Church (a) Read More »
Clarence Jordan (1912-1969) was a Baptist minister and the founder of the integrated Koinonia Farms in Georgia. At a time in the 1950s, when racism and discrimination were especially rampant in the South, he went into the hills of South Carolina to conduct some revival meetings in a Baptist church. When he came
2672) One in Christ, No Matter What Color Read More »
There was never any Golden Age for the church. From the beginning there have been problems galore. You’ll get that in any organization that is made up of sinful human beings. Groucho Marx once said, “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.” Well, that’s the church. We’ll
2631) Life Together in the Church Read More »
Some people say they do not go to church because it is too difficult to break into all the ‘cliques’ in most congregations. I looked up clique in the dictionary and the first definition given was “a group of friends.” Well, what is wrong with that? That is what we want the church to
2598) Welcoming the Stranger Read More »
