2021 September

To Know God

To Know God

We begin a new series this week, titled, "Choose." This introductory sermon is based on Deuteronomy 30:11-20. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: A sermon series on the meaning of life? That sounds awfully philosophical. Who wants weeks and weeks of Sartre saying, “Existence precedes essence”? It also seems extremely impractical because if Woody Allen is right, then “The meaning of life is that nobody knows the meaning of life.” And wouldn’t any answer that we give, be rather simplistic? What was it that Paul Scofield said: “Sixty-four thousand dollars for a question? I hope they are asking you the meaning of life!” And on top of all that, it sounds depressing. Kurt Vonnegut was right: “Plato says that the unexamined life is not worth living. But what if the examined life turns out to be a clunker, as well?” In

Jesus and Wisdom

Jesus and Wisdom

Some people play music to set the mood. Some look at their mood rings for inspiration. Others adjust the lighting. I hear mod fabrics is even a thing. Some people use candles to set the perfect atmosphere. Me? I tell stories (all three of these stories I found in a Leland Gregory book). 2,300 years ago, the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, looked up into the far reaches of the northern sky. There he saw the constellation Ursa Major. Ursa Major, of course, is, as anyone looking at the constellation can easily see, “the big bear,” even though it may appear at first, second and third, and maybe even fourth glance, in the form of a big dipper. In any case, Aristotle named the land mass under it, “the bear.” He then looked in the opposite direction; and since it was indeed the opposite, he named the land mass to the south,

An Extraordinary Invitation to Those Who Need It Most

An Extraordinary Invitation to Those Who Need It Most

We welcome our guest speaker and River's Edge member, Rev. Dave Shive, to lead our worship. This is part two of a two-week series titled, "The Welcoming Heart of God" and is based on Matthew 11:28-12:14. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A

Jesus and the Sheep

Jesus and the Sheep

The innocent always suffer. It was 1943; and Great Britain was in the midst of a terrible war, a war they feared they could lose. But war had not yet reached a tiny remote, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland, until it did in a big way. On this day, a group of soldiers brought 80 sheep to the island. But they weren’t actually soldiers, they were scientists. And they had come to this island on a secret, deadly mission. They wanted to see if their anthrax bombs were as lethal as they believed. If they were, the next step was to drop anthrax on German cities. The scientists were wearing cloth overalls, rubber gloves, and gas masks; but that hardly seemed like enough protection. They launched the anthrax by mortar and watched the effects. At first, the sheep showed no signs of infection; but when they did,

The Welcoming Heart of God

The Welcoming Heart of God

We welcome our guest speaker and River's Edge member, Rev. Dave Shive, to lead our worship. This is a two-week series titled, "The Welcoming Heart of God" and is based on Matthew 11:28-30. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A

Jesus and Justice

Jesus and Justice

Okay, I lied. I gave Columbus the benefit of the doubt in my last post saying it was more likely that Columbus was simply bad at math and not a swindler. Having now read more of the Columbus story, I need to retract that statement. Plain and simple, it is far more likely that Columbus was a crook. If that is too strong, then let me just say, he was a horrible human being. Consider the evidence. He was a terrible sea captain (half of his voyages ended in dismal failure). He was notoriously cruel (natives who did not bring in a sufficient amount of gold would have their hands cut off). He trafficked in slaves. He and his crew spread disease which almost eradicated the entire Taino population (how do you spell “genocide”?). As governor, he was both utterly corrupt and tyrannical (as a result of his thieving and

The Fire Is on Fire

The Fire Is on Fire

This sermon concludes our series and is based on Jeremiah 26:1-15. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Why a series on Jeremiah? Why not a series on Isaiah? Or Obadiah? Or Zephaniah or Zechariah or any of the “iah’s”? They are all good! And that doesn’t even include the non-prophets, people like Josiah, Jeconiah, Nehemiah, Uriah and last, but not least, Zedekiah. All great “iah” names. But although they have “iah” in common, Jeremiah stands head and shoulders above them all because (work with me here) there was a fire in Jeremiah! Join us for a summer series that will make you say, “iah”! Or maybe, “Hey, look it’s a… Jeremiah!” Or even “YIAH, Jeremiah!” Whatever your response, from Ohio to the Bayou (“Jambalaya, me-ah-my-a, Jeremiah?”), you’re going to find this series something that will inspire because there’s a Fire in

Dreaming During the Day

Dreaming During the Day

Honestly, the only thing I admire about Christopher Columbus is that he was bad at math. Of all the deficiencies in one’s education, being bad at math is the only one that doesn’t count. For example, Paul Harvey may not have been a great mathematician, but he still was extremely wise. It was Harvey who gave us this truism and tell me you don’t agree with it: "If there is a 50-50 chance that something can go wrong, then 9 times out of 10, it will." Amen and amen. Back to my point: in the 1400’s, navigation depended upon a lot of guesswork. This was primarily because no one knew the circumference of the earth or how to measure latitude. But there were theories. The first theory came from the Greeks. It utilized the Roman mile (roughly 1.47 kilometers). The second theory came from Arabic scholars. Unsurprisingly, it also utilized