Blog of FPC Lebanon

Bible Reference(s): Luke 16:19-31 Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn I'm pretty sure that if I could read some of your minds right now, you are thinking:  "Oh no! Surely she is not going to talk about money today.  I really don't like it when the preacher talks about money. What I do with my money is a personal matter between me and God."  Well, let me just say, I totally get where you are coming from. I was raised to believe that there are three things we should never discuss in a public forum...religion, politics and money.  The problem is...apparently someone forgot to mention that rule to Jesus.  He seems to talk about all three subjects,  all the time, especially in public.   In fact, in his era, religion and politics were pretty much one and the same... and money drove both. So, as much as I would rather not talk about money today...and as much as you would rather I not talk about money ...both Jesus and Paul are forcing me to talk about money. ...

Bible Reference(s): Luke 16:1-13 Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn I am a member of a group of female clergy from all over the world who connect via the internet to share ideas, blogs, concerns and prayers.  Each weekend one of the leaders begins a blog called "Eleventh Hour Preacher Party".  As you might guess from the name, this is a space where preachers who are pulling together sermons at the last minute can connect electronically to inspire each other, bounce ideas, and share the stress of a looming deadline for Sunday morning worship.   Some weeks, I check-in to see what my colleagues are saying about the lectionary texts...other weeks, I won't even take a peek for fear I might start to second guess myself.   Well...this week...given this incredibly perplexing parable in Luke...I definitely clicked on the link when it arrived in my email.   As a result, I have good news for you.  It turns out that we are in good company today.  All around...

Bible Reference(s): Luke 15:1-10 Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn In an article leading up to this fifteenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on our nation, one writer noted that the students entering high school this year were not alive when the event took place.  They are part of the generation that will never know the United States of "before"...before terrorism crossed the oceans in full force, before TSA screenings dictated what you could carry onto an airplane, and before anyone even knew places like Afghanistan existed. However, this is also the generation that has never known a society without access to information on the internet...never known a society without global connections through social media and never known a world in which cell phone video was not immediately available to record, view and share on Youtube. So on the one-hand these children, and their friends who were too young to remember, will only know about the events of 9/11 based on wha...

Bible Reference(s): Luke 14:25-33 Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn Wouldn't it be great if decision-making was as straight-forward and easy as what God lays out before the Israelites in this passage from Deuteronomy?  Choose blessing...or choose curse.  Choose life...or choose death.  Door #1...or Door #2.   Basically God says, Ok, people, I am giving you two choices.  Pick one.  And...the answer seems so obvious, right?   Oh, if life was really that easy.  A or B.  Nothing in-between. Unfortunately, though, not everything we face is fits into this kind of either/or, black or white, thinking.  No, for a multitude of reasons, we encounter a lot of gray in our world.  In fact, I'd venture to say that for most of us, life is a series of stressful, complicated, decisions and choices.  Numerous doors lined up in a row...waiting for us to pick one. Only to find that picking one just leads to another decision.  Every time...