Blog of FPC Lebanon

Bible Reference(s): Joshua 24:1-4 / Matthew 25:1-13 Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn Every day on my iPad I receive notifications of headlines from a variety news sources with diverse perspectives.  As each one pops up, with just a swipe of my finger across the screen, I can choose to read the article or delete it.  It's one of my favorite features.   So...a couple of weeks ago I received an odd type of notification from CNN but I didn't pay much attention to it.  Yesterday, it showed up again The little pop-up  read: "A new Star Wars trilogy. A "zombie" star that won't die. And a TV star returns.  Here is your politics-free news from the week." I'm not sure which is more sad...that CNN has to specifically sort out politics-free news for me...or that only thing they could come up with was Star Wars and Zombies. The truth is that we live in an unprecedented age of instant unfettered access to news feeds from all over the world.  At the same time, we also...

Bible Reference(s): Revelation 7:9-17 / Matthew 5:1-12 Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn This reading from Revelation reminds me of a story about when we took our youngest child, Mark, to Purdue.  By the way, I don't usually share my family's personal stories from the pulpit. It's a promise I made to the Rob and the kids years ago...no sharing without permission...but Mark said this was OK to share.  Now, I know it will sound like I'm bragging, but Mark has always been a very good kid.  He is smart... and kind...and considerate...trust-worthy, reliable, loyal...an all-around great guy. However, Mark is also very, very, independent...almost to a fault.  In fact, I think his first sentence was "Mark do it."  From a very early age he was one of those kids who wanted to figure things out for himself.  By the time he was in first grade he was literally getting himself ready for school. He rarely wanted help...and usually, he did not need it.  As a result, there ha...

Bible Reference(s): Isaiah 43:1-13 Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn Occasionally someone will ask me if I could only own just one book of the Bible, which would I choose?   Sometimes I tell them the Acts of the Apostles, because I believe it provides the framework of what it means to be a Christian faith community.  However, most of the time, I choose Isaiah...which some call the fifth gospel since Isaiah directly and frequently heralds the good news of the Messiah.   To me, Isaiah is the pivotal and overarching book that helps us understand the whole faith story in which we find ourselves.  It connects the history of the past...the stories, the prophecies, the lessons...to the story of Christ...and reveals the fully established Kingdom to come.  It pieces it all together.  So, for me, if you dig deep into Isaiah, by default, you are forced to dig deeper into the rest of the scripture.  And most assuredly, given the number of times Isaiah is qu...

Bible Reference(s): 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn Earlier this week, on the advice of some of my more techie friends, I finally decided to bite the bullet and update the operating system on my iPhone.   Now, I know this might not sound "newsworthy" for some of you, but I found it really stressful to click the "Confirm Update" button.   Not because I don't trust my friends' advice, but because of the bazillion page disclosure that I was supposed to read before doing the update.  You see, clicking "confirm" was an indication that I had read and agreed with the conditions described in the document...and I knew that I had not...not in any depth nor detail. There were just too many words...with a whole bunch of legal and technical stuff that I didn't understand...so I skipped it.  And I've been thinking about it ever since...partly because it bugs me that I don't know what I agreed to...but mostly because I realize we do that...

Bible Reference(s): Hebrews 4:14-16 and 5:1-10 Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn You all know who Larry Bird is, right?   A pretty well-known basketball player who grew up in Indiana, played college and professional ball...used to be involved with the management of the Pacers?   That Larry Bird.   Well, I also know who he is...now...but back in the early 80's, not so much so.  I mean, I knew the name, of course, but I am not sure I could have picked him out of a lineup.  As a matter of fact, I sort of met him once, but only because someone pointed him out to me. It was back when Rob and I were still in college.  We had come to Indianapolis to attend an event downtown at Union Station when it was still a happening place.  Honestly, I don't recall why we were there, but I do remember that another girlfriend and I were standing around waiting for our dates to finish paying for dinner when a man neither of us knew came up and asked us if we wanted ...

Bible Reference(s): Romans 3:21-31 / James 2:14-26 Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn On this second Sunday in our sermon series on the core tenets of the Reformation, we are taking a look at what was meant by Luther's statement, "sola fide"  - by faith alone.    Now, as I mentioned last week, none of these five solas which are printed on the front of your bulletin fully captures the message of the Reformation...it takes all of them - intertwined together to do that.  So, today, as we look at faith, it is, by definition, related to grace, in that we are saved by grace through faith- not of our own doing. For Martin Luther and his reformation colleagues, this message had been lost within the church.  Salvation and righteousness through faith had given over to a works-oriented doctrine known as the practice of indulgences - which was basically the use of money or good deeds in order to purchase a higher status with God.   More specifically, in the middle ag...

Bible Reference(s): Ephesians 2:1-10 Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn It is probably safe to say that the significance of October 31, 2017 is not on the thought-radar for most of us. Unless...you are a die-hard church history fan...in which case you know that October 31st is more than just Halloween-on-a-Sunday this year.  It is also marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Of course, the Reformation was not a single, one-and-done incident.  Nonetheless, October 31st has been deemed the official anniversary date, mostly because it was on that date in 1517 that Martin Luther took a list of theological concerns, called the 95 Theses, and nailed them to the door of Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany.  It came to be seen as the start of a "protest" that would eventually divide the Catholic Church and the Protestant (protestor) Church.  Most historians agree that it was never Martin Luther's intention to create a schism in the church. He was just increasingly frustrate...