Presby-Musings

This week we are concluding the three-part sermon series, "Bless This Home: Lessons for Families from Jesus ."  We've been guided by some of the very words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount : three short passages found in Matthew chapter 5. Over the past couple of weeks we've been highlighting the difference between having a "Christian" home as opposed to having a " Christ -centered" home.  In todays culture, it's easy to let the word "Christian" trip off of our tongues when we describe ourselves or our family life. But what we've come to understand is that the word "Christian" doesn't always have the most positive connotations for emerging generations of people in our culture.  Far too many people equate being Christian with bigotry, intolerance, judgement and a holier-than-thou attitude. We've been trying to reframe the conversation a bit by highlighting the differences between merely saying that yo...

This week we are beginning a brand new three-part sermon series entitled "Bless this Home: Lessons for Families from Jesus."  And as part of our study, we're going to be focusing on a few key verses from the introduction to Jesus powerful Sermon on the Mount --what some people call "The Beatitudes." This is the first full-blown sermon series that I've preached on the issues that are facing families in our culture in a very long time--perhaps the first time since I've been at First Church.  Which might seem odd at first, but I gave some thought as to the possible reasons. To begin with, it's a broad topic.  Where do we even begin?  How do we figure out what areas to focus on when it comes to family issues--because there are so many things that families in our culture seem to be struggling with right about now. Secondly, family dynamics in our culture are changing more rapidly than in any other time in recent history.  Our understanding of wh...