Faith

PASTOR’S CORNER, David Harris, Fellowship Baptist Church, Liberal

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:30-32, NIV)

As a minister, I don’t recall ever meeting with a Christian who expressed a desire to grieve the Holy Spirit. If most believers were asked whether this was something on their spiritual to-do list, I am highly confident the answer would be a resounding “no.” One may expect that for the original readers of Ephesians, the answer would have been similar. But Christians, indwelled by the Holy Spirit as we are, do have the capacity to upset the third Person of the Trinity, which is precisely why we are warned against it.

PASTOR’S CORNER, Brad Bennett, First United Methodist Church, Liberal

One of my professors of preaching shared the story of his first opportunity to preach. His pastor had already seen God’s gifts in him as a young boy and asked him if he would bring the message in worship. He said ‘yes’ and then met with the pastor to get some direction about how he might prepare for this. He was nervous with excitement as he selected a Scripture verse that was familiar and worked a little bit every day to think about what God would have him say to the congregation.

He felt prepared when the day came for him to preach, although he was so nervous that he could barely walk up the steps to the platform. The choir had finished an anthem and the time came for him to preach.

PASTOR’S CORNER, Brad Bennett, First United Methodist Church, Liberal

Back in the 1970’s the world sang the popular hit-song that Coca-Cola used as a theme. Here’s the chorus:

“I'd like to teach the world to sing/In perfect harmony/I'd like to buy the world a Coke/And keep it company/That's the real thing! What the world wants today is the real thing.”

Brand loyalty is a tool of the marketing world for businesses. There are time when marketers claim that people are no longer loyal to name brands of the past. A few months or years later, the message changes and loyalty is everything. Whatever the message, there is often a lot of data to back-up the claims.

PASTOR’S CORNER, Brad Bennett, First United Methodist Church, Liberal

This was a bone-chilling week in our country to be meditating on the words of Jesus recorded in Luke’s good, good news of  Jesus Christ (Luke 24: 36b-48). By the end of this past week, the whole world could see and hear, if they cared to look or listen or learn, that the parents of a 15-year old son, who shot and was convicted of killing four high school students in 2021, {the parents} were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and received sentences of 10 to 15 years in prison.

Even though the father had purchased and had left the gun unlocked in their house, the parents claimed they did not know their son had the handgun — he called it his “beauty” — in a backpack when he was dropped off at school that morning. Prosecutors convinced jurors that the parents still played a disastrous role in the violence. Many witnesses, including parents of the deceased students, significantly supported the prosecution’s case. Witnesses recounted what each saw or heard or touched or felt and the impact of all these deaths in their lives. The world is full of people who are witnesses.