Rev. Zach

“Throw Open the Doors” is a sermon that was delivered in worship at Euharlee Presbyterian on July 27, 2008. Scripture: Luke 10:1-9 Sermon: If your family is at all like mine, I bet you have some family stories. Some of us have close friends that we share funny stories with as well. Most of those stories are best if you were there or if you know the people involved. But some stories are just good no matter what. Like one of the many times my mother, Lord bless her, a single working parent with three children (an eleven year old son, a fourteen year old daughter, and a seventeen year old son) tried to instill manners and maintain decorum at the dinner table. On this particular occasion my brother, heathen that he was, salted his food before tasting it. My mother, who always sat up straight, stiffened her lip, lifted her nose ever so slightly and said in an austere southern voice, “Jeffrey Scott Sasser, only barbarians salt their food before tasting.” The stillness was palpable as ...

A friend sent me this link from Brian Jones , and I think it makes some valid points. Primarily he is arguing that the term "Christian" is only used in the Bible by non-believers who are describing people as Christ Followers. Not a bad term, but he is arguing the point that its not all that scriptural in the first place, and that it says nothing of function. Disciple, however, is used routinely in the New Testament and, he says, has a more active connotation and root meaning. My question is this... Is anyone outside the circles of Christianity (non-believers, un-churched, what have you) going to care? Is there truly a connotation of activity with one word over another? And what activity is conjured in the mind of those not already in the community of faith? Not that we tailor to the needs of those outside the community, but the question (at least for me) is whether we are practicing a theology of inclusivity or exclusivity. I think this speaks to the quagmire of fa...