Concord Church, Statesville NC

August 21 2022 at Concord Presbyterian. Scripture Reading is Ruth 2 concordpreschurch.com Music and lyrics used by permission from CCLI License # CSPL086812 One License # A-735433

It can be tempting to have fun at someone else’s expense. Judging people feels really good, and it is a self-fulfilling prophecy, when you expect people to mess up you will only see them mess up. And, when we compare ourselves to those people, it makes us feel good about ourselves. In the end, though, when we judge people no one wins. It only creates animosity and dislike, furthering the divide be...

There are times when people call us to account, asking for a honest justification of our actions. We need to be completely honest to ourselves and to the other person in the conversation, but we are good at deceiving ourselves and hiding the truth. We want to paint ourselves in the best possible light and we can’t always be questioning ourselves, either. Our lives and actions speak to the world. -...

August 14, 2022 at Concord Presbyterian. Scripture Reading is Ruth 1:1-21 concordpreschurch.com Music and lyrics used by permission from CCLI License # CSPL086812 One License # A-735433

Ananias doesn’t want to help Saul for several very good reasons. Saul is killing Ananias and his friends. He’d heard bad things about “people like him”. These reports said Saul did many bad things in Jerusalem. This is the last person who deserved help. God sent Ananias anyway and God chose Saul anyway. Both men are called to account – Ananias to live up to the principles Jesus set for his followe...

Sometimes people change before our eyes and we don’t or can’t see the cause. It can be for good, where they make positive steps for their lives, but often the change is middle of the road., neither good or bad, and the most important element of their change is our response to it. Saul’s friends don’t know why he changed, but they modeled the appropriate response, to help him get up, hold his hands...

Paul is traveling down a road he had traveled many times before. This day was a routine day of commuting to and from work. The murderous threats Paul uttered on the side didn’t change his day to day responsibilities or activities. But our home life and work life, our online selves and our IRL selves are not so easily separated as we like to think. Humans don’t lock of parts of our lives to be immu...

August 7, 2022 at Concord Presbyterian. Scripture Reading is 1 Peter 5:1-14 Guest Speaker Rainey Ratchford concordpreschurch.com Music and lyrics used by permission from CCLI License # CSPL086812 One License # A-735433

July 31, 2022 at Concord Presbyterian. Scripture Reading is 1 Peter 4:1-9 concordpreschurch.com Music and lyrics used by permission from CCLI License # CSPL086812 One License # A-735433

The human’s circumstances have not changed. They were naked before eating of the tree of good and evil and remain so after eating thereof. The only change thus far is their understanding of their circumstances. Their understanding prompts them to use fig leaves, ineffective as they may be, to cover their nakedness. - Why do you believe the serpent wanted to trick the women? - Is there a time, like...

The imagery of woman being created from man’s rib has caused a lot of problems throughout history, as has the label, “helper”. But, in the scripture itself, there isn’t any hierarchy implied. Instead, the story emphasizes how the two of them become one unit. - I wonder how Adam felt when we was the only human being in the garden? - If Adam needed a helper to make it through life, than so do you. H...

It’s a pretty simple concept – God made human beings in the image of God and asked them to make more human beings to spread around the image of God. And yet, we make it more and more complicated. Does that make God looks physically like a human person? If so, which one? Or is it a metaphor saying in personality we are like God? What about all this dominion of the creation language? One thing is tr...

This is a slightly different version of the creation story than may be familiar to us. There are no days or separations of activities. It simply tell us God created the world, first springs, then plants, then humanity. Here, humanity isn’t given “dominion” but asked to tend the earth. The relationship here seems more nurturing and caring, both between God and people, and between people and earth....

July 24, 2022 at Concord Presbyterian. Scripture Reading is 1 Peter 3:13-22 concordpreschurch.com Music and lyrics used by permission from CCLI License # CSPL086812 One License # A-735433

It’s unusual for the Bible to tell us right out what the symbols are supposed to mean – Jesus only does it one time with his parables – but John goes to lengths here to explain why the lamb is put together with all these extra bits. Except, in this case, the explanation doesn’t seem to help us understand it any better! The prayer helps us more. The Spirit goes out to the end of the world, helping...

July 10, 2022 at Concord Presbyterian. Scripture Reading is 1 Peter 1:3-23 concordpreschurch.com Music and lyrics used by permission from CCLI License # CSPL086812 One License # A-735433

Rueben, Joseph's brother, compounded his troubles by trying to cover up his complicity in the selling of his brother and lying to his father. Today's (almost) daily devotion looks at the ways we try to avoid the truth and how it hurts us in the end. music used with permission from bensounds.com

Rueben, Joseph's brother, did just enough to feel like he did *something* but not enough to actually change the situation. Today's (almost) daily devotion talks about the ways we avoid the hard change. Songs used with Permission from bensounds.com

Joseph was kind of an arrogant jerk. But his brother's jealousy and anger wasn't the right response. In today's (almost) daily devotion, we hear the stories of brothers who couldn't get along. Songs used with permission from bensounds.com

June 26, 2022 at Concord Presbyterian. Exodus 20: 12-16 concordpreschurch.com Music and lyrics used by permission from CCLI License # CSPL086812 One License # A-735433

(Almost) daily devotion on Genesis 12:10-20. Abram and Sarai are facing a famine and choose to flee their homes. They make some terrible decisions because they are afraid and angry, forgetting God has already lead them through the wilderness and will do it again. Where does our fear lead us?

(Almost) daily devotion on Genesis 12:4-9. Abram and Sarai left everything behind. This meant more than just not having all their stuff with them or the snacks they like, but an entire change in their lifestyle. Change is hard!

(Almost) daily devotion on Genesis 12:1-3. Calls don’t come with red carpets and parades. How do we view the desert differently if we see it as a necessary part of our call to God’s life?

June 19, 2022 at Concord Presbyterian. Exodus 20:3-11 concordpreschurch.com Music and lyrics used by permission from CCLI License # CSPL086812 One License # A-735433

June 12, 2022 at Concord Presbyterian. Exodus 19:1-6, 20:1-2 Guest Pastor Rev. Glaser concordpreschurch.com Music and lyrics used by permission from CCLI License # CSPL086812 One License # A-735433