First Presbyterian Church Hickory, NC

We are now deep into the season of Lent and well on our way to Holy Week and Easter. Did you know the English word "Lent" refers to the season of spring? Spring (if it ever comes!) is a season of rebirth and renewal, a season of promise, and so we've been focusing on the promises of God this Lenten season. We've talked about the promise that God is at work for salvation, someti...

This week we will continue our Lenten exploration of Old Testament stories, and the promises of God we find there. Our story for this week is Exodus 17:1-7, where the people are wandering in the wilderness and running out of water, and God through Moses provides water out of a rock. An interesting part of the story is the way the people keep looking back. Whenever they feel threatened, they start...

This Sunday is the first Sunday in Lent.  My daffodils are already trying to bloom and I can’t remember a warmer February, can you?  As spring begins to awaken all around us, we will begin Sunday reflecting over these next 6 weeks with the sermon series, Promises of God.  Looking particularly at stories in the Old Testament, this week we look at the book of Esther.  It might have been a while sinc...

This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday, not a religious holiday exactly but certainly a high holy day in our culture. I'm neither a Chiefs fan nor an Eagles fan, but I enjoy a good Super Bowl: both the (hopefully competitive) gave, and the over-the-top spectacle, the halftime show, the commercials, the food. I'm a glad participant. Eventually the game clock hits zero and the game is over. At t...

Our scripture reading comes from Matthew chapter 5. This is Jesus' sermon on the mount, and it opens with the beatitudes: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven..." and so on. It raises the question of where and how we find God's blessing. The idea of being "blessed" shows up a lot in our culture (it's a popular hashtag on Instagram,...

For last few Sundays we’ve been exploring the notion of calling. Usually, we tend to think about careers when we think about calling, but as we’ve learned, calling isn’t your career: it is more than that. Deeper than that, wider than that. This week we look at Matthew 5:13-20 to explore the calling of a community. We know God calls individuals, scripture is full of those stories.  But Jesus in Mat...

We continue our series on callings. We are all called -- but what does that mean? Last week we talked about how even the smallest of acts can be a part of serving God. This week we will look at Matthew 4, where Jesus calls his first disciples. Some are called to drop everything and follow. Others are called to stay behind, to live the life they've already been given, but to live it differentl...

"Calling" can be such a big word. Sometimes we're tempted to think it's only especially holy people who are called, and the rest of us can just muddle along. But no, we are all called, called to live in grateful response to God's grace, called to share our gifts and talents with the world. Over the next couple of Sundays we will reflect on what it means to be called. We wi...

Here we are at the final Sunday of Advent and we are reading about John and Jesus? It might seem odd or out of place, but I think Matthew 11:2-11 has a good word for us on this 4th Sunday of Advent. I keep saying Advent because I think our passage is all about waiting, expecting, and that is the heart of this season.  

This Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent, the third stop on our journey to Christmas. Last week we talked about the angel Gabriel's visit to Mary, and her courageous yes (and also her defiant no!). This week we will turn our attention to Joseph, Mary's husband-to-be. How did this divine visitation affect him? How did Joseph respond to the disruption and uncertainty of having his life pl...

The good news of Advent is, whatever you're waiting for, something new is coming. When you consider how our world seems to be stuck in old ways of thinking and acting and relating, something new may be exactly what we need. Long ago the world seemed stuck, and God did something new in the birth of Christ. That's what we celebrate on Christmas, and that's what we prepare for during t...

We begin Advent by looking at Matthew’s genealogy, 1:1-17. Will Heather read that whole scripture block? Listen now to find out! 

This Sunday we celebrate Christ the King (sometimes called Reign of Christ) Sunday. It's the pivot point for the church year, where we transition from "ordinary time" to Advent (and the start of a whole new church year). Christ the King Sunday always poses the question: if Christ's reign looks nothing like the rulers of this world, then what does it look like? Where do we find...

This Sunday is a special Sunday at FPC. We will reflect together on a passage from the book of Isaiah, chapter 65, verses 17-25. This text has been called "God's dream for the world."  What do you see there? How does God's dream for the world coincide with your dreams?

Luke 20:27-38, where Luke describes Jesus and the Sadducees asking strange questions and get puzzling answers.

The text for this Sunday is one of the most familiar stories in the Bible: the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector from Luke 19. We may discover not everything there is as we remember (or as we've been told)! I think this story is one of the most important in Luke’s gospel.  Luke 19:1-9

It's so easy to feel disconnected. And when that happens, when we forget our connection to each other, and our connection to the world of nature, that's when we start to lose our way. That's what we'll be talking about here - the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14), where both go up to the temple to pray, but only one ends up being forgiven and reconcil...

Luke 18:1-8 We'll be exploring one of the parables of Jesus, from Luke 18:1-8. We'll look at how Jesus' parables often turn things on their head. Then we'll talk about prayer, and what it means to be passionate and persistent in prayer.

Luke 17:11-19 What in our lives is begging to be let go? What gets in the way of our healing? This week our story in Luke is about 10 lepers who come to Jesus for healing but only one returns to thank and praise him. I’m sure we can answer that in various ways. But as we enter into the season's cooler temps and watch the leaves fall, think about how their letting go is so very beautiful. How...

The fourth in the Odd Practices sermon series. Luke 14: 7-14