Worship at First Presbyterian Church of Marion, Illinois

Worship at First Presbyterian Church of Marion, Illinois

By First Presbyterian Church of Marion, IllinoisReligion & SpiritualityChristianitySpirituality
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Worship at First Presbyterian Church of Marion, Illinois episodes

  • May 27, 2018 – Trinity Sunday

    How is it that we understand the Trinity? Our theology speaks in one way, and our sung theology speaks in another. As we sing, we proclaim what it is that we believe.

    26 min
  • May 13, 2018 – The Seventh Sunday of Easter – Not Piled Up, But Poured Out
    Philippians 2:1-13 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who became obedient to death. 
    Luke 6:43-45

    We are taught to accumulate. We are taught that in order to be secure, we must accumulate. We are taught that our greatest fear is to not have enough, or to run out. Churches with more members are better churches, and more successful. Businesses with more sales are better businesses. More is almost always better.

    And then there’s Jesus. Poured out not piled up. Equal to God, yet as a slave. Human form. Humbled to the point of death, even death on a cross.

    Therefore, let us be of the mind that is in Christ Jesus, and let each of us look to the interests of the other, not to our own interests. Is this how we work? Or do we need to change how we are?

    10 min
  • April 29, 2018 – The Fifth Sunday of Easter – Hidden in Plain Sight

    Acts 17:16-31 Sermon at Athens: What you worship as unknown, I proclaim to you.

    John 1:16-18
    The people in Athens like to CYA. They just want to be safe, and they just want to be sure. That plays out in that they have a lot of temples. They have temples to this god and to that god, the god who’s in charge of big
    stuff and the god who’s in charge of little stuff. They even have an unnamed god, just in case.
    This is where we find Paul. He’s preaching to them about their unnamed god who is, Paul says, Jesus Christ. They knew him even when they didn’t have a name for him. That’s Paul’s assertion. 
    And it’s my question. Before we knew Jesus, what did we call what he is to us, does for us, and how he is in relationship with us? What did we think it was before we came to believe it was God?

    15 min
  • April 22, 2018 – The Fourth Sunday of Easter – Earthshaking

    Acts 16:16-34 Paul and Silas in prison at Philippi, jailor and his family are baptized

    Luke 6:18-19, 22-23
    Faith has consequences. Paul and Silas are traveling and they are recognized. They are recognized and that recognition changes things. When Paul casts out the spirit, and sets free the prophetic slave, Paul and
    Silas get into trouble. They get thrown into jail for charges that sound an awful lot like the charges against Jesus.
    And then the ground shakes. The doors open, the chains fall off the prisoners. The guard, the jailer, sees what has happened, and prepares to kill himself before he can be killed. But no one has gone anywhere. Paul
    and Silas, and the rest of the prisoners are still there. They could have escaped, but they don’t. Again, Christ like.
    Is our faith this earthshaking? Whose faith shook the earth for us? Are we willing to be that Christ like that we would stay prisoners to the world for the sake of those who are prisoners to sin?

    25 min
  • April 15, 2018 – The Third Sunday of Easter – The Conversion of Ananias

    Acts 9:1-19 Paul and Ananias, each called into Christ’s service (locally and globally).

    Matthew 6:24
    This is a huge passage in the history of the church. The conversion of Saul/Paul is a big deal. Much of the New Testament is a direct result of this passage. And, yes, it is a big deal. Paul swapping from being a persecutor of the followers of the Way to an evangelist of the Way is a really big swap.
    There’s another conversion in the passage though, and we often overlook it. What happens with Ananias? He’s afraid (see last week). He’s concerned. He’s faithful. And there’s a tough call for him here. He has to
    decide whether to go to his enemy, his persecutor, and heal him. That’s a huge ask, and an even huger answer. Ananias’s world gets turned upside down but what God asks him to do in the resurrection.
    I think this conversion saves the church. I think the faithful being able to forgive, heal, and incorporate the ‘enemy’ into the church is the most significant conversion story we hear. What conversion have we, the faithful,
    needed to undergo for the glory of God?

    17 min
  • April 8, 2018 – The Second Sunday of Easter – Locked Room Mystery

    John 20:19-31 Jesus gives Spirit, appears to Thomas.

    Psalm 145:13-21
    Easter changes things. It changes all the things, really. And we think that it happened so quickly. But it didn’t. On that Easter day, the disciples were hiding out. They barricaded the door. They were afraid. They had heard the word from Mary that she had seen the Lord.
    But they were still afraid. They had heard the good news of Easter, and they were still afraid. Most of the disciples witnessed when Jesus broken into their world again, not for the first time, but again. Thomas missed it. So the disciples told him, like Mary told them, and like their response to Mary, he did not believe.
    What’s holding us back from believing that Easter has happened, and that Jesus is risen? Who has to tell us? Who has told us?

    13 min
  • April 1, 2018 – The First Sunday of Easter – Back to the Tomb

    John 20:1-18 Empty tomb, Jesus calls Mary by name.

    Psalm 118:21-29
    We began Lent at the tomb of Lazarus. A dead man, someone weeping outside the tomb, and the stone then rolled away. We’re back outside a tomb, with a stone rolled away, someone weeping outside the tomb, and new life again.
    It is a story we’ve told before. It is a story we’ll tell again. What part of the story is worth hearing again? What part did we forget between now and then? Which part do you need to hear today?

    15 min

About Worship at First Presbyterian Church of Marion, Illinois

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As Christ's body we gather to worship throughout the year. These recordings include our Sunday worship, and worship on holy days. Our worship typically follows the PC(USA) Book of Common worship, and…