Category: Sermons

Delivered by Ruling Elder James Parks,

July 5, 2015, Hunting Ridge Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD.

 Matthew 6:5-9, Acts 17:23-28

Every child who attends Sunday School or Vacation Bible School knows the Lord’s Prayer. Any Christian who prays at all says it almost every day. It is the one common denominator of all the Christian churches. Every one of them, without exception, uses the Lord’s Prayer; it is probably the only thing all denominations agree on. But as much as we repeat it, I’ll bet we don’t completely understand how revolutionary it really is.

The great Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said “My religion is summed up in the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer.” Those two words “Our Father” are two of the most powerful and life-changing in the Bible.

In today’s scripture Jesus has just finished telling the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount not to be like the hypocritical Pharisees and Sadducees who took pride in their praying skills and showed off when they prayed, you know, using big words and acting like they are the only people who can get God’s attention. So Jesus says they had already gotten what they want. They had your attention. But Jesus says if you want God’s attention you need to do a few basic things.

First, realize that prayer is not a show it is a private conversation between you and God. Almost every time you read about Jesus praying, it says that “he went off by himself to pray” or he “went to a quiet place.” You see, you can’t have a talk with God with all the distractions of our daily life around us—the TV, the phone, the children, your spouse—it’s just too much. How are you going to hear God’s voice in all that noise? Continue reading “Sermon: “Our Father Who Is In Heaven”” →

As we meander through this Apostles Creed this summer, a question has arisen in my mind.  Why do we bother with this creed in the first place?  Why pull together the core of our faith in such a way that we can all speak it aloud together?  After all, it can get kind of repetitive, can it not?  It puts us in a box.  It doesn’t allow for our individuality…

We bother with the creed because we need the reminders.  The little piece we heard this morning of a long sermon addressed generally to “the Hebrews” begins with words of encouragement:  let’s  hold on to the confession.  (Hebrews 4:14-5:10)  The preacher (unnamed) and the worshippers clearly have agreed on their belief in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who experienced everything we experience,  even up to death.  Together they proclaim who Jesus is.  But if you read further in chapter 5, the preacher accuses the people of being lazy and unwilling to listen.   We can understand the folks in his church. Maybe life has just gotten in the way.  Maybe other issues and events have piled up in the forefront, burying the confession of faith they once made loud and clear.  Maybe they are just occupying space in the pew without really connecting with Jesus any more.   We all need reminders.

We bother with the creed because as we say the words we are putting ourselves smack in the middle of a map that provides guidance and direction for expressing who we really are.  Our very identity, our self understanding is wrapped up in what we believe. Continue reading “Sermon: “He Descended to the Dead”” →