February 2, 2012
Focus on Faith
Faith United Presbyterian Church
Bill
What Do You Think? Can Christians be "Spiritual but not Religious"? 
 
"I am spiritual but not religious."  As a pastor, I hear these words a lot.  Usually, they are spoken by those who are not connected to a church, or are not connected any more.  They hear I am a pastor and feel the need to "connect" with me.  However, from time to time, I hear it from folks within the fold.
 
When I was younger, I was much more compassionate and understanding of those who felt "cut off" from the church.  My step-father was a divorced Roman Catholic.  His excommunication didn't seem right to me.  I had met others, who were treated cruelly by their pastor or another member of the congregation.  Each one had a story to tell and each story revealed that, too often, the church of Jesus Christ can be all too human, almost indistinguishable from the outside world.
 
Today, I am still compassionate, although, perhaps, a little less understanding.  Having had
my own share of experiences of the "humanity" of the church, I have discovered, in spite of, and because of, all her faults, the institutional church is, yet, the body of Christ in the world.  The truth be told, those who cannot find Christ in Christ's church are probably not looking for Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus Christ is the incarnation, the embodiment, of the love of God.  In Jesus of Nazareth, God chose to take on our humanity in all its messiness so all humanity might know God's love.  According to Christ, the church is his body on earth.  Though Christ has ascended, Christ is, yet, present on earth through the embodiment of his love in the church.  While Christ's presence is certainly not limited to the bricks and mortar, or even the people, of a particular church, those unable to see Christ in a Christian congregation will not recognize him in the world either.  Those seeking a "spiritualized" Jesus will not find him for there is no such person.  Only through the witness of Christ's church may we come to know the One who is the revelation, the incarnation, of God's love for the world, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.

 

In his book, Preaching From Memory To Hope, Tom Long offers some helpful insights to better understand our sisters and brothers who are seeking to be "spiritual but not religious".  Dr. Long suggests we are seeing, if not a resurgence of Gnosticism, at least an increasingly "gnostic impulse" in our faith communities.  Gnosticism, by nature, defies definition.  However, in general, it is a system of belief, considered heresy within Christianity, which finds salvation in special knowledge (gnosis), or illumination.  Reflecting the classic dualism between body and spirit, which Christianity repudiates, Gnostics are suspicious of the incarnation.  As a result, Gnostics seek the "divine spark" within themselves rather than the embodiment of God's love in the world.  Finally, Gnostic spirituality denies the eschatological hope of Christianity choosing instead to embrace "timeless spiritual truths".

 

Why is this Neo-Gnosticism a concern?  It replaces the gospel story with a story that many people will find appealing, not because it brings them closer to God, but because it feeds into some of our deepest sins.  According to Dr. Long,

 

"When all of the strands are bundled together, gnosticism doesn't merely inflect the accent of the Christian faith; it changes its grammar, distorts its memory, and makes it speak in a tongue alien to the gospel.  It transforms the sacraments and practices of the faith from the embodied expression of the life-giving cry "Emmanuel!  God is with us!" into churchy and finally dispensable external forms of an immaterial and truer spiritual reality.  It replaces our commitment to a God who acts in history, who saves us even from ourselves, who gives us hope, and who promises to bring the tragic story of humanity to consummation by making Christ all-in-all, with a timeless, ahistorical gnosis that makes us even more self-absorbed and narcissistic that we already are."

 

People of faith, this is not to say, there is nothing about the institutional church that needs to be changed.  On the contrary, I am grateful for those  reformers, past and present, calling us to be evermore faithful in our witness, as the body of Christ, to the God "who makes all things new".  Nevertheless, those yearning for a deeper relationship with God will not find that relationship in a disembodied spirituality, being "spiritual but not religious".  Such a faith, a saving faith, may only be found in the One who is the embodiment of God's love and the church which bears witness to this good news.

See you in church!
 
Pastor Myers

 
Upcoming Birthdays 

 
February

 

2         Dee Long

5         Korey Fisher

           Betty McBride

7         Denise Turnbull
           Dick Griffiths

6         Emily Yard  

           John Marshall

9         Megan Lyle

11       Helen Redmond

12       Ralph Whiteman

13       Sandra Spainhour

           Buster Kellogg, Jr.

18       Jennifer Hedges

19        Will Myers

           Sharon Simpson

21       Gary Heaton

22       Ryan Cheek

           Bill Smallwood

23       Catrina Pullen

24       Jackie Andrews

           Ted Briscoe

25       Martha Whiteman

26       Carl Shaub

           Kathleen Fannin

           Helen Owens

27       Susan Trevor

28       Joyce Patterson

 

 

 
This Sunday...
 
"The Miracle of Love in Action"                                                                                               

Isaiah 40:21-31                                                                 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Psalm 147:1-11, 20                                                                          Mark 1:29-39

 

Lay Assistant:  TBA 

Beedle/Crucifer: Malik Reading and TBA
Ushers: Robert Blackford, Bill Lee, Dominick & Malik Reading, and
Ed Melvin
Greeters:  TBA         

Children's Church: Stephanie Reading 

Coffee Hour: Rob Hale & Erika Solberg and family   

Nursery: Bonnie Heflin          

 

 

View our  calendar.   

 

 

 
Sunday School - 9:15 a.m.

 

Sunday School for children ages 3-18 will begin meeting again this Sunday, January 8.  Pre-K - 6th grades meet upstairs above the Social Hall.  7th-12th grades meet in the red room of the Youth Wing. 

Faith & Life - This group will meet in the Social Hall.

Immigration to Monmouth

February 5 - El Norte - We will finish the film and continue discussion.

February 12 - Michelle Rayburn, HR manager at Farmland Foods, will speak about how immigration has affected this local business.

 

Sunday Bible Study
Joyce Hagemann's class will not meet in February.
 

 

Jamieson Center
Help us stock the food pantry at Jamieson!  You may bring anything non-perishable and place it under the sign outside the office.  To make it easier, you could go with a schedule such as this:

February 5 - Brownie and cake mixes and frosting
February 12 - pancake mix and syrup
February 19 - canned vegetables and canned meat
February 26 - noodles, sauce, and soups

 

Let's fill the boxes each week!  Thank you!



Souper Bowl of Caring
This Sunday, February 5, our children will be holding out soup pots after worship.  They will be offering you the opportunity to give $1.00 to raise money for Souper Bowl of Caring.  Souper Bowl of Caring is a national effort to combat hunger on Super Bowl Sunday when most of the country is filling their stomachs with notoriously unhealthy food while others go hungry.  Please help our children raise funds to support the hunger helpers in our community, Starting Point and Jamieson Center.  Thank you.

Valentine Luncheon

Isabel Circle will have their Annual Valentine's Luncheon on February 12, following worship.  Menu will include your choice of vegetable or broccoli soup, egg or ham salad sandwich, and Jell-o poke cake.  PB&J are available for children.  Special music will be provided by various members of Faith United.  All are welcome!

 


An Invitation to Read the Bible
Sunday - Joshua 6:16-9:12, Monday - Joshua 9:13-11:23, Tuesday - Joshua 12:1-15:18, Wednesday - Joshua 15:19-18:12, Thursday - Joshua 18:13-20:9, Friday - Joshua 21:1-23:15, Saturday - Joshua 23:16 - Judges 2:22, Sunday (2/12/12) - Joshua 2:23-5:30.      



2012 Ecumenical Lenten Lay Breakfast

The 37th Annual Lenten Lay Breakfast series will begin on Friday, February 24, and continue each Friday morning through Good Friday, April 6.  Strom Center will, again, be the host for the series.  Breakfast begins at 6:30 a.m. with the program from 7:15-7:45 a.m. The list of participating churches is as follows:

 

February 24    First Lutheran

March 2            Faith United Presbyterian

March 9            Fairview Center Methodist/Coldbrook Christian

March 16          Immaculate Conception

March 23          First United Methodist

March 30          Heritage Presbyterian

April 6               Immanuel Baptist/River of Life

 

The breakfast series is sponsored by the Warren County Ministerial Association.

 

Homemade Soup Meal

Little Cedar Presbyterian Church in Little York will have a soup meal on Sunday, February 26, from 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.  You will have your choice of soup, salad bar, dessert, and drink. Donation will be taken at the door.  There will also be a silent auction.

 

You Are Invited!

Jon and Sharon Graham of Biggsville, Illinois will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with an open house hosted by their daughter and family at Faith United Presbyterian Church from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 3.  All friends and family are invited.  The couple has requested no gifts, please.

Jon Graham and Sharon Galley were married on March 4, 1962 at University Avenue Methodist Church in Peoria, Illinois.

They are the parents of one daughter, Lorella (Bill) McLaughlin and two granddaughters of Edwardsville, Illinois.   

 


Icebreakers

Mark your calendar! Save the date!

The Icebreakers present

for all members and friends of Faith United Presbyterian Church

The Icebreakers Revue

March 18, 2012, 6:00 p.m.

Dessert followed by songs, silliness, skits (some with a message, some not exactly), riddles, and miscellany for your entertainment by Icebreakers members, Junior Highs, Senior Highs, known  

and unknown talents.

To participate as a cast member, notify Gary or Mary Distin or Gene or Donna Larson.   We will be in (minimal) rehearsal soon.

To participate as an audience member, watch for sign ups to come.

 


2012 Presbytery Night at the Ballpark

The date has been set! Mark your calendars now and join us for the last Presbytery Night at the Ballpark on Friday, June 22, 2012 at 7:00pm.  Ticket price is $8.00.  There will be a limited number of tickets this time, it will be first come first served.  If interested, contact Heather at 734-5129.

 

Congratulations:
Lauren Hendel and Brian Eggen are the proud parents of twin boys born on December 21. Boys names are Quintin & Tristin. Tralynn Mitchell is big sister. Grandparents are Jim & Kris Brown and great grandparents are Pat & Merle Brown.

 

Julie Brown Adcock and husband, Nick, are the proud parents of twins born August 25. The twins names are Kelsey & Kenny. Grandparents are Jim & Kris Brown and great grandparents are Pat & Merle Brown. 
 

 

Please Keep the Following in Your Prayers:
Darlene Peters (Sharon Graham's aunt), Janet Paris, Greg Gilliland, and Al Kulczewski.