“The Greatest of These is Love”

Rev. Kevin Murphy
Preparation Scripture: Psalm 71: 1-5 and 1st Corinthians 13: 1-13

Through this sermon, Kevin interprets the word of Paul. The church (including our church) is not a perfect world, but it is a place where we get to know each other … where we work together … where we reinforce each other … where we share our God given gifts … and where we allow God to work through us. In doing so our church will be a place where God's love continues to be made real.
... and they'll know we are Christians by our Love.

To take this interesting journey, you'll want to listen to the live sermon. Just click on the following line.

http://cms.screamingbob.com/PWDA/files/150/Kevin%20Murphy_The%20Greatest%20of%20These%20is%20Love.mp3%3C?/color>

Who Do You Think You Are?

Rev. Kevin Murphy
January 24, 2010

Preparation Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31a & Luke 4: 14-21

Christ's biggest conflict, with those who listened to him, was in confronting them with the question, “who do you think you are?”. The answer might lead to a positioning statement. Are we the oppressed, … are we alleviators of oppression (then we are doing the work of God), … or are we causing oppression? We must continue learning to seek answeres and perform actions that will maintain God's natural balance while benefitting all.

How are we doing? What will you be doing for God?

To listen to this sermon

a cassette is available in the Church Library

FILM CAPSULES ~ January 2010

I received this issue of Film Capsules by Dr. Ed McNulty as an EMail from the Presbytery of Cincinnati and thought it interesting to pass along as information for all who did not have an opportunity to see it. ~ R.Lowry


in this issue
Avatar
The Princess and the Frog
The Road
Up in the Air
It's Complicated
Nine


Avatar
Rated PG-13.  Isaiah 42:18; Psalm 37:14

James Cameron's expensive ten-year gamble to immerse us in the alien beauty of another planet has paid off handsomely, both for himself and for us viewers who love a good story in which are embedded social justice issues.

It is a century in the future, when a large mainlining corporation, no doubt related to one of those currently stripping away the mountaintops in West Virginia, has established a large base on Pandora, a satellite of a planet in a distant star system. Its objective is to acquire a rare and vital metal with the ironic name of unobtanium, but it has come up against two obstacles. Humans cannot breathe the atmosphere, and the ten-foot tall blue-skinned natives, called Na'Vi, have been provoked to hostility-and their most sacred object, a huge tree, sits right over the mother load of unobtanium. This has been created using DNA from humans and Na'Vi bodies called avatars. By developing a process for injecting the minds of humans into them it is hoped humans can communicate better with the Na'Vi. If this does not work, the head of the security force stands ready to remove the Na'Vi by force from the coveted site. Our paraplegic hero Jake loves being able to walk again through his avatar, and when he lives with the Na'Vi develops a deep respect for them, as well as a love for the Pocahontas-like daughter of the chief. Thus like Lt. John Dunbar in Dances With Wolves, Jake turns against his own to fight with the Na'Vi.

The film's 3-D effect joins with the plot to give us a new perspective on the old colonialism that swept aside native populations on our planet, the spirit of which is not dead, judging by the feelings of many Americans concerning the American Way of Life versus the Muslim world.


The Princess and the Frog
Rated G. Philippians 2:3-4

An absolutely delightful music-filled twist on the old fairy tale, this version is set in World War One era New Orleans and surrounding swamps, with the main characters being an African American daughter of a seamstress, a father away at war, and a foreign prince visiting the city.

Our humble heroine shares her father's dream of opening a café. How she meets the prince, cursed by a sorcerer, and in a twist of the plot becomes a frog herself, sharing a series of adventures with a horn-playing alligator and other creatures, is fun to watch.

There is plenty of underlying moral instruction, such as what you want is not always what you need; hard work is required to bring about a dream; and real love results in making great sacrifices-all illustrated in beautiful flat, hand-drawn art that proves that one does not need all of the lavish CGI effects to make a compelling movie that appeals to children and adults.


The Road
Rated R.  Jeremiah 12:4

This dark post-apocalyptic film is less of a Mad Max-like thriller than it is a visual meditation on the fallen nature of humanity and the struggle to retain one's human dignity amidst dehumanizing circumstances.

Known to us only as The Man and the Boy, a father and his young son leave their home in what seems to be the Northeast of the US to seek a warmer climate where they can find food. Cities and the land lie in ruins because of some undescribed catastrophe that has reduced humans to competing bands of savages, many of them resorting to cannibalism to stay alive.

Twice The Man and the Boy barely escape from such a band. The father tells his son they must "carry the fire," and later when the boy asks if they are still "the good guys," the father assures him that they still are (even though he has had to kill to protect the boy).

Discussion of God, a memorable scene in the ruins of a church, and a bittersweet ending leaves us with a ray of hope that, in the words of the 4th Gospel, "The light shines in the darkness...."


Up in the Air
Rated PG-13. Ecclesiastes 4:9-11; Luke 15:17a

Audiences are probably drawn to this film by the appealing George Clooney who plays a cad enjoying his uncommitted life of flying around the country collecting bonus miles while he fires employees on behalf of his clients.

However, if viewers listen closely to the Graham Nash song that plays over the end credits, "Be Yourself," they will leave the theater with a little more insight into how the most popular of one of the parables told in Luke's gospel still resonates in the life of a self-centered man who "comes to himself" in a moment of epiphany.

This moment comes at his niece's wedding when he gives advice that he has not been following himself. A development in the trysts with his girlfriend sharply deviates from the usual arc of such films, so that the concluding sequence lifts this far above most other films of the genre.


It's Complicated
Rated R.

Maybe it is, but the simple fact is that this film is another Hollywood justification for adultery. Oh it is highly enjoyable, thanks to the great talent of Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin, but the makers still skillfully are seducing audiences to accept something once deemed repugnant.

Streep's character falls in love again with her remarried ex-husband when both are far from home attending the graduation of one of their sons. There are some good family moments, notably when Streep's grown children express their hurt resulting years ago from the divorce, but this largely formulaic film-there is the usual circle of female friends who too readily justify our heroine's affair-will be difficult, I hope, for people of faith to accept its major premise that a little adultery is good for the soul when committed by Beautiful People.


Nine
Rated PG-13. Romans 8:5-6.

This version of the hit Broadway musical should be of interest to fans of the great Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini because it is inspired by his own semi-autobiographical film 8 ½.

Both deal with a philandering filmmaker struggling to come up with the concept of a new film. His is a desperate struggle because his last films have all been failures, and his backers have set a meeting at which he convinces them that his concept for his new project will succeed, or else. A series of the women in his life come and go with their songs describing their relationships.

Although the music is not memorable, the film is thanks to a talented cast that even includes Sophia Loren as the troubled director's mother.


Film Capsules is the Rev. Dr. Ed McNulty's synopses of current films plus suggested scripture readings with similar themes. Ed, an honorably retired member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati shares his work at the request of those who attended the Ministers Retreat held in October 2008. Fuller descriptions and discussion questions are available by subscription at http://www.visualparables.net/.

NW Community Church dedicates their New Stain Glass Windows!

On Sunday January 10th immediately following Church Service, the congregation gathered in the Narthex to dedicate the newly installed stain glass windows that had been transferred from the Salem Presbyterian Church. It was a happy occasion for all and especially for those who had been members of Salem Presbyterian. These beautiful windows were presented to Salem Church by Mrs. Christina Kenker and Mrs. Charlotte Eggers in memory of their husbands Frederick Kenker and Herman Eggers nearly 100 years ago in 1916. The windows were rebuilt for installation at Northwest Community Church by Robert Collins. They now add a special meaning to the merging of our two congregations as they continue to bring joy to all.

God's Water

Rev. Kevin Murphy

Preparation Scriptures: Psalm 29 and Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22


This sermon explores the wide range of effects that water has on our lives ... from devastating floods ... to cleansing of our souls through baptism ... to its basic necessity for life itself. We, as Christians, are reminded that Jesus is the living water of our souls. It is our acceptance of this belief that ultimately supports us when we are challenged by life's difficult circumstances. And we, washed anew, are blessed by the power of God!

All my lifelong I have panted
for a drink from some cool spring.

That I hoped would quench the burning
of the thirst I felt within.

Hallelujah! I have found Him
whom my soul so long has craved.

Jesus satisfies my longing;
through his blood I now am saved.

SATISFIED ~ Ralph E. Hudson

To listen to this sermon

a cassette is available in the Church Library

Praise God

Rev. Kevin Murphy

Preparation Scripture: Psalm 147: 12-20 and Ephesians 1: 3-14


We are all blessed by the skills and special talents given to us by our God.

These skills and talents help us provide, in many different ways, for ourselves, our families and our extended families. As children of Christ, we must recognize that we are blessed by whatever we achieve. We are not the light, but the reflectors of his light. By allowing God to work through us ... by living each day in a positive way for ourselves, our communities and our world ... we do so for the glory of God.

To listen to this sermon

a cassette is available in the Church Library