Category: Pastor Notes

Pastor Note #116: Advent Reflection #2

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[Note: This post is the script for a video reflection that I posted to my YouTube channel. To view this particular video click here.] I first began making my “Pastor Gary’s Video Notebook” videos in March 2020 when the coronavirus shutdown came to my community and my church.  I had a number of goals for … Continue reading Pastor Note #116: Advent Reflection #2

Pastor Note #115: Advent Reflections #1

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I just did a quick online search for Advent calendars and discovered that you can buy Advent calendars at Target, Walmart, and on the Etsy site.  They’re everywhere.  I also noticed that almost all of them are incorrect.  All of the Advent calendars I looked at start on December 1, and five out of every … Continue reading Pastor Note #115: Advent Reflections #1

Pastor Note #114: Michael Flynn and One National Religion

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“If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion.  One nation under God, and one religion under God." Michal Flynn, speaking at a “Reawaken America” event in San Antonio, TX on November 13, 2021 Washington County (Pennsylvania) Courthouse; photo by GAC It is hard to … Continue reading Pastor Note #114: Michael Flynn and One National Religion

Pastor Note #112: America in Theological Perspective–a July 4th Sermon

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America in Theological Perspective: A SermonPastor Gary Chorpenning1 Peter 2:9-17Preached July 4, 2021 So, do they have the Fourth of July in England?  [Pregnant Pause]  Of course they do.  They have the fourth of July, the fifth of July, the six of July.  They have all the days of July in England, same as we … Continue reading Pastor Note #112: America in Theological Perspective–a July 4th Sermon

Pastor Note #111: All Types of Pastor

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Sedona, AZ; photo by GAC Pastoral ministry involves a dizzying variety of tasks and activities.  Some days I go from counseling someone in a difficult personal crisis to untangling some issue in the church’s financial management and bookkeeping, from researching the best interpretation of the Greek of some passage in the New Testament to meeting … Continue reading Pastor Note #111: All Types of Pastor

Pastor Note #110: Nothing But Love–A Sermon for the Installation of a Pastor, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

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        I suppose you all may be wondering if I had to get a special dispensation from the Commissariat of Public Bible Reading in order to be allowed to read 1 Corinthians 13 at an event that is NOT a wedding.  The answer to that question is, “No, I did not.”  I’m one of those … Continue reading Pastor Note #110: Nothing But Love–A Sermon for the Installation of a Pastor, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Pastor Note #109: Living as Hopeful People in Fearful Times

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Are these hopeful times or are they fearful times?  I write these words on a warm day, after a hard winter of snow and ice.  The daffodils are poking up through the leaf litter in my flowerbeds.  The crocuses have already begun to bloom.  In fact, there are several dandelions in their yellow perkiness smiling … Continue reading Pastor Note #109: Living as Hopeful People in Fearful Times

Pastor Note #108: Busyness, Rights, Responsibilities, & Church Life in 2020

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Over the past two millennia, the Church of Jesus has survived brutal persecutions, the chaos of invasions and wars, plagues, famines, revolutions, and, perhaps the most dangerous of all social conditions, the church has even survived economic prosperity.  Nothing that has happened in America or the world in 2020 will prove to be a deadly … Continue reading Pastor Note #108: Busyness, Rights, Responsibilities, & Church Life in 2020

Pastor Note #107: Violence and the Kingdom of God: a Sermon

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Conversations with Jesus:James and John and Violence in the Kingdom of GodLuke 9:51-55 Pastor Gary Chorpenning A sermon preached atVenice Presbyterian ChurchCecil Township, PAJanuary 10,2021 We’re living in difficult and unpredictable times.  I’ll admit that I had a different sermon planned for today, but the events at the U. S. Capitol this week have caused … Continue reading Pastor Note #107: Violence and the Kingdom of God: a Sermon