There is no question that our Christian faith can become corrupted. And, of course, one of the ways that our faith can become corrupted is when we adopt bad or wrong doctrines. That’s why it’s important for us to learn our theology carefully and well. The base of an abandoned steel-making blast furnace; photo by … Continue reading Bible Note #50: James 2:1 and “Us vs. Them” Thinking
Tag: Image of God
Quote of Note #129: Justice and Love for my Neighbors
Photo by GAC "Love for neighbor requires critiquing and dismantling unjust systems of racial oppression. It is one matter to acknowledge that all people are made equal and have inherent dignity in their very being. It is another matter to identify the ways the image of God is defaced in groups of people through systems … Continue reading Quote of Note #129: Justice and Love for my Neighbors
Quote of Note #121: Honoring All People as Divine Works of Art
Photo by GAC "All human beings are God's handiwork. Each person is a very precious work of divine art. To make light of an artist's work within the artist's earshot is a cruel thing to do. To demean one of God's most precious artworks when God is listening--and he always is--crudely dishonors the divine artist." … Continue reading Quote of Note #121: Honoring All People as Divine Works of Art
Pastor Note #112: America in Theological Perspective–a July 4th Sermon
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
Quote of Note #108: Between the Humane and the Brutal
Washington County (Pennsylvania) Courthouse; Photo by GAC "The real issue of our world today is between those who respect a man as a child of God and those who do not, between those who are humane and those who are brutal. It is not to be found between men who are for or against this … Continue reading Quote of Note #108: Between the Humane and the Brutal
Quote of Note #107: The Human Dignity of the Other
Lancaster County (Pennsylvania) Courthouse; photo by GAC "There was a time when we could assume that people believed in the dignity of the human person, in the sanctity of a man as a child of God. This is no longer true. Communism tells us that a man has worth only if he is a communist. … Continue reading Quote of Note #107: The Human Dignity of the Other
Quote of Note #19: Gracious Help to those in Need
"If anyone . . . appears before you who is in need of your kind services, you have no reason to refuse him your help. Suppose he is a stranger; yet the Lord has pressed his own stamp on him and made him as one of your family, and he forbids you to despise your … Continue reading Quote of Note #19: Gracious Help to those in Need
Quote of Note #16 — Honoring and Respecting Others
"The Lord commands us to do good unto all men without exception, though the majority are very undeserving when judged according to their own merits. But Scripture here helps us out with an excellent argument when it teaches us that we must not think of man's real value, but only of his creation in the … Continue reading Quote of Note #16 — Honoring and Respecting Others
Sermon #13 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 4: The Image
Our own identity is tied intimately into the identity of God. We bear the image of the living God. In the person of God, we see the root and origin of our own identity -- broken and distorted though it may be because of our fall in to sin. In ourselves, we see the imperfect … Continue reading Sermon #13 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 4: The Image
Sermons #6 — Sex and Loving God: Sin and Grace, Forgiveness and Righteousness
Part 4 of my "Sex and Loving God" series, here I explore John 8:2-11 and the notion of a community of brokenness--a community of redemption. Earlier in the service, the congregation read Psalm 32 responsively, and that psalm served as a part of the biblical context for this sermon. "Sex and Loving God: Sin and … Continue reading Sermons #6 — Sex and Loving God: Sin and Grace, Forgiveness and Righteousness
Gary Chorpenning's Notebooks 