The Perfect Gift (Text: Genesis 27:1-35; Revelation 1:1-7) (Gary W. Charles, Cove Presbyterian Church, Covesville, VA, 11-26-2017) Thanksgiving Day is over. Advent is a week away, but even now the Christmas rush is on. Many a tongue and wallet hang limp from the Black Friday and pre-Cyber Monday sales, while others are invigorated by this spate of nationally sanctioned in-store and on-line shopping. A few folks I know boast of already having finished their Christmas shopping,

A Talent for Thanksgiving Text: Matthew 25:14-30 (Gary W. Charles, Cove Presbyterian Church, Covesville, VA, 11-19-2017) There is much to be commended in the one-talent man. He does not increase his master’s capital, but neither does he squander it in some Ponzi scheme or on a gambling spree. Sure, he could have invested the talent in something safe and secure like some treasury notes, but was burying it in the ground really all that bad an idea? The one-talent man has a poin

Tomorrow Won’t Wait Texts: Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Matthew 25:1-13 (Gary W. Charles, Cove Presbyterian Church, Covesville, VA, 11-12-2017) I was young, in love, and seriously broke. But since I was young and in love, I did not let the “broke” part stop me. I saved and scraped enough just enough money to make a reservation at a romantic restaurant in Williamsburg, with a table that overlooked a cascading waterfall. I got dressed up in my most debonair polyester plaid suit, pic

An Unbroken Hallelujah Text: Revelation 19:1-10 (Gary W. Charles, Cove Presbyterian Church, Covesville, VA, 11-5-2017) [Before reading Revelation 19:1-10] Near the turn of the first century, John who was exiled by the Romans on the isle of Patmos writes a bizarre apocalypse called Revelation. In this tale of God’s ultimate defeat of the power of the Roman Empire, John is absorbed in a vision, overhearing an outrageous conversation and listening to an astounding concert taking