Sermon by Rev. Dr. Jill Duffield, October 25th, 2020 I must begin with telling it plain: I love this parable. I likely love this parable for all the wrong, not very Christian reasons. I love this parable because the most vulnerable, least powerful person gets vindicated. The widow with no real recourse, no protection unless it is granted to her, no official status or leverage, gets justice, which could also be translated as “avenged” or even “take revenge.” The long- exploite

Sermon by Rev . Dr. Gary W. Charles, October 11th, 2020 Matthew 15 opens: “Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat’." It sounds like the Pharisees and scribes are emissaries from the CDC telling us how often and how long to wash our hands to prevent the spread of Covid or the flu, but theirs is not a public health lecture or question. Theirs i

Sermon by Rev. Dr. Gary W. Charles, October 11th, 2020 John Grisham’s newest novel, A Time for Mercy, will be released on Tuesday. I have had the chance to read this book and it is one of John’s finest. But, I am sorry, Mr. Grisham, I need to nominate another book for the 2020 Book of the Year. It is the book of Job. Yes, I know that the book of Job was not written in 2020, but it sure could have been. Its pages are filled with tragedy and pandemics, fake friends with faux co

Sermon by Rev. Dr. Gary Charles Today is not only World Communion Sunday, it is Peacemaking Sunday. Yet, in the face of a global pandemic that sends us to worship at Cove Creek Park rather than in the intimate, familiar confines of Cove Presbyterian Church, in a nation so divided that it cannot even decide on whether to wear a mask or to get a vaccine when available, in a society in which skin color is a major factor in housing and education, in jobs and security, in a year w