We Witness Better Together

A Sermon by Pastor Phil Thorne   10.25.09

I would like to engage in a little thought experiment this morning. Just for argument’s sake, let’s say that Christianity happens to be true: Jesus really was God incarnate, the eternal son of the eternal God in human flesh. Let’s say he really died on a Roman cross and rose bodily from dead. And Pentecost  — it really happened  —  just like the book of Acts says it did. The Spirit of God descended in power and began to live within the church.

Then let’s imagine — again, just for arguments sake —  that you and I live in world that doesn’t believe this is true. We live in a world where there are so many different religions that people find it hard to believe that Christianity is uniquely true. Imagine that we live in a world where many intellectuals think there’s no need for a “God hypothesis” to explain the way things are or how they came to be. Just imagine — hypothetically, of course — that the winds of our culture are blowing, blowing against Christian belief and moral practice

What would you do if that were true — hypothetically, of course? Well maybe a good place to begin would be with another question:
•    What did they do back then?
•    What did the church in the 1st few centuries do?
Apparently, they faced just such a situation. They lived in a world where there were so many different religions and so many different gods that one more — Jesus — would hardly be noticed.
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We Serve Better Together

A Sermon by Pastor Phil Thorne  10.18.09

Who Are You?  So tell me, Who are you?  Who am I? 
  • Well, I’m a husband;
  • I’m a father of two grown girls. 
  • I’m a grandfather, and
  • by tomorrow, I hope to be a grandfather for the 2nd time. 
  • I’m also an uncle, a son, and a son-in-law. 
I’m a member of my family, that’s who I am. 

But who else am I?  Who else are you?  Well, I guess I’m a pastor.  And you?  You're a
  • lawyer
  • engineer
  • homemaker
  • teacher
  • student
  • nurse
  • administrative assistance. 
You’re a person who spends the major portion of your day doing certain things.

But is there anything else?  Anything besides the family you belong to or the job you do that defines who you are?  Well, you may be someone who loves to sing; an avid golfer or a fisherman.  You’re the life of the party; you’re a died-in-the-wool introvert.  Maybe you’re an intuitive person, or a practical person, or a sensitive person.  Perhaps you are the victim of abuse, or an alcoholic, or someone w/ chronic pain.
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We Pray Better Together

A Sermon by Pastor Phil Thorne  10.11.09

Looking Back
I was reading a book this week, called The Kneeling Christian.  It’s a really good book on prayer.  I came across a quote that brought a deep sense of conviction. When we stand with Christ in glory, the author said, looking over life’s finished story, the most amazing feature of that life looked back upon will be its prayerlessness.  We will be beside ourselves with astonishment -- and stricken with grief -- that we spent:
  • so little of our precious time in prayer;
  • so little time communing with our Father in Heaven;
  • so little time crying out for His empowering presence;
  • so little time inquiring of Him, seeking to know his will; and
  • so little time bringing our cares and concerns before the throne.
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We Care Better Together

A Sermon by Pastor Phil Thorne  10.04.09


Head or Heart

So tell me: what’s more important, the head or the heart?   If you had a choice between having your head chopped off or your heart cut out, which would you choose?   (I know, it’s not a very nice way to start a sermon; but I have a point). 

So, what’s more important—the head or the heart?   What’s more important: knowing and loving God -- worship and word -- or loving each other?   It’s a false question, isn’t it?  The head cannot say to the heart, I have no need of you.   The heart cannot say to the head—actually, it can’t say anything without the head. 
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We Learn Better Together

A Sermon by Pastor Phil Thorne  09.27.09

You Become What You Think

So how does it happen?  How does a person actually become like Jesus?  How do we live the life God created us to live, the life Jesus taught us to live, the one Jesus gave his life so that we could live?

Obviously, we must be ‘born again’ or ‘born from above’ as Jesus used to say.  The Spirit of God must blow into our lives; He must come and take up residence within us; the life of God must be at work in us if we ever hope to live the life God wants us to live.
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We Worship Better Together

A Sermon by Pastor Phil Thorne  09.20.09


It’s Not About Us

Have you ever found yourself on a road headed the wrong direction?  My mother-in-law moved into the area this past year.  And she’s learning her way around.  Just the other week I got a phone call from her.  She had been trying to get home from visiting Lisa at the Harrisburg hospital.  We had told her to follow 83S and 581 to get home, to get to 15.  She remembered 83 S but not 581. When she called me she was on 83 S almost in York.
It can be really frustrating to find yourself on a road going in the wrong direction.  But I think that’s where many of us are much of the time.  We’re on this road called life; but we’re headed in the wrong direction.
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